Blatantly Obvious

Best Friend Privileges

The noise in the lecture hall goes up a notch the moment the professor dismisses them for the  day, and Pick isn't even fazed when Porshe smiles up at him knowingly. He hands his best friend his stack of notes, notes penned haphazardly at the side, but still organized enough for it to be understood easily.

''Hey, dude.'' Kiet stops by their row and laughs when he spots Porshe hastily scribbling on his own set of notes. ''I can see why he hates this module the most. Anyway, a bunch of us are  getting together for lunch this weekend after training with some of the first years. Wanna join us?''

Pick immediately shoots his friend an apologetic look, ''Sorry, I've already got plans for the weekend after training. You guys go on ahead.''

''Got a date with Peen?'' Kiet asks, referring to the girl that Pick's been seeing lately.

''Nah.'' Pick slips his iPhone out of his pocket to check if he's got any notifications. ''I promised Rome that I'd take him to an art exhibition in town.''

''Dude, the only time that I don't see you with him is when both of you are in class. Doesn't Peen mind that you spend so much time with him?''

Pick doesn't really understand the meaning of the question, ''...why should she mind?''

''Isn't she jealous that you're always with him?''

''He's my best friend...?''

''Yeah, that's what you say. You've got a best friend who's cute and single, but you won't let me date him.'' Kiet ribs him playfully.

Porshe hands Pick back his notes and lightly pats Kiet on the shoulder, ''Don't take it personally, but Pick doesn't let anyone date Rome easily. You're not exactly the first in line, Kiet.''

Pick scowls at them, ''That's not true.''

''What about that guy he was seeing last semester? You scared that poor guy off.''

''It's not like Rome was serious about him or anything. Besides, he's not really Rome's type. I did him a favor by scaring that ass off.''

Kiet and Porshe exchange knowing looks, knowing a lost cause when they see one.

''Sure, that's what you've been saying about every guy that he dates.''

x.x.x

''Hey, is it okay if I pick Peen up first?''  

Over the years, Rome's come to a realization that most of the girls that Pick dates (or has dated) don't seem to take a liking to him. They seem to consider him a threat, which is completely ridiculous and laughable because he's the last person that they should worry about. 

Throughout the years they've been friends, Pick's dated a fair dozen of girls, but there hasn't been one that he's truly serious about. Or they dump him because they think that he's not ''serious'' and that he places too much priority on his best friend.

Peen was a girl that Pick had only recently started going out with and she had seemed pretty easygoing the first time they were introduced, so Rome's hoping that she's not going to turn out like the previous girls. It's weird because most of them get along well with him at first, but the longer they date Pick, that's when their personality does a complete three hundred and sixty. It's almost terrifying if it wasn't for the fact that he's more or less used to it by now.

A familiar honking sound snaps him out of his thoughts and Rome's exceptionally proud of himself that he's not late today. The passenger seat window rolls down a second later and Pick actually seems impressed that he doesn't have to abuse the horn of his car more than once today.