Chapter 13

The events that transpired the night before reminded her of what happened last summer…

She had a long day at work and was not in the mood to party that night. After much insistence from her cousin, Johnny, she caved. He was visiting for the weekend and decided to invite some of his friends over. The whole time Samantha was hung up on Jeremy (he was in Florida at the time) but decided she wanted to expand her horizons. He had invited Adam and Andrew to her house for some drinks.

Even though it wasn’t his house, Samantha had no other choice but to act as a good hostess while Stacy, Gabe (Stacy’s boyfriend), and her brother Jason were outside barbequing. The three were unhappy about the uninvited guests so they left Samantha to tend to them much to her dismay. Samantha’s eccentric personality was enough to attract Adam and Andrew, then later on that night both guys had sent her a friend request via Facebook.

At the time, Samantha was oblivious to their actions and chose not to think much of it. Then when she decided to check her Facebook and was surprised to find that someone had sent her a message: it was from Adam. “Hey Samantha, I know this may sound crazy but I was wondering if I could take you out sometime. Here’s my number, (xxx)xxx-xxxx. –Adam”

She was taken aback by the message. He was actually interested in me, she thought. Telling her mom about it, her mom actually told her she thought both guys were cute. They were far from the type she’d go for but what was wrong with one little date? So a few days later, Samantha decided to finally text Adam.

Soon, she and Adam were already planning a movie date. To make matters worse, his best friend Andrew decided to talk to her. This time, he asked her to go to the beach with him. Knowing it was too fast and out of her comfort zone she told him no and asked for a rain check. Both guys were trying to court her and she started to feel uncomfortable, but decided to try to overlook it.

Her friends and coworkers were really excited for her with the exception of her siblings and Gabe. They didn’t really like the guys for many reasons.

“If the guy can’t beat me up in the ring, then he doesn’t have my approval,” Gabe said.

“Don’t try to get me to be friends with them,” Jason demanded.

“I don’t trust them, Sammie,” Stacy stated. “There’s something off about them.”

“Guys, it’s just one date,” Samantha said. “One date won’t hurt.”

Even though Dongwoon and Ailee did not know these guys, they tried their best to be supportive. “If you don’t feel comfortable at all, just call me,” Dongwoon had said.

“I’m excited for you, Sam, but I agree with Dongwoon,” Ailee chimed in. “We’ll pick you up.”

“Okay,” Samantha nodded. “Thanks.” She was glad her best friends and siblings had her back nevertheless. Watching Samantha go off on a date was like sending a child off to school for the first time.

The date was not as great as she thought. Adam was nice but there was just no chemistry. He was like a wall, she thought. He tried to extend the date but Samantha made an excuse saying her family wanted her home and he dropped her off. She hoped she wouldn’t hear from him again.

The next day, however, was even weirder. Andrew started talking to her and they ended up exchanging numbers. Even though she was weirded out by him, she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. His persistence annoyed her but she had to stick it out. They grabbed a late lunch. Samantha became uncomfortable because he stared too much. And as it seems, he already knew about her date with his best friend. For a guy who says he has morals, he sure likes to talk down to his best friend, she thought as she nodded and listened. Then, Andrew decides to drop a bombshell. “Adam is trying to gain custody of his son.”

Samantha choked on her drink. “What did you say?” she asked.

“Oh, Adam didn’t tell you?” Andrew smirked. “He has a son.”

That’s it. This date is over, Samantha thought. “I think we should get going…”

The worst part was Samantha’s parents inviting Andrew into their household. They seemed to have already approved of him because they knew his parents. Andrew sensed the discomfort Samantha was feeling and decided it was time to leave.

She was relieved of the next few days because they stopped bothering her. Then soon, her phone went off… twice. Those two idiots have decided to text her at the same time. She grew suspicious. They were together trying to see who she’d talk to first. They are so stupid; she thought rolling her eyes and shaking her head. To be polite she responded to them forwarding the same message.

