serendipity | aki menzies

man on the moon

"I had a dream that the sun in the sky
Was feelin' so lonely, he started to cry..."

Gossip Girl was doing little things to mess with us, more specifically me. Everything I did was under scrutiny. If Aki and I spent time around school together, very shortly there would be a shady post on the account. When Julien and I were spotted talking there was a compilation of us leaving Zoya out on purpose. It wouldn't be long before I found the admins behind the account myself.

In order to keep the account from taking my sanity, I tried to ignore posts I was tagged in. Whispers and stares from the student body were kept to a minimum but now and then someone would get brave.

"Do you think gossip girl is right about her?" A hushed whisper came from the side of me.

I was in my second to last class for the day, a subject I strongly disliked...physics. While my teacher droned on about the importance of projectile motion, my attention was caught by a conversation I was 99.99% sure involved me.

"About what? Her being a home-wrecker or hating her cousin." This was also whispered, the voice sounding snide.

My classmates giggled behind my back so easily, making my shoulders tense with anger. These were the same people I had traded answers with and helped correct homework questions. It was a blinding, painful push to reality. Few people at Constance cared about how you helped them once the favor was done.

I sighed, my writing hand faltering. "If you're going to talk about me at least do it when I'm not around." A sudden hush fell between the two.

"And if you're so curious, you could ask me for the truth." Focusing on the notes at hand, I didn't spare them a glance. "But I wouldn't expect bottom feeders to go after more than scraps."

One had the nerve to sound sorry. "We were just talking about the new post, I didn't realize it would hurt your feelings." She explained.

"It didn't hurt my feelings, but maybe my cousin will be less forgiving." I smiled slightly, still focused on taking notes. "We'll find out when I ask her."

The two remained silent for the rest of the class period. I almost felt bad for threatening them with my cousins. Almost.

Kindness and mercy could only take you so far with certain people.

Class was uneventful after that incident, the teacher giving us our homework before sending us out the room. I waved at my chatty classmates, the look of fear in their eyes evident. Before long, I was in the maze known as the hallway, finally used to traveling around the school.

I hadn't gotten too far when someone gently grasped my wrist. "Serenity, hey. Long time no see." The suave voice could only belong to one person.

"Oh Henry, hello. How have you been?" He looked similar to the last time we met. It was almost off putting how handsome he was, a gentle smile rising on my face.

Henry took the liberty to throw an arm around my shoulder. Something boys around here seemed to do without a second thought. Maybe it was their way of being friendly? I didn't mind since we both knew each other well enough, we did share the last class of the day together.

"I haven't see you since yesterday I'm going crazy." He joked, his sweet yet deep voice was a melody to my ears.

I rolled my eyes playfully, bumping him with my hip. "How do you live without me on the weekends?" I retorted, folding my arms.

Henry was quickly becoming a close friend. He and I became partners in home economics and the rest was history. He was kind yet witty and his advice often got me through issues. He was the only person outside of Julien's clique that I entrusted with my gossip girl secret.

"I pick up the phone and call you." He stated simply, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Isn't that your boyfriend?" He teased, a smirk on his face.

My eyes followed his line of sight, a small blush rising on my cheeks. Aki stood at his locker having what seemed to be an urgent talk with Obie. His hands flailed as he explained something, it was quite cute. Obie looked disinterested, nodding along.

"He's not my boyfriend, he's just a boy who happens to be my friend." I explained huffily, peering up to glare at him.

Henry only smiled brighter. "Let's go say hi." Before I could protest we were in front of the two men, Obie hitting Aki in the shoulder to cut him off.

"Hello Serenity, and Serenity's friend." Obie greeted, his eyes carefully surveying Henry.

Aki whipped around to face us, an impassive look on his face. "Seren, aren't you going to introduce us?" His tone was steady, Aki's warm brown eyes softening as they landed on me.

I smiled awkwardly remembering the last time I brought up Henry. "This is my friend Henry, he's the one I met on the second day of school."

"It's really nice to meet you two, Ren tells me a lot about you. Actually, she seems to really liㅡ" I hit him in the stomach playfully, but with enough force to get him to stop talking.

Henry coughed, trying to mask the pain. "Sorry, she really likes it here. Thank you for taking such good care of her, she's an angel." He smiled down at me, half in exasperation and half in adoration.

"I'm glad she's making so many friends, she really is an angel." Obie praised, a placating smile on his face. His gaze drifting between Aki and Henry.

Aki's glare was fixed on the hand Henry had on my shoulder, my friend's thumb moving around in soothing circles. I wasn't sure where this newfound tension had come from, shuffling around uncomfortably.

Thankfully, Henry seemed done with embarrassing me for the day.

Henry checked the watch on his other hand. "Well, we have a home economics class to be in. Today Ren and I will be channeling our inner Gordon Ramsay, hopefully we catch you later." He smiled again, his eyes crinkling.

I could've sworn I heard an incredulous "Ren?!" but then Obie laughed without hesitation, maybe I was hearing things.

I couldn't help but smile at his positive energy. "We will not be doing all of that, he will channel his inner master chef as I wait to taste everything." I started walking away, pulling him with me. "Bye Ak, bye Obie." I shot them a parting smile.

Obie sent back a small wave as Aki's gaze was still focused on Henry, a frown tugging at his lips. I didn't want to dwell on it too much, knowing that the group worried about new people. He just had to warm up to Henry and he would love him as much as I did.

Is there a quarrel between our lovers? A little birdy told me Henry Jung doesn't get along with Mr. Menzies, is my source right? Let's find out.

- xoxo, gossip girl

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henry is back and he's so cute! do you think henry and aki will get along or is aki too jealous? 👀 - Ess