Open Love

Chapter 1

Dexter walked out of the gym, still catching his breath when he spotted Y.N. “Hey, Dexter, how was gym class?” Y.N. asked, leaning against the lockers.

“Hey, Y.N.. It was good,” Dexter replied, wiping his face with a towel. “What are you doing here?”

Y.N. smirked. “Dexter, you’re smelly.”

“What are you talking about?” Dexter shot back, half-laughing. “How do you even know? I’m so many feet away from you.”

Y.N. chuckled, shaking her head. “Yeah, but I can smell you from over here, Dexter.”

Dexter rolled his eyes, laughing. “Oh, stop it, dude.”

---

Y.N. caught up with Dexter as they made their way to class. “Dexter, let’s go. We’re going to be late for history.”

Inside the classroom, the teacher handed out an assignment, explaining the details as the students groaned in unison. Y.N. sat down beside her friends Joey and Clara, who were already whining.

“Ugh, not another group project,” Clara muttered, slumping in her chair.

“Tell me about it,” Joey added, rolling her eyes. “Why does it always have to be something boring?”

Y.N. leaned over and whispered, “Hey, why don’t you both come over to my house later? My mom won’t be home today, so we can hang out and work on this assignment together.”

Joey and Clara exchanged glances before nodding. “Sounds like a plan,” Clara said with a grin.

--

Later that evening, Y.N., Joey, and Clara gathered at Y.N.'s house, books and papers scattered on the table, but their attention quickly shifted.

“Okay,” Y.N. said, leaning back on the couch. “How about we watch a horror movie before we get started?”

Clara groaned, tossing her head back. “Ugh, please, horror movies are so lame.”

Joey nodded eagerly, bobbing her head multiple times in approval. “I’m down for it.”

With a grin, Y.N. put on Scream, and they settled in, the eerie music filling the room as the tension built. By the time the movie ended, Clara had her arms crossed, unimpressed.

“That was so lame,” Clara said, shaking her head. “Why would anyone pick up the phone and then open the door when they’re clearly being lured? Like, come on, that’s horror movie rule number one—don’t be curious. Just stop being curious, and life will be easy.”

Joey laughed. “She’s got a point.”

---

Y.N. smirked and shot Clara a teasing look. “Yes, don’t be curious at all… like when Clara’s boyfriend is cheating on her behind her back.”

Clara interrupted, her voice firm. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Y.N. continued, undeterred. “And when you do get one, he’ll be getting multiple text messages from some random girl. Clara, being the not-curious person she is, will catch him exchanging messages with this random girl but won’t even bother to ask him about it. Because, you know, she’s not curious.”

Clara sat there, visibly unamused, while Joey tried to stifle her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

Y.N. went on, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “And then one day, her boyfriend will show up at the house with his new girl, all married and everything, and Clara will be dropping her jaw to the floor.”