One Man Band System

Meanwhile, at school during that exact same time, the lunch bell rang. "Ding," a notification popped up on Chloe’s and Laura’s smartphones at the exact same moment. Both of them opened their phones instantly, finding a selfie Eric had sent of himself still sitting at the cafe after Anthony left.

They both immediately blushed and smiled. Naturally, seeing the two of them looking completely infatuated, the expressions on Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi, who were sitting around them in the classroom eating lunch, dropped completely.

They immediately shuffled over, crowding around Chloe and Laura to block them from escaping. Then, they peeked at their screens and were shocked to see that Eric had sent a selfie to the two of them but not to the rest of the group.

"What is this? Why is he sending you a photo of himself?" Emma demanded, looking at Chloe.

"Yeah... why? And Laura, you sent him a selfie of yourself too? What on earth is going on here?" Priya added, grabbing Laura’s smartphone and scrolling up through the chat history.

"I knew it. You two have been acting weird since this morning," Monica said, keeping a close eye on both of their phones.

"What exactly did you two pull with Eric last night while the rest of us weren’t around?" Heidi pressed, demanding answers.

Heidi, who was looming behind the two of them, leaned her face forward. Suddenly, her eyes locked onto Chloe’s neck. Her hand shot out instantly, grabbing Chloe’s collar and pulling it open just a bit. Sure enough, there was a red mark on Chloe’s neck.

"Hey... what’s this? A hickey?" Heidi demanded loudly.

Hearing that, Chloe yanked her collar back up and spun around to face Heidi, her face flushing bright red. She slapped away Heidi’s hand, which was still hovering in the air.

"This... it’s from the camping trip yesterday. I think I got a bug bite when we hiked up to the peak, and I only noticed it when I got home," Chloe explained, though her burning red face told a completely different story.

Emma, Priya, and Monica immediately locked their eyes on Chloe, while Laura hung her head, turning pale and pretending she didn’t even know her. Laura’s heart was pounding wildly. In the back of her mind, she prayed that Eric hadn’t left a mark on her body like the one on Chloe, or if he had, that it was somewhere hidden under her clothes.

But Priya wasn’t about to let her off the hook that easily. She tried to peek right down the front of Laura’s uniform shirt. Laura spun away instantly, shielding her chest with her arms, her face burning bright red.

"Hey... what do you think you’re doing?" Laura stammered, her flushing face giving away everything.

"Hmm, just checking to see if you got a bug bite too," Priya replied, though the look on her face made it clear she wasn’t joking.

In the end, Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi kept their eyes locked on their two friends, who now looked as red as boiled lobsters.

"I’m positive something went down last night," Monica said, analyzing the expressions on their faces.

"Yep... they’ve been acting weird since this morning, like a couple of idiots head over heels in love," Heidi added, keeping a close eye on them.

"Spill it, what did you guys do last night?" Priya demanded.

"Um... last night we went to Uncle Joe’s bar... had some drinks, came home drunk, and passed out. Then the three of us woke up with a massive headache... that’s it," Chloe answered, looking down.

"What? You two went out with Eric while the rest of us were grounded? That is so not fair!" Priya yelled angrily.

"Yeah... you two have it so easy... show some solidarity with your friends, will you?" Heidi snapped at them.

"That’s messed up... and here I thought you two were like sisters to me... I’m so disappointed," Monica added, pouting.

"You invited Eric out... you both know the four of us were miserable at home getting chewed out," Emma added, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah... we’re sorry," Chloe said, feeling a wave of relief inside that they weren’t digging any deeper.

"Same... I’m sorry too, it won’t happen again," Laura added, secretly relieved that they weren’t asking about what happened next.

After that, the four girls started venting about their experience being locked down last night, complaining that it would still continue after school since their moms were picking them up. Chloe and Laura just listened along, faking solidarity with their friends, even though their hearts were hammering and they couldn’t help but think to themselves, "Thank god they’re clueless."

Once the girls finished their rant, all four of them suddenly turned to glare at Chloe and Laura, making them both flinch.

