Sadaf, Mi Yun and I stood in the storage room, chatting before wind ensemble. Well, Sadaf and I were chatting while Mi Yun busied herself by texting someone on her phone.

        "Wow," Sadaf said with a hand on her flute case. "You actually told Jax about your crush on Brice?"

         "I didn't tell him," I corrected. "It kind of just came out."

        "Nice," Sadaf said with a snicker. "At least he knows what he's getting himself into when you start using him."

        I deadpanned. "I'm not using him."

        "I'm just glad he knows the truth." The bell rang, and she began putting her instrument together.

        With a sigh, I did the same. When Sadaf and I were finished, that was when I noticed Mi Yun stayed in the same position, texting.

        "Mimi," Sadaf said before I could. "The bell rang, you know."

        "Sorry." She finally looked up from her phone and scurried to where her clarinet case was.

        Sadaf and I followed her. "What's up with you?" I asked as she frantically put her instrument together.

        "Sabrina and I are going to the mall this weekend."

        I wrinkled my nose.

        They'd been texting a lot lately, but it remained just that.

        Texting.

        Now, they were making plans to actually hang out.

        "This is exciting." Sadaf wrapped an arm around Mi Yun with a grin in place. "What are you guys gonna do?"

        The three of us made our way out of the storage room but kept our pace slow.

        "Shopping. What else?" Mi Yun said it as if it was so obvious.

        For most people, it was, but not for Mimi.

        "You hate shopping," I said.

        "I know." Her eyes stayed forward.

        Mi Yun loved clothes, accessories and hair products, but she hated actually going to the store to purchase them. It was the weirdest thing.

        Now, she was going shopping with Sabrina Fraser.

        "Sabrina wants to shop, so we're gonna go shopping."

        "What about doing something you both wanna do?" I suggested as we made it to our seats. There was some distance between me and Sadaf and Mi Yun, but my attention remained on my friend. "You deserve to have fun, too, Mimi. It isn't all about Sabrina."

        Mi Yun perked a brow with a smirk. "Chill, Es. It's not that serious." It wasn't, but I didn't get a good feeling from this. "We all have to make sacrifices for love."

        Love? She wasn't even sure if Sabrina was into girls. Even if she was, I still didn't trust her.

        We placed our instruments down, and Mi Yun went to retrieve all of our music folders.

        "I need to go shopping, too, for some cosmetics," Sadaf said while we took a seat. "I'm running out."

        I was amazed Mrs. Bagheri hadn't found her stash of cosmetics yet.

        "You should go with them," I said while adjusting my stand to match my short stature.

        Sadaf sent me a look. "Third wheeling much?"

        "There's nothing to third wheel on. They're not dating."

        Sadaf smirked. "Not yet."

        I rolled my eyes, and Mi Yun returned, handing us our folders. "Talking about me?" she asked while returning to her seat.

        I grinned. "Always."

        She laughed, and Mr. Dwyer walked to the podium, marking the start of class. The only classes I was anxious about were psych and French. Psych because Brice was there, and I was always anxious because of that very fact, and French because we were getting our tests back that day. I was confident in my intelligence, but Jax wasn't a dumb guy either. He could give me a run for my money.

        I didn't mind though. It would make the win more satisfactory. There was nothing sexier than intelligence. I wondered if Brice was intelligent.

        I never caught glimpses of his grades when we got our test and assignments back, but maybe I should have.

        At least, he was sexy physically.

        One thing I hated was how much he talked to everyone who wasn't me, especially the other girls around him. Maybe it was because I wasn't mature enough.

        What qualified a girl as a "woman?"

        I was turning sixteen soon, so maybe it was time I started acting more mature. Only boys liked girls.

        I wanted a man.

        Or, the closest thing you could find to a "man" in high school.

        "What's got you daydreaming?" Jax asked me in French, and I playfully glared at him as he sat taking up too much space as usual.

        It was his fault I was daydreaming in the first place. Calling me "immature." But I didn't pout.

That was a start.

       "It doesn't concern you." I crossed my arms, matching his pose.

        "I know," he said with a smile. "You're daydreaming about me, aren't you?"

        I scoffed. "You're funny, Jax."

        He shrugged. "It comes naturally." I laughed harder, and the corner of his lips curled up. "Just don't tell me it's about Brice."

        "What if it is?" My gaze stayed on Madame LeBlanc as she passed out our tests.

        I tried to appear as relaxed as possible, despite my heart pounding in my chest. My hands were made into fists while I crossed them, which made the perspiration worst in my palms.

        I couldn't lose this bet.

