Friends Love to Slurp on Your Drama

My heart sank to the pits of Hell when reality kicked in.

Furious, I messaged the group chat and demanded a mandatory voice meeting. Everyone immediately complied. Although, Jaime’s “bruh” message right before everybody jumped on the call meant a million questions for me to answer. 

“Daaaaaaaamn bro,” as usual Jaime never adjusted his mic, “look who’s back and ready to mingle with the commoners.”

“You texted me.”

“And so I did! Hmmm, I wonder why? Oh that’s right- the fuck why you’d ghost me man! You told the others and not ME, your best man who’d kiss your feet and bend the earth- no homo- about your move?!”

“I tried to tell you.”

“Jaime, shut up,” Macie intervened, “I told you to call him but your lazy ass insisted that it’s more fun sitting around like a couch potato responding to trolls.”

“But then why y’all didn’t just tell me bro,” Jaime began his dramatic theatre kid sniffs and scoffs, “I need no callings to know my homie’s missin’ in action! You could have said-“

Jaime raised his voice to a pitch worthy of being called cringe.

“-oH JaiMe, pLeaSe cAll CloVeR, hE’s gOnNa lEaVe tOmOrrOW aNd hE sAiD hE lOves yOU sOooOOOoo muCH!”

In the background came Conner’s unexpected snickering as Macie’s shouting obliterated everyone’s eardrums. A typical voice meeting will always have someone screaming their heads off like we’re playing a game of survival. 

“Bitch calm down it ain’t no biggie!” Jaime noticeably huffed, “ok man let’s talk about it. Why’s lil b back and how did we not realize Fukufucker’s in town?” 

Simultaneously, Conner and Macie started to say something. Immediately the both of them apologized, then called dips on who gets to speak first.

Conner muted himself, so that left Macie with the mic.

“Asshole,” the both of us heard her whispering, and then she continued, “ok Clover, things are about to get serious. Yesterday, someone emailed claiming they have your new address and actually showed it to us. After tracing where it came from we realized it’s that the same bitch who harassed you for God knows how long. Got her name, some chick named Ishikawa.”

“Ishi who now?” Jaime asked but no one paid attention.

“Finally we got a name,” I sighed and rested my chin on my hands, “that should make the police’s job easier.”

“That’s if she tries anything, Clover,” Macie cleared her throat, “and even if she were to keep stalking, sad to say the police in your forgotten city won’t do shit. Rylis has enough crime as it is, a community of elders aren’t gonna expect riots and severe cases of harassment becoming a relevant occurrence.” 

I breath heavily into the mic, a sigh of frustration but equally conflicted as to what I’m supposed to do. 

“And I know security’s off the table,” Macie’s voice softened, “you know, coming back is an option. I know we weren’t there for you last time and it must’ve sucked. We’re really sorry. Your mom worries too. She hasn’t been bothering you because she’s been bothering the heck out of us. Asking for updates, praying so much she practically turned religious for your safety.”

“It’s…”

The room fell silent. I tried to respond to Macie but the knot inside my chest prevented me from opening up. 

“Ay man, what’s up?” Jaime interrupted, “come on just say it. You know we ain’t judgin’. Something happened?” 

“Sure you could say that…”

Like a stupid mind reader on an acid trip, all of sudden it felt as if he had infiltrated my head and pulled the words out of my mouth. 

“Yooooo did you meet a girl? Bet she’s hot bruh, was she though? Daaaamn you only get silent like this when it’s ‘bout some hot chick! When’s the last time some woman got you on your knees-“

“Holy shit shut up!” Macie raised her tone, “just let him speak!” 

“Someone’s on her period,” Jaime teased, but said no more. 

“Heh. Jaime’s right,” I began. An audible gasp from Conner meant he’s flipping notebooks to write down whatever I was about to say. “I’ve met someone. She’s pretty cute. Very sweet. My next door neighbor, would you all believe it?”

“Oh God it’s just like the plot of every sappy love story,” Macie chuckled.

“For sure, I mean I didn’t expect this either,” my foot began tapping the floor, “and I know this sounds hella crazy but, I think this is it guys.” 

“DaaaaAAAAAAAAAA-“ and then Jaime’s mic produced an ear piercing static, “AYYYYYY- SHI- YO BRO- NO- WAAAAAAA-“

“Asshole we can’t hear you!” Macie yelled, but thankfully not to the extent of Jaime or else I would’ve muted everyone for good. 

“I said good for you bro,” Jaime finally toned down, “but shit, that’s like finding gold! Watch all of us move to a new town and find ourselves some bitches!” 

“But uh, there’s just one problem,” I scratched the back of neck and ruffled my hair, “and Conner, please don’t panic.”

The scribbling of his pen immediately paused. Who knows what he wrote about my sappy love problems, but what comes next would sure tickle his need for drama. 

“So about the girl I may be falling hard for…she may or may not be related to Fukuyama.”

I listened as Macie cursed profanity; Jaime muted himself to prevent all of us from hearing his rabid screaming, and Conner left the call. 

I guess even his need for drama had limits. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of shame and cyber bullying, everyone calmed down. Surprisingly, it was Conner who started the conversation.

