Never Let Go (Of Me) • Ferran Torres

Chapter 43: An Afternoon with "Friends"

🎶 Obsessed - Sped Up — Six Dior 🎶

After our trip to the aquarium, Ferran drove us straight back to Foios, where he parked his car at home and we went to the town square by foot to meet up with the lot. I already saw Joan from afar and parted ways with Ferran quickly before he joined his friends and I walked over to Ari and her friends.
"Hey, can I sit with you?" I piped up and another girl quickly stood up to get a chair from another table.
"Sure!" another one replied and smiled friendly.
"Your friends are nice! Can't say the same about your brother's" I huffed at Ari and ordered some red wine from the waiter who just passed.

"Ugh, we know everything, don't worry. Joan is an asshole... He's my ex and if you ask me, it's better to end up as a cat lady rather than with him" the girl who brought me the chair groaned, making me giggle. "I'm Alba by the way and this is Lidia" she added and pointed at her and her friend.
"We've been best friends since kindergarten" Ari explained and smiled.
"Sooooo..." Lidia started and bit her lip as a grin played on her face. "How does a girl manage to capture the hearts of Ferran Torres and Carlos Alcaraz?" she asked and we all giggled.
"I don't know..." I replied shyly. "... It just happened" I added and looked at them innocently.
"Girl, you're lucky. The only things that happen to me are losers ghosting me" Alba groaned.

"I like you. You're cooler than Sira" Lidia chuckled and Ari nodded quickly with her head.
"You didn't like Sira?" I asked her.
"I mean... She was nice and we got along while they were dating, but... after she broke his heart I had very little interest in maintaining any kind of friendship - she wouldn't be my first choice when it comes to choosing friends. You however - I'll always like you, no matter what." Ari chuckled and hugged me sideways.
"Yeah, you seem cool from what Ari told us and we heard... You and Ferran would make a cute couple. God knows he needs a normal girl for once, not a weirdo - he really doesn't have the Midas touch when it comes to girls" Alba sighed.

Suddenly, a blonde girl joined the scene, joining the boys' group, greeting Ferran happily and he seemed just as happy to see her too.
"That's Angela, his first girlfriend" Lidia explained, having seen how I watched them.
"Pretty much his first... everything" Ari chuckled. Great, so she was for him what he was for me.
"She's pretty" I mumbled, looking at her. Her hair was shiny and long, her style chic and effortless, she looked like she came from some money.

And she looked like the complete opposite of me, I hadn't guessed that that was his type. In some ways, I was kinda similar to Sira (look-wise), so I hadn't put too much thought into what Ferran's type was.
"Cata... You modeled for a fricking Calzedonia campaign, your perfect body and face practically got rubbed in every girls' face in Spain - you don't have to feel intimidated by her" Ari said, trying to build me up probably.
"And every guys' face!" Alba joked.
"Yeah! I even bought one of the bikinis you wore in hopes of looking like you but - well..." Lidia joked too and we all laughed.

We engaged in a conversation about girl stuff now, but in the corner of my eye, I still saw this Angela girl laughing and chatting with Ferran and his group. Her hand was sometimes touching his arm or his chest when they would laugh about something and my jealousy was bursting inside. That girl needed to get her dirty paws off my man.
"Stop staring" Ari whispered as she hit me in the ribs lightly and I reluctantly turned my eyes away from them again.

After a while of chatting with the girls and some other of their friends however, I heard that one unbearable voice putting my name in his mouth.
"... you know, I wonder who will be the next guy Cata goes after... I mean after Alcaraz..." Joan joked and the group by him laughed, my head quickly turned to even see Ferran looking at the ground - that bitch Angela next to him laughing frantically.
"Oi!" Ari shouted, probably wanting to defend him but I grabbed her arm to signal her to stop.

"Oh, Joan..." I sighed. "I really wouldn't know, but... I can tell you who it's not going to be, though" I chuckled and looked straight at him, my mood turning serious. "A pathetic guy like you. Someone who's bitter, inconsiderate and a Machiavellian - if you even know what that is, which I doubt. Oh, and on top of that: you're an awful friend. You're just jealous that you will never have the balls to get a 10/10 like me. Your obsession over me needs to stop." I said and stood up, pushing back my chair angrily before walking away.

I left the town square behind, going I don't know where, I couldn't remember a lot of the village since this summer and as it was Christmas Eve, most shops were closed, so everything was pretty dead. I made it back to Ferran's place eventually and hoped that his mum would be at home again as I had no keys. But when I rang the doorbell and it was him who opened, I was quite surprised.

"What are you doing here?" I scoffed and pushed my way inside past him.
"I live here?" he replied and walked back to the couch where he slumped down and looked at me standing in front of him with crossed arms.
"Oh no! I think Angela wasn't quite done with drooling over and flirting with you" I huffed as I unbuttoned by coat and took off my scarf.

"Are you jealous?" he chuckled before he turned serious again. "Because you surely aren't in any position to be, after you dated a guy for three months, with your kisses and photos all over the internet" he added, sounding quite angry. And it made me angry too that he was right.
"You're infuriating!" I exclaimed and stomped my foot on the ground before hurrying upstairs to Ari's room, whose door I slammed shut behind me. Argh, he was sending me so many mixed signals throughout this whole day and I was probably stuck here for two more days.

"Girl, you missed the fun part of the afternoon" Ari gasped as she walked inside her room an hour later.
"What? Joan dragging me through the mud even more?" I huffed and she sat down next to me.
"No! Didn't Ferran tell you? Him and Joan had a huge fight - not violent thankfully - but still, it was pretty entertaining" she chuckled. "Annnnnddd..." she continued, clacking her tongue. "I was a good friend and investigated into Angela's agenda. I walked up to her and started talking badly about you so that she could trust me and... she pretty much admitted she was still into him and wanted him back now that Sira and... you were off the tables" at she said and rolled her eyes.

"Bitch" I scoffed.
"Yeah, but as I told you, you shouldn't feel threatened. Ferran only wants you" she replied and caressed my arm.
"Still, he's an idiot. And we can't seem to find common ground to start over" I said and threw my head back.
"... Seems like it's time for me to hang up my mistletoes!" she chirped and stood up again, leaving her room with a grin on her face. Those two siblings were going to be the death of me.