Jackson’s Pov.

    He, did he just, really, did he really…..slap me? I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here just trying to let the thought processes in my head. But it must of been a while, considering how the cafeteria is completely empty; and looks like it's been like that for a long time.

But I don’t care if I miss class, all I care about is Mark. I have to let him now the reason that I can’t take him to the dance. Then after that I need to tell him that no matter what I will find a way to take him to the dance, and to be with him for as long as he wishes. (which is hopefully a long time)

But before I can do that I have to find a way to first convince Youngji to let me and Mark go to the dance without her telling my mother. But that could be very hard, my mother has a way of scaring everyone she meets. So much so that people will do whatever she says in fear that if they don’t something horrible will happen to them. (they're not wrong though)

So it might take a lot to convince her to go against my mother's wishes. This is very dangerous work, if I tell her that stuff and she refuses, she’ll go and tell my mother. If she does tell my mother then all hope of me and Mark being together will disappear in the blink of an eye.

It’s why I need to make sure that I have a solid plan when I meet Youngji. But that's were another problem comes in, I have absolutely nothing. I’ve never been good at coming up with plans that work. It’s why I always got in so much trouble when I was younger, and I guess this whole problem too.

“Hey, what in the world are you still doing here?” I turn my head to the owner of the voice, Im Jaebum. Looks like my lucky stars have finally remembered me. “Jaebum, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!!” I said excitedly.

“Um, o-kay, I guess. But you still didn’t tell me what your still doing here an hour after schools ended.” Jaebum said. I was surprised to hear that not only had I missed half of school, but I had also been here an hour after it ended. “Wait, what are you still doing here after school?” I questioned. “Um, w-well, i-it’s, um, I asked you first!!” Jaebum stuttered out.

“Fine. I was here because I told Mark that I couldn’t take him to prom but before I could finish he slapped me and left.” I said. Jaebum looked a little confused before asking “Wait, why couldn’t you take Mark to the prom??” “It’s because my witch of a mother set me up with some other chick.” I said

“Oh I’m sorry. How do you plan on getting him back?” Jaebum said, not realising that he was the plan. “Well I plan on convincing the girl that my mom set me up with to let me and Mark go to the dance with each other” I said, just waiting for the right time. Jaebum then asked “And how do you plan to do that?” Bingo, got him. “I’m glad you asked, so what do you have in mind?” I said smirking at his reaction.

“Wait!! You expect me to help you. No thank you, I’ve met your mother, and believe it or not I’d actually like to live.” Jaebum said. I couldn’t help but smirk. Jaebum may have a reputation for not following through on his I owe you’s but what he owes me is bigger than what he’s ever owed anyone before.

I then said “Well Jaebum, it just so happens that you owe me for setting you up with that one boy, and if you refuse. All I would have to do is talk to him and you two would be over.” the look on his face was priceless. He looked absolutely terrified, I had found his one weakness, the one person that Jaebum would be willing to die for.

“You stay away from Youngjae!!” Jaebum yelled at me while giving me a look that meant me was serious. “So you’ll help me?” I said knowing full well that I had won. Jaebum sighed before saying “Fine I’ll help you. Let’s go to my house to work on a plan.” Before we left the school.

Jinyoung’s Pov.

    “-and then he told me that he wouldn’t take me to the prom!! I mean, can you believe that jerk!!” Mark sobbed out for the hundredth time while shoving spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth.

I’ve always taken pride in being a mother to my friends, the fact that they would come to me for help always made me feel proud. But there are still times that I hated it. This, this right here, is a exactly the reason I sometimes hate it.

Whenever Mark would get his heart broken he would come crying to me telling me what happened a million times, even if I was there to witness the whole thing. He also craves ice cream really badly, it’s the reason I keep some emergency ice cream in my freezer. It’s so I never have to make midnight trips to the grocery store ever again. (you won't understand unless you've done it yourself)

So not only do I have to listen to the same story over and over again, but I have to listen to it while he’s shoving ice cream in his face. Trust me when I say that ice cream spilling out of a person's mouth while they’re sobbing is unattractive, and trust me when I say it’s even more unattractive when the ice cream is spilling onto your shirt, your brand new vintage top (with matching pants, of course)

But he’s always been there for me which, sadly for me, means that I have to be there for him. “Hey hey, calm down. Who knows, maybe Jackson has a good reason for not being able to take you to the dance, you never know” I said to Mark while rubbing my hand up and down his side. “Yeah like wanting to take someone else to the dance!” Mark cried out while getting more ice cream on my face.

I had to resist the urge to gag before saying “Well didn’t Jackson say something about about having a crazy mother. Maybe it had something to do with her?” “I guess you could be right” Mark started to say before it seemed like he remembered something “Well then why didn’t he tell me why he couldn't take me to the dance!?”

This is another reason I hate being a mother, my child is not the brightest light bulb. I let out an audible sigh before nearly yelling out “He couldn't, you slapped he before he could, and then dragged me out of the cafeteria before, once again, he could say anything!”

Marks face went red when he remembered that the reason Jackson couldn’t explain was him. “Oh, right” Mark said while letting out an awkward laugh. I sighed, my mother instincts kicking in, before saying “Look, I understand. This was something surprising and you didn’t know how to react. But don’t worry, because Jackson loves you and will be coming here to tell you that; along with the perfectly reasonable explanation as to why he can’t take you to the dance.”

