Love Is a Losing Game // Joel Pimentel

37 | Sincerity

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Joel's POV

"Okay, I think we got this," Blu breathes out to me with a determined look in her eyes. "Yeah, totally," I nod in agreement and slip my hands into my pockets as she closes the laptop we had just practiced our presentation on.

Running through the project for the last time outside of the class, we were now due to present in front of the body of teenagers that would either love it or hate it.

Just lovely.

Blu was slightly nervous but I could also feel the confidence radiating off of her as she flipped through her note cards and practiced the words on them without looking at the cards.

I shake my head amused and she exhales before nodding, "I'm good to go." She gives me a fist bump and I smile before giving it back. "Let's go," she says excitedly.

I chuckle and we walk into class just as Yoandri and Celine finish their presentation. People around us clap and as we go up, Yoandri takes a seat but not before smacking his shoulder into my own. I roll my eyes and let Blu plug in the laptop to the projector, the class in a state of whispered conversations. Once she's finished, she inhales and looks over to me as if to say Go.

"My name is Joel Pimentel, this is Andrea Blu Matthews, and today we are going to be presenting our project," I begin.

Blu takes the lead and then we switch off halfway through, the ending being presented by both of us. At the end we both say, "Thank you for your time," and smile at the crowd. They begin to clap moderately and we go back to our desks, hearts full and chests free of stress for the time being.

The teacher smiles at us and shoots us a thumbs up just as the other group begins to set up their presentation. Blu nudges me and I turn to see her smiling at me, "We did so good!" she whispers.

I nod and return her smile, "We sure did, princesa."

***

After class, I walk Blu to her next class and before she enters we have a quick conversation. "Hey, so I know everything is like going on and all, but I just wanted to say it was fun getting to know you on this project. It's been really dope," she says with a soft expression on her face.

"Yeah, it really has," I nod in agreement. She smiles and gives me a quick hug before looking up at me, "I'm gonna miss hanging out with you."

Her eyes emphasized the sincerity that was laced into her voice. Underneath all of that I could also make out all of the words she couldn't say but truly wanted to.

The bell rings just as I open my mouth to respond and both of a us release a breath we didn't know we were holding. I smile, "Okay, well. Talk more later?" I say after a moment of silence. Blu nods and walks into her class but not before nudging me goodbye.

***

It was finally time.

After taking a shower, I change into my suit with the baby blue tie and do my hair to perfection. My reflection said I looked great but my insides weren't doing very well.

The dread in the pit of my stomach just kept growing and growing, I just knew something was gonna happen at the ball and it just made me more anxious. It didn't help that I couldn't tell if it was gonna be good or bad.

I finally sigh and grab all my necessities for the night before spraying on some cologne, and going downstairs.

My dads back faces mine as I turn to the right on my way to the door and he stops me with ample time. "Well, look who it is!" my father grins as he replies to a notification on his phone.

I give him a tight lipped smile in return and nod, "Joel, your son." I check the time and huff, "Who is now late to winter ball." My father chuckles before patting my back twice and looking at his phone as another text comes rolling in.

I take the free time to grab the keys to the car I was gonna use tonight and in the midst of that realize that Blu was still in use of one of my vehicles.

She better not have harmed my child.

"Hey tomorrow we have a meeting, starts at 7, don't be late," my father says as he answers an email on his device, simultaneously pulling me out of my thoughts.

I look over to him, extremely confused at his words, "What do you mean?" He holds up a finger which causes me to silently groan. "I mean you're my son, I need you there. Since when don't you come?" he says as he looks up.

I furrow my eyebrows, genuinely not caring about his words or his pride for that matter. "If it is not my company, why must it be of my concern?"

"Because, as I just said, you're my son. People need to know that you're well-rounded."

"And what if I don't come?"

"Not an option."

I huff and yank the door open, my mouth now set in a straight line. "Very well, father dearest. Wouldn't want to upset the other companies you kiss up to," I say as I slam the door shut.

I jog down to the garage, open the car, and slide in, already done with the evening and everything it stood for. I slip my phone out of my pocket, type in Payton's address, and start to drive to her household.

Once there, I get out the car and walk up to her door. I look at her house for a second before glancing down and pressing the doorbell twice. She opens it up, excited. "Ah, hi! I'm so excited!" she beams.

I can't help but return a smile at her excitement and she grabs the purse next to her on a coat hanger before grabbing my waiting elbow and closing the door behind her.

"Don't your parents want pictures?" I ask with a confused expression as we begin to walk down to my vehicle. Payton shakes her head, "Nah. I told them it was cool and that'd I'd take pics myself."

I nod in understanding and open the car door for her, smiling as she gives me a mumble of thanks. After closing the door, I go over to my side and hop in.

"Ready?" I ask her as I turn on the engine and close my door. She nods once and smiles, "Yeah. Let's go."

***

The first thing I notice when I get to the venue is how many people are already there. The second thing I notice is that all these people were looking at one person in particular, in surprise apparently.

I grab Payton's wrist and she looks over to me, "What're they looking at over there?" She registers my words over the booming music, glances over, and smiles, "Blu."

My breath catches in my throat as we go closer to take a look. But then Blu laughs and the rest of the crowd disperses, amused as well. They immediately begin talking about her and when I look over to her I realize why.

She had a natural make up look, with a red dress that hugged her beautifully. Her legs showed through the slit that lay on her right side and she looked so breathtakingly gorgeous, I couldn't think right.

Blu catches my gaze and smiles at me, a toothy grin that leaves me warm all over and makes my heart beat in my ears. I look as Yoandri slips his arm onto her waist and smirks at me before leading her away from where I stood.

It's then that the reality of it all set on me; Blu wasn't here at this function with me, she was with the person that had ruined whatever we could have built.

And now she won't even believe when I say I love her.

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a/n

i binged watch twilight: and it's still relevant.