Sidegirl (Reverse Harem)

16. Spontaneous Snapshot

Ellie was the first to be dropped off at an impressive mansion. It wasn't far from the Reom mansion where Dante drove next.

I was expecting him to drive to the rondel in front of the main entrance to the mansion but was surprised when he turned left and took the small way till he was standing in front of my garden gate. The guys left the car with me.

"Thank you for the nice day, I had a lot of fun with you and Ellie." I smiled genuinely at them.

"Let's take a selfie together," Ben suddenly said.

The guys exchanged glances with each other. I tried to follow their silent conversation, but it was impossible. They understood each other so fast, it was like telepathy. Nate smiled.

"Excellent idea, Ben!"

"We can do that," I agreed. The thought of having an actual photo with me and my friends, it elicited a warm feeling in my stomach.

Dante pulled his phone out first and stepped to my right, sliding his arm around my shoulders. Ben did the same to my left and Nate leaned into Ben's left side.

"Smile." Dante commanded and shot the picture.

➳➳➳

I woke up the next morning and grabbed my phone first thing. With quick fingers, I navigated to the chat that I had with the three and clicked on the photo that Dante had sent. A wide grin spread on my lips, seeing the snapshot of our little group of friends.

I chuckled at Nate's grin. He looked funny but at the same time insanely beautiful with the evening-sun being reflected from his golden locks and in his golden orbs.

Ben's eyes were calm and serious, but him biting his lip indicated that he wasn't ready for the photo and clearly overwhelmed by Dante's command to smile on demand. I snorted out a little laughter. He could be so cute sometimes.

Then there was my face, my nervousness and excitement clearly on display as I beamed into the camera. A sun ray was reflected off my shining new necklace.

Dante was looking at me. His profile was showing off his sharp jawline that cut through the tattoos on his neck. In contrast to his sharp features, his eyes on me were soft.

I swallowed and got up to get ready for school.

Entering the school building, I immediately sensed that something was wrong. All eyes were on me as soon as I entered; an attention that you normally only received if your name was Ben, Dante, Nate or Ellie. I clawed my fingers into my school skirt in an attempt to calm down and headed to my locker.

"Hey, beautiful," Nate greeted me. But instead of his usual nod, he approached me and pulled me into a hug.

I was stunned. They had never hugged me in school before. And I had been more than thankful for that. But now that he hugged me openly, my little excuse that I just knew them because of Ellie wore thin.

"What are you doing, Nate?" I whispered.

"Hm?" He looked up with lazily lowered eyelids, "I'm just giving you a proper good-morning hug."

As soon as he let go of me, Ben fastened his arms around me and pulled me into a hard and fast hug. Aware of every single pair of eyes following us, I let Dante pull me into his arms, my face completely flustered. When he released me from his grasp, I was slightly wavering. Ellie looked me up and down with a condescending smile on her lips. She clearly saw how flustered I was.

"Let's go, boys," she chirped and led the way to the classrooms.

My head was spinning while I walked to my first class and I needed some time to realize how everyone was keeping a distance to me. Something wasn't right.

My first instinct was to feel for a note on my back, the memory of the nasty prank still vivid. But there was no note on my back. I furthermore noticed that people acted differently towards me than when I had been bullied. There was no scorn or amusement in their eyes, but reverence and interest.

I came out of my English class when I saw Taylor walking down the hallway and remembered his request for a dinner later. I looked left and right and when I didn't see the three anywhere, I caught up with him.

"Hey, Taylor!"

"What the fuck?" He flinched as if I had startled him.

He looked around hastily, before he pulled me into an empty corridor.

"What the fuck do you want?" He hissed.

"Uh..." I blinked, confused about his hostility, "You wanted something from me, actually."

His eyes narrowed.

"Do you enjoy getting me into trouble by flirting with me?" He spat.

I frowned. What the...?

"I didn't flirt-"

"Shut up, you fucking tease." He leaned so close into me that I was pressed into the wall behind me. I froze.

"Stay away from me." And with that he left.

With 101 question marks in my head, I stumbled into the women's bathroom. I supported myself with my hands on the counter and stared into the mirror. Utter confusion stared back at me.

I heard one of the doors of the stalls go and Nora from my math class appeared behind me in the reflection. She was known for having been Dante's middle school fling and had a cool and aloof air about her that I had always admired. She threw her red hair over to one side of her head, while she eyed my puzzled self calmly.

"Dante's Instagram," she said as she stepped to the sink and pumped soap into her hand.
Frowning, I took my phone out and looked up said page.

"It's private," I informed her.

She dried her hands and pulled out her own phone.

"The whole school follows him, y/n."

She let her fingers dance across the screen, then handed it to me.

There were only four photos on his page. Three of them were him and his teammates holding up medals on the green football field. The fourth and newest one however...

I clicked on it and stared at the selfie Dante had taken of us four. The selfie I had admired just this morning. I scrolled to the description of the picture.

'Anyone who wants to get to our close friends has to deal with us.'

My eyes widened when they wandered to the next line.

'@Ty_Phillips'

I clicked on the linked profile and confirmed that he had linked Taylor under the picture.

"What the...? Why...?" I stuttered.

My eyes wandered back into Nora's who looked at me as if I was slow on the uptake.

"Babe, you are going to be fucked. And I mean this literally." And with this, she left me.

☆・*。