"Bottom line, as long as me, Priya, Monica, and Emma are grounded, you two are banned from hanging out with Eric, got it?" Heidi said.

"Yeah... no cheating. We promised to compete but stay friends, so no head starts, understand?" Emma added.

"You heard her. If I find out you two invited Eric out again, you’re gonna get it," Monica added, shaking her fist at them.

"Relax, it’s only for a week. That’s why you need to promise right now—no hanging out with Eric without the rest of us," Priya demanded, putting them on the spot.

"Fine... I promise, no problem," Chloe agreed, raising both hands in surrender. "Oh crap... this is bad. It feels like a second, third, fourth and maybe more ’accident’ are definitely going to happen. What am I supposed to do?" Chloe thought, feeling flustered but secretly looking forward to it as a faint smile touched her lips.

"Same... I promise too. You guys can drop it now," Laura added, waving them off and crossing her arms over her chest. "Sorry guys, I already stole the head start and now I’m basically sprinting to the finish line because this is definitely happening again, hehehe," Laura thought to herself.

After that, they all chatted like normal. Still blushing, Chloe and Laura did their best to listen to Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi, who were still rambling on, comparing how angry their parents had been the night before. They debated who had gotten into the most trouble and who had just gotten a lecture.

Chloe and Laura could only nod along and give brief answers whenever they were asked anything, even forcing a laugh when they had to. In reality, though, their minds were entirely consumed by Eric, what had happened last night, and how it had felt.

Finally, after a little while, Chloe stood up and told the others she was going to the restroom. Naturally, no one suspected a thing. Not long after, Laura stood up as well to follow her, leaving the other four behind.

Of course, none of them noticed that since they were in Chloe, Monica, Priya, and Emma’s classroom, a classmate had been watching them the entire time. She observed the expressions on Chloe’s and Laura’s faces as they headed out to the restroom one after the other.

"Hmm... I see. So it was their first time... and it looks like both of them were with Eric last night... interesting. Mental note... note that down... I can use this later. Who knew they were so inexperienced, haha," Ruby thought to herself.

***

Meanwhile, at that very moment back at the cafe, Eric had ordered another coffee. He planned to wait there until it was time to pick up Chloe and Laura from school, passing the time by browsing on his smartphone.

He raised his cup to take a sip when suddenly, "ding," a notification popped up. He closed what he was reading and saw a message from Chloe. Naturally, he opened it, and "pfft!" he instantly spat out his coffee in shock.

Chloe’s message was a photo of herself showing off the hickeys on her neck and just below her collarbone. Underneath, she had written:

"I almost got caught by the others. Please don’t leave marks next time... I mean, I don’t really mind... I like having your mark on me... but the placement wasn’t great... pick us up later, okay? What are you doing? Are you busy... see you later, babe," followed by a string of heart emojis and blushing smileys.

"Huh,"

But before Eric could even process the photo and reply to Chloe’s text, "ding," another notification arrived, and this time the message was from Laura. When he opened it, Eric’s heart nearly skipped a beat.

Unlike Chloe, who had sent a photo of the hickeys on her chest and collarbone, Laura had sent a photo taken inside a bathroom stall, showing her hand pulling down her bra to expose her chest, which was covered in hickeys. Her text read:

"Priya wanted to look down my shirt earlier... good thing I didn’t let her... I don’t mind this at all... so next time, you don’t have to hesitate to leave marks on me. I’ll be waiting for you to pick us up, see you later, honey," followed by an angel smiley, a string of hearts, and a party hat smiley.

Eric processed the two images, his face turning a shade redder. Then, the words of both girls finally sank in.

"Wait a second... next time? That means there’s definitely going to be a second, third, fourth accident, and probably a lot more... hmm... this is dangerous... but why am I looking forward to it too... ah, screw it, whatever happens, happens," Eric thought to himself. It was clear he couldn’t shake what had happened last night, as the memories kept playing on a loop in his mind, and in the end, he just let his imagination run wild.