"And there will be a day, When you can say you're okay and mean it."

[Song: "Secret For The Mad" - Dodie Clark]

RECAP:

The usually cheerful Jordan showed a different side of him when he was clearly irritated that Naomi didn't meet up with him, Bennett, and Declan at Starbooks. Naomi never took up Jordan's invitation because meeting up with three guys she has never talked to before didn't show any possibilities that it will end well. However, the three transfer students clearly showed they might be one of the good guys when they steered Naomi's bullies away at school. After Jordan showed his perfect timing by stepping in when Naomi was confronting a bully, she decides to take up his offer to grab a cup of coffee.

~

I was met with the distinct smell of coffee as I entered the humble cafe.

"What do you mean I can't get a free drink?" She asked in disbelief. "I'm dating you, aren't I?"

Although the same couldn't be said for its customers.

His eyes shifted away and he muttered, "I keep telling you that I'll get into trouble if I did that..."

"What's the point of getting this job if you can't do this for your own girlfriend?" The girl huffed. "I could be dating Cesar Martinez. He works at the movie theater and he sneaks his friends in."

The guy had a painful look on his face when she said that. "Your birthday is coming up and..." He trailed off then let out a sigh. "Just buy the drink and I'll pay you back after my shift ends."

"Whatever," she muttered, handing him some money from her wallet. "Just pay me back whenever I see you at school. I'll be going to the mall with my friends."

His shoulders slumped. "I thought we could hang out after-"

"There's a sale in Cold Topic," she said. "Let's hang out on days you don't work. I like coffee but that doesn't mean I want to constantly be around it." With that, she went to the end of the counter where the orders are picked up, now engrossed with her phone and not giving her boyfriend another look.

I don't think I could possibly follow up that performance.

"Hi! Welcome to Starbooks! What can I get- Oh, it's you."

I feel so welcomed.

"What do you want?" The barista demanded.

"Henry, fix that attitude of yours, or else I'm putting you back on toilet duty," his manager snapped at him as he passed behind him.

Henry clenched his fist and exhaled. "Yes, sir." He gave me a fake smile and forced out, "What would you like today?"

"Iced green tea," I snarked, my eyes narrowed at him.

"And that would be for... Oh right. Nerdy Naomi." He had the nerve to smirk for calling me that creative nickname.

I shoved the money in his hand. Then I held out a dollar in front of him. I dangled it above the tip jar. His eyes were on the money like a dog watching a treat.

"Well, look at that," I mused. "I have this extra dollar just for tips."

I dropped it, then at the last moment, I grabbed it and put it in my pocket.

"Oh wait, I'm so sorry," I told him innocently. "That's only for people who actually deserve it."

His nostrils flared at that. "You're lucky my manager is here," Henry threatened. "But just wait once I see you at school, because I'll-"

"Henry!" His manager hissed.

The barista stiffened at the sound of his name. "Y-yes, sir?"

"What did I just say about treating your customers?" The manager demanded.

"But it was her," Henry defended.

I pouted. "All I wanted was a top-quality iced green tea that I can get only from this Starbooks. I know Starbooks is known for its great customer service, but it seems like I'm being proven wrong, seeing how poorly I've been treated. The last thing I want is to go to another Starbooks because of some rude guy like him..." I trailed off and dramatically looked away.

The manager's hand went to his chest. "Oh, you poor sweetheart," he cried.

Henry's jaw grazed the floor. "Are you kidding me?"

The manager shoved Henry away from the counter. "I apologize for his attitude. Please don't believe that he is an accurate representation of what Starbooks stands for. Here, let me make it up to you-" he said as he handed me my money back. "This will be on the house and here's a five-dollar gift card."

I gasped. "Oh, you shouldn't have."

"No, it's the least I could do." The manager glared at his employee. "I'll deal with this one later. Thank you for coming to Starbooks and I hope you come back again."

"Oh, I will," I said with a smile as I eyed Henry. "I really will."

I left the counter then went to the side to wait for my drink. Then I saw someone carrying a drink with no lid walk towards my direction with a look that said that he didn't have a conscience. The guy pretended to trip and was going to crash right into me, but I sidestepped away. He was shocked by my sudden movement and crashed onto the floor, lying in a puddle of his own drink which I recognized to be a caramel macchiato- a great choice.

I frowned and then looked at the people around me. "Careful, there's a mess," I said before adding, "plus that spill."

Jordan sidestepped the mess. He leaned on me with his elbow on my shoulder, reminding me of our height difference.

"Quite the artwork you created here," Jordan mused. "And to think I didn't believe you had a sense of humor when all along you have quite the snarky attitude."

I scoffed at that and failed to fight against the smirk on my face. "Sometimes you have to create your own amusement, especially when you need to deal with this on a daily basis."

