After All, I'm Your Secret Admirer~!!

Ch26 - Spoilsport

"I—I won?" Paige blinks, pointing to himself. "What do you mean, I won?"

"Psh, don't act like you don't remember that slick uppercut!" Lucy laughs. "It was so cool! So mimicable!"

"Bad Brandon's uppercut..." Brandon mumbles next to Paige, sounding very upset.

"But, that's not why I'm here," Lucy says, shaking her head. "Nope! Nuh uh!" She stuffs a hand in one of her hair puffs and pulls out... a microphone?

"Now, Paige!" she says, focusing on him. All of a sudden, the lights feel like they spotlight on Paige specifically. "Tell me! Tell the whole school! You're a weak kinda guy, no offense."

"Um..." Paige mumbles, wriggling nervously. "N-none taken...?"

Lucy nods. "Right, right. But you kicked butt last week! So, how'd ya do it?" She pushes the microphone closer to Paige's face. "How'd ya beat The Yin Yang Cutter?"

"Th-th-the...?" Paige stutters. "I—"

Sue slams their hands on the table, standing up. Everyone's attention is turned to them, blessedly leaving Paige time to catch his breath.

"I think Paige is a bit too tired to answer questions today," they say with a flat tone and a stony face. "But you know who would be a great candidate to interview?"

"Who?" Lucy smiles.

"Nick A. Lass," Sue smiles back. "I'm sure you'll find him over in his corner with Barret." They point over to a darker section of the cafeteria.

"Will he have info on the fight?" Lucy asks, putting a finger to her lip. "'Cause I'm only tryin' to get stuff about that..."

"I'm almost certain he will," Sue says, shoulder twitching a bit. "And he loves to be interviewed, so you'll have all the cooperation you need."

"Oh, okay! Thanks, Sue!" And with that, she skips off towards the others.

A collective sigh breaks out over the remaining students. "What the hell was that..." Brandon grumbles.

"I wish I knew..." Paige pouts.

"N-nice s-save back there," Bro says, giving Sue a thumbs up.

"No problem," Sue shrugs. "There's no stopping Lucy Lulu once she starts, so the next best thing is to divert her."

"Do you think Nick will be okay with it?" Paige asks.

"Oh, trust me," Sue says, rolling their eyes. "He'll love it."

A whoop comes from the area Nick and Barret stay everyday, as if ready to prove Sue's point immediately.

"See?" they grin. "He loves it."

"Heh, good ol' Sue," Brandon chuckles, going into his bookbag again. "Y'know, in all that confusion, I never got to give you your note today, Paige."

"Oh my gosh!" Paige gasps. "I nearly forgot myself!"

Brandon laughs as he hands it over, punctuating it with a Brotherly Pat On The Back. "Never change, Paige."

Paige giggles himself, flipping over the note after it's passed over to him.

The note reads:

"Oh! Yes, I'm quite fond of Mr. Jackson as well! Did you know it's rumored that he worked on the Sonic 3 and Knuckles soundtrack? It's a fun fact I love a lot!

But, as requested, here's some poetry, just for you. ♥

Dearest Paige of Cups,
Your smile brightens the day
Your laughter makes the stars shine
And for many a time,
Everything about you has made my heart alight with love

There's a gathering on the morrow,
With festivities and hijinks aplenty
Care to meet me during the biggest shindig of the city? ♥

(P.S.

In case that was too flowery... shall we meet at the Halloween party? You'll know me when you see me, I'm sure."

Paige gasps. "Oh my goodness... he'll be at the Halloween party tomorrow!"

Bro and Sue's eyes widen a bit as they both grin, happy for their friend. Meanwhile Brandon smirks.

"Heh. I knew telling him that adding the plaintext would make sure you got it."

"Brandooooooon!" Paige pouts immediately, hitting him with weak fists. "Stop going through my maaaaaaiilll!"

The rest of the Bro Crew laugh at the antics. By the time the bell is close to ringing, everyone's done with their food and are ready to go to their next classes.

"Oh, but I'm so, so excited!" Paige says for the umpteenth time since he got the note. "I just have to go! I do!"

"Well, make sure you pick out a good costume!" Brandon grins, giving a thumbs up. "You wouldn't wanna be in an anime costume or something, would you?"

Sue chokes on their strawberry milk.

Brandon casts a sly grin over at them as they recover. "I resent that," is all they say, patting their mouth with a napkin.

Bro and Brandon laugh hard, Paige refrains, but he's having a hard time at trying to keep it that way. Instead, he tries to think about tomorrow. Oh, what should he wear? He hadn't really done trick or treating in a while, preferring just to buy the candy and stay at home, so would he have to buy something? What would be best? What would show off his honest truth?

"Your bear onesie," Leaf offers.

"Huh?" Paige thinks. "Those are pajamas, though!"

"I know," Leaf replies, rolling his eyes. "You'll be needing them, considering you won't be going to the party."

Paige's face falls.

The bell rings.

The Bro Crew say their goodbyes for now.

Paige is rooted in place, disbelief filling him.

"What do you mean, I can't go?" he asks, starting to move with the remains of the crowd. "I'm finally about to meet the one who wrote all these wonderful notes!" He feels desperation fill him. "I have to go!"

"I'm not fighting you on this, Paige," Leaf says, sounding firm. "You're in no shape to go to a party that'll probably have spiked food and drinks and drunk kids everywhere."

"I'm in perfect shape!" Paige frowns. Which class was he going to again?

"Paige," Leaf stresses. "We are not going to an unsupervised party."

"And why not?" Paige bites back. "We'll be 17 in a couple months! We're practically grown ups!"

"You don't actually believe that," Leaf says, rolling his eyes. "You just wanna see your little loverboy."

"I—" Paige starts.

"Would be lying if you said otherwise," Leaf finishes for him.

Paige is silent. He somehow finds his way to his Social Studies class, only processing that he's there as he's sitting down. "When did I..."

"You're welcome," Leaf huffs. "Paige, do you know what would happen if you went to that party and there was alcohol there?"

"Not drink it?" he answers honestly. "I don't want to drink alcohol."

Leaf sighs. "Look, school is really not the place to talk about this," he says. "If you really wanna know, I'll tell you later."

"What?" Paige frowns. "No! If it's that serious, tell me now!"

Leaf doesn't reply.

Paige grips his pencil tightly. Ugh! he groans to himself. What the heck!!