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Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Living In Your Mind Now

Honmoon High School

Third Year Classrooms Floor  

“Terry! ….Teeeerrrryyyy!”

“Oh boy. Here comes the brat,” Abby muttered under his breath as he leaned against the classroom’s window from his seat and set down the biology textbook he’d been studying.

Rome tapped his pencil against his student committee agenda notebook and turned to face Terry whispering in a too loud and yet unmistakably still conspiratorial tone, “ohhhh. She sounds angry! What’d you do this time?”

“Terry! Where are you?” Zoey’s booming voice preceded her physical presence. “Teerrryyyyy!”

A short moment later Zoey stormed inside the classroom where Abby, Roman and Mystery sat during their self-study period. The student government meeting must be starting soon.

Zoey quickly scanned the room. It was perfect timing! Her brother was not here and so she disregarded everyone else and made a beeline toward the tall male wearing a mustard color vest and gray buttoned down collared shirt which was their school standard issued uniform.

Terry had ignored her calls and her messages … he had the audacity to leave her on READ!!!

Like … seriously … Zoey could have sworn that the man was getting bolder by the day.

He had never said no to her before. Since she could remember … Terry was always there for her. He was the one she could rely on.    

“Where is my homework?”

 Zoey demanded as she stood with her arms crossed before Terry’s desk towering over him with all of her mighty 5’1 height which meant that their eyes were currently positioned at the same level. “You were supposed to have it ready yesterday!” Zoey continued to whine and voice her great annoyance.

Terry calmly pulled open his backpack and retrieved two pages of papers before handing them over to the petite dragon spitting fireballs at him.

“Here,” he said quietly just as the papers were roughly snatched away.

Before he could say anything else Zoey pulled at his vest and fisted his collared shirt then proceeded to drag him outside the classroom.

Terry heard Abby muttered an exasperated ‘oh Christ … not this again’ as he followed Zoey out obediently without protesting despite the petite female’s rough handling of him. He made sure to hunch down to close the height difference between the two of them. He knew his friends and classmates would not interfere. Terry had told them to not step in and so they would simply eavesdrop from the other side of the wall.

His friends were a bunch of busybodies.

The situation was not ideal, Mystery mused.   

People really should just mind their own business.

Once the two of them were outside the classroom, Zoey cornered him against the wall of the empty hallway.

It was after school hours so students were spread out doing various activities. Some were practicing sports. Some were studying in their classrooms and some in the school library. Some had club activities.

Zoey was in her P.E uniform and she was late for her dance practice but she needed to retrieve her homework first.   

With Terry pressed up against the wall, Zoey placed one of her foot against the wall and her free hand resting on Terry’s other side effectively caging in the tall male.

“You left me on READ?” She demanded.

Her anger practically dripping from her question. When Terry took too long to answer, she let out a frustrated groan and closed the small gap between them. “Well?” Her face was mere inches from his. “You better have a good answer for me!” She forced out between her clenched jaws.   

“Hmmm … I was … busy.” Terry replied knowing full well that he was lying. “I’m sorry.” 

“Biz …bu … busy!!!” Zoey sputtered. “Did you just say … BUSY???”

Terry nodded keeping his face mostly passive.

“I told you last week that I needed the homework TODAY.”

“But the assignment’s due date is tomorrow.” Terry cleared his throat. “It said so on the problem set.”

Zoey lifted the papers in her hand up to verify whether what her brother’s friend was telling her.

“Hmmm … fine,” Zoey muttered annoyingly to herself. She needed to pass her physics class but she truly and ardently loathed the subject which was why she had Terry doing her homework for her.

Academic ethnic code violation was currently one of her favorite pastimes.

Although she was partaking in such activity not by choice but rather by necessity.

Alas, for someone who was on the cusp of failing her class, Zoey reminded herself that she should be more grateful to Terry.

The man was really doing her a solid … but then she remembered the issue with the last problem set.

Zoey lifted her free hand away from the wall to pull Terry’s tie down so that his face was directly in front of hers. He needed to know that her teacher almost caught on to her little academic dishonesty activity. 

