Chapter 4: The Place He Reigns

Today was Saturday. I had already finished my homework, and I wasn’t in the mood to read at the moment, which left me feeling bored.

"Hey, Tan-Tan," I greeted him sweetly, a tone I rarely used.

"Hey, Rosie. What do you need?" he asked, still munching on his burger while sitting on the countertop across from me.

"What do I need? Come on, Tan-Tan, can’t I just greet my lovely brother?" I answered, pretending to be offended by his words. And yes, we considered each other siblings.

"First of all, Rosie, don’t call me that awful nickname. You know how much I hate it. And YOU only use your sweet, cheery voice when you need something, so spill it," he commanded.

"Okay, okay, geez, you're so short-tempered. I’m just bored and wondering if you could call Danny so the three of us could go to the mall and watch a movie. Pretty please?" I asked, giving him my most adorable puppy-dog eyes, which both he and Danny could never resist.

For a moment, I thought he might refuse. He just stared at me like he was reading my mind. It made me nervous until he sighed and said, "Go grab your things and change your clothes, fast, before I change my mind." He turned his back on me, put his food down, and grabbed his phone—probably calling Danny.

‘Gosh, I really love him,’ I thought, smiling as I made my way upstairs.

Less than half an hour later, Danny had arrived, and we hopped into Athan’s car, with me sitting in the back. Geez, these guys really can give me anything except the passenger seat.

"So, how’s my favourite girl? Dreaming of dating Nathan, huh?" Danny asked, glancing at me from the front with teasing eyes.

"Yeah, Rosie, do I need to talk to him now?" Athan asked, focusing on the road, his tone serious.

This man is always serious. He should really learn from Danny—but not all of it; handling Danny’s hyper attitude alone was already enough.

"For the hundredth time, guys, it’s just a little crush, and he doesn’t like me, all right? Gosh, I hate how cocky and judgmental he is. Stop teasing me, all right?!" I complained, frustrated. I mean, since that event with Nate in the library, they had been teasing me non-stop! Oh, and what happened after the boys showed up... Ugh, he’s so annoying. It’s his fault they keep teasing me.

~~~Flashback~~~

"Hey, guys, is there a problem here?" Athan asked, putting his arm around my shoulder and glaring at Nathan while Danny stood beside him, looking equally intense.

Oh boy, here we go again—my overprotective brothers, acting like I’m their responsibility.

"Oh, hey, bro," Nate greeted them with their typical bro handshake and hug.

"Hey, so what’s going on here?" Danny asked, now looking at me.

"Oh, it’s nothing, we were just..." I wasn’t able to finish my sentence because the awesome guy here cut me off.

"Oh, you know, just talking to this beautiful friend of yours. She caught my attention, and I wanted to ask for her name, but I still haven’t been able to get it," he said, sending me a smirk and a wink.

He was totally trying to annoy me, and, well, it was kind of working because I knew Athan and Danny would tease me non-stop about it.

"First of all, that’s not what happened, and my name is Roselyn, so stop lying," I told them, mostly to Nate, not wanting Athan and Danny to misunderstand the situation.

"Oh, don’t be in denial, sweetie," he said with a grin. "I’ll say my goodbyes now, guys. Still have a class to attend." He waved goodbye as he walked toward the door. Just before leaving, he stopped and turned back to me. "Don’t miss me too much, Rosie."

"Ugh, that guy is really getting on my nerves," I muttered, not realising I’d said it aloud.

I know he’s just teasing and being playful... but I don’t know; I just seem to know it.

~~~End of Flashback~~~

"Oh, just a little crush, huh? That's why you gave him a nickname, which you only do when they're your close friend or something." He looked at me meaningfully, and I already knew what it meant. Don't try to deny it or keep it a secret from us, or else...

"All right, I like him, but only a little, okay? Just a little, all right?" I said, giving in. I like him, but he can be annoying, and I'm not ready for all this romance thing, and I'll probably never be.

The moment I blurted it out, Athan snickered while Danny laughed out loud and loudly tapped the dashboard before saying, "Knew it!"