Soon after that, Andrew would text her again asking for another date. Samantha groaned. “Don’t these es get the message?!” she exclaimed.

“Want me to ask Brian to help you out?” Gabe offered. Brian was Gabe’s best friend, who he intended to pair with Samantha but Brian never seemed to show Samantha any interest.

“Why what do you have in mind?” Samantha asked curiously.

“I can ask Brian to pretend to be your fake boyfriend,” Gabe answered.

She looked at him dumbfounded. The plan has disaster written all over it. She remembered telling Jeremy the same story and he had also suggested getting a fake boyfriend. The next person Gabe would ask was Jeremy since they were friends prior to meeting Samantha.

The next thing you know, Brian agreed to act as a fake boyfriend. Then Samantha made the mistake of asking Jeremy, who in turn asked: “If I agree to help you, do you think it would get them to leave you alone?”

He made a valid point, she thought. So she had to let Andrew and Adam down nevertheless. She wanted to sound as nice as possible by saying: “Look you’re a nice guy and you deserve a very nice girl. But I’m not the girl for you so stop wasting your time. –Sam”

She then proceeded to confront Andrew about the text he’d sent the same time as Adam. Dumbfounded, he said, “That’s weird.”

“What a jerk,” Jeremy said upon hearing the story. “ like this pisses me off, someone needs to teach these that this isn’t a ing game.” He had said much to Samantha’s surprise.

Both Brian and Jeremy were ready to fight for Samantha’s dignity knowing she was way too good for those two losers. She was touched nonetheless. No one’s ever defended her before.

“I never meant for this to get out of hand,” She had told herself.

Soon, Jeremy would open up to her a bit about his past. He trusted her enough to talk about his past which made her fall even harder for him. Dongwoon took notice and tried his best to act as the supportive best friend, even though he strongly disagreed with the way Samantha spoke so fondly of Jeremy. Ailee, oblivious to Dongwoon’s feelings, was actually happy for Samantha despite not knowing Jeremy himself.

“I’m extremely disappointed in the four of you,” Mr. Hong spoke sternly facing Samantha, Jihoon, Eunkwang, and Minhyuk after showing them footage of last night’s fight. Someone supposedly filmed the brawl and he had to pay someone to find the video. “Whose idea was it to go to the club?”

The four glanced at each other, Minhyuk swallowed hard. The three guys were ready to step forward, especially Eunkwang but was interrupted by Samantha’s voice. “It was me,” she announced.

The three guys were speechless as she stepped forward. “I was extremely bored last night and asked the three of them to come with me. The fight was also my fault, sir,” she said bowing her head. “I promise it won’t happen again and I’m extremely sorry. I’ll accept any punishment you deem necessary.”

“Done,” he said. “You’re prohibited from leaving the dorm for a month, meaning no more days off. If you need to leave, you are to have an at all times. If you do something reckless like this again, you’ll be terminated. As for you three,” he turned to the three older guys, “You’re suspended for three schedules. You’re dismissed.”

When they exited the office, Eunkwang approached Samantha. “Why’d you take the blame for us?” he asked suddenly.

“You guys defended me last night,” she said sheepishly. “I felt it was my responsibility to take the blame for it. Thanks again…” she looked away shyly. “Just be glad, I still have a job. I’m sorry I got you guys suspended though…”

“Don’t even worry about it,” Jihoon said. “This is a better punishment than, you know, being out of a job…” he said scratching the back of his head.

“True,” she nodded. “But do me a huge favor,” they turned to her, “be extra careful if you guys decide to go to another club. I sure as hell am NOT going to another club again.”

“Believe me, I don’t plan on going again anytime soon,” Minhyuk chimed in. “It’s too congested and… it smells.” He looked disgusted and shook his head.

Samantha chuckled then decided to change the subject. “Well, we should all get back to work,” she said as they continued walking down the corridor together.

Here's another boring update... Enjoy! :D currently working on the next chapter.