Chapter 11: Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me
"...And then she just nodded?" Ambrosia repeated as if the information was entirely alien, as if he had just told her that he witnessed a cow get up on its two hind legs and go shopping for a hundred percent fat-free milk. The look of confusion on her face was nothing short of endearing in the eyes of Terrance who was entirely enamored with the girl.
He would've returned the look if it wasn't the third time he was relaying the story to her. Now, all he felt was nonchalance and the emerging feeling of worry as he thought of what to do once the weekend came to an end.
Simple enough, he reminded himself, just follow Felicity around and be sickeningly sweet, nothing more. He didn't need to solve the dispute between the two clubs, he wasn't obligated to, but on the off chance that he could, in order to earn the workaholic secretary's favor, he knew Rose would be the one to come up with an idea on how to deal with the two greatly dissimilar clubs.
Creativity shone brightly in those lovable brown irises. That, and the girl had grown a recent interest in high school dramas.
He thought it'd be enough reason to run to her for help (when in truth, he just wanted to spend more time with her).
Rose seemed to think otherwise because after hearing the story for the third time, she immediately pulled her phone out of her dress' pocket and dialed a number unfamiliar to Terrance. He heard her babble on and on about the problem, exaggerating some—hell, most of the details, and then immediately begging for a solution.
He felt a jealous pang in his chest as her expression went from slightly irritated to tremendously grateful in a minute.
After she put the phone down, Terrance was quick to interrogate. "Who was that?"
He didn't mean to sound so accusatory, the fear of seeming controlling over his senior when he had no right to be was one of his greatest fears. But Rose didn't seem to mind, with a hum and a split second of a questioning expression, she answered, "Oh, Lucy. She's part of the theater club so I thought she'd have a solution. She just took it as an opportunity to join our mall date."
His face flushed from the usage of the word "date." Although he knew she meant it platonically, some part of him wanted to feed into his delusions. He could pretend that they were a lovely couple taking a stroll on the mall, her arms hooked around his like they were now, as they showered each other in romantic anecdotes.
"I would massacre this entire establishment to see you smile, my Ambrosia." Terrance would tell her.
It was pathetic, especially because they were there to look for a gift for Hugh Windsor whose birthday was conveniently on the first day of school after the weekend.
But it didn't have to be that. If he closed his eyes hard enough, it didn't have to be another day spent pleasing Rose's obsession, a wretched image of her bloody shrine conjuring up in his head before it was immediately replaced by something more pleasant.
Ambrosia could be trying on the clothes he chose for her, swirling around in a pretty sundress that complimented her complexion. A plethora of confusing emotions bubbled up from his chest, but his practiced stoicism hid it from the eyes of the outside world.
The thought of matching outfits with Ambrosia broke through the wall he worked so damn hard to build throughout the years, and his infatuation came out in bursts, like water exploding from a broken dam.
He didn't expect a full-on coughing fit from it. The humiliation started to sink in as Rose patted and rubbed his back in comfort. He wheezed out, hand planted firm on the Mall's massive fountain to support himself, his unpleasant noises overpowering the sound of his senior's reassurances.
Oh god, this was real. This was real and he looked like an absolute dolt.
"Oh my gosh. Are you okay?! Did you eat something you were allergic to?!" Rose yelled a bit too loudly, garnering the attention of a few passersby. He winced as he felt a multitude of eyes on him, one or two comments about how he looked like a celebrity reaching his ears.
He would've felt flattered if he wasn't choking on his own spit, and if he wasn't the sole Hunton heir who only ever cared about one person's opinion.
Ambrosia's eyes melted into a look of guilt as she noticed the gathering crowd. Terrance, on the other hand, was still struggling to balance out his breath. If someone hired a hit on him at those very moments, he wouldn't have minded. In fact, he'd be grateful.
Stuttering when Rose roughly grabbed his hand, the prodigy couldn't do anything but force his six-foot frame to be dragged along as she sprinted to a more secluded store, successfully losing the myriad of people who liked to stick their noses into other people's business.
Once he regained his composure, which was an entirely embarrassing task alone, he recognized the faint feeling of wanting to die accompanied by his senior's look of concern. The worry in those brown eyes assassinated all his up-and-coming thoughts about staying hidden in his room for the next decade, and he was forced into silence as she gently rubbed his back.
Maybe having a coughing fit in public where almost everyone gawked at him wasn't so bad.
His thoughts were short-lived as Ambrosia stepped away, looking like she was preparing herself to sprint away from the empty store.