“Did you remember to have a few questions wrong?” Zoey barked out. “The last problem set … every question was correct and I almost got in trouble!”

“I thought you needed all the points you can get,” Terry resorted. He recalled his friend, Jinu, said that his younger sister was just about to fail physics. Perhaps Jinu was wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time, but still … he didn’t think that he should bring up the almost failing aspect with the petite girl before him.

Zoey hissed and bared her fangs.

Apparently speaking about needing points was the wrong thing to say.

“Alright … alright … I gave 3 wrong answers and 2 partial this time,” Terry replied then tentatively added, “Is that okay?”

“Don’t get smart with me!” Zoey retorted and yanked on Terry’s tie for good measure. “And next time … you better answer my texts!” She bit the air next to Terry’s ear aggressively before letting the taller male go free.

Reviewing the problem set in her hands, Zoey frowned. Her brows knitted together. Terry better be telling the truth because she did not know which answers were correct versus incorrect versus partial correct. The texts on the two pages made her head spin.

“Don’t worry. I made sure to write everything down with your handwriting.” Terry said as he watched Zoey’s eyes glazed over the problem set. He couldn’t help himself and let out a tight smile. She was just too adorable.

“Right … I’ll have the next problem set for you this Friday.” Zoey was about to leave when she saw Baby walked toward her direction with a bottle of soda pop in his hand.

“Yeeesh,” Baby did not put any effort into hiding his disapproval.

Zoey hissed back.

“You really need to do your own homework, bird brain,” Baby said in a bored tone. “Aahhh … I forget that you are a few fries short of a happy meal.” Baby shook his head in an exaggerated disappointment manner and walked past Zoey and Terry into the classroom. The student government meeting was about to begin.   

“Oh! Just shut UP!” Zoey shouted at Baby while he had his back to her and saw that he brought up one arm so that he could flipped her the bird. “Good thing I have dance practice otherwise I would …” Then Zoey punched the air in front of her and gave one good air kick in the direction of her brother’s friend.

Baby was calling her dumb!

How dare he look down on her? They were the same age, born two months apart and so Zoey refused to use honorific just because Baby skipped two grades and was in the same class as her brother. 

Normally she wouldn’t have let it slide but she was needed elsewhere.

Zoey turned her attention back to the tall male still standing with his back pressed against the wall. “Are you free this Saturday?” She tilted her head to one side, “I have to do a stupid observation of some stars at night for my astronomy class.”

Terry knew that Zoey did not want to do the observation alone but chose to omit that particular part since she didn’t want to reveal her vulnerability.

He knew she kept her faults and her fears close.

“Let me know the time you need to do the observation and I’ll go with you.”

“Okay.” Zoey replied nonchalantly and turned to leave.

She let out a breath that she did not know she was holding. Could it be that she was nervous?

Nervous?

Yes … she thought maybe Terry would find an excuse to not help her?

Surely not?

Why would she be nervous?

And more importantly …why would Terry say no?

Terry had always been by her side. He was the one she could rely on.

Why have doubts now?

What is wrong with you, Zoey? 

Before Zoey could make her exit, she saw her older brother walked up the stairs and headed toward the classroom. Which … sadly happened to be where she was standing.

Time to dip

“What are you doing here, Zoey?” Jinu asked his younger sister who should be at her after school dance practice with Mira and Rumi.

“Oh!!” Zoey exclaimed in a too high pitch as she gave her big brother a bright smile. “Just … ummm” She quickly hid the papers behind her back. “Ummm … I’m here to deliver Rumi’s message. My friend said that you should meet her after our dance practice. Something about getting boba … or … errr something.”

Rumi had said no such thing but she wasn’t about to tell her big bro that she’d been using his best friend as her homework maker. Zoey will just have to call in a favor with Rumi and besides since her friend was dating her brother, she didn’t think it would be too much of an asked.

Rumi …girl … you gotta help a bitch out ...mm’kay … and by a bitch … I mean me.  

