Chapter 258: Chapter 258

"Colour me surprised!" Matt exclaimed, eyes widening and then letting his torso fall back on the long cushion by the wall of the club room that he was in. He pushed his head back, running his hands through his non-existent hair, clearly very surprised at Rocky’s actions.

"Why? What did I miss?" Nicholas quickened his pace into the private room of the clubhouse. The defending noise from the jamming music and drunken chatter ushered him in and muffled down considerably after he closed the door behind him.

Nicholas set down the bottle of Vodka he had gone out for. He claimed that the task of getting the drink, was best handled by himself, so that was exactly what he did.

Nicholas looked expectantly at his two friends, Rocky and Matt, waiting for either of them to explain the statement that he had heard upon coming in.

Rocky and Matt were very used to Nicholas and, therefore, did not bother much with him. They did not even look at him when he sauntered into the room. Matt was the person who had brought them there. Like Rocky, Matt’s family was well-to-do, and Matt usually liked clubs and parties.

Nicholas, the friend who had first alerted Rocky to his mother’s sex videos, as he had seen them in his workplace, also liked to party, but that did not mean that Nicholas liked paying for them. If someone shouldered the costs, then Nicholas was all game! The trio had been close for years, through middle school and, shockingly, medical school, too.

T-Vino Island was not all about wines, as other professions obviously existed to ensure the smooth running of the place. Nonetheless, it was amazing that three close friends followed that same path in life.

"Don’t keep me in suspense! WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED?!" Nicholas looked from one to another and then at the multiple glasses and half-drunk beer bottles in front of them. This was another unexpected feat because Rocky was not a drinker. Matt and Nicholas were different when it came to alcohol, though.

They had a rare school break and were trying to have a much-needed boys’ time-out together. They knew that Rocky, especially, needed that break from everything. Rocky had only taken a short time off school activities after the demise of his dad.

In fact, looking at how his family had handled the aftermath of James’s demise, James Wendover would have turned over many times in his grave. His supposed daughter never grieved for him, not that it was unexpected. His wife, whom he had loved to bits, betrayed his trust and slept with another man and then ’grieved’ for him, at least, not the way James would have wished adequately for.

The sex video had been a big blow to James’ ego in every possible way. Anyone who had known James would also know that the blow would have been more from the fact that the video was circulated than from the fact that his wife had fucked someone, no matter what the reason was.

Lastly, his son’s reaction was totally different. It was not that Rocky was not sad, but the level of disappointment that had come in following the issues and circumstances leading to his father’s death had dampened his and anyone’s well-wishes, if any, towards James. Rocky just chose not to think of his father at all.

Nonetheless, Rocky did need that time off. His mind was a mess, and he was suppressing his emotions in every way. So, even though he looked okay on the outside, Rocky was not okay on the inside at all.

Maybe the accurate description would be that he was a grieving, lovestruck man with a crazy mum! That would be too much for anyone, but Rocky was not just anyone. His willpower was great, but it ceased to exist when Ava was thrown into the equation.

His friends saw through his deception and found a way to bring him to the club at the first opportunity- the festival prep holiday.

The festival that had been the talk of their island was coming up. This was also a major holiday, and students were even given the weeks leading up to the festival off. It felt like a holiday to most, but it was not.

This was because most students returned to their parents’ vineyards or worked as hands for hire during those days.

The exclamation that Nicholas had stumbled upon when he had entered was because he had asked Rocky about his ’sweetheart.’ There was usually no other ’fun’ topic of discussion for Rocky about his studies and, of course, his sister. The only thing considered ’fun’ around him was his crush.

"Are the two of you an item now?" Matt had asked Rocky as he stared at a half-cropped picture of Ava on his phone. A close-up look revealed that he had cropped Shelby off that picture so he could use Ava as his screen-saver.

Rocky obviously had not answered but drank half the beer bottle in front of him, causing Matt to exclaim.

Matt looked up at Nicholas, who was still waiting for a response.

"Well, you’re not going to get any response from him," Matt said, nodding towards Rocky.

"I think he tipped over the ledge. He is drinking for her!"

"For whom? Sister Ava?"

"I’m not sure what happened, but it looks quite serious at the moment. I don’t think that I have ever seen Rocky this way with her before...."

Nicholas quickly rushed in and took the seat by Rocky, worry marring his face as he dropped all jovialities.

"Hey Rocky, you know you can count on me, right?"

"As if!" Matt rolled his eyes and also dunked his drink down. However, the two were indeed worried because they knew of Rocky’s crush on Ava for as long as possible. They were just not sure of what had changed between the two.

Rocky was not as affected in the past as he could call and talk to Ava about anything and everything, so even though they were not in a relationship, they seemed closer than most. Maybe this was what had given Rocky the ’safe’ space for him to think beyond what may have been possible and what was not.

"Maybe sister Ava is not giving him the time of the day an-"

Nicholas glared at Matt, "Shut up! Don’t you know when to shut up? Why do you never learn!"

The two friends took turns on who was crazier given a particular day and its related circumstances, but Matt and Nicholas were indeed the differing sides of the same coin. Most of the time, Nicholas wore that crown.

This was because Nicholas talked about vulgarities as if it was an everyday thing and not some ’forbidden subject’. One could not blame Nicholas for this, as this was his day job. He worked on editing porn videos! How less vulgar could such a person be considering what he worked on as well as what he studied?

"What?!" Matt spread out his hands as if to say, ’.... But it’s the truth!’

But even Matt knew when not to say anything... or not!

It did not take even thirty seconds for Matt to continue, "The principal’s daughter is not that bad, though that girl is a sight to behold. She is the queen Bee, and you, Rocky, have no idea what you are missing from this.

That reminds me, she approached me the other day to talk casually to me. My man, I know she is the hype in school and may come off as a bratty one, but she was quite nice, and I never expected that she was so down to earth too... I think you should-"

Nicholas had been sending mute signals with his eyes at Matt, trying to get him to stop, but Matt was in his own world as if re-living his encounter with the principal’s daughter, Terry.

"SHUT UP!" Nicholas mouthed, and thankfully, Matt did that this time.

Rocky reached for his second bottle of beer and poured it down his throat as if he had not drunk any liquid in like forever.

This action really alarmed the two friends, and they stopped bickering. They usually had each other’s backs, but consoling a friend who looked to be broken-hearted was proving to be a challenging task for them.

Matt had initially thought that by ’presenting’ Terry, he had thought that he was helping Rocky veer his attention to a different girl. He, Matt, did not like Terry much, but then, in his thoughts, if that was what would get the fierce and reliable Rocky back to his usual self, then Matt was ready to do that. This was why he had even pushed through with Nicholas’ warnings.

While they talked over his head, Rocky was in his own world. He looked nothing like his old self. For once in his young adult life, Rocky felt stressed enough from his mother and the thoughts of his crush that he had left his facial hair to grow.

He looked at his phone with his hands hovering on the dial button. He could still not bring himself to call Ava, but he occasionally sent her texts, which Ava had decidedly ignored each time.

"You know?" Nicholas lowered his voice and said,

"Sometimes, out of sight is not necessarily out of mind; you have to make her miss you."

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