“Thank you for always being there for me Jinyoung” Mark said before he buried his head in my shoulder and started sobbing again getting ice cream all over my shirt. I had to resist the urge to shove him off. Because no matter how much I love my child, I love my clothes just a little bit more. (what? They were expensive)

Youngji’s Pov.

    I’m meeting Jackson in a few hours, it feels like an eternity and a few seconds all at the same time. I feel like I’m riding a rollercoaster and it’s making it’s way to the top before the big drop.

To be honest I don’t even know why I’m so nervous, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I don’t know what's going to happen. There are so many, too many, different ways our encounter can go.I guess I just don’t like the fact that things are most likely going to go horribly wrong. I’ve spent hours just trying to find a way to make sure that Jackson knows that I have no intention of being with him, and don't want to come in between him and his lover.

My first thoughts were that he would immediately not want to be with me, so I wouldn't really have to do much more then just say I don't want to be with him. But I’ve made that mistake before, and it didn’t end well. I went to meet a boy in a similar situation that Jackson's in, I went to meet him and assumed that he wouldn’t want to be with me. What a mistake that was.

I was sorta right, he didn’t want to be with me at first, but the second he saw me he fell for me. His lady did not like that, she threatened me a lot, I tried to explain to her that I had no interest in her man or taking him from her. But she wouldn’t listen, woman can be so unreasonable when it comes to their boy toys.

In the end she hated my guts, and he hated me because his lady friend hated me. But I want this to be different, I feel like it’s mostly because I’ve never met a woman like Jackson's mother before, and I want him to be able to be happy with whoever he wants to be with.

So my plan is that before he can get anything in I’m going to make sure he knows of my intensions, and if I have to; I’ll even tell him of my crush on the girl in my class. Speaking of her, when word got around that I had to go out with another guy I saw the way her face fell. I really hope that she likes me, and that I'll be able to ask her out after this. I have, after all, always believed in the power of karma.

Jackson’s Pov.

    It’s time, time to meet the girl, Youngji. I don’t want to mark her off as a terrible person right away but, I mean my mom picked her out, so logic, right.

Anyway, after me and Jaebum went to his house we (him) worked out a great plan. It had two steps. The first part was to plead my case, you know, tell her how my cruel mother won’t let me be with the love of my life, and when that doesn’t work, bribe her. Whatever my mother might be paying her, I’ll double it, then there's no way she won’t listen to me.

We’re here, time to go meet this girl.

Wow. Was my first thought when I saw her sitting in one of the booths in the cafe. If I was straight, or at least bi, I would have been really interested in her. But because I’m neither of those, and I have Mark, I'm not, but I will still say that she’s pretty.

It was time to start my (Jaebum’s) plan, I thought as I went to sit on the opposite side of where she was sitting. But she took me by surprise when the second I sat down she started talking. “Look I know that you want to go to prom with your little lady and not me, but your mother is forcing you. So I’m here to tell you that I have no interest in going with you either, okay?” I could only nod before she continued talking.

“Good. Now if it makes you feel better I’m a homoual, so it’s not that I don’t like you or anything. But anyway, I’m going to help you go to the dance with your special girl. But before we can go into details I want to meet her and explain that I have no interest in you, okay?”

I couldn’t believe that the plan I (Jaebum) worked so hard on wasn’t even necessary. But this was better, I still couldn’t believe just how sweet this girl was. Even better she wasn’t into boys, now not only can I see Mark but I have someone else to explain just how horrible my mother is.

“That’s great, I would love for you to explain this to my lover, but I do need to correct you an one thing. My lover is a boy, not a girl.” I said. Youngji looked a little surprised before she said “Oh I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed, but it is rare to find a man who openly states that he’s into men.”

“I could say the same about you. But anyway, getting back on track. I think it would be best to talk to Mark as soon as possible, he doesn’t even know why I can’t take him to the dance in the first place” I said anxious to get to Mark as soon as possible.

She nodded her head in agreement and we gathered our stuff and got into a car and set off to Jinyoung’s place where I knew he’d be. I couldn’t help but smile, Youngji was the best person my mother could’ve set me up with. I knew that I’d have to repay the favor someday.

Nobody’s Pov.

Mark was just starting to calm down when the doorbell rang. “I’ll go get it” Mark said before he went to go answer the door. But nothing could’ve prepared him for what he saw. It was Jackson, but he wasn’t alone, there was a beautiful girl standing next to him.

The sound of the door slamming shut caught Jinyoung's attention. But when he went to see what happened he found Mark crying on the ground. Jinyoung ran over to him to see what was wrong and Mark could only sob out “I-It w-w-was Jack-Ja-Jackson, wi-with a-a-a g-irl” before completely breaking down.

Jinyoung felt his heart break at his friend's words and then said “Hey hey, it’s okay, calm down, shhh, it’s okay. Come on let’s go upstairs, I have some more ice cream” Mark nodded and they went upstairs, leaving a confused Jackson outside.

End Of Part Three

I'm so sorry this took so long to post, please don't hate me too much. I've been busy with school, but I'll try to update as soon as I can. But anyway, I hope this wasn't too horrible. I'm not the best author, but I am trying to improve, so comments are very much welcome. Suggestions are welcome too. But anyway thank you so much for reading.