Like she was put in a tight spot, unexpectedly mind you with severely limited options sooo yeah.

“Really?” Jinu asked in true puzzlement. He did not fully believe his sister’s words. “Huhh .. okay … thanks.” The whole situation was still odd so he applied a bit of pressure.

“Why couldn’t Rumi just text me?”

Zoey shrugged. “I don’t know!” then took a step backward with the papers behind her back. “Oppa, I’m just a messenger. They all say don’t kill the messenger,” And with that Zoey quickly ran away.

Jinu frowned and narrowed his eyes.

Something wasn’t right.

“Is Zoey forcing you to do her homework again?” Jinu turned his attention to his good friend as they both made their way back inside the classroom.

Terry readjusted his shirt, sweater vest and his tie. “Force is … quite a strong word. I wouldn’t say she’s forcing me.”

“Ishhhess … that brat is really something. She needs to do her own homework,” Jinu said as he studied his friend. They had known each other since kindergarten since their houses were in the same neighborhood and their parents were friends. Not to mention that they spend a good amount of time together as they both served on the student government and were on the school’s taekwondo team.   

Terry sat back down at his desk and opened his textbook ready to resume his study.

“How was your little date with the little terror?” Abby asked, ribbing his friend.  

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Rome chimed in before laughing.

Jinu ignored the jests from Abby and Rome. Surely, what he just witnessed could not be classified as a date.

Could it?

Surely not.

His best friend and his kid sister?

Naaaahhh.

“You really shouldn’t let her treat you so poorly. I know she’s my baby sister but you shouldn’t let her bully you … it only encourages more bad behavior.”

“Yeah, Terry. Listen to our class president.” Abby said, ever so loyal as the vice-president. “You gotta stand up for yourself, Terry.” He half joked knowing full well that Terry was where he wanted to be.   

“Right. Have some self-respect … for God’s sake,” Rome leaned forward and tapped Terry on one shoulder before lightly shaking his friend with a knowing smirk.     

“I don’t mind,” Terry replied. “I like her the way she is,” he shrugged his broad shoulders.

There was a collective groan from the gang. Terry was reacting exactly how they had envisioned. Well … everyone with the exception of Jinu.

“Hyung,” Baby who sat at a desk next to Jinu spoke up, “I told you, he’s beyond help.” Then Baby mumbled, “Probably enjoying himself, in fact.”

Terry remained silence and shifted his focus back to his textbook. Truth be told, he didn’t know if Zoey would even talk to him outside of needing him to do her homework for her.

He liked that he was needed.

He liked that Zoey was giving him her attention.

Earlier today Terry had deliberately ignored Zoey’s texts. He didn’t want to drop off the problem set despite having it ready several days ago but rather he wanted her to come to him.

This way their interaction would be longer.

This way she would speak to him. 

Was he a masochist?

Terry did not know but he did not want to dwell on the topic for too long. It was already enough that Zoey needed him.

“Look, I’m not saying that you have to physically fight my sister. Just set some kind of boundary so that she stops the bullying.” Jinu offered a word of advice to his good friend.

Jinu could not understand why his friend happily endured his sister’s constant aggression. Terry could easily avoid his current predicament. For one, his good friend was a nationally ranked taekwondo champion so for Terry to act like a weak and helpless puppy in front of Zoey meant that he was doing it on purpose.

Now that he thought about it, Terry had been keeping up this puppy façade since their middle school days.

“She’s not bullying me.” Terry answered keeping his voice light. “Just drop it. You don’t have to worry about me and Zoey.” It was bold of them to assume that he needed saving.

“Yeah … bro … didn’t I just say they were on a mini date,” Abby snickered. It dawned on him that everyone in their circle had caught on that Terry had been crushing on Zoey since forever, and as such had been giving her liberty to treat him any which way she pleased.

Well … everyone except Jinu.

Abby was patiently waiting for the day of reckoning. Sadly … it seemed … that day would not be today judging from how Jinu hadn’t yet attempted to murder his friend. He shook his head, his friend, Jinu, was intelligent on a bunch on topics but also extremely slow on certain things.        

