Intermission - Isabelle and The Girls.

Isabelle wondered what her brother must be thinking after seeing that picture. But hey, he was stealing her friends, so it was fair if she did the same to him once, right?

“But yeah, don’t sweat it,” Sarah said after taking a sip of her latte. “With everything people say about us, it’s no wonder you thought we were just messing with Oliver.”

“It still wasn’t fair to you. I never should’ve believed rumors over my brother,” Isabelle insisted.

“So, what? Would you feel better if we were mad at you?” Grace asked. Her stare was calm, but coolly intense. It almost made Isabelle want to shrink.

“Maybe?” Isabelle said sheepishly.

Milana chuckled. “God, you two really are alike. He makes that same face sometimes.”

“We have no reason to be mad at you,” Grace said, shrugging and taking a bite out of her doughnut before continuing. “Oliver does, but you’re already trying to fix that, right?”

“Right…” Isabelle sighed. “I’m hoping he’ll forgive me in time. He’s quiet about it, but he can hold grudges for a long time.”

“Really?” Sarah asked. “But actually, now that you mention it… I still catch him glaring at Mark every once in a while.” She chuckled.

“Maybe he does, but I bet he doesn’t like it,” Grace said.

“What do you mean?” Milana asked her.

“Hmmm.” Grace turned to Isabelle. “Do you know anything about what happened to him at the music club during freshman year?”

“Eh? That’s…” Isabelle furrowed her brow. That was something she never got out of him. She asked, but he wouldn’t say a word about it, not even to their mom. He was so into playing guitar that he even joined the music club. Then all of a sudden he quit. That was still a big mystery to Isabelle. “No, I don’t. He quit all of a sudden and has never said why.”

Grace sighed. “There’s this guy in Thomas’ class, Julian Jenkins. He is currently the lead guitarist for the music club’s band, something he likes to brag about a lot to the girls he woos and everyone who’ll hear.”

“Julian?” Isabelle asked. “I know him. He puts on a pretty smile, but he’s super petty.”

“Not confident in his guitar skills, either,” Grace continued. “Every person who has tried to compete for the position of lead guitarist has been bullied out of the club in some way or another. He’s the one who cut the strings of Oliver’s guitar while he was out of the room. That’s what made Oliver quit.”

Isabelle’s jaw dropped. “He cut the strings!?”

Her chest began to fill with hot, boiling rage. Every day since he got it, even if only for an hour, Oliver played his guitar. If you made him choose between his PC and his guitar, he’d pick his guitar every time. If someone cut the strings, she was sure he would take it as not being wanted, but more than that, they would be rejecting the one thing he was most proud of. And… Isabelle let him go through that alone?

Given by the angry yet calm faces of Milana and Sarah, they’d already heard the story. Isabelle couldn’t believe she was just now finding out what happened.

“How did you find out? Did he tell you?” she asked.

“He told me someone had cut the strings and that was what made him leave. I had to find out on my own who had done it and why.” Grace sighed. “Turns out Oliver was going to be picked as lead guitarist. Everyone I talked to said it was the obvious choice, that he was really good. Julian panicked and cut the strings of Oliver’s guitar and paid off everyone who saw him, effectively making them accomplices.” She clicked her tongue and sneered. “I still want to do something about it. I want to get him kicked out of the music club, I want to get him expelled, I want to ruin every chance he has to ever make a career out of music.” Isabelle felt a chill. She could see where the rumors about Grace came from, at least. The busty brunette sighed and calmed herself. “But Oliver didn’t even want me to tell him who had done it. He hasn’t moved on, but wants to.”

“If it had happened to me, I would’ve beaten the guy to a pulp,” Sarah said. “I still think Oliver should’ve done something other than quit, but at least he didn’t get in trouble. Can’t say I would’ve handled the situation better.”

“Yeah, but you were more aggressive back then,” Milana told her. “You’ve calmed down a lot.”

Right. Sarah had admitted to throwing a tennis racket at someone once. Alice had even said the guy deserved it. So even Sarah had grown from how she used to be, huh? It had taken Isabelle so goddamn long to even take the first step…

“Anyway.” Grace sighed. “Sorry, that was a long tangent.”

“No, I’m glad you told me. I’ve always been curious.” Isabelle chuckled softly. “Though it hurts a bit that Oliver trusts you more than he trusts me now.”

“To be fair,” Milana started, “we’re sort of cheating.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Feel free to believe me or not, but we have this… connection with him. Sometimes we can sort of tell what he’s thinking.” She grinned mischievously. “And we’re pushy enough that we can usually get the truth out of him.”

“A connection?”

“Half the reason we’re even in this relationship,” Sarah told her. “Imagine this. You’ve fallen hard for a guy, okay? And you somehow know with 100% certainty that he is madly in love with you, he wants nothing but the best for you, and is actively trying to be a better person for you. And that’s on top of all the reasons you like him already. Would you let him go?”

“I…” To know with 100% certainty? Isabelle always thought her boyfriends liked her like that. She’d been wrong, though. Every time. “I… suppose I wouldn’t.”

“That’s basically how we feel,” Grace said, smiling fondly. “Oliver is sweet, hardworking, loving, and more proactive than he believes. He’s talented, loyal, a great listener… And a lot more things that I’m not sure I should tell his sister.” Isabelle blushed. That said enough. “Add that to what Sarah said, and he basically has us hooked.”

“What they said,” Milana added. “So I hope you can believe us when we say we’re not playing with him. We’re serious.”

“That’s more than clear already,” Isabelle told them. “But why encourage him to ask Alice and Noelle, too?”

The three girls shared a look.

“That’s a dangerous question, Isabelle,” Grace said, grinning teasingly. “You sure you want to hear the answer?”

“Huh? W-Wait. What did that mean? “Y-Yes?”

“One reason is that we could sort of tell he liked them, but would’ve never done anything about it,” Milana said. “Which would be a good thing in any other situation, but for us…”

“Another reason is that we… find the idea appealing,” Grace said. She left it at that, but the delighted shiver that ran through her said more than enough.

“And the final reason…” Sarah sighed. “He’s too much even for us three.”

Oh.

…

…

Oooooooooooh.

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