Jordan grinned "I like how that brain of yours works, Lorraine. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want it."

I gave him an innocent smile. "You can always dream, Wallace."

When my order was called, I went to grab my drink.

Jordan frowned as he watched me take a sip of my drink. "I thought I was going to treat you. You really didn't have to enter the cafe first just so you can pay for yourself."

"I can't in good conscience have you pay after you stepped in earlier. And besides, I'm perfectly capable of buying my own drink," I told him, then sighed when he gave me a childish pout. "But if you really want to, you can next time."

He gave me a sly smile. "So you're saying there'll be next time?"

I rolled my eyes. "It could be a never instead," I offered.

"I get it," Jordan said, holding up his hands in defense. "I shouldn't push my luck."

"Are you going to order?" I asked him.

"I'm just waiting for my wallet," he said cheerfully.

"I don't appreciate being called that," Bennett told him as he walked up to us. "Especially after driving you here without telling me ahead of time."

Just imagine a cutscene with the four of us in Bennett's car. The car ride was as awkward as it was silent, but I had to hand it to Jordan for trying to lighten the mood with his attempts to strike up a conversation between me, Declan, and Bennett.

"I was kidding, Bent," Jordan assured him. "Besides, you still owe me after that favor I did for you."

"I still say it's blackmail, not a favor," Declan told Bennett, crossing his arms.

"It's all of a matter of perspective," Jordan explained. "We as humans have evolved to learn how to create our own judgments based on-"

"Yeah, it's definitely blackmail," Declan confirmed.

Bennett turned to me, glancing down at the drink in my hand. "You can take a seat ahead of us. Tell me if you want me to get you anything else.""I'm alright," I said, swirling the liquid in my cup to show him.

Starbooks has a layout that has tables secluded by walls so people can have their privacy when they're with friends or when they're doing work while having a cup of coffee. I walked towards an empty four-chair table at the side of the room. I heard whispers of the conversations from customers who I assumed were from our school given the cafe's close proximity to our school.

"Did you see that? She was talking to them."

"What are they doing together?"

"I know what Bennett can get me," someone said wistfully. "Himself..."

Once again, I was thankful for the attention those three transfer students got so I wouldn't have to be under fire with insults instead. I made it to the table safely and took a seat. As they waited for their turn in line, I realized it was my first time seeing all three of them standing together in this safe distance.

Bennett has a tall slim frame with his legs being the main attribution to his height which made him the tallest amongst the three of them. His medium-length raven hair was styled into a loose side part hairstyle. What was unique about him was the existence of his pale blue eyes along with his olive skin tone which can only be explained if he was multiracial although I didn't know what blend could have created him. For a student in my school, he seemed to dress into the rumor he was wealthy, or at least, well off. He wore a white button-down with the collars peeking out from underneath a dark blue crew neck sweater, partnering it with slim-fit dark jeans and brown leather high top sneakers that looked brand new.

Declan was the second tallest, shorter than Bennett by an inch or two. However, he was clearly more well built which is reasonable for the athlete to develop a muscular figure. He had dark brown eyes and, after some consideration, I decided he had an almond skin tone because I remember struggling to find the correct make-up tone and found the almond tone to be a shade darker than mine. I was about to note his black hair, but at a second glance, it was more of a darkest brown when the light hit his hair at a certain angle. He had a messy medium length hairstyle with it longer at the front and shorter at the back with the sides tapered off. He wore a dark camo-green bomber jacket over a tightly-fit plain black shirt which proved how muscular he was along with brown joggers and black low top sneakers.

Jordan was the shortest by a couple of inches with a relatively slender figure. His defining feature was his bright green eyes. When I struggled to describe his skin tone, my mind wandered to when I bought myself a rose milk tea boba that made me only see him with a skin tone that can only be described as a sort of rose beige. He kept his dirty blonde hair in a messy curtain hairstyle with its length slightly longer than the other two having tousled curls running down the back of his head. He wore a light blue jean jacket over a white vintage graphic tee of a Rubik's Cube which he paired with black jeans rolled up to be at ankle length and worn-out white sneakers.

I suddenly felt very conscious of myself. I looked down at my clothes and saw the usual getup of my trusty dark blue sweatpants, black sneakers and an oversized gray graphic tee tied at the bottom with a hairband in case I wanted to tie up my hair into a bun or ponytail. That made me realize my hair. I did my best to calm down whatever mess my curls decided to be in by combing my long brown hair through my fingers. I've never been one to obsess over the latest fashion given it seemed pointless to try at this point. However, it was another story if it was the latest book series.

Maybe it wasn't too late to leave. I began thinking of my escape plan but all of my ideas were thrown out the window once I saw that the only available exit was the front door right by the three transfer students. Speaking of those three, they finally made it to the front of the line to order their drinks.

"Welcome to Starbu- I mean Starbooks," Henry managed to stammer out when the three transfer students walked up to the booth. "What can I get you?"

"You should already know what I want, Ben," Jordan said with a grin, leaning against the counter. "You know me so well after all."

"I wish that I didn't know half of the things you told me about yourself," Bennett said bluntly.

Jordan winked. "That just means you liked the other half."

"I hate how optimistic he can be," Declan said dryly.

"I'm in a mood for a vanilla bean frappuccino," Jordan said brightly.

"May I have an iced dark chocolate mocha?" Bennett asked.

"I'll get that strawberry refresher you have," Declan told him.

Henry snorted to himself. "Strawberry?" He repeated.

Declan chuckled. "Why?" Then he abruptly stopped and narrowed his eyes at the barista. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"N-No," Henry assured. "Strawberries are great."

When Henry took Bennett's card for payment of the drinks, he leaned over the counter then half-whispered when he asked, "So are you guys really here with Naomi? Are you pulling a prank on her or something? Can I get in on it?"

I bit my straw when I heard that. My drink instantly tasted bitter.

The smile on Jordan's face vanished. "What did you just ask?"

Declan glared at him. "Don't make me say it."

"Make our drinks now," Bennett said with narrowed eyes, his tone pressed.

Henry slowly nodded then had one of his coworkers switch with him as he made the drinks. The three transfer students then went to my table once they got their drinks. Jordan chose the chair next to me, Bennett took the seat in front of me and Declan sat in the remaining seat. The whispers and stares directed at us were annoying enough for all four of us to glare at everyone to mind their own business until they finally did.

"Hey, random stranger," Jordan said with a grin.

It took all the strength in me to not roll my eyes.

I'm sorry to inform you that I'm weak.

"Since these two are here as well," I said, referring to Bennett and Declan, "I'm going to assume it's for the reason you wanted to meet with me last Saturday."

"You assume correctly," Jordan said matter-of-factly. "And I would like to put it on the record that I'm still hurt by the fact you stood us up."

"Technically I didn't stand anyone up given I never accepted the invitation in the first place," I informed him.

Jordan opened his mouth to interject but stopped when he realized he had nothing to argue. Declan stifled a short snicker at Jordan's expense. Bennett made a quiet sigh also at Jordan's expense.

I leaned back against my chair and let out a soft sigh. "I believed that you wanted to meet up because you wanted to cut some kind of deal. But I didn't want to revive the program since no one seemed to respect the terms of the business."

"The program?" Bennett repeated in confusion.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. "Just a system I created in my sophomore year in an attempt to organize my... well, you know. If I did someone's homework, completed a project, or wrote an essay, they had to leave me alone for a certain length of time. I'm actually quite proud of it myself because I created individual packages based on what they were looking for and their class syllabus."

"It wasn't that much work," I assured them when none of them responded. "If anything, it was good practice for class. Dartwell is a small school anyway and it was usually people in my grade, sometimes an older student..." I faltered and cringed at what I just said. It was an old memory I thought was locked away.

I heard the sound of the plastic crinkling when I saw Jordan clenched his hand holding his drink. "How is it for you now?" He asked me.

I hesitated, but it was Jordan asking me this. I looked at the other two and their faces told me that they wanted to hear it too. I believed that if they were going to learn about it, they might as well learn it from me.

"Since I'm a senior, it's mainly people in my year who mess with me, most of the time for me to do their assignments. I get the usual shoves and trips as well as any insults or jokes directed at me from the other grades. It was worse in my earlier years since there were older students. I got my fair share of bruises. I once even broke my arm and-" I stopped, horrified that I got carried away, then quickly added, "From falling down. I'm quite clumsy. It wasn't anything serious." Excellent finish, Naomi. That addition was absolutely necessary.

I stared down at my drink, knowing the melting ice had turned it into a watery mess. If I could see my reflection in it, I'd see another mess. I didn't want to see their reactions, probably because I already knew what they were.

"At least they have the common sense not to do anything more serious especially in front of any school staff," I said quietly. "Why make visible scars when mental ones last much longer?"

Everything was spilling out. It was as if that one question was the final crack this dam needed before the memories and experiences began to flood out. As everything kept happening on a daily basis, I never had a chance to catch my breath, much less brace myself, so I numbed myself from everything. I believed that I was mentally strong, resilient after all of these years. I was proven wrong.

The worst part was that they didn't say anything. I felt a pit in my stomach and felt nauseated. It was as if I was a show telling them about this insignificant part of my life just so they can have an anecdote of some classmate they know who was bullied by nearly her entire school. At that moment, I hated them for putting me on the spot, but I hated myself even more for giving them the show. I decided to put an end to it.

As I fiddled with my bracelet, I said quietly, "I just want to thank you for helping me out before. You really don't have to anymore. I don't know how you'd want me to pay you back, but-"

"You have to stop thanking us," Declan grumbled.

"And you shouldn't have to pay us anything either," Bennett assured me.

"After all," Jordan told me, "we're only doing the right thing."

My heart flickered with hope at the thought there was still some faith in humanity after all.

"Like you said before, Jordan," I told him, "it's all a matter of perspective. It may be the right thing, but not the best thing."

"It's only a matter of time when they'll start targeting you for even being seen with me." I motioned to the curious onlookers who came from our school who quickly pretended they weren't trying to overhear our conversation. "The only reason nothing has happened to you yet is because of those rumors surrounding each of you."

"We don't care if a couple of people think they can mess with us," Declan said gruffly. "If that's the price for doing what's right, then I'll gladly pay for it."

"I already lasted this long without anybody ever saving me," I told them. "What you just saw was a typical day. I've been through worse. Even with your abnormally high moral sense of duty, don't think you need to escort me to my next class or be my bodyguard."

I looked at them, each and every single one of them.

"You're not obligated to save me every time just as I don't expect you to," I stated firmly. "I'm not helpless. I just had enough to deal with it all."

I found myself staring at my drink again. "I only have one more year and my punishment will be over," I muttered mostly to myself. "I'll find some university where no one will know who I am so I don't have to ever deal with it again. Where I can stop believing that I deserve it all because something is actually wrong... " I tsked at myself at that line.

"What punishment?" Jordan asked in disbelief. "No matter how long you have to suffer like this, no person should believe that they deserve to be bullied. You have to stop that kind of mentality."

He means well, Naomi. You shouldn't be annoyed at his words.

"You make it sound so easy," I told him, my tone made it sound like I was almost jealous, probably because I was. "You think I'm going to be an optimist after dealing with this since middle school? If everyone can just report someone or fight back, there should be no form of discrimination at all- not just in school but out in the real world. There are other people suffering, both in our school and everywhere else, more than me."

I exhaled. "You can't save everyone and even if you did want to save someone, you shouldn't save me."

"You're right," Bennett told me.

He looked at me, our eyes locked in a gaze that made me want to look away out of sheer intimidation but couldn't because I feared what would happen if I did.

"We can't save everyone," Bennett stated. "No one can. However, we can save someone right in front of us."

My heart flickered with hope once more. A heart I didn't believe was still beating. It was fragile, each beat fighting for the next, but it was alive nonetheless.

I have always told myself that my punishment will be over once I graduate from high school. That it will all be over once I graduated. However, I promised myself that there was another way to escape, but I didn't believe it would ever happen.

I believed that I no longer had to suffer through the torment I have been living with all of these years if someone can truly save me. Save me from everyone. Save me from myself.

"Then how do you propose you'll save that person?" I asked.

"This is where I show you my ingenuity," Jordan said dramatically.

Declan slightly leaned towards Bennett and muttered to him, "I bet he had to look that word up."

Jordan decided to be the bigger person and ignore him.

Of course he didn't.

"You're the one who doesn't know. I know what ingenuity means," Jordan defended. "It has the word genius in it, not counting the last letter, so, therefore, I'm saying that I'm a genius."

I lowered my face to one of my hands not being able to comprehend that I have to deal with this person for an entire year.

Jordan took out a stapled stack of papers and set it in front of me.

"Naomi Lorraine, I would like to present to you... The Contract of Starbooks."

I stared at the title page of the stack of papers that read those very words. I looked at Bennett and Declan to see that they were just as surprised.

"You made a contract," I stated.

Jordan smiled at me. "Yes."

"For... this," I clarified.

His smile didn't falter. "Yup."

I slowly put the contract down like the thing will explode in my hands, then looked at the other two. "Should I be concerned?"

"Very," Declan informed me just as Bennett said, "Maybe." Both of them looked at each other due to their answers.

"He was like this when we met him," Bennett told me.

Declan snickered to himself. "They didn't accept returns even when Bennett offered to pay in cash."

"Alright, hey," Jordan interjected and shot Declan a glare. "Uncalled for. My mom tried to do the same thing. I mean Bent's right, but I was perfectly sane when-" He paused then said, "Well, ok I was up until 2 am with energy drinks pumping in my veins, but..."

"But what?" I asked.

"You just need to accept that you're living in my world," Jordan said arrogantly with a laugh. "Just follow the main character's ideas like good little side characters no matter how ridiculous they are."

I moved to stand up. "I have homework to do. Thanks for the chat. Let's agree to never talk to each other in school again."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jordan said, stopping me. "That was my pathetic attempt at making things less awkward. Just hear me out."

I let out a sigh and sat back down. I really couldn't believe it and had to ask again.

"You made a contract for this?" I asked Jordan.

"I made a contract for you," Jordan corrected.

I turned to Jordan who wore a soft smile on his face. His green eyes seemed to glisten which was odd because this part of the room we were sitting at had bad lighting.

"After everything that has recently happened and whatever you may have gone through that we would probably never know, I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with me, with us," Jordan explained. "Then I figured what better way to do that than with a contract? Every type of relationship has a contract, verbal or unspoken, but having it written would've made things easier for you. Then we can layout things clearly with anything you're comfortable with. "

Jordan rubbed the back of his neck and slightly looked away in embarrassment, still holding his smile. "I know, it's really stupid. I didn't have anything better to do, besides that Physics quiz I should've studied for and some cans of Yerba Matte just sitting there. If you don't think it's necessary, you don't have to use it. I just wanted to have it in case you did."

He looked at me expectantly, trying to read my reaction. I was speechless as I tried to wrack my head around what Jordan just told me, what he had done. He wrote a contract, a friendship contract, so I can be more at ease with them.

I smiled at him. "That's really considerate of you. Thank you, Jordan."

He had a big grin plastered on his face. "Well then, give it a look and take your time. You can add and take anything out. I'll just finish my drink- Aw, the whipped cream melted..." He pouted at his drink but still took a sip anyway.

"Wait, was that my Yerba?" Declan asked.

"Will we read it as well?" Bennett questioned.

Jordan paused from drinking then pointed at Declan. "Maybe." Then he pointed at Bennett. "And yes. However, Naomi is the main priority, as she always is, and she should look through it first since I only thought of bringing one copy of the contract." Jordan frowned. "I'm smart, but not always."

I turned to Declan and Bennett. "Jordan made the contract for me, but I want to know if both of you are fine with it since it seemed like he dragged you into it- no offense Jordan."

"None taken, since it's true," Jordan replied before taking another sip of his drink.

"That may be the case, but Jordan had good intentions for it," Bennett told me. "So I don't mind and given what I've seen so far, you seem perfectly capable of handling Jordan which will be great for us."

"Hey!" Jordan interjected. We all looked at him and waited before he said, "No that's it. Bent's right."

"Same goes for me," Declan said, leaning against his chair. "Although I'm getting secondhand embarrassment from how extra Jordan is being."

Jordan scoffed. "You think everyone cares about your secondhand embarrassment, Declan? What about me? I'm getting firsthand embarrassment."

He received an eye roll from Declan and a sigh from Bennett.

I shook my head, chuckling to myself. "We can go through the contract together," I offered when I suddenly stopped on the first page of the contract. "Wait, what's this first part right before the contract starts?" I asked Jordan.

"You should be asking that to two in the morning me," Jordan said, leaning over at my side to see the paper. "Now what did I decide to write in-"

Jordan suddenly reached to snatch the contract from me but I moved it away from reflex. I pulled the contract close to my chest, protecting it.

"What did Jordan do this time?" Declan asked with a snort.

"Just ignore that part," Jordan pleaded. "I'll even say it in French if you give me a few minutes to remember how to say it."

"Oh, he's begging," I mused. "Now I know this is important."

"What did he write?" Bennett asked.

I handed Bennett the contract and was sure to jerk it away from Jordan's reach when he tried to grab it again.

"It's quite simple really," I quoted.

"You'll be our good girl," Bennett read aloud.

"And we'll be your bad boys," Declan finished.

We all slowly turned to look at Jordan who amazingly showed both horror and embarrassment on his face. The whole table was dead silent before we all erupted in laughter. I had to take off my glasses and wipe away the budding tears from laughing so hard. Declan doubled over to the side of his seat, having to put one hand on the table to keep himself from falling off. Bennett was looking away to the side and covered his mouth with his hand, doing his best to compose himself despite the chuckles escaping him. Jordan put his face in his hands overwhelmed by embarrassment but was still in a fit of laughter.

"Please don't expect me to defend two-in-the-morning-energy-drink-driven Jordan," the contract's writer said, holding up one hand like he was making an oath. "I'm a changed man."

"Debatable," Declan threw in.

"Well let's hope that's the first and last of your surprises," I said chuckling, but my smile faltered when I looked at Jordan. "Jordan?"

"Just let me see the contract again," Jordan said hurriedly. "I want to go over it. I'll check for grammar mistakes-"

"Or even better mistakes," I said, a grin slowly but steadily appearing on my face. I shared a look with the other two and gave them a nod.

I tossed the contract to Bennett just when Jordan moved to grab the contract from my hands. Declan got up from his seat and held Jordan back to allow me to leave my seat without Jordan blocking my way. Bennett had flipped through the contract during my daring escape but came up with nothing. We did a flawless handoff when he gave me the contract back and went to block Jordan who struggled against his two friends. My speedreading skills from completing a stack of library books before its due date or studying for an exam have been waiting for its moment to shine as I scanned through the contract.

"Hay naku..." I muttered in disbelief under my breath.

I looked at the three of them and paused to appreciate the scene before me. They were all frozen in place and were staring at me. Declan was holding Jordan by his sweater while Jordan had his hands up trying to push Declan away. Bennett was in between the two, attempting to control them. All four of us slowly turned to see that the whole cafe was staring at us. We all wordlessly returned to our seats and waited until everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Jordan, what were you thinking?" I demanded.

In response, Jordan hung his head in shame. "Just do me a favor and rip it up." He paused. "Wait, no. My hard work..."

"Article Four Section Two - Relationships," I read aloud. "The New Friend is off-limits in any romantic or sexual relationship. There should be no such feelings because if such were to arise, it would ruin the friendship for the others thus ruining the purpose of the contract. If the New Friend is in a relationship by her own volition, there should be support not sabotage. All parties in the contract are to be trapped in the friend zone."

I closed my eyes and let out a huge sigh. Once I recollected myself, I showed Jordan great restraint as I told him slowly, "Jordan, I really appreciate that you took the time to make this contract with the only thing powering you through it being energy drinks and sheer will power. However, there's this thing people do when writing something, whether it be an email or a text message, and it's called proofreading which you clearly didn't do once you regained a fragment of a rational, clear mind. On second thought, I don't believe you had one to begin with."

"In my defense," Jordan stated, "I'm an idiot."

"Clearly," we -Bennett, Declan, and I- agreed in unison.

I continued, "That must be the only reason as to why you created this part of the contract. Through this contract alone, a line has been crossed but I let it pass because you had good intentions. However, this article destroys that very line."

Trust me. I know all about destroying. Wait until you see what's left of the fourth wall at the end of the book.

"She's right," Bennett agreed. "Some things don't need to be said, much less written, especially into a contract."

"I don't believe having to write this part in the contract was necessary," I told him. "I can't speak for you three, but I'm not interested in getting into a relationship. That's the last thing I'm looking for."

I should be focusing on my studies instead of focusing on dating someone. And even if I were to be in a relationship, I would either believe they were doing it as a prank or I would be worried they would get hurt because of me. Then there are these three transfer students who I barely know. I never expected anyone to ever help me, so throwing romance into the mix would make it into an awkward, complicated mess.

"Those are some famous last words, Naomi," Jordan told me.

I gave him an unamused look. "Jordan..."

"That too," he quipped.

"Then what about you?" I said, throwing it back to him. "You, or well two in the morning you, believed something was going to happen when writing this section. Were you expecting to date Declan after this?"

Jordan and Declan looked at each other and grimaced.

However, Jordan recovered quickly. "No, I was expecting Bennett."

"Please stop," Bennett told him.

"Anyway, I wrote this section for you and ended up overthinking it." To my dismay, a mischievous smile formed on his lips. "But I know you actually want to get rid of the section just because you want to be with me. You're just making a big show about it. Don't be so tsundere about it, Naomi."

I stared at Jordan at what felt like a long time. "Your absurdity amazes me."

"I know, I'm amazing," Jordan said humbly.

"I never said that."

"Doesn't matter."

I looked at the other two and told them sincerely, "I'm sorry you had to deal with this for so long."

"You shouldn't be sorry seeing that you're going to have to deal with him too," Declan said dryly.

"Do either of you disagree with this article?" I asked them.

"After knowing Jordan for so long, I've learned that there are some things you just have to accept," Declan told me.

"And if it makes you comfortable, then I'm fine with it too," Bennett assured me.

"Alright, then let's keep the section," I said. "We all clearly agree with it and I have absolutely nothing to prove. I mean, unless you want to get rid of it yourself and you hoped that I was going to do it for you," I proposed to Jordan.

"I'm offended you thought I would do such a thing," Jordan said, imitating my polite tone. "I agree and respect your decision. Article Four Section Two will be kept in the contract."

"Moving on," I said, not wanting to think about it any further before I lose any more brain cells.

The four of us went through the contract together. It was short but thorough and the wording was concise and straight to the point. The contract goes through different areas whether it be communication and spending time together, but all fall under the same theme of respecting boundaries, yourself, and each other.

"Can you elaborate on Article Five about penalties?" I asked.

Jordan sat up from his chair. "Oh, that's a good one. Well, if either of us violates any of the previously stated articles, then the party who has been wronged can create a punishment as long as the party who had created the harm agrees with it."

Jordan motioned to Declan. "Like for example, say Declan does something stupid, which happens all the time, and it negatively impacts me. If it's not a big deal, I don't have to call up the article."

Declan closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Bennett, please stop me before I hurt Jordan."

Bennett paused, his eyes scanning the room. "There are witnesses," was all he said.

"But if it was a really serious act, then I could call up the article and have Declan... I don't know... stop playing video games for a month-"

"The cojones he has..." Declan muttered under his breath.

"-but he needs to agree to it in the first place," Jordan finished. "Either party can also come up with a penalty together or create a compromise on the penalty or its severity."

I looked at Jordan with an emotion I never thought I would to him- I looked at him in awe. "Are you trying to go into law too?"

Jordan perked up at that. "What do you mean by too?"

I felt my cheeks turn warm and looked back at my drink. "I mean, you're really thorough in this contract of yours."

He gave a half-hearted shrug. "I'm what you'd call a jack of all trades."

I shook my head, smiling. "You transfer students are something else..."

"Wait," Jordan said, stopping me. "Have you been just referring to us as the 'three transfer students'?"

"Well, collectively, yes," I admitted. "I save more time that way. What, do you have some sort of group name you'd rather I call you instead? Do you want to start some boy band?"

Jordan shrugged. "I made a list but the others wouldn't agree."

"We would get sued for copyright with those names, Jordan," Bennett informed him.

After we finished going over the contract, I went over the contract once more and even checked the backside in case there was some fine print I was missing. "I don't have any objections, and there's always the option to add any amendments."

"Well, I'm ready to sign," I told them. "Let me just grab a pen from my backpack..."

"Never fear, milady," Jordan said dramatically.

He held up his hands in front of me, then reached out to me past my head and pulled out a pen.

"Ta-da!" Jordan said cheerfully as he gave me jazz hands.

His friends, ever the supportive, clapped weakly.

"I'm glad to see that the only time you come prepared with school supplies is when you're doing magic," I said dryly.

Jordan frowned. "I didn't learn that magic trick just to be called out."

"I'm sorry to inform you that seems to be the case," I told him gravely.

I took Jordan's pen that felt very familiar to me.

Too familiar...

"Is this my pen?" I demanded.

"Is it?" Jordan asked, his voice a pitch higher than normal, and unless he hit reverse puberty, he knew exactly whose pen it was.

Lord give me patience because Jordan Wallace doesn't know what it is and can therefore not give me any.

"I'm going to keep this pen after this given it's my pen," I stated as I wrote my name on the empty line at the end of the contract.

I passed the contract to Jordan for him to sign next. When I held out the pen to him and he grabbed it, I at first didn't let it go of it and I gave him a clear look that I will be getting my pen back. Afterward, the rest of them signed the contract.

"Why are you smiling?" Jordan asked me while having his own smile.

"It just seems like we're signing our wills away now that we all officially have to put up with your antics."

"If that was the case, I don't see why we had to go through all this effort in signing a contract," Bennett pointed out.

"To show off that I could make one?" Jordan offered.

"This will be one of his many antics, Naomi," Declan informed me.

"I knew that when I signed."

"Well, if we're finished now, we should be heading home," Bennett said, standing up from his chair. 

"But mom..." Jordan whined which earned a stern look from Bennett. "It would've been better if it was Saturday and we could've gone to a party after if someone-"

"-would please stop bringing it up," I finished, narrowing my eyes at Jordan.

"I wasn't going to say that," Jordan informed us.

"And anyway, I don't do parties," I told him. "Well, high school ones anyway."

We left our table and felt the stares of our schoolmates as we did. I was relieved once I escaped the suffocating cafe.

Bennett looked at me with an unreadable gaze. There was a pause between us before he asked, "Do you need a ride home? And... how do you usually get to school?"

"I walk to school to save money," I told him. "I take the city bus if I'm running late or feel like treating myself." When they all gave me a confused look, I explained, "When I don't feel like walking to school."

"I can give you a ride to school starting tomorrow," Bennett offered.

I blinked. "Oh no, I couldn't possibly-"

"You can start getting your own chauffeur, Naomi," Jordan pressed. "You shouldn't pass it up."

I considered it. I've been either using the city bus that bled my allowance dry or walked to school almost late to my first class. I learned the hard way that the school bus wasn't the best mode of transportation when you were locked in a moving vehicle with kids who hate you. It would be a nice change of pace getting a ride to and from school instead especially with it being my final year.

"Are you sure it won't be a bother?" I asked Bennett hesitantly.

He gave me a faint smile that appeared as quickly as it had left. "I only wish those other two were as considerate as you."

"Hey!" Declan and Jordan interjected in unison.

"And I can assure you, Naomi," Bennett told me. "You won't be a bother at all."

~

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! In TGGBB, this combines chapters two and three in the introduction and going through the contract. I want to go through a lot of great plot points in a good amount of chapters so I will be putting a lot of plot and character development in each chapter. That means that there won't be really any filler chapters.

You all must be sad Harvey is no longer with us. If you don't know, in TGGBB, the barista was Harvey. But who's Henry? Will he be an important character or just a random side character? We'll just have to see.

Also, I love Yerba Mate. I was so addicted to it last semester - pre COVID. I love tea so having power tea made it amazing.

You might be sad that there's no more Section 15 Article 5. I swear I made than number up and that meant the contract is huge so I made it shorter. Just think of it as Contract 42: Section 4 Article 2. Hopefully, that'll make things easier.

What did you think of everyone's physical descriptions? I almost didn't write it, but I hope everyone liked it. That took me a while to write and I hope I did the boys some justice.

As you all know, I want to make Broken Glasses a diverse cast, but I want to be very accurate too. From that, I created a work called "What Is Your Culture?" Through the work, you can answer questions and share your story to educate others about your culture from language, art, food, and much more. With that work, I'll be able to get information Google isn't giving me. I'll also do follow up questions in the replies or will even DM you to interrogate you. I hope you all check it out!

Before I give the next character profile, I want to share the very rough outline of the actual Contract of Starbooks. I may add more to it if I'm feeling bored. YOu're of course free to use it if you like. I've talked to some readers who were inspired to create their own friendship contracts! I wish you all wonderful friendships and relationships!

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Section One: Community

Article One: You must be there for each other: one for all and all for one

Article Two: As long as you are willing and able, you are expected to help each other out.

Section Two: Communication

Article One: If someone is opening up about themselves, respectfully listen, be open, and provide any needed support

Article Two: You must respect each other's limits in conversations and must not press for more information when they choose to stop

Article Three: There should be emotional honesty as you respect yourself and each other

Section Three: Spending Time Together

Article One: You should respect the other person's likes and dislikes, even if yours is obviously superior

Article Two: You need to honor established meet-ups unless there's a life-threatening or life-altering reason

Section Four: Relationships

Article One: You must respect the relationships amongst everyone under the contract whether it be with each other or someone outside of the contract

Article Two: You must not see a romantic or sexual relationship with the "New Friend" as it will be against the purpose of the contract

Section Five: Penalties

Article One: Mutual agreement of penalty for any violation of the articles above.

Section Six: Amendments

Article One: Any articles can be added or taken away after the signing of this contract if in unanimous agreement.

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Before I forget, if you haven't already seen it @Pekgna drew an amazing artwork of Naomi in the previous chapter's author's note after Naomi's character profile. Be on the lookout for a post that I updated chapter if I get another great artwork from Pekgna- although they have exams that they should focus on. I also want to dedicate this chapter to Pekgna for pouring out so much art for TGGBB!

Speaking of art, be sure to follow my Instagram (@RubixCube89201) because there are so many talented fans who make fan art, non-canon scenes, and make memes about TGGBB and BG!

And with that, here's Jordan's character profile!

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Name: Jordan Louis Wallace

Birthday: December 28

Height: 5'8" (173 cm)

Personality: ENFP-T

Ethnicity: French-Scot Canadian | French-Scottish descent (Mother, Anne-Sophie) / French-Scottish descent (Father, Jacob)

Appearance: Tousled messy medium-length with swept curtain hair bangs dirty blonde hair, Green eyes, Rose-beige skin tone

Wardrobe: (Indie/Soft Boy/Vintage) Jean jacket with a graphic tee/Dark trousers, Oversized sweaters/Light rolled-up jeans/Cropped slacks, Sneakers like Adidas or Converse

Likes: Vanilla, Grey, Computers, Art

Dislikes: Awkward silences, Abstract art, Hospitals

Facts:

- He loves being compared to Tamaki Suoh from "Ouran High School Host Club" or Barney Stinson from "How I Met Your Mother". He loves both shows and often rewatches them.

- He's still trying to learn French from his mother but the lessons always end with her telling him off in French. That's why he knows a lot of French curses.

- He keeps his hair at a medium length, but actually finds the length and his bangs annoying. The only reason he still has the hairstyle is because he believes he looks better with it. It made him create a habit of messing with his hair when he's bored or frustrated, the latter usually happens when he's studying.

Both drawings were from Pekgna. Follow them on Insta and Twitter!
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Thank you everyone and see you in the next chapter!

Rubix