Jinu brushed off Abby’s jest and turned his attention to Terry. “All I’m saying is that you spoiled my brat sister too much. You should set some kind of boundary.”

Terry sighed. He didn’t think it was such a big deal. “Boundary? Are you suggesting that I should lecture Zoey? Scold her … perhaps? Hmmm … you’re her brother … I think this is within your jurisdiction.” Terry raised his eyebrows as a direct challenge.   

Jinu grew quiet and contemplated the question for a total of one agonizing second. Would Zoey be receptive to a lecture on boundary?

The answer he got was quick. Almost instantaneous.

In truth, Jinu wanted his baby sis to be happy and if Terry is okay with her treatment of him then he was going to … um … not interfere and stay the hell out of the way.

There were a number of reasons for this laissez faire approach. 

One, their parents doted on their youngest child. She was the family’s baby and the golden star child albeit, just a tiny bit spoiled with a fiery temper.   

And to add in to the growing pile of potential danger to his person, his sister was also a beast at taekkyon. The traditional martial art is characterized by its fluid, dance-like movements, with a focus on low kicks, leg sweeps, and throws of which his baby sis was more than proficient.

While Jinu practiced taekwondo, which was a similar martial art, he was no match for Zoey’s wrath? His larger body mass? His technical skills? They held no advantage. None.  Jinu had personally endured many beatings from his brat sister and even collected a few scars as evidence.

“Ahhhh …. Yeah … I see your point,” Jinu sighed and shook his head. His younger sister was mostly pleasant but when that little girl got mad … well … “No … thank you. I value my life … very much so.”

Which prompted a round of laughter from his friends.  

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Too Late Cause You’re Mine Now

Honmoon High School

Student Government Meeting

One hour and twenty minutes later.

“And that’s the last item on our agenda,” Jinu announced to the student government team members and the handful of class representatives in attendance.

“Ohhh, finally!” Rome said half in jest and half in a whining voice as he stretched his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. “I thought it would never end.”   

Jinu gave Rome a stern look and a soft shake of his head. The jest was something he was expecting since the meeting did ran overtime. “We only went,” he looked down at his phone then looked back up, “20 minute over our scheduled meeting time, bro, calm down.”

“Hyung, you say that EVERY meeting,” Baby chimed in. “We never, and I mean not once, did we ever finish our meeting on time.”

“It was 20 minutes,” Jinu retorted. “Are you guys seriously complaining about 20 minutes? We had a lot of urgent matters on our agenda.” The subpar enthusiasm was appalling. The work ethics of his team left a lot to be desired.    

Sensing Jinu’s growing annoyance, Baby raised his hands in a universal sign of surrender indicating that he wasn’t going to pursue the subject any further. It was a fool’s errand to argue to Jinu-hyung and expect to come out on top.

“Ahhh huhhh … you also say that every meeting,” Abby shrugged as he closed his notebook.

“Ehhh. I got places to be,” Rome gathered his belongings and headed toward to classroom’s front door, ready to exit. He was now late for his drama club.  “Catch you later,” he said as he walked out to a round of ‘later’ from the rest of the group. 

Terry slowly put away his meeting notes. Unlike his friend, Rome, he was in no particular rush to quickly depart. In fact, Zoey’s dance practice won’t be done for another forty minutes and then they usually study for another hour or so before heading home.

Jinu walked toward the back of the classroom where the first and second year reps wanted his input on an upcoming school event.

Since the class reps did not explicitly sought out his advice, Terry minded his own business and focused on putting away his things when, suddenly, he felt a chair screeched next to him and a looming Abby abruptly sat down close to him.  

“Hey,” Abby said in a serious tone in order to get Terry’s attention just in case his extremely close proximity was not enough of a context clue.    

“What,” Terry replied in a calm tone laced with a healthy dose of apprehension.

