𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐣. 𝐝𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞

chapter 24

jamie thought he was nervous the last time he was with austin and colten. boy, was he wrong. with the stakes seeming so much higher than before, jamie's nerves were at an all-time high. knowing that austin and colten didn't really like him, he knew he had to make a greater impression this time around. unlike before, jamie was aware that he had to talk to more and try to find common ground. he was going to have to come out of his shell and he was not all that enthusiastic about it.

"why did we have to host this thing here?" mason questioned trevor.

trevor finished grabbing random pieces of trash scattered across a table and sighed, "because this is an environment that jamie is comfortable in."

jamie glanced over at mason and nodded. if jamie was going to succeed his mission, he needed to be in his element. now that he was thinking about it, maybe they should have agreed on an ice rink. at least there he could impress them.

"anyways, what's the game plan?" jamie asked.

his best friend answered in a 'duh' tone, "to win them over."

"no, i meant like how do i do that."

unfortunately for jamie, he never got a reply. austin and colten had arrived and that ruined any chance of jamie getting any advice. mason just gave him a thumbs up before giving colten a bro hug. austin and trevor were also being super friendly which left jamie to stand awkwardly by himself. this was not a good start.

noticing that jamie felt awkward, austin extended an olive branch. "hey jamie, how's it going?" austin gave him a head nod.

to say jamie was surprised would be an understatement. he was expecting more hostility or the cold shoulder. reese must have really gotten through to them. "i'm doing good, how are you?" jamie asked.

"not too bad," austin replied. jamie just smiled and nodded. he wasn't entirely sure what to do after that.

meanwhile, trevor and mason watched what seemed like a promising moment completely fizzle out into nothing. they both knew colten was going to be the harder one to convince jamie was a great guy. neither one could quite believe this was going on, but here they were. trevor had a plan. he wasn't really sure if it was a great one but it was better than nothing.

"okay, everyone, let's gather around in a nice circle. a couple people can sit on the couch and i can grab some chairs," trevor announced to the group.

mason and jamie shot worried looks at one another. trevor had gone completely rogue. not that they really had a plan to begin with, but the dynamic had shifted and it wasn't a good one. the vibe had completely changed and trevor had put himself into a leadership position.

"why do i feel like i'm in a classroom about to get a talk from the guidance counselor?" colten asked to no one in particular.

jamie agreed, "yeah. i'm not too sure i like this."

"no! you guys are going to love this!" trevor reassured the group. none of them bought it though.

mason stated, "whatever, let's just get this done and over with. what are we doing?"

everyone turned their attention the overly happy boy who stood by the last chair he had placed down. his smile was wide and his demeanor was making everyone in the room worried. no one had a clue as to what he was doing, especially jamie.

"i'm so glad you asked. i thought it might benefit all of us if we went around and said three things we liked about each other. i'll go first," trevor announced.

trevor took his seat as everyone stared in disbelief. jamie felt like he was going to throw up and kill his best friend at the same time. austin and colten suddenly appeared uncomfortable and mason didn't know what to do.