Women, right?

At a simple glance, Thomas seemed to be doing quite alright. I knew he had other friends to talk to. Maybe it wasn’t necessary that I came here, but it was good to see him doing a bit better.

“I just… wanted to see how you were doing,” I told Thomas.

Ben grimaced. “Did you just find out?” he asked me.

“Nah, he’s the first one I told,” Thomas said.

“What? And you don’t trust us?” Kevin asked, mockingly looking hurt.

“No. You would’ve told everyone the moment you found out. Actually, you sent the message to the basketball team chat, Kevin, and I hadn’t even told you yet.”

Kevin raised his arms, not even trying to deflect the blame. “I just thought the guys should know. You wouldn’t want them making inappropriate comments, right?”

“I suppose.” Thomas sighed and shot me an easy smile. “Anyway. I’m doing well, Oliver. Better than yesterday. Sorry for that, actually, but thanks for being there. It meant a lot.”

“What? Did you guys hit up a strip club or something?” Ben jokingly asked.

“Whaaaat? And you didn’t invite us!?” Kevin asked.

“We didn’t go to a fucking strip club.” Thomas shook his head with some frustration. “We went to the park, did some free shots at the half courts, poor Oliver had to listen to me vent for about an hour.”

I chuckled. “It’s fine. I still don’t know how you didn’t miss a single one, though.”

“Right!?” Kevin suddenly said, looking at me. “It’s WEIRD! I swear this guy made a pact with the devil. He doesn’t miss free shots.”

“Nah, that’s Oliver,” Thomas said, grinning teasingly. “He’s the one who sold his soul in exchange for some crazy benefits.”

I tensed up and my cheeks flushed. “Come on, Thomas…” I moaned in complaint.

“Ooooh, I know what he’s talking about,” Ben grinned as well. “We were there at Thomas’ birthday party. You’re the one who went to the second floor with Sarah, Grace and Milana, right?”

“Crap, that’s right!” Kevin exclaimed, then started to speak in hushed tones. “Come on, man! Give us some details. What happened in there?”

“Don’t tell them crap, Oliver,” Thomas said. “Not if you want to keep your privacy.”

“Then why did you have to bring it up?” I asked, frustrated.

Thomas laughed. “Sorry. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. It really does feel like you made a pact with a devil, though.”

“...I can’t deny it, but I don’t remember doing anything like that.”

“Wait, so there’s really something going on there?” Kevin asked, eyebrows raised. “I was just joking.”

“...” I pursed my lips and swallowed to try to ease the lump in my throat. A part of me wanted to vent, but I also wasn’t going to reveal anything. Not to people I had only just met. Still… “It’s… strange. I barely understand what’s happening. Sometimes I don’t know if they’re sending signals or just being friendly. I don’t know if I’m reading too much into something or if they just do it because it’s normal for them. It’s a little frustrating at times.”

“Ugh, I get you!” Kevin groaned and patted my shoulder, his hand heavy with sympathy. It took me by surprise. “Girls don’t understand how hard it is to understand what they mean! They look at you with pretty eyes and a charming smile, so you start thinking she’s into you but don’t want to assume anything. It’s just a look, it can’t mean that much. Months go by, you finally dare to ask her out and she tells you she was sending signals all the time. And I’m like ‘HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT!?’”

“Worst is that it’s always on us to ask them out, right?” Ben agreed with a heartfelt nod. “They send their ‘signals’ and we’re supposed to be the ones to act, and they blame us if we don’t. It’s not like it’s gonna hurt my pride if a girl asks me out first.”

“Huh? I’ve been asked out by girls before,” Thomas said, surprised by his friends’ comments.

Both shoved him by the shoulders.

“Shut up, you,” Kevin told him. “You’re attractive, popular, sociable… You don’t understand the struggles of us lesser men.”

“H-Hey…” I started, but didn’t know what to say. I mean, was it okay to say that to the guy whose girlfriend for six months had just broken up with him?

Thomas, however, simply shrugged. “Sounds to me like you’re lacking some confidence. Actually, you know what?” He stood up straight and pointed his arm and a finger to the door. “It’s been two months. Go and ask Lena out on a date right now, Kevin.”

“W-What? N-Now?” Kevin asked with a horrified face.

Lena… Lena… Ah! The slightly chubby girl from my class who was friends with Amanda and Mark. “I think she’s still in my classroom,” I said. “In fact, let me check.”

I went for my phone and sent a quick text to Mila, asking her if she knew where Lena was.

-Mila: Hm? What do you need her for? Anyway, she’s still here in the classroom.

“Yeah, Mila says she’s still there,” I confirmed.

Thomas and Ben gave me a thumbs up each. “Nice,” they said.

“W-Wait. I can’t just go and ask her!”

“Sure you can,” Thomas said. “You guys have been friendly for two months. It won’t be weird to ask her out on a date. Look, I just got dumped, Kevin. It’ll really cheer me up if you get a date with the girl you like.”

“And if she says no?”

“Then I’ll have someone to suffer with me. So go.” He gave Kevin a hard pat on the back.

Kevin hid his face in his hands and let out a loud groan. But when he lifted his head, his eyes looked resolute. “Alright! I’m doing it! I’m doing it!”

Kevin stormed out of the classroom. Thomas tapped my shoulder and urged me to go with him and Ben to follow their friend and spy on him. We ran after Kevin but kept our distance.

The tall guy called out to Lena from outside the classroom. She came out to meet him with a casual approach. And here’s the most incredible thing. I barely knew Kevin, but from what I remembered from my brief time as the basketball team manager and in my short interaction with him just now, I could tell he was a sociable guy. Maybe not a social butterfly like Thomas, but an outgoing guy who wasn’t scared to say what he thought. And yet this guy was now a nervous mess in front of the girl he liked. He was a little jittery, he was moving his arms and hands more than he was before, he was talking faster, too, though we were too far to hear what he was saying. Safe to say, he wasn’t himself.

Then we saw Lena looking surprised. She covered her mouth with one hand, and Kevin’s expression nearly turned from nervous to horrified. But then Lena smiled at him, said something we didn’t hear and nodded. They exchanged some more words before they waved goodbye. Lena went back into the classroom and Kevin walked directly towards us.

Once he was close enough, Kevin couldn’t hold his own smirk anymore and ran up to Thomas, hugging the guy and jumping for joy with him.

“She said, yes, dude! She said YES! We’re going out this Saturday!”

“I told you! I fucking TOLD YOU!” Thomas laughed and jumped along with Kevin, giving his friend hard pats on the back. Ben cheered with them as well, and even I couldn’t help but feel excited with them.

This guy had taken a chance, nervous as he was, and it paid off. How could I not be happy for him when I could relate so hard?