Secrets In The Garden / l.h ✔️

11

~Ophelia's POV~

Stella plopped down at the table during lunch on Monday, a smile on her face that told me she'd been in a good mood all day and nothing was going to deter her from it. I raised a brow and so did Zuri, the two of us eyeing the petite blonde with confusion. "What's got you shitting rainbows?" Blade asked bluntly, cocking up a brow at her.

She giggled and set her backpack on the floor at her feet as she always did, leaning in towards the table more. "I had a good weekend." She said vaguely, shrugging her shoulders with a secret smile on the edge of her lips.

Although I didn't know exactly what that meant, I noticed that almost everyone at the table rolled their eyes. "So you got laid." Saniya rephrased, peeking around me to look at her. Stella giggled and shrugged again. "Among other things." She nodded her head, and then everyone left it at that, going back to eating lunch.

Huffing, Stella crossed her arms over her chest and shot a look of disbelief to us all. "Aren't you going to ask?" She asked expectantly.

"No." Judah mumbled without even looking up at her, eating whatever soup it was he'd gotten from the lunch line today. His response made her scowl and lightly stomp her heel covered foot on the cafeteria floor. "Why not?" She whined, slouching forward in her chair out of disappointment. "Because we don't care." He grunted.

Zuri rolled her eyes while Idris and Blade snickered, making Kimberly smack her boyfriend on the chest for laughing. "Fine, Stell. What happened?" Zuri asked, her brown eyes peering at Stella curiously.

Stella grinned, glad that someone had taken the bait and asked her. "I asked Luke out. We're dating now!" She squealed, giggling excitedly. That immediately caught everyone's attention, even Judah's.

Saniya's head whipped towards her so fast she probably got whiplash, blinking as her mouth gaped open in shock. "A-Are you serious?" She gasped, sounding like she didn't believe her. Stella nodded eagerly and beamed, proudly. "Completely!" She chirped, practically bouncing in her seat. It was known to every one of us that Saniya was pissed off, but it was proven to be true when she glared at her. "How stupid are you?" She asked, completely serious.

Offended, the blonde reeled her head back and narrowed her eyes. "I'm stupid?" She scoffed, raising a brow. "You're the one who can't get over the fact that he didn't love you. It's not my fault that he likes me, considering he said yes." She added, sneering. I cringed, wondering what I had done wrong to deserve being trapped between them as they argued. "You're a moron, Stella. Don't come crying here when he dumps you after he's had his fill and then moves on to the next." Saniya retorted with finality, going back to her food without anything more to say.

But Stella wasn't finished yet.

"Ophelia has been talking to him, too! Why am I the only one you're mad at?!" Stella exclaimed, frustrated. My jaw dropped, unable to believe she'd just said that. This girl had now snitched on me to both Luke and Saniya!

"I'm sorry...What?" Saniya's voice was deadly calm, so I knew she was mad. I met her gaze and she looked at me with confusion. "I told you to avoid him, Phe. Why didn't you listen?" She frowned, surprising me by not immediately going off on me. "I'm trying. He won't leave me alone." I sighed, slouching in defeat. The secret was out now. No point in denying what Stella had said, especially when I wasn't the one at fault here.

Saniya jumped into mother bear mode real quick, looking ready to fight someone as she sat up straighter in her chair. "He's been bothering you? How long?" She asked protectively, her dark eyes already scanning over the cafeteria to find him, wherever he was. "Um...Like a week and a half?" I answered, uncertain just how long it had been. He'd been bothering me so much during school that I had stopped gardening on the weekend, scared he'd come over and annoy me if he saw me out in my yard. For now, I was pretty sure that he didn't know I lived just across the street from him and, being that it was now impossible to ignore him at school, I was taking all precautions to avoid him finding out that I lived so close. My house was the only place now where I was able to avoid him.

"There's the little bitch." Saniya muttered angrily as her eyes zeroed in on him, my eyes widening as she stood up so quickly her chair almost fell over.

She went to head towards him, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but I quickly grabbed her hand before she could. "Wait, Niya." I said, looking up at her as she glanced at me over her shoulder. "For what?" She huffed, glaring in his direction. "Getting into Stella's pants is one thing, but I'll be damned if he thinks I'm gonna let him even think of trying his chances with you next." She scowled, practically vibrating with anger. I couldn't help but to smile. "I don't think his intentions are like that." I confessed, shaking my head.

I guess she found my words ridiculous because she just blinked down at me, all of our friends watching our interaction. "Oh, babe." She sighed deeply and sat down in her chair again, shaking her head as she looked at me. "You are really a lot more preciously naive than I thought." She said, pursing her lips.

I didn't really know if that was a good or a bad thing, honestly.

"What?" I frowned at her and pouted. "I mean it. All he does is get on my nerves. I honestly don't think he's intending anything like that." I insisted, making her smile slightly and gently nod her head. She looked much more calm than she did a little bit ago, thankfully, so I released her hand and smiled. "Don't worry. I can handle it. Promise." I assured, and she smiled softly at me. I leaned into her when she hugged me, glad that I had made a friend like her. She was fierce, loyal, and protective over me. "Okay, I'll leave it alone... for your sake." She mumbled into my shoulder, pulling away a moment later.

Stella huffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair. "As if Luke would fuck her when he could have any girl he wants," She snorted. "Like me, for instance." She added, smiling smugly.

I ignored her even though her words did hurt my feelings a little bit, as I didn't really disagree with her. There was no point starting an argument when I agreed with what she said. However, Blade must've felt otherwise. "You don't have to be a bitch to Ophelia just to boost your own ego up, Stella." He said with a deep frown, his act of sticking up for me making my cheeks warm. "It's okay, Blade. Not a big deal." I assured, sending him a grateful smile nonetheless.

Saniya slung her arm around my shoulder, giving me a cheeky grin. "Don't worry, Phe. If I was a guy, I'd be all over you." She teased, making me laugh. "I'm flattered." I said playfully, a smile on my lips as Noah piped in with, "I would be, too—if I was straight." He chuckled, popping a fry into his mouth. To my surprise, even Judah chimed in. "I'm sure Blade would hop on you any time you asked him." He said, to which Blade scowled and flipped him the middle finger, his cheeks flushed. "As if I'm the only one." He grumbled to Judah, who's face turned noticeably more pink.

I couldn't help but to laugh, knowing that they were picking on one another like they always did, but this time to make me feel better. It was sweet how they each tried to comfort me in their own way, defending me against Stella without saying anything to her at all. But truthfully, I hadn't been upset in the first place.

Saniya, Zuri and I all giggled while Idris and Kimberly watched with amused smiles as Blade and Judah continued making fun of each other. It was perhaps one of my favorite times with them all because I really began to feel like we were all friends. And I realized I was lucky to have friends like them.