“You remember that first year kid I told you about? From my kickboxing club? The one on the volleyball team.” Abby asked not knowing exactly how to relay the cursed knowledge he somehow came to possess.

“Yeah, I remember. The talkative one.”

“Exactly! Exactly!” Abby exclaimed with tad bit too much excitement.

“Get to the point, Abby.”

“Right. So, as I was saying, this kid was a yapper and he was yapping away during practice. Mostly, nonsensical stuff but then I heard he mentioned your girl, Zoey.”

“Go on.” That got Terry’s attention

“Something about a new transfer student. I didn’t catch the name but maybe it was Kevin. In any case, this new kid got here two weeks ago and is now a hot new volleyball star player for the first year team. Apparently, all the girls are like all over him or something and –”

“Abby,” Terry interjected, “Get. To. The.  Point.” He reminded his friend. 

“RRight … right, so I heard this hotshot transfer kid is crushing on Zoey and is planning on asking her out. I think they’re in the same class or something.”

Abby examined his quiet friend close and saw very little physical reaction. Terry might have gone a bit tensed but otherwise he was unreadable. This was either very good … or very bad … but there was no way to tell.

“Now, I’m telling you instead of Jinu since I know you have a thing for Zoey and Jinu probably won’t be too upset about Zoey dating. This transfer kid is a good kid from everything else I’ve heard so far.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it.”

Terry finished up the packing with the same unhurried speed prior to the little convo with Abby. Then he quietly got up from his seat and headed out of the classroom.

“Hey, Terry!” Abby called out after his friend, “Errr … don’t kill the kid okay!”

Abby raked his hand through his short hair to vent his frustration. He knew he did the right thing in telling his friend but felt a tiny bit sorry for the transfer kid. But then again, the transfer kid should probably have heeded the warnings from his well-wishers. Of which, there should have been plenty.

For those not totally clueless, it was an open secret that Terry and Zoey were an item, although the both of them were approaching their super obvious relationship super weirdly.

He recited a quick prayer for Kevin, or was it Kai or may Ken … whatever. Ah. His head ached.

“Don’t kill what kid?” Jinu asked, always the clueless one on such matters.

“Ahhh I dunno. Some kind of a misunderstanding,” Abby explained without revealing too much. It would be best to let Terry sort things out by himself.  

“Huh … I hope you’re not starting any trouble.”

“Me? Never … I’m an upstanding citizen!”

Men’s Volleyball Team Locker Room

10 Minutes Later

It didn’t take Terry long to locate the one he was seeking.

He entered the locker room as some of the team members were spread out in various stages of changing back into school uniforms. His person of interest was chatting on a bench with two friends, completely oblivious to the fact that he had committed a grave crime.

“Are you Kevin? First year volleyball team?” Terry inquired civilly.

He was perfectly polite. Perfectly respectful.

“Yeah … who’s asking?” The young man replied with a hint of dread of the unknown. The uniform of the inquirer indicated that the tall male was a third year student.   

“I heard something along of line of you wanting to ask Zoey out.” Terry got right to his point. There was no need to beat around the bush. “Is that right?”

The young volleyball player was taken aback by the direct personal question. He wasn’t exactly secretive about his intention to court his classmate but he also didn’t think it would be an issue. Zoey never said that she was seeing anyone.

Was she seeing someone? He mused.

Looking around the now empty locker room, his teammates all cleared out quickly without saying a word. Was it to give this particular conversation some sense of privacy or was it because of this mysterious third year student?

“Well?” Terry pressed.

“Umm … yeah … Zoey never mentioned that she has a boyfriend.” Kevin saw that the words that just left his mouth did not improve his strange situation. In fact, it made the older male even more tensed. “Does she? … ummm have a boyfriend?”

Terry’s expression remained passive as he reached for the younger male’s phone from the kid’s hand and promptly smashed it against the wall with one fisted hand. The impact stung but he welcomed the pain. He saw the younger male’s eyes widened in what he assumed was fear.

And not because he had just destroyed the young man’s property.

