Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Chapter Four

Me and my friends headed to the boys' locker room. We had just finished our soccer practice. Coach made us work extra hard today. Said that we were slacking.

As if. That man just wanted us to work extra hard because he heard some rumours of us bad-mouthing him. It was not completely untrue, but not all of us were involved in it.

Except for a few times. Whatever. Nobody cared.

We were used to hard labour so this punishment was nothing. It was not like that I liked working extra hard but that I did not mind. None of my friends mind it either, but Chad. As always he was rambling on how Coach should take a break and go on vacation. He did not mind working extra hours like the rest of us but it, sure as hell, annoyed him the most.

"I'm telling you all, if he ever made us do practice for extra hours then I will puncture his car tires and make him pay. He would have to wait for his car to get towed and fixed. He will finally have the taste of his own medicine." He said.

"Childish." James commented and Ryle chuckled at James' remark. Chad rolled his eyes as we all opened our lockers. There were other guys in the locker room as well, it got crowded as the soccer team entered the locker room.

"It may be Childish, but things like that work sometimes." I chided in. James raised his brows while Chad gave them a self-satisfied smirk, happy to have me back up his views.

I was not lying when I agreed to Chad's comment. These little things do bother people in general. Even if they did not want it to. I had experienced it first hand.

At first, these things may seem annoying and childish enough for people. But slowly and surely, it becomes harder to ignore them. And soon you realise how these small childish things are messing up with your mind. How easily it could turn into something serious.

Try stealing somebody's lunch box once and they will think it's a prank and laugh it off, but when it occurs daily you start losing your mind figuring out who was eating your food, why were they doing this, and how can you stop them. And soon it would result in the person not bringing the lunch box at all unless they find a way to deal with the problem.

Ryle slapped Chad's shoulder. "This is the first time when Nick agreed with your idea. You know that right?" He asked Chad.

"Not the first time." James commented, changing his t-shirt.

"You know what I mean." Ryle retorted.

After that, we all silently changed into fresh clothes and picked up our bags and began walking out of the locker room. I was walking behind them all when I spotted Raymond, Jess's so-called best friend. Who warned Jess about me and whom I saw walking out of sight from the door?

I stopped in my tracks and told my friends that I forgot something and will meet them outside. They shrugged and walked outside. After they walked outside, I turned my attention to this Raymond guy.

It was weird. I knew this was the common boys' locker room but never saw him. Or maybe, just never paid attention. This was very strange behaviour from my side considering that he was my girlfriend's best friend and I should have known more about him.

How come I never noticed him before?

I hardly ever see this guy with Jess, if ever, but whenever I did, I never paid him any attention. I knew that Jess was head over heels for me so I was not insecure about her cheating on me or developing feelings for another guy. Still, I should know better.

Now that I think of it, I rarely see them hanging out. That made me think, did Jess and him hang out when I was not around? Did Jess hang out with him without telling me? Was it only him or were there other friends as well? I mean, I should know all of these things when it is related to my girlfriend. I usually zone out and don't pay whenever Jess talks about her friends but at least I should know who she called her friends.

Just thinking about how oblivious I had been about Jess's life, I realised how unaware I was of things. Disappointed in myself, I headed straight toward this guy. Ready to see and evaluate who this guy was.

"Hey. I'm Jess's boyfriend. Nick." I introduced myself as I reached his side. Extending my hand for a handshake.

He side-eyed me first and then my hand. Without shaking my hand, he turned back to his locker and pulled out a t-shirt for himself. I stifled a smirk. Interesting.

"What do you want?" He asked me, his voice serious. A non-nonsensical series.

Retracting my hand, I tilted my head to the side before asking the most unexpected question.

"What did you hear yesterday in that classroom? After Jess left?" I asked him.

As expected, his head snapped in my direction, anger flashed in his eyes and he gave me his silent glare. Quickly, he pulled down his t-shirt on his figure before slamming the locker door with a bang. Still glaring, he bent down and picked up his bag, threw it over his shoulder and marched off. Not saying a single word.

Ah.

I knew from that action alone what his actual answer was and what type of guy he was.

Not only did he hear what we had said yesterday in that classroom but he was also offended. Not on a friend's level. No. It was personal.

He was in love with my girlfriend and his friend, Jess.

He wanted to have a shot at her but I stole her before he did and now he was angry because, in his eyes, Jess was only a bet for me. This must have hurt his ego. Knowing that he lost to a guy who used his love for a bet and won. He must be thinking about how he could have lost Jess to a guy, who on top of that was not even genuinely interested in her.

I let out a sigh and rubbed the back of my neck. I did not need to worry about him at all. No matter what he says to Jess, she would not believe him. At least, she will come to me for an explanation. Then it would be up to me to decide how I was going to turn the story so I did not come across as a villain but as a hero.

And in that, I was a genius.