Saving Grace

Chapter 8: Competition

We're sitting in one of the booths near the window of the ice cream parlour Flavours waiting for Jay and his friend to arrive when I decide to spill the beans about how I met Jay, much to Halsey's delight.

This girl is a sponge when it comes to gossip, I swear.

I quickly bring her up to date about how Jay saved me from the Professor's wrath and sat with me in class. I omitted the part where he caught me ogling him, multiple times. Yeah, so not going there.

I also decide to tell her about Alex and my conversation on call, before she finds out about it from someone else and blows a gasket.

"You what?" Halsey exclaims.

"I talked to Alex on call the night before." I repeat slowly so as to let her absorb what I'm saying.

"What did you talk about? How long did you talk? How did he even get your number?" She demands.

I laugh at her expression and fill her up on our conversation on call and show her the texts.

"You really need to do something about this crackfest here", she says, pointing at my screen which is currently in pieces holding on just by sheer will.

The screen is me.

I nod, my focus on her face, trying to gauge her reaction as she reads the texts.

"You guys played twenty questions?" She laughs.

I shrug. I am a curious being and I channel my curiosity through safe routes like these games. I even played it with Halsey in the start, back when I met her in preschool. I guess old habits die hard.

Also, it was fun. Alex answered every question without any hesitation and it somehow turned into a rapid fire questionnaire, giving me insight on what makes Alex tick.

Here's what I found out:

Alex is 24 and has graduated from NYU, helping his dad out with the family business.

He has a pet kitten named Loki.

He likes photography but didn't pursue it as a career because he's not that confident about it.

He plays the guitar and can somewhat play the ukulele.

He once fell from the monkey bars in kindergarten and broke his wrist.

He grew his hair in the past two years. He once used to rock a mohawk too. A blue one.

He's Team DC. (The traitor named his kitten Loki because he liked the name, not the character)

He hates olives.

He has dated before (couldn't even remember how many girls) but is currently 'in the market'. He also added a lot of wink faces which I conveniently ignored.

He has an unhealthy obsession with soccer. Supports Manchester United. Loves Wayne Rooney. (gag)

He has a baby brother and a sister, twins, and they're in kindergarten.

He drives a black BMW.

He doesn't like mangoes. (blasphemy)

He has a six pack which he volunteered to show me before I called him a show off. After that, he took back his offer saying it's my loss. I couldn't help but agree.

"Boxers or briefs?" Halsey laughs, interrupting my musing.

Oh yeah, briefs.

"What, it's a valid question." I reply defensively.

She snorts and shakes her head, giving me back my phone. "Looks like you two are close friends now." She teases.

"Negative. He doesn't know anything about me." I smirk.

"And I intend to find out." Comes the deep voice from behind me.

Halsey looks up and says, "Speak of the devil."

I twist around to see Alex standing there grinning, with a confused Jay.

Oh, so this is the friend. Should've known.

He sits down next to me, leaving Jay to sit down next to Halsey across from us.

"Hello, there. Missed me?" Alex grins.

"Hi, Buttcrack. Not at all." I reply, smiling.

He laughs and puts his hand on his chest, acting wounded, then turns and nods at Halsey. I roll my eyes. Ever the drama queen.

Jay looks even more confused. "You guys know each other?" He looks at me, Halsey and Alex.

I crinkle my eyebrows. "Yeah? He invited us to the party on your behalf?"

"He did?" Jay asks, raising an eyebrow at Alex. I glance between the two. Something passes between them, silently communicating.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." Jay clears his throat. I look back at Alex, catching on to something. He ignores me and starts messing with his phone.

Hmm something's fishy. And I'm suddenly Curious Cat.

Halsey, oblivious to all of it, gets up and orders us all up to the counter to get the ice cream. I let her and Jay walk ahead and get in step with Alex.

"What was that about?" I ask.

"What was what about?" He answers, looking confused.

"Back at the booth. About the party invite. You told me Jay wanted me to come, right? Seemed like he didn't even know about you inviting us."

"Yeah, he did want you to come. He probably just forgot about it. Happens." He shrugs, dismissing the question.

I decide to drop it for the time being, and shrugging, I walk faster to catch up with Halsey and Jay at the counter.
"The usual" Halsey and I chant at the person behind the counter. We always come here and order the same thing that even the workers recognize us.

Jay and Alex order theirs and we take up our ice creams and settle back into our booths. This time, I manage to scoot next to Halsey, letting the guys sit together across from us.

Alex pouts. I laugh. Jay looks on with an unreadable expression. Halsey rolls her eyes at us.

I dig into my own ice cream which is covered with all kinds of toppings, sighing contentedly.

"So, Jay," Halsey focuses on him, "do you have a girlfriend?"

I cough. Way to go to be direct, Hals.

"No." Jay answers, looking at me while doing so. I blush and duck my head down, shoving a huge spoonful of ice cream in my mouth as a distraction.

Oh no. "Brain freeze." I mutter, rapidly blinking.

Jay puts his hand over mine on the table, a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

Taken aback by his sudden concern, I snatch my hand away from his. A look of hurt passes across his face. Feeling guilty, I put my hand back over his, saying "It's nothing, just a brain freeze. Don't worry."

He smiles and sits back, glancing at a frowning Alex.

I exchange a look with Halsey, her brow raised. I discreetly shrug, and continue scarfing down my precious ice cream.

Ice cream first, boys later.