Aces [#NANOWRIMO2017]

Ace Might Have A Career In Being An Orchestral Conductor

Tʜᴜʀsᴅᴀʏ, Fᴇʙʀᴜᴀʀʏ 8

———

After lunch was over, I walked back into the school so Sera wouldn't think that I was skipping classes. As soon as she'd gone into her class — right on time as always — I turned right around and left the school building, hoping that I didn't have any more classes with Sera for the rest of the day.

Matt and the rest of the gang was waiting for me when I reached the alley behind The Steak Shack. He'd given me a call the night before, telling me that he expected a status report on my progress with Sera. He also told me that Scott had decided to ask Lynne to sit with him tomorrow in order to give me a chance at catching Seraphine alone during lunch. "You better be thankful that we're making this so easy for you," he'd said.

"Eh," I'd responded, "I had it under control anyway." But honestly, I was pretty thankful. This would give me the opportunity to approach Sera, tell her that I'd forgiven her, which would make me seem generous and kind and therefore even more of an ideal boyfriend, or whatever. I didn't want to wait too long, either; if I stayed away from Sera, the awkward tension would do nothing but grow.

Plus, something about the idea of keeping my life Sera-free for longer than necessary bothered me. I'd already gotten used to her company, and I absolutely didn't want to lose it.

But this phone call from Matt had been a wake-up call of sorts. I had to keep my eye on the prize; no more getting caught up in my emotions or I could kiss my prize money goodbye.

I greeted the gang with a nod. "Hey, guys."

"Ace. Glad you're here," said Matt.

"Yep. Thanks, by the way, Scott," I said, looking directly at him. Scott looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah, no problem, dude... man... bro... pal."

"Dude man bro pal?" Rafael mimicked. "You feeling okay there, buddy? Wait, don't tell me — you enjoyed your little lunch with Lynne, didn't you? Awww, Scott likes Lynne..." He and Bradley made loud, obnoxious smooching noises.

"Cut it out, guys," Matt said impatiently. "Ace, how have you been doing with Seraphine? Any progress?"

"Why do you need to know?" I asked suspiciously. "You guys never did this for any of my other bets. What makes this one so special?"

"Well, for one, none of the other bets have lasted this long. Plus, this time, what you're doing in the time leading up to February 27th is even more important than the day itself, when you'll find out whether you get your two hundred—"

"Two hundred and fifty," I interrupted him. "Because lemme tell you, she's going to cry her eyes out."

Matt went on, unaffected. "Whether you get your two hundred, or you have to pay us two hundred."

"Plus, the fun part for us is watching you!" Scott piped up from beneath a barrage of increasingly loud smoochy noises.

"Scott, you sound like a stalker," I told him. Turning to face Matt, I said, "So you want to know what exactly...?"

"Well, how's your relationship with Seraphine far? Any concerns? Anything you think we should know?" Matt replied.

I thought about it for a moment. "Sera definitely trusts me. I'd say that at the moment, we're friends... kinda. And I started pushing for more romance and more flirting yesterday."

"Is that so? What have you learned about her?" Matt challenged me.

He's trying to intimidate me — call my bluff. Well, it's not going to work. "Actually, she's started to share her personal life with me. Those silver bracelets she always wears? They were a gift from her father from just after he divorced her mother. They mean the world to her," I said triumphantly. "Sera's... honestly pretty cool, if you get to know her," I added.