"Just wait here! I'll get you something to drink!" She exclaimed, taking off without looking for Terrance to agree. He would've huffed and asked her to stay, preferring her company over a soft drink, but he didn't have a chance to. Ambrosia had always been a spontaneous one.
He had been looking around, spotting a familiar character keychain, and realizing that it was the mascot of his favorite horror novel when another spontaneity arrived to complicate his otherwise wholesome day.
The girl with the red-dyed hair was utterly unfamiliar at first. Terrance was convinced that she was a stalker at first, eyes whipping from one corner of the store to another, searching for a sensible as the stranger went on and on like she was his childhood friend about something he couldn't care less about.
"Hey, junior! Are you even listening?!" His eyes snapped impossibly wide in realization. Lucy. The one he'd been trying to haphazardly avoid was Lucy.
He was about to reply with undignified coldness, avoid her, and get the interaction done and over with when he remembered what exactly occurred in the last week. Right. He was a changed man, a good one.
So instead, he waved a small wave, a rather awkward wave, and tried to look as apologetic as he could. "My apologies, I didn't recognize you. Did you dye your hair, senior?"
"Good eye! I did. I was having a breakdown in the bathroom over my Chemistry grade, good thing Rose was there before I could do anything stupid."
The implications didn't fly past him. "You were with Rose?"
"Why? Jealous?" She quipped, face resembling one's of a mischievous cat if mischievous cats had dark red fur.
He felt like he had gotten caught in the middle of committing a crime. And at the rate he was going with the whole Hugh Windsor situation, the possibility wasn't unlikely.
He still had to do his best to save himself though which prompted him to deliver the fakest smile of the century.
"Why would you think that—?"
"Oh, come on! Everyone at school can see that you two totally have the hots for each other."
"N— no, it's not..."
"It's not...?"
He sighed. "It's not mutual."
The now redhead's expression morphed into one of absolute disbelief, mouth forming a perfect 'o' as her hands flew into the air.
"No way! You're kidding, right? All that girl talks about is you. She even threatened us not to go for you or else she'd tear us a new one—"
Blood rushed up Terrance's face, his ears and neck reddening along with it. "What? When did she say that?"
"A few weeks ago."
"W— why would she say that?"
"Obviously because she's into you! I mean, I was too, but then I found out that you're a pretty stingy guy, although a lot of girls seem to like you for the heartless bad boy appeal. And Rosia seems pretty into you which means you're off-limits—"
"I still don't believe what you're saying." He huffed out, turning away from the chatterbox of a senior in favor of looking around the shelves of the trinket store. He'd given up on trying to maintain a facade, realizing that Lucy was much too... obnoxious, in the most respectful way he could possibly say it. She and Ambrosia were similar in that manner, but Ambrosia's energy was endearing, flexible, attentive, and never holding back in affection, Lucy's was all-consuming, rudely attempting to steal his space and attention on her own terms.
She was a bit too much for him, something he noted as he tried to steer the attention away from the topic with another turn of his foot, rotating into another shelf. "She's into—"
"Hugh Windsor, I know." She finished for him, a look screaming 'no shit Sherlock' pointedly directed at his stubborn denial. He would've been offended by her gall, but it was overpowered by his jealousy. Did Ambrosia talk about Hugh a lot too?
"I don't know. Something about those two feels off, Hugh is basically a walking stone statue. I mean, you aren't any better around other people, but at the very least you make her feel loved. You and I know she deserves better than what Hugh can give."
He did, he knew it too well. He couldn't guarantee that he was the better in this scenario, but at the very least, he'd work his bones off to give Ambrosia the treatment she deserved.
His chances were still near zero, however, so he had to be compliant to Ambrosia's wishes all the while sabotaging her ideal romantic relationship by playing matchmaker. He had to be intelligent in other words, although he was confident he'd been making a fool of himself the past few days.
"D— do you think I have a chance with her?"
"Duh. Why do you think I'm being so insistent?"
"Tell me how, then. How do I win her over?"
As if on cue, Ambrosia came stumbling into the store selling niche collectibles, dress drenched in areas they shouldn't have been, at least according to Lucy's panicked thoughts.
Looking like she had just run a marathon, the girl stretched her hand out to Terrance while she held on to her knees, the orange juice embraced by her hand and sweat making his heart thump loudly against his ribcage.
Panting, the girl asked, "What are you guys talking about? The club dispute?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone