Don't fight with a cranky girl
“What? You don’t want to marry a Mayor’s son?”
Jewel stared in front of her laptop’s monitor. She was inside her room and currently having a video call with her three friends. She sighed and pouted her lips. “Yes. He told me that he is twenty-nine. It’s okay if 4 or 5 years older but 10 years? Come on, Tiara, that’s a decade gap!”
“You’ll only ruin your reputation. That’s right. Don’t marry that old man!” Hazel chirped while holding a novel with a lewd cover. “If you marry that egoistic Mayor’s son, girl, you’ll be the next laughing stock in town!”
A smile made its way to Jewel’s lips but she pouted when she remembered something. She turned her gaze to her phone’s screen where the video call was ongoing. “Egoistic? I didn’t describe him like that. He’s actually good… and good-looking.”
Hazel put the novel down and stared blankly at the screen. “Laine, why are you defending that old man? I thought you don’t like him?”
“Uh…”
There was a war inside her. She did not want to marry him, yet, he was not a bad choice either. After that dawn when he saved her, she knew that Gideon was a good man. Jewel did not like it when her friends disrespect the man who saved her once so she just shrugged her shoulders and averted her gaze towards the laptop in front of her. “I’m more concerned with Sheena,” she breathed.
“Oh.” Hazel also shrugged her shoulders and held her novel high on the screen, so they could clearly see the book cover of a man packed with eight abs — a bit exaggeration — which every girls deemed as perfect attraction for an erotic novel. “That old hag who likes to spread negativity around her,” Hazel mumbled.
A chuckle escaped from Jewel’s lips. “And you know what happened when she tried to ruin me.”
“Of course. Sheena almost spit on your face.” Tiara who was silent suddenly bursted into a cold laugh. “Laine, if not because of me, you’re as dead as those freaking guys with no balls.”
“Should I thank you for ruining my dress just to make Sheena the bad girl in the party?”
Tiara’s eyes widened. “That’s two years ago! Why did you bring that up again? Are you holding a grudge on me, Laine?”
“No way,” Hazel mumbled while her eyes were glued on the novel she was reading. “Laine’s not like that. She had forgave you for accidentally tearing her dress while in the middle of the party, just to taint Sheena’s reputation. Oh, I forgot to remind us, the boys saw how beautiful Jewel’s legs are. Right, Jewel?”
A frown was drawn on Tiara’s forehead. “It’s not my fault! It’s Gabbi who suggested the idea.”
Jewel sighed. “We’re talking about Gideon. Why do you guys blaming each other?”
“You also blamed me,” Tiara pouted.
Before she could speak, Hazel had mumbled first, “Gideon? What a nice name.”
She pouted and turned her gaze to her phone standing beside her laptop with the aid of a phone stand. She stared intently at the screen. She saw Tiara smiling at the camera like a girl who had seen her crush, Hazel’s reading an erotic book without a care in the world, while no one was at Gabbi’s camera.
“Where’s Gabbi?” she asked.
Tiara shrugged her shoulders and leaned back. “Perhaps, enjoying her new bathroom?” The girl’s face lit up. “Uh, wait, Hazel? That’s hot. Another erotic book?”
Jewel glanced at Hazel’s camera. Her friend had just finished the book and was now holding another one. Same lewd cover as the first one, but the new one included a girl wearing only a pair of undergarments. Hazel looked up and smiled at them. “Don’t mess with a bookworm doing her job,” the girl mumbled in a humorous tone.
Tiara rolled her eyes. “You addiction’s making my hair stand. Stop it for awhile. You can just continue it later after we finish giving Laine an advice on how to deal with an old bastard.”
“Come on. Just marry that old, big, and ugly man!” Hazel said, frustration was evident in her voice. “Bang up with him then sleep. That’s a good solution to your problem, Laine.”
No one could paint how Jewel’s expression changed after hearing those words. She could not believe Hazel’s words. If marrying was like that, then she would probably lost her beauty at that age. And no, she would not let that happen.
“Don’t believe her words, Laine. I know you’re telling the truth when you said that Gideon’s a good-looking man. You can try marrying him. Age doesn’t matter, really. Even in your favorite books, age gap seemed not a problem at all,” Tiara said.
Hazel lifted the book she was holding and slightly smiled. “Maybe you’ll enjoy him. Remember in books? Older men means higher sex appeal.” Hazel’s eyes narrowed. “By the way, is he that good-looking? I haven’t seen the Mayor’s son.”
“Yeah, Laine. The Mayor’s too private. Imagine, even your engagement with his son was not aired in the local news?” Tiara asked.
Jewel scorned at the girls’ questions. “How dare you ask what he looks like when you two are bullying me?”
Hazel scratched her cheeks and laugh without humor. “It’s just a joke. Of course, I’ll roast those who want to disturb my reading. With the four of us, you should be the one who understand my situation, Laine. You’re the number one erotica addict in our circle!”
“Duh.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t use my hobby to defend yourself.” She sighed and turned her attention back to laptop’s monitor and punched something on the keyboard. “You know, girls … I don’t care either. If my parents betrothed me to someone, fine. But I hope they just chose someone around my age?”
“So you don’t like Gideon?” Hazel asked in a low voice. It seemed like the girl was trying to console her. Jewel’s mood improved because of Hazel’s attention, but not enough to lift her burden of tomorrow’s event.
She sighed and stopped typing on her laptop keyboard for a moment. “Not like that. Gideon is okay. Careful. Respectful. Gentleman. And …”
“And?”
