After Selene had ranted to Zoë about the whole situation with Nyx and Declan, they had spent most of the day painting their nails and making chocolate chip cookies--and eating the raw dough.
Zoë had called it a self-care day to celebrate how far they had come in their plan with Declan. Selene was using it as an excuse to not text Declan.
According to Zoë, she was supposed to be ignoring him for the whole weekend but she felt compelled every five seconds to pick up her phone and text him to see how he was doing. When Zoë hadn't been looking, she had turned off Declan's notifications so that she wouldn't jump with anticipation from every vibration her phone had.
The alarm they had set for their sheet masks went off from Zoë's phone. Selene took off the oatmeal sheet mask and reached for the phone. She turned off the alarm, coming face to face with Zoë's lock screen.
She picked up the phone. The background was no longer a picture of them two but instead some quote and right under the time a notification. A message from someone she had saved as the green heart emoji 'come thru'.
Selene raised an eyebrow. "Who's green heart emoji?"
Zoë paused rubbing the remnants of the mask into her skin and turned to her quickly. "None of your business. Put down my phone!"
"Are you with a new guy?" Selene asked holding it out of reach. "And you never told me? I'm your best friend!"
"It's nothing."
"What's his name? They're a he right?"
"None of your business," Zoë hissed, holding out her hand for her phone. "And no Selene, I'm not attracted to girls."
Selene paused to study her best friend before passing her the phone. "If he's already heart emoji status then maybe we don't need to do this whole Declan plan." She picked up her phone. "I can break up with him right now."
Zoë's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"You love him," Zoë stated.
"What?" She sat up.
"You love Declan."
Selene made a face. "No, I don't."
"You're in love with him and you don't want to hurt him so now you're making excuses so you won't have to do anything."
"Zoë, that's insane."
"Is it? I remember your makeout session a few weeks ago."
"That was part of our plan!"
"Was it?"
They both paused.
"I'm not in love with Declan," Selene said. "I don't even like Declan. He's a fucking asshole and we are going to take him down for breaking your heart."
Zoë smiled. "Come on, give me your phone."
Without hesitation, Selene passed it over.
Zoë turned it off and laid next to her. "What episode of One Day At A Time are you on?"
»
"Selene, I'm so sorry."
Selene jumped. "What do you want Declan?"
"Did you get any of my texts?"
"No," she lied. "I was busy."
"You can't be mad at me. I wasn't lying when I told you I talked to Nyx to set boundaries. She was unrelenting."
Selene closed her locker. "Did she send you anything else?"
Declan shook his head and handed her an iced coffee. She felt touched for a second that even though she had ignored him all weekend, he still got her coffee the next time he saw her. "Just an apology like two hours after you left my place."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Problem solved." She mimed washing her hands of the problem.
Declan seemed wary. "You sure?"
"Yep. Nyx is handled."
"What'd you do?"
She shrugged. "Nothing bad. I can be very convincing."
His eyes dropped to her lips. "Yeah, I know."
A flash of pink hair caught her eye.
She backed away from Declan. "I have to go see my calculus teacher," she blurted.
Declan's brows furrowed.
She leaned forward quickly to satiate him with a kiss. When she pulled back, he had a small smile on his lips. "Verona wanted to ask you first, but she wanted you, me, her and Rome to go on a double date."
She nodded quickly. "Okay, sure, tell me about it later. See you at lunch," she said before rushing off after Zoë.
»
When Selene had agreed to a double date, she hadn't realized it was going to be competitive.
"Are we doing teams?" she asked as she put the laser tag vest over her clothes. She had worn red and she was hoping that it wouldn't glow in the dark like her white shoes surely would.
Everyone around her scoffed.
"Maybe next round," Verona said nicely.
Declan held his laser tag gun across his chest like some cool guy in the center of a blockbuster movie poster. It was kind of hot. "You're going down, Sel."
She scoffed. "First of all, in your freaking dreams, Grey. Second of all, you're hotter when you don't talk."
Verona chuckled. "Next round, guys versus gals?"
Selene smiled. "I'd agree but the game would end very quickly."
"In your dreams," Roman said.
The door opened and Declan quickly turned to wink at her. "See you later," he said before rushing off into the maze.
Selene held the laser gun in front of her as she headed into the maze. Declan was going down.
Selene had played laser tag a lot with her parents, and Zoëand her family, she was pretty much an expert.
Once she had found her hiding place--and shot Verona and Roman twice--she set up at the highest point in the maze to shoot them all from above. Too focused on shooting Roman, she didn't realize that Declan had snuck up on her until he cleared his throat.
She turned to him quickly. His gun was lowered.
"What do you want?"
"I'm not going to shoot."
She hesitantly lowered her gun.
"Nice hideout," he said, moving closer to her.
"What game are you playing, Declan?"
"No game." He put an arm around her waist. "How about next round we team up against Rona and Rome? Show them who the better couple is?"
"I think it's the couple that's been together for more than three years."
"I mean at laser tag."
She shrugged. "I'll think about it, Declan."
"Maybe I can influence your decision?"
"You're going to give me your bank card?"
He chuckled before his lips met hers.
A laser zapped past them--probably Roman aiming at one of them--and Declan backed them into a corner out of view.
He broke the kiss after a few moments, one of Selene's legs wrapped around his waist.
"Think about it," he said.
She shook her head. "You're not convincing enough, Grey. Run along and maybe I won't shoot you."
He raised his hands in surrender before grabbing his gun and walking off.
Selene turned back, aiming her gun at Rome.
But before she could take the shot, the vest vibrated signalling she had been shot. She looked down at the monitor on her gun to see who had shot her. GREY.
"I'm going to kill you, Grey," she said loud enough for him to hear her from wherever he was.
He chuckled. "In your dreams."