“Ahem,” I can imagine he’s adjusting his glasses, “girl problems aside, we should discuss how we’re going to deal with Fukuyama. That man’s no laughing matter when it comes to online business. One rejection led to thousands of followers rioting while Clover’s following grew doubtful of their support.” 

“Nice reminder,” Macie munched on what sounded like an apple, “but I’ve already gave Clover his best option. He needs to leave. As much as he’s in love with some hottie this isn’t a game. Clover-“

My conflicting thoughts about Emma detailed and I snapped out of my trance. 

“Clover, wake up,” Macie snapped her fingers, “I know you’re there. Stop daydreaming. This is serious and I don’t know if it’s just me but it feels like you’re not as concerned as you should be. Your career is on the line and you’re still thinking of hooking up with Fukuyama’s granddaughter?” 

Against my patience I gave into my stubbornness. 

“She’s not a hook up!” 

“That’s what he said,” Jaime added, but once again he was ignored.

“You can call it whatever you want,” Macie’s words got snappy, “but don’t be pulling that attitude on me. We’ve worked hard to build this brand for you and you can’t be seriously considering tossing it all away for some girl. There’s more fish in the sea. More hotties to meet and women to date whose families won’t cancel you.” 

“Yo but think ‘bout it, there’s also plenty of trash in the sea-“ all of a sudden someone muted Jaime. 

“Clover, listen to me,” I can almost feel Macie’s hands reaching out of my laptop and smacking my cheeks to grab ahold of me, “You can’t always have everything. It’s either you save your reputation, get out, and come back to Rylis. We’ll work together to get Ishikawa and her group of shitheads arrested. Or stay and be happy with this…girl you’ve just met, whose grandfather was the literal reason you’re where you’re at.”

No matter how much my urges wanted to be with Emma, Macie’s right. 

If things get serious, how will I ever face Fukuyama? Heck, would he even approve of us dating? 

At first, I wanted to date her because it was an easy way to get back at him. Well, it was always a bonus but my intentions were laid clearly. But after a singular day spent on getting to know Emma, I had to face it.

I’ve genuinely caught feelings. And they were strong. Primal. Feral, even. Oh the things I’d want to do. I definitely can’t reveal that to the squad, ever. 

“Let me think about it,” I nearly whimpered, knowing full well it wasn’t the answer Macie wanted to hear.

“Seriously?” I heard her slamming her head on the table.

“Yooooo she must be baaaaad,” Jaime unmuted himself, “for Clover to be this willing to sacrifice his career bro, that’s crazyyyyyy.”

“What we need,” Conner spoke up, “is Yuri’s opinion.”

“Speaking of him,” I checked the time, “is he still asleep?”

“Boy you declared an emergency call at 6, of course he’s out as hell,” Macie took another bite of her apple, “forget about him. Barely online nowadays ever since he started binge watching anime.”

“He’ll say what Clover’s experiencing is an anime love story,” added Conner. The scribbling had begun once more. I sighed, knowing I needed to face my reality.

“Ok listen,” I subconsciously leaned closer to the laptop, “Macie, don’t curse me out just yet, but I think what I need to do is confront Fukuyama. Wouldn’t that be best way to fix everything? If I stay on good terms we can bounce back from this.”

“An option, yes,” Macie cleared her throat, “but the question should be, ‘would Fukuyama be open to it?’ Hell, what guarantees he wouldn’t try to manipulate you the moment he realizes you’re dating his granddaughter?” 

I gulped. As I hesitated to respond- for I had nothing to back my suggestion- Jaime chimed in.

“Bein’ real with ya man, but you’ve gotten soft. Kinda givin’ me simp behavior.” 

That freaking idiot.

“What the hell!” I retaliated, but that only resulted in crackling before he muted his mic. 

“Clover, I’m lost. Honestly, we just need to know what you’re planning to do,” Macie slurped her drink.

“Fine, here’s the deal,” I heard Conner flip a page of his notebook, “the ideal plan is to talk to Fukuyama, confront what happened, and get a solution. If that’s a no-go, I’m thinking I can ask Emma to help me. She seems to reciprocate the feelings so I’m sure she’d be able to work things out.”

A moment of silence except from the intense scribbling of Conner’s pen. Macie sighed in defeat. 

“Your plan’s preposterous. But hey, we can’t stop you. If you think that’s gonna work then do it. We’ll pray that it does so Jaime can stop feeding the trolls.”

 “So ya girl’s name’s Emma?” Jaime teased. Done with his crap, Macie booted him out of the call. 

“Update us when you get the chance,” Macie continued, “Good luck.” 

Then everyone left, leaving me wrapped in silence as a streak of the morning sun penetrated through the window. 

To my excitement, the sound of keys being fumbled outside meant a special someone was home.

Fixing my hair, I shut my laptop and approached the door, opening it with such force as I welcomed the thought of her running into my arms. 

But I found Emma, tired beyond recognition, slumped against her door and nearly knocked out.

Smirking, I squatted in front of her. Staring into her cute face, I noticed the corner of her lips curled. Then with all of her remaining energy, she lifted her finger and poked my nose.

I brush her finger away and kissed her hand.

“Morning sunshine, hope work didn’t wore you down. Miss me?”