Walks, Talks, Advice, and Secrets

32 3 108
                                    

I told Fiona all about the encounter with Lucas the day we came back from Winter break (leaving out the story he told me, because that was his place to share and not mine) and begged her not to tell Delphine.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I don't know if she'll be upset. He's her crush," I told her. "Please- I know we shouldn't be keeping secrets. She's our friend. But for now, don't tell her."

She looked me over. I was scared. I'd never gotten this expression from Fiona before.

"Alright," she said finally. "For now, we'll keep this between us."

"Thank you," I said, but my fear only eased a bit. She was still giving me the look.

At lunch I went to find Jacqueline. She was at her table, quietly eating her food and watching, and looking rather amused at, Celine and Mitchell arguing over something.

I tapped her on the shoulder. "Can we talk?"

She glanced at her two best friends. Celine and Mitchell looked like siblings. Both had blue eyes, brown hair, and pink lips. They even had the same exact skin tone. Celine's eyes were a darker shade of blue, and Mitchell had lighter brown hair and he had freckles, but the differences stopped there.

Jacqueline turned to me. "As entertaining as this is, you probably really need to talk. Let's walk."

She hooked her arm through mine and pulled me through the cafeteria to the big doors at the end. I'd never left the cafeteria during lunch, but none of the teachers even batted an eye, so I went along with her.

"What's on your mind?" Jacqueline asked.

"I'm worried about lying to Delphine," I told her. "You know how there was this encounter with Lucas at my house? The blond guy?"

"Yeah. And?"

"Delphine has a huge crush on him. She literally stalks his socials. She knows he came to my house, but she doesn't know what happened after we ended the call. He said he'd never told anyone about this, but he told me. I'm worried she'll be upset he told me, but I'm also worried that I'll hide it for too long and she finds out and gets mad. I can't even hug him when he needs it." (A/N: this is what happens when you let an overthinker write fanfiction)

"This Lucas guy," Jacqueline said. "He was your friend first, right?"

"Yes."

"And you guys are just friends, nothing more right? Best friends, close friends, whatever. The word friends is in the description."

"I'd say we're somewhere between friends and close friends," I told her, realizing he was a whole lot closer with me than everyone else, but closer than I thought Delphine would like.

"And he knows you guys are just friends? He's never dropped any hints that he thinks you guys are more than that?" Jacqueline asked.

"Not that I know of," I replied.

"Then there's your answer," she said, gently but bluntly. "As long as he's just your friend and nothing more, and you both know that, I see no reason for you to get close with him. My cousin has a separate girlfriend and girl best friend and he's doing great."

"You really think she won't be mad?"

"Even if she is, she has no right to be, and everyone else will see that too. Because she likes him doesn't mean he belongs to her. The boy has a life. As long as you aren't making a move, and you're careful so he doesn't catch feelings, you're not doing anything wrong."

My cheeks burned. The thought of Lucas having feelings for me was so absurd it hadn't even come to mind. I guess it was just engraved in my head that the same way I was just a casual friend to Brandon because Fiona liked him, I should be just a casual friend to Lucas because Delphine liked him. Though I guess there was a fault in my reasoning, because everyone knew Brandon returned Fiona's feelings. And he just never was anything to me more than someone who hangs out with us occasionally, in a big group and never one-on-one. Lucas, as it turns out, is a bit more than that.

Fangirl School (Percy Jackson)Where stories live. Discover now