The Third Wheel

The Third Wheel - Part 14

Jordan was at loss of what to do. He was at the edge of his bed, topless. Despite the chilly wind outside, Jordan felt warm. It always happens whenever Jordan feels emotional; no matter if he was angry, confused or even scared. Maybe it was due to the shock of his parents' divorce, he doesn't know. He hugged his knees, his eyes glazed over. He was still confused of his feelings. Who does he actually have feelings for? He remembered his encounter during lunch that day.

Flashback....

Jordan looked up, and saw Robert's figure getting nearer to him, his face cool. "Bobbles?" Jordan said, biting his lip. As far as Jordan know him, Robert has never been emotional. He's always been either sleepy, blur or thinking about mango pudding. So when Jordan called him the nickname that Samantha gave him, he was expecting another expression. He almost laughed when he saw Robert's face instantly going red. "Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That" Robert said, biting off his every word filled with acid. Jordan  looked away, stifling his laugh. After a few minutes, Jordan already calmed himself down. When he looked at Robert, he saw that even Robert has calmed down. They sat there, the two of them on the ground. This was their friendship. When Jordan's with Samuel, they would taunt at each other, blackmailing each other and challenging each other with bizarre dares. But when Jordan's with Robert, he could feel at ease; they could sit there for an hour or so and whenever Jordan wanted to pour his feelings out, Robert will be his listener. Robert never talk back, nor does he ever try to embarrass him. 

In fact, Robert was the only one who could understand his inner feelings. Even though Samuel knew about it, Jordan wasn't sure whether his childhood friend understood it. There were reasons he was called the 'kind playboy'. Back in freshman year and even now, Jordan had always been popular. His handsome looks and cheerful personality not only attracts the female population, even his male peers favour him. He was always surrounded by women, and during that time, Jordan didn't mind the attention considering he was trying to heal his wounded heart; from Kimberley's rejection and his mother's absence. He thought that by going out with lots of girls, he could make Kimberley realise that she was losing something, even if it was only a little. Even so, Jordan cared for all the girls that he go out with. Due to his kindness, most of the girls would ask him a favour; to make their boyfriends jealous or to heal their broken heart after being dumped. Jordan willingly went out with them, and thus being a couple with those girls. Maybe it was because Jordan didn't have his heart in the relationship or maybe his ex-girlfriends sensed that he wasn't in love with them, they all broke up with him. They didn't hate him, they just didn't want to take advantage of his kindness and they wanted to at least have a man to love them for who they were, not for pity. Jordan realised this, so he stopped going out with multiple girls. Even though he tried to have a solid relationship, he wasn't able to keep it for long. Reason: he didn't have his heart in the relationship. He was not surrounded by girls like before, but he still has his admirers. Even so, he wanted to have a special someone in his heart, someone other than Kimberley.

That was why, when he was attracted by Sophie, he pursued her. But when he saw Samuel making a move on Sophie, his feelings were jumbled up. He was angry, but who was he angry for? Was it for him, for not saving Sophie? Or was it for Sophie, who was being taken advantaged of by two men, which was Scott and Samuel? Or, as he feared, was he angry for Kimberley, when he saw her boyfriend talking to someone other than her? Jordan put his hand on his head, almost ignoring that Robert was right beside him, watching his every move. Robert did what he always do whenever he sees Jordan like this: he patted his head. Robert and even Jordan did not know why, but whenever Robert did that, Jordan always calmed down. Robert thought that maybe Jordan just didn't receive a lot of affection from his father, though he knew Jordan wouldn't admit that.

"What's bothering you again, Jo?" Robert said, his voice even. Jordan leaned back, his face looking at the sky. "Hey, Rob, you remembered last night I called you? The plan?" Jordan asked Robert instead. Robert looked at Jordan, but replied anyway, "Yeah. Why?". Jordan let out a sad smile. "Thing is, I planned it since I wanted to know, where does my heart lie?" Jordan said, his tone low. Robert did not need to ask him what he was talking about. "Kimberley or Sophie, huh?" Robert said, his voice calm. Jordan then let out a chuckle. "You're not angry? That I seem to not be serious with Sophie?" Jordan asked, his tone light. Robert shook his head slightly. "Idiot. If you weren't serious with her, you wouldn't be worried about your feelings for her" he replied. Jordan let out an absent-minded smile when he heard the word 'idiot'. "Yeah, maybe I am an idiot. I've gone out with beautiful girls, yet I hurt them. My mind's still with her, Robert" Jordan said, his tone sad. Robert did not say anything, letting Jordan continue. "I was scared, when I realised that my heart always skips a beat faster whenever I see Sophie. I always thought: Is she the one? Will she really heal my heart? Or is she just like the others, ending up hurt by my own selfishness? I just can't make a step, Robert". Robert kept quiet, thinking deep. "Let me ask you a questionnaire then" Robert said suddenly, and if Jordan wasn't mistaken, he seemed to see a gleam in his eyes. "Eh? Uh, sure...?" Jordan replied.

"Does your heart skip a beat when you see Sophie?" Robert asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to take her heart?" 

"Yes"

"Do you think it's a waste of time to get it?"

"What?! NO!" Jordan replied, his tone angry.

Robert then smiled. "Do you want to protect her, not only for the Golden Event, but for eternity?" Robert asked. Jordan calmed down, and blushed, "Y-yeah...". "There you have it. I think, Jordan, Sophie may be the one for you. I don't like saying this: But maybe you have experienced similar situations like you just mentioned, so Sophie, who's the total opposite to your type of girl, will be the one who will make you go crazy. Your heart seems to know, that all this time, a girl like Kimberley won't make you happy, so you started to like a girl like Sophie. I will ask you this again, though, are you ready to face the challenges that you will be facing once you try to become closer to Sophie?" Robert said. Jordan sat there, speechless. "I will".

Present...

Jordan lay down on his floor, then rolled his body to his white Persian carpet. He felt his body being tickled by the carpet, but he ignored it; it kept him awake, anyway. Even when Robert told him all those words, he was a bit unconvinced. Though, Robert may be quite right. He was too worried to not hurt Sophie, even though he only knew her as the student council president, Samantha's good friend, Robert's cousin and Samuel's classmate. By the way, what was with Samuel, anyway? Why did he say that she was an important person? Jordan groaned as he realised this. So far, there were already three people who seem to warn him not to hurt Sophie; Robert, Samantha(though secretly) and Samuel. He chuckled. Seems that he couldn't look down on Sophie. No, he shouldn't. He then grabbed his phone. He fiddled with it until he found it. A photo of someone. He stared at it.

The picture was of a jet-blacked hair girl, her long hair being teased by the wind. She had on a beautiful smile, her face bright. Her cheeks were slightly red, maybe due to the cold weather. She looked so happy in that picture, Jordan couldn't help but smile. He scrolled another picture. This time, it was a picture of a sleeping strawberry-blonde girl. Her face looked so innocent in this picture, her mouth half-pouting. Jordan remembered that when he took this exact picture, the girl whispered her boyfriend's name softly in her dreams. He remembered how sad he felt after he took it, regretting to be there. He tried to secretly kiss her, but stopped mid-way. Instead, he sent the picture to Samuel, and they both got a good laugh after she woke up. Suddenly, he gasped. When he looked at the sleeping Kimberley in his phone, he felt a touch of sadness, unlike the usual, where he felt his chest tightened with sadness. He scrolled back to Sophie's picture. THAT picture made his chest tighten, not in sadness, but it hurts. He knew that feeling. He fell in love with her. He deleted Kimberley's picture, and stared back at Sophie's picture. He tried to remember how did he get this picture of Sophie. He suddenly remembered when he saw Sophie's smiling face. He got this picture earlier today, where Sophie was chasing a beautiful-looking girl in the school yard. He couldn't help but feel jealous when he saw Sophie smiling. No, he was actually jealous of the other person. What was her name? Lynn? Well, he was jealous of this Lynn person, melting away Sophie's cool exterior. In fact, he wanted to be the person to make Sophie that way. He decided that he should do something for him to be able to freely take Sophie's picture. He was embarrassed of himself for secretly taking a picture of Sophie. He's going to get her. He smiled to himself. As he put back his phone, he knew where his feelings are now. He was going to launch his plan tomorrow, for the Golden Event.

TO BE CONTINUED