“Of course Zoey doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Terry finally answered the lingering question in a cool steel cold voice. It wasn’t like the two of them were official. “I understand that you’re a new transfer student so there are many things you do not yet know. So I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt so that your fate will NOT be the same as your phone here,” he then gestured to the broken pieces of electronic scattered all over the floor.

“But if I hear anything resembling even a shadow of a rumor that you’re thinking of asking Zoey out then I will personally make sure that you and your phone here are buried together.”

Terry used his bloody hand to pull up the younger male so that they both stood face to face with Terry being a few inches taller. “Do you understand what I am saying?”   

Kevin was too stunned for speech. All he could muster was rapid nods of acknowledgement.      

“And this little chit-chat stays in this locker room.” Terry stated in a matter of fact tone with full expectation that the younger male would comply. He then reached for his wallet and pulled out a stack of bills (banknotes) of which he roughly pressed over to the still stunned first year student’s chest.

“Buy yourself a new model. It’s on me.”

And with the conclusion of his personal conversation, Terry calmly exited the locker room and headed to one of the school dance studios.

Outsiders always believe that Abby was the one prone to violence due to his height, muscular built, and his martial arts interests but they were all wrong. He would not deny that Abby was the strongest but Abby was a gentle giant. Terry, on the other hand, was the quiet one of the group … and the one most likely to commit violence when provoked.

He had heeded his friend’s advice. He had just given this kid a stern warning. It was … admittedly difficult … but Terry did not kill the kid.

That was excellent news for the kid.

Terry put a lid on this unpleasant business. Zoey should be done with her dance practice right around this time.  

He reached the dance studio after a short walk from the locker room.

The girls were wrapping up their dance practice and so he gave the girls a barely perceptible nod.

“Terry-oppa,” Rumi and Mira both greeted him.

“Thanks again, Rumi! You’re doing me a solid this time,” Zoey then waved a hand in a quick goodbye gesture to her friends and made her way to Terry. “I’m off to the library to study. See you guys later!”

“Bye!” Rumi waved back.

“Later,” Mira gave a quick salute.

“Hey!!!” Zoey rushed to his side with a big smile on her face. “Look at my literature essay. I got an A!” She beamed then presented her work to him to inspect.

“That’s great! I knew you’d do well. You have a way with words, Zoey. It’s your talent.”

“Hmmm. You really think so? You don’t think it’s weird?”

“No, it is not weird. The way you write is quite poetic. It’s beautiful.”

“okay”

“okay”

“Oh no!” Zoey exclaimed as she stuffed her essay back in her backpack and realized that she had forgotten her phone charger. “I left my charger in the studio. I’ll go and get it real quick.”

Terry nodded. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to retrieve the phone charger.

As he waited in the school courtyard, he saw a first year student walked toward him. Terry didn’t remember her name but recognized her face as she occasionally volunteer at events hosted by the student government.    

“Terry-oppa,” the first year students said shyly.

“What is it?” Terry asked. Perhaps she had questions about the upcoming school event.

“Ummm … the thing is … I really like you,” she then presented him with a hand written letter in a pink envelop, “If you don’t mind, would you be willing to …”

Oh no. Oh dear God. This was a love confession. He raked his brain looking for the most polite way to gently reject this poor girl. It wasn’t her fault. 

But then the most unexpected thing occurred.  

The confession was abruptly cut short when Zoey appeared seemingly out of thin air and embraced him close from his side. She reached out one hand and pushed the love letter back toward the poor sender. Zoey didn’t know this girl since they were in different class but a deep dislike of her was growing rapidly.

It was irrational, she knew, but there was no stopping it.

“Hi!!! Yeahhh … I’m sure you’re a very nice person and all that but he’s not available. I’m sure he’s very flatter but yeah … no … he can’t go out with you.” And the Zoey started to walk away, dragging Terry with her, all the while still clinging like an octopus.

Terry was stunned.

Words failed him.

A million thoughts raced through his mind, this wasn’t the first time he’s faced with a love confession but it was the first time Zoey acted on his behalf and her possessive behavior was definitely a new development.        

