It's been about two weeks since the two new girls transferred to Manhattan High School, and things were going pretty well for Samuel Seabury. Mary had quickly become one of his best friends, and Samuel was delighted. But on a more important topic, for him at least, was that Y/N quit a couple of the clubs that she did with the vermin, and started coming home earlier with him. All in his world was at peace. But, oh god, was that about to change.

It was the lunch bell at last. Huge classes of kids come flooding through the halls like a school of fish. But usually, when there is a big school of fish near, there's also a shark. George walked the halls, Charlotte hanging off of every word on his tongue. Most people just rolled their eyes, Samuel included. But today was different. Today, everything seemed to hold like a wave, as if waiting to crash onto the shore. But not everyone noticed, especially Samuel, Charles, and Mary, who were too busy talking about the latest Broadway hits.

"DEAR EVAN HANSEN IS BETTER THAN BEETLEJUICE!" yelled Lee at Samuel. "It doesn't take a genius to notice that!!" Mary just sighed, mumbling something along the lines of "men" and "idiots".

"I know you are dense, Lee, but you can't be that dumb. Or you can, who did you try to start a fight with again? OH YEAH! John freaking Laurens, who's been taking boxing for 10 years!"

"Shut up!" Lee murmured. Samuel just laughed and patted him on his back. "It's alright, Charles. We still like you anyway!" Mary looked up, nodded, then went back to her book.

"Does anybody know what's going with George and Charlotte lately?" said Lee, breaking the comfortable silence. Samuel tensed at this but relaxed a bit. "Y/N told me that Charlotte is very nice, and wants to be friends with her. Y/N talked with George too and she knows he only loves her," said Samuel. "God, that was hard to say without cursing him out." he thought.

"Well, that's good! I mean, as long as she's happy. That's all we want right?" said Lee. Samuel nodded but was internally crying. "That's all I'll ever want for her," he said.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Math, Science, Music, then Art. Honestly, Art was his favorite for two reasons. One, he loved to paint and could do so in Art. And two, that was a class he had with Y/N. And as he walked into the room, he saw the light, an angel, Aphrodite herself, beauty, grace-

"Samuel? Are you there?" Y/N said as the bell ringed, waving her hand in front of his face. Samuel blinked a couple of times, realizing where exactly he was and who exactly was talking to him. He blushed but smiled and said "Present!" Y/N chuckled at this, which made him just melt like butter. "Well, that's good, because I need another set of eyes to help me. So let's go!" she said impatiently, crossing her arms while tapping her foot. He nodded, happily following her over to her station. Before he could make it over there, a small hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Sammy, I need to ask a favor? Can you come over to my house today, and help me with my project? Lee is busy today and I need a partner to help me." Samuel looked over at Y/N, looking for approval. She smiled and nodded. Samuel turned back to her and grabbed her hand absentmindedly, "I'd love to!"

~ Time Skip 2 Hours Later~

Samuel and Mary had just finished working on her project and had gone into her kitchen to get some chocolate. Samuel sat on the counter, swinging his dangling legs while Mary sat in her chair.

"Hey Samuel?" "Yeah, Mary?" "Do you wanna Truth or Dare?" she inquired. He pondered this for a moment before answering her. "I've never played that before, can you explain it to me?"

She smiled, "Sure! One person asks you truth or dare, and you answer with one of them. If you pick truth, you have to answer whatever question the person asks you. If you pick dare, they give you something to do and you have to do it."

Samuel nodded immediately, "That sounds like great fun!" "Awesome! I'll go first! Alright, truth or dare?" Samuel thought about it. "I'll go with a dare." Mary smiled "I dare you to kiss me."

Samuel's face blossomed with a huge blush. "You want me to- I mean, you want ME to- You want me to kiss you?!" He said, absolutely shocked. His brain couldn't even process this, but his heart was torn. Half was screaming "It feels so right, you should do it! It would be so hot." and the other half was screaming "YOU IDIOT NO!! YOU WOULD PASS UP Y/N FOR MARY?? NOT HAPPENING!" so he didn't know how to feel.

As if reading his mind, Mary added "We don't even need to be a couple, unless you want afterward. I've been told my kisses are...hypnotic. And you don't need to tell Y/N. C'mon, what do you say?" as she traced his arm. Samuel bit his lip, contemplating this. "I think I..."

*leaves hole* Hello wonderful people! I finished a chapter, YAY! Another one should be out by Friday, but I have 4 tests this week so I'm not sure. This was an...interesting chapter write not going to lie. But until the next chapter, have a great day/night and week!

Thank you all for all of your support, Marie 💖