Luckily, Sean and I have the same class schedules, so I am with him all this time. He is actually fun to talk to, and we can get along well. He also invited me to eat dinner with his friends from other faculty to introduce me.
After the afternoon class, I will wait for Sean at the main gate to go together.
Then I suddenly heard Fran's voice. He was laughing with his new friends and talking while walking towards me.
I wanted to say hi and tell him I would be home late, but he just passed by without looking at me. He is pretending again not to know me.
Until when is he actually planning to do this? Is he really going to cut me off?
After a while, Sean came with a luxury car. Wow. Is this guy rich?
When we reach the restaurant, 4 of Sean's friends are already there.
" Sean! Here. "
" Oi. You're already eating without me. "
" That's because you took too long. Well, who is this? "
" Ahh. This is Rain. Rain, this is Mark, Rev, Chris, and Ricky. "
" Hello. " I just smiled at them shyly. I really don't know what to say. This is my first time meeting a lot of people like this.
" Rain. Come sit here. " Sean said while pulling the chair to let me sit.
" Ohhh. It's only the first day, and you already found a guy. And he's cute too. " Ricky said.
What? What do they mean? I look at Ricky, then at Sean, and his lips curve, and he laughs.
" Hey. Don't scare him like that. He's my friend in the faculty. We actually have the same class schedule. So it's like that. " Sean explained to them.
So we continued to eat, and I unexpectedly fit right away with their group. For the first time time I didn't feel like a third wheel. Rev and I have the same interests. We like books and arts. Mark is a musician. He can play a lot of instruments. I also like to write songs, so I can talk to him about this. Chris and Sean both like sports, so they want to join the soccer team. While talking, they always kept me from feeling out of place.
I had fun. Having friends like them is actually good. I have a good feeling with them.
When Sean dropped me home in his luxury car, the streetlights were dim.
"Thanks for today, Sean," I said, stepping out.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Rain. Looking forward to that lunch!" As his car pulled away, I saw a figure standing by the gate, holding a grocery bag.
It's Fran.
He watched the car go, then turned his gaze to me. His eyes were like ice. He didn't say a word as he turned his back and walked inside.
The apartment was silent when I entered. I took a quick bath and crawled into my bed, the room dark except for the glow of my phone. Sean added me to a group chat.
Sean: Are you asleep?
Me: Not yet.
Sean: I just wanted to say good night.
Ricky: Only to him? What about us?
I smiled at the screen.
"What are you doing?" The voice from the other bed made me jump. Fran was sitting up, his silhouette sharp in the moonlight.
"Who are you chatting with?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
"It's just Sean. Why?"
"Your phone light is annoying. I'm trying to sleep."
"Sorry," I whispered, pulling the blanket over my head to hide the glow. But he wasn't done.
"Is that the same guy who brought you home? Why were you out so late?"
"He introduced me to his friends. We had dinner."
"Tsk. Good for you."
My phone rang suddenly, a call from Sean. I stayed under the blanket, Sean just told me not to mind his friends teasing and tell him if I'm uncomfortable, so responded whispering a quick " It's okay, Let's sleep now, Good night" to him so I wouldn't disturb the peace.
The moment I hung up, the bathroom door slammed so hard the frame rattled. Fran had disappeared inside. I lay there in the dark, my heart thumping against my ribs.
We didn't talk. He hated me. He told me to get lost. But he was still watching the gate. He was still counting the minutes I was late. The silence of the house was gone, replaced by a tension so thick I could almost taste it. We were no longer the boys who couldn't be separated by a fever. We were something else now, and I was starting to realize that the "enemies" phase was only the beginning.