The two of them walked on together with Zoey resuming her normal chatty self.

But the difference was that she was still embracing him with her arms wrapped around his forearm and her head occasionally resting against his upper arm due to her shorter stature.

They would have looked like a couple to any passerby and Terry DID NOT know how to process this particular development.

What was Zoey up to with such a clingy and possessive gesture?

His heart hoped … desperately … but his rational head was advising him to be extra cautious.

“Zoey,” He called out her name softly.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course,” Then she tightened her hold on his arm. The image of some other girl confessing to her Terry was still upsetting her.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, do you know that?” He warned darkly.

“It’s not a game!”

Terry looked down at the shorter figure beside him. Zoey was serious and his brain short circuited. Because that meant she wanted to be with him just as he wanted to be with her.

“Then what is it?”

Zoey fell quiet for a moment. She had known that Terry was special. Not like her other male friends. Especially not like her brother.

She liked when he was attentive to her needs. She liked that he was always helping her out with whatever she needed. She liked that she could tell him anything.

She felt safe and protected when Terry was around.

He was her type in all the ways that mattered.

So … it could only be one thing.

“I didn’t like that girl that was confessing to you, okay!” Zoey admitted her voice full of annoyance and frustration. “I didn’t like that she was making heart eyes at you!” she added.

“I didn’t notice,” Terry interjected.

“It doesn’t matter! I noticed!!! And I DIDN’T LIKE IT!!! I didn’t even like that fact that she was looking at you.”

Terry couldn’t help himself and felt the corner of his mouth lifted upward. “I can’t prevent people from looking at me, Zoey.”

“I know!!! Okay!! I KNOW … uhhhhh … still … I just … I just… I don’t like it when you pay attention to those other girls.” Zoey frowned. The implication was clear that she wanted his attention all to herself.

“I was just being polite.”

“Yeahhh … that is why all these girls like you so much!” Then Zoey paused for a moment to look up at Terry with worries reflected on her bright brown eyes, “but … you like me the most right?”

The possibility that Terry might like some other girl more terrified her. She hadn’t really thought about it since Terry was always there but now that she thought about it … Zoey didn’t think she could bare it.

“Of course, I like you the most Zoey.”

“You better!” She hit him playfully with a fist against his chest.  

“You know what this means …don’t you?”

“What?” Her confusion was genuine.

“You just agreed to be mine …and now that you’re mine … I don’t think I’ll ever let you go.”

“Hmmm … I think I can handle that.”

“Be careful now … because there is no backing out, Zoey. You’re playing a very dangerous game and I will have you know that no one is coming to save you.”         

“Save me?” Zoey scoffed and huffed out a disbelieved breath. “Be for real now … worry about yourself!” Was Terry being serious? It was bold of him to assume that she needed saving!

“This is exactly where I want to be.” Zoey beamed him a sunny smile.

“Then we should celebrate. Today is our official first day,” Terry suggested.

“Oh! Yes! Let’s get some snacks!” Zoey gave an excited hop. “Maybe ice-cream?”

Terry shook his head. In a serious tone he reminded Zoey of her upcoming physics exam. “That is for later. Today, you need to study an extra 30.”

“Huhhhh … are you serious!!!” Zoey whined, “maybe I can study tomorrow? Hhmmmm.”

“Nice try … but no,” Terry said before picking Zoey up over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry as he headed in the direction of the school’s library while Zoey continued to whine.

“You better buy me 2 ice-creams when we celebrate!”

“If you can pass this test, I will buy you ALL the snacks you want,” Terry promised, knowing that food was Zoey’s great motivator.

Zoey’s brown eyes widened, “I can have anything?” She was still being carried but the promise of unlimited snacks was too good to pass up.

“If you pass … yes,” Terry nodded.

“You better keep your word.”

“Then it’s a deal?” Terry asked.

“Deal!” Zoey replied gleefully. She will study and pass this stupid little test and then hahaha all the snacks, pastries, and ice-creams!!! Nom Nom Nom!!!