"Avery Barber, will you go out with me?" Pat asked from the top of the bleacher and I only stood there with my eyes wide open in surprise.

Never in a million years would I have predicted this happening in this very day.

Alright, let's rewind this day, shall we? Just to see where everything went south because even I have no idea where it did.

Pat picked us up like every day and we just had an easy-going conversation with Sasha and Mia. Nothing was completely out of the ordinary. However, looking back, it wasn't from him that all the signs came from. No, it was from one of my best friends.

There might have been an incidence that could have signaled the red flags.

"So what did you do with the notes you worked so hard on yesterday?" Sasha questioned. It was History, our first period. Sasha sat in front of me and Mia was on my left because like I mentioned, math was the only subject where we got our seats separated.

"I studied them?" I replied in a questioning tone. Mia was also confused with her sudden inquiry.

Well, that was a lie because I gave it to Leon but that was just our little secret for now.

"Can I borrow them? There's a part about yesterday's lecture that I'm a bit confused of," she then added.

In hindsight, that should have been my first warning that she was on to something. However, I didn't think much of it. She struggled with the subject as much as I did so I waved it off.

"Mia's much better at explaining math than me," I told her, gesturing to our other best friend who was observing the situation.

The said girl nodded, "Yeah, I can teach you. Which part do you not understand?"

Like a fish out of water, she opened and closed her mouth as if an answer would spout itself out. Now we were both just staring at her with a beautiful mixture of concern and uncertainty. She huffed before turning to the front, "Never mind."

'What's with her?' Mia mouthed and I shrugged, clearly as clueless as she was.

Second period, she tried again. This time, it was Mia who sat between us. The teacher wasn't there yet so Sasha sat on Mia's desk, much to annoyance of the latter, "Where did you go yesterday when you left us?"

"I thought I already told you that I was going to locker room?" I replied coolly.

"What happened next?" she pressed.

I raised a brow and mentally praised myself for keeping my cool, "Do I really have to elaborate on that in the middle of the entire class?"

"No you don't," Mia said, shoving Sasha off of her desk with an accompanying eye roll, "Sash, what has gotten into you?"

"Nothing," Sasha stomped her foot and went back to her own seat.

Those were the signs, Avery, those were signs. Why were you not paying attention to them?!

Oh because Sasha was naturally nosey so her asking these random questions weren't out of the norm. It was something I eventually gotten used to so when she does these, I don't even think much about it at this point.

Especially since she was happily rooting for a relationship between me and Pat. I thought this was her usual pushiness.

Third period was a subject that we actually shared with Pat and Leon but they were seated far from us so we never interacted. And while I still didn't go to where they were, my phone was in my hands and I used every ounce of willpower not look their way or else it would be too suspicious.

Avery Barber: Did you understand everything from my notes?

Leon Colten: Yeah, but there is one part that I'm still having some trouble with. Don't worry though, I can figure it out on my own.

No can do, you massive hunk of grimace.

Avery Barber: I can teach it to you later.

Leon Colten: I have training and Pat's driving you home.

If I was a dog, whatever perky ears I had would have drooped because of what he said. I appreciate Pat and all that he does, but you can't take away the fact that he's only doing this because he likes me. It wasn't even to build a friendship, but a hope to make a move. Sasha's making it painfully obvious.

I have attempted multiple times to show that I didn't want to date but it was futile. I wasn't the type to literally march up to him and say it to his face what I really felt. I was extremely afraid of confrontations.

I don't want to be labeled as a user, but I just want him to give up and be a real genuine friend.

But, I literally went back in time so I don't know about you, but nothing could knock my determination at this point.

Avery Barber: Let's go to the library during lunch?

There was a long pause before he replied. In fact, I was really contemplating if I was going to risk looking their way or not.

Leon Colten: Why don't I just call you tonight and you can explain it to me there?

I released a sigh of relief and a small smile made its way to my lips. At the very least, he wasn't pushing me away.

Avery Barber: Okay!

When I finally looked up from my phone, I flinched at the way Sasha was just staring at me. Mia was blissfully unaware and had her attention fixed on the book in her hands.

Third sign, Avery, third sign.

"Why are you smiling at your phone?" she pried and if there was one thing I learned from everything that has happened to me, it was to think of an excuse on the fly.

"Zoey texted me something funny," I answered before she could even blink.

She tapped her chin for a while and then looked far away, to the direction of the boys. Which was fortunate because I finally had an excuse to look at them.

I pretended to follow her gaze and my eyes finally settled on Leon, who instead of listening to Pat talk, was busy looking at his phone. He must have felt somebody's gaze on him because he tore his attention from the device then towards us.

I sent him a very subtle smile, something he returned with a tiny smirk. Just to signal that we indeed saw each other.

And when I went back to look at Sasha, she had this suspicious glint in her eyes that should have clearly made me nervous. But alas, my stupid self once again ignored it.

The fourth sign came during lunch.