        "If it is about Brice, then you're pretty predictable," Jax said, and I watched him.

        "You say that like it's a bad thing."

         "It is bad," he said. "'Predictable' is boring."

        "'Predictable' is safe," I countered. "Sometimes you need a little safety and security."

        "Predictable doesn't always equal safety," he said, and Madame LeBlanc got closer. "Bad situations can be predictable. Sometimes, it can be a person's reality." I studied him as we held eye contact.

        Were we still talking about me?

        Madame LeBlanc was closer to his side, and Jax smirked. "I know. You're worried about losing, and you should be."

        "We'll see."

        Madame LeBlanc handed him his test before moving over to hand me mine. As she walked away, I refused to look down at the paper.

        I couldn't do this.

        Jax chuckled. "What did you get, Estella?" He glanced over at me with a spark in his eyes.

     Oh, no.

        He did well.

        "What did you get?" I asked.

        "You can't answer a question with a question."

        "Yes, I can," I said.

        Wait!

        That wasn't very mature.

        Ugh.

        "Fine," I grumbled and tightened my grip on the paper.

        Here goes nothing.

        With a slow inhale and exhale, I peeked down at my paper, and my breath hitched in my throat.

        Ninety-seven!

        I got a ninety-seven.

        I bit my lip to hold in any childish sounds, but my smile couldn't be hidden.

        He nudged my elbow. "What is it?"

        "Ninety-seven," I answered, and his face fell.

        I raised a brow when his expression went back to normal. "T-that's nothing." He averted his gaze.

        "Oh no, you don't." I reached for his test, but he held me back. "What's your score?" He continued to keep his test out of my reach, making my suspicions grow. "You know mine. It's only fair for you to share yours."

        He grabbed his test and outstretched the arm he held it in away from me. "Life isn't fair, Estella."

        "Iago," I said through gritted teeth.

        He was being very bad right now.

        He leaned his head closer to me, but the test was still out of reach. "Who knew I would have missed you calling me that?"

        "Jax," I whined, finally sitting back without fighting him anymore. "Come on."

        We stared at each other—me trying to look as cute as possible while he narrowed his eyes at me. I refused to give in, and after a while, his expression softened.

        "Fine," he sighed before handing me the test. "Here you go."

        I resisted the urge to squeal as I grabbed the paper and compared our two scores.

        He got a ninety-four.

        I won!

        I couldn't control it anymore, and I squealed and bounced in my chair for a couple seconds before getting a hold of myself. I cleared my throat as I sat still and got a grip.

        Mature women didn't gloat. Even when they out-scored guys like Jax Velasco.

        "You won, Estella—fair and square," Jax said with his bored expression coming back. "I'll do whatever you want for the next week."

        "Thank you, Jax." A grin spread on my face while I handed him back his test. "My demands are quite simple actually. All I want is for you to drive me home every day I don't have band practice. That's only two days, including today. Also, starting tomorrow, I want you to buy me bubble tea every morning. Don't worry. I'll provide you with the money. I'll also ask for other favors when the time seems appropriate."

       Jax stared at me. "What have I gotten myself into?"

       I grinned. "Something amazing—for me, at least." I lightly smacked his arm with a giggle, and he shook his head in disapproval.

        "I'm not so sure about driving you home today," he said, and my grin dissipated. "Brice and I are meeting up after school to hang out."

        My grin returned. "Perfect. Take me with you."

        His eyes went wide. "What?"

        "That's another demand," I said. "You're hanging out with Brice today." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "I like Brice. Hook a girl up."

        "You've got to be kidding me." He scrunched up his face. "What the fuck am I? Some match-maker?"

        "No." I wagged my finger at him with my voice returning to normal. "You're my friend, and you're Brice's friend, too. So, why don't you be a good mutual friend and introduce us?"

        "You've already met," he pointed out. "At the party."

        Why was he such a smart aleck?

        "Yeah," I said with a slow nod, "but we didn't become acquainted with each other. Time to change that."

        I smiled while he glared at me, but I didn't miss the smile he held back. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

        "Yes, I am."

        This was perfect. I aced my French test. Beat Jax. And now, I was getting an opportunity to hang out with Brice. This day couldn't get any better.

        "Fine," Jax said with an exaggerated sigh. "You can come."

        I squealed again, not even caring anymore that it was immature. "Great. Where do we meet?"

        "I'm gonna regret this," he muttered under his breath, but I didn't care.

        He could regret it all he wanted, but I was never going to forget this day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* After this chapter, The Mutual Friend becomes a lot more interesting, in my personal opinion. 😊