All of Escuro's attempts to talk to Manzano probably ended the same way. She couldn't do it properly because she was still embarrassed. That was my conclusion after that day, but now I'm starting to think that might not be the case at all.
On Friday, I attempted to invite Manzano three times. First, during break, I invited him to the cafeteria. Second, after school, I asked him to walk home with me again. And for the last one, at night, I messaged him directly, asking if we could hang out this weekend. Since it was already several attempts, you can probably tell that all of them were rejected. Even worse, the last one was left on read.
Trying not to think negatively, I told myself Manzano was just tired. He probably forgot to reply and likely went straight to sleep early. That's what I want to believe, but the possibility that he's just avoiding me can't be ignored.
So I turned to Ponce for help. That same night, I messaged her.
This wasn't our first time messaging each other on Messenger. Rather, it had always been one-sided. During the silence in our group chat, she had been messaging me, demanding that I report every move Escuro made. Since I didn't know anything myself, I just ignored her messages. So this was my first time replying to her.
[Hey, I want your help.]
After sending that message, three dots appeared on her side. They hovered for a long while before disappearing, and then a reply came in.
[Oh? And you just decided to reply now?]
Even though it was just a message, I could feel her frustration through it. Her glaring eyes, even if only metaphorically, seemed to pierce through my screen.
[So, what do you want?]
Look at her. After bugging me so many times on Messenger, now it was as if she were the one being bothered.
Ignoring her attitude, I replied, [You know. The thing about Escuro and Manzano.]
[And? Did something happen?]
[Oi, stop acting clueless. I know you saw us yesterday.]
Since Escuro's invitation happened in our classroom, many people obviously saw it.
Ponce went quiet after that. Her typing indicator disappeared and didn't return. I don't know whether she was still in the chat, but even so, without waiting, I continued replying.
I told her what Escuro and I had discussed that day, how Escuro had tried but failed. I also shared what happened later, when I tried inviting Manzano myself, only to be avoided.
After reading my story, the three dots appeared again. Then Ponce finally replied.
[What did you do to make Manzano hate you?]
[Not that I remember. Now do you understand why I need your help?]
[I see. Alright, I'll try talking to Manzano.]
[Thanks. I appreciate it.]
That was where our conversation ended.
Then Sunday came. I was in a video call with Escuro.
Facing my phone, I heard a sniffling sound from the other side of the call. I couldn't see her face, but I knew she was crying.
[M-Manzano proably hates mi!]
"Calm down. Tell me what happened."
Even though she didn't say it, I could already guess what had happened.
After the talk I had with Ponce, the very next day, she tried asking Manzano out.
I don't know why Escuro was involved, but what I do know is that Ponce asked Manzano in our group chat.
Since they were friends, I thought Manzano would naturally accept, but to my surprise, even her invitation was declined.
[Whaut du I do, Dawleno? Hi relli hates me.]
Overwhelmed by her emotions, Escuro couldn't even answer my question properly.
"Alright, alright. I'll do something, so wipe your tears and don't lose hope."
Escuro sniffed and tried to reply, [Pwease du.]
With her still crying, I ended the call.
How did it come to this?
Wanting answers, I sent a message to Ponce after the call.
[Let's talk.]
[Tomorrow.]
***
Tomorrow, Monday came.
It was break time, and I left the classroom early as soon as it started.
I had sent Ponce a message earlier, telling her that we would meet outside the main building. It was to avoid catching our classmates' attention, like what happened with Escuro.
To make it less suspicious, I left the room first, and Ponce followed a little later.
After waiting outside the main building, she finally arrived.
"Any good place to talk?" she asked right away.
"I know a place, but we can't eat there."
"I'm fine with that. Besides, I didn't buy anything anyway."
Hearing her answer, I guided her to the spot where we would talk. The garden.
"Here?"
I nodded in reply.
We sat on the bench near the fountain. Once settled, she started speaking, but I reached out my hand, palm raised, signaling her to stop.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"Wait a second."
The reason I stopped her was that I saw someone approaching from behind her.
"We're not going to eat. See? We don't have any food with us."
I raised both my hands to show that I had nothing. The person I was talking about was the same gardening girl from last time.
"D-different girl this time?"
"Eh?"
That was a surprising reply from the gardening girl.
Ponce perked up at that. Not good. I needed to explain myself.
"Ah! The girl with me last time was a classmate. We had an important talk about… school stuff. Yes, that's right, school stuff."
Oh God, I sounded suspicious. But what else could I say? I could not just disclose Escuro's secret. Even though Ponce already knew, the gardening girl was completely an outsider.
Glancing at Ponce, our eyes met. In that brief moment, she nodded slightly, then faced the gardening girl.
"I'm also his classmate. As he said earlier, we're having an important talk about the upcoming school festival," Ponce added, making the lie more convincing.
"I-is that so? S-sorry for interrupting, then. Please carry on with your discussion."
After apologizing, the gardening girl walked away.
"Thanks for playing along," I said to Ponce.
"The one with you last time was Camille, right? I just did what was necessary."
I knew she would figure it out, but assisting me still went beyond my expectations.
And using the school festival as an excuse was genius.
"Then can we talk about the 'school festival' now?"
"…You're kidding, right?"
"Hmm?"
"You do realize the 'school festival' is also part of the lie, right?"
…What did she just say? Did she seriously think I believed that?
"Wha-of course I do! What kind of question is that?"
"Well, sorry. It's just because of what you said earlier."
Sighing at this ridiculous situation, I turned serious. "Okay, enough of this. Let's proceed to our actual subject."
"You're right."
"So, what actually happened? And why did Escuro get involved?"
"Well, here's the thing. I tried asking Manzano twice. The first time, I asked him privately to go out, just the two of us."
"How did it go?"
"What do you expect? There wouldn't be a second attempt if the first one worked, would there?"
"Fair. Please continue."
"For the second one, as you can see in our group chat, this was the context. I tried asking Manzano again, but this time, I included Camille in the plan. Of course, I asked her first if she wanted to join. Since it's her, you already know what her answer was."
Typical of Escuro. When it came to Manzano, she would accept anything.
Without interrupting, I let Ponce continue.
"With that, I asked Manzano to hang out with the three of us. And you already know how that turned out."
"Now I understand Escuro's overreaction."
"I feel bad for involving her."
You shouldn't. If anything, we were the ones who got dragged into this mess.
Still, I would be lying if I said I didn't feel bad for Escuro. Before I left the classroom, I saw her looking gloomy. She was lifeless and quiet. That had been her state since class started. Our classmates quickly noticed it, and the first thing they did was look at me, as if I had done something wrong.
How assuming of them. Not like it bothers me(It does, a little).
Anyway, back to what matters.
"After that, you already know the rest. I don't want to believe it, but Manzano is probably avoiding me, too."
"You too?"
In conclusion, it was not just me. All three of us were being avoided by Manzano. But why?
I could understand if it was only Escuro, but for me to be included as well, just how big had this mess become?