"That movie was so hilarious!" Danny proclaimed, still laughing about the movie we had just finished watching.

"Yeah, it was. I mean, how stupid can she be to trip on a cake?" Athan said, still fazed by the movie. I admit, the movie was great, but not great enough to make me remember its title. The movie was all about hilarious things and no knowledge.

"Yup! It's great seeing, as you were almost dropping to the floor from laughing, and you, a very serious man, are having fun," I mockingly stated to them, looking at Danny before Athan, which was kind of a mistake because they glared at me. But I'm not scared; these two guys love me so much they can't even hurt me in any possible way.

"Come on, guys, let's go to the arcade!" With that, I hurriedly pulled them inside the arcade, but we separated directions after a minute, seeing as we had different interests. Both of them were going to play pool, while I was going to play basketball. I love that game.

After exchanging tokens at the cashier, I immediately went to the basketball machine or whatever it's called; I don't really care.

I was about to play when a voice distracted me.

"Oh, look who it is. Do you love me so much that you even started stalking me?" asked the voice, which happened to belong to the one and only Nate, whom I have a bit of a crush on, but it doesn't change the fact that he annoys me.

"Hey, Nate and… guys," I greeted him, but I saw his friends, William and Xavier. They were both on his basketball team. Both of them were bulky, but William was the flirty guy, and Xavier was the gentleman type.

They both just greeted me with 'hi' and tapped Nate's shoulder before leaving, maybe to play on their own.

"You really are arrogant, aren't you?" I stated with a raised eyebrow before continuing, "I came here to play. Maybe you're the one who's stalking me since I got here first." I said, looking him in the eye, which was kind of hard for me, to be honest, with my hands on my hips, trying to be intimidating, which didn't seem to affect him.

"So, you're telling me that you just came to play basketball? You're a girl; I doubt you could even shoot a ball," he said, trapping me with his arms in the basketball machine. Our faces were so close; if anyone moved between us, we would end up in a kiss. Seriously, this guy likes to torture me.

I averted my gaze so our faces wouldn't be too close and said, "For your information, Mr. Basketball Captain, I am pretty sure I could even beat you in this game."

I finally looked him in the eye to add an effect that I was really challenging him and smirked. But that smirk disappeared when he came closer to me and said, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really," I replied. And it was the truth because I am great at basketball. The boys taught me well, and I always play this game whenever we are in the mall.

He stood up straight and went to the machine beside me before looking back at me and saying, "How about this: you win, you get a wish. I win, and you will stop calling me that awful name and get rid of those feelings for me, okay? I already love someone." He said jokingly, but you'll see that he was serious.

"Shoot, it's not that hard anyway because you're not so close to me. But, I win, I'll call you Nate, and you'll stop annoying me with those jokes; it's irritating." I said, knowing that I'll win. I saw them practice before, and I know he is magnificent on the court. I may not be able to win against him in an actual game, but I knew for a fact that I could beat him in the arcade. I have tons of practice, after all.

"Whatever you say, Rosie," he said before we started.

We both entered our tokens and pushed the start button at the same time. As the ball rolled into my reach, I instantly grabbed it and shot, feeling the adrenaline rush through my veins. We were both shooting with the best speed and accuracy we could.

At first, he was leading, but when I got the hang of it, our scores became close, and after a minute... boom! I won by 5 points.

"Hahahaha, oh my gosh! I really did it." I proclaimed, jumping around like I was a child. Been a long time since I acted and felt this happy; I missed it. I even did a victory dance in front of him.

"Oh my gosh! This is so embarrassing." I hid my face with my hand when I saw that he was staring at me, almost trying to stop himself from laughing.

"I am glad I amuse you, Nate," I said to him, straightening myself.

"Oh, you really do. Don't worry, Rosie, I'll abide by my promise. You can call me anything you want, but I won't be able to help it if I am just so irresistible." He finished before pecking my cheek, messing my hair, and then leaving after saying, "Till' next time, Sweet Rosie."

I just froze where I stood. "What? What just happened?" I blurted.

"That guy! I think he is trying to give me a heart attack."