The three of us walked to the cafeteria and made our way to our usual table with Pat and the rest of the crew. There were two available seat next to Leon and one across from those. I shot everybody a friendly smile and pulled out the chair next to him.

But before I can even put my bag down, Sasha immediately pulled me away, "Let's go buy our food, Avery."

In my defense, she could get really hangry so I just obliged. I'd rather have her fed and not rampaging because of her empty stomach.

What did make me wonder was when we got back to the table with our trays of food, Pat and Leon had switched seats. I tried to go for the other chair, but the look Sasha was giving me clearly stated that I had no other choice but to sit next to Pat.

He tried to make a conversation but I was too busy withering under one of my supposed best friend's gaze.

During math, she wasn't even trying to be subtle anymore. She flat out said, "Switch seats with me."

Alright, that was it. It was time for backups because while I did excuse her other attempts of meddling, that was the last straw. I turned to my other best friend and let out a long whine, "Mia!"

She groaned, seemingly fed up with Sasha's weird attitude for the day as well, "Did you forget what I said to you yesterday? Don't push it!"

I swear, she was my little guardian angel.

If there was one thing that Sasha and I knew, it was not to push Mia's buttons. She was the mom of our friend group and could get really nasty when she gets angry. So when Sasha heard her tone, she immediately backed off. Mia might be the shortest among us but she was ten times more feisty. She was not someone you would like to mess with, trust me, I've been on the receiving end of her wrath when we were younger.

So we had a total of five red flags. Because of Mia's threat, Sasha finally laid low for the rest of the day.

We still stayed after school in order to watch the soccer team train, because like Leon painfully reminded me earlier, Pat was the one who drove us to and from school. Although instead of paying attention to the players, I was focused on actually getting work done.

Mia also joined me in my quest to actually do something productive with our time so both of us were busy studying while Sasha was contented with sulking two steps below us. I already spent math class writing Leon's notes so that task was already done.

And now for the moment we've all been waiting for.

I had to look up from my textbook when somebody's shadow blocked the sun. I jumped backwards when I saw Pat standing right in front of me, only one bleacher level down. At this point, I was so confused that the thought of panic didn't even enter me.

Mia also stopped from reading her book and was as bewildered as I was.

Sasha, the conniving little bitch that she was, was standing on the side with her phone already recording what was happening.

"Are we leaving yet?" I questioned, trying to diffuse the situation.

At this point, everybody was looking at us. Yes, that includes the soccer team and the other people watching their training.

"I'm going to be really theatrical for once in my life and hope that it pays off," he muttered, the certainty in his eyes did cause alarm bells to finally ring inside my head.

A little late there, mister red flag.

He climbed up the rest of the bleachers and I had to stand up in order to turn around and watch him.

Then he finally shot the bullet, loud and clear for everybody to hear, "Avery Barber, will you go out with me?"

Safe to say, all color drained from my face and my expression was nothing but pure shock.

I felt my heart start to beat wildly inside my chest and my ears were ringing. I was in full panic mode and my mind was yelling at me to run, to flee from this situation. I felt the blood rush down my body into my legs, preparing itself from the sprint that I wanted to take.

But I didn't because my feet were frozen onto the ground.

There were a few wolf whistles and encouraging yells from the other people while I stood there mortified.

If I reject him right now, I would look like a complete bitch. People would talk dirty behind my back for weeks, months, and maybe even years.

I was in a situation where I couldn't run away, that I was pressured to say yes.

This was why I wanted all the important things to happen in private. When Pat originally asked me out, it was only the two of us. In fact, he whispered it to me while in the middle of class. I laughed because I thought it was a joke, but I was really hoping that it was true.

Now I was wishing, praying even, that this wasn't real.

"Avery..." Mia trailed off, trying to find the right words to get me out because she could tell I was extremely uncomfortable.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I felt all of this swirl of emotions.

But the reigning thought? I felt helpless.

I nodded numbly because I just wanted this whole thing to stop scathe free. If saying yes was the way to go then so be it.

He grinned so widely at my response, climbing down the steps and stopping right in front of me, "Thank you!"

"Hey lover boy, we still need to clean up!" I heard their team captain yell towards Pat.

He excused himself and immediately went back to his team. I saw the people trying to make their way over to me, probably to get some gossip or to gush at the gesture.

But at this point, I was shaking. I bit my lip to stop the sob that was threatening to leave my lips.

"Congrats, Avs," Sasha cheered, approaching me once again, "I got it all on video, I'll send it to you later."

Stop, please.

That camera caught just how horrified I was.

Mia finally snapped. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, she was trying to control her temper the whole day but enough was enough, "What the hell were you thinking?!"

Both of us flinched but while I still stayed stiff as a board, Sasha didn't hide her surprise with the outburst, "What?"

"Can't you see just how painful that was for Avery?" she screeched, slapping her upside the head, "I can't believe you even let him do that. Worse, you helped him put our best friend on the spot!"

Mia yelling was enough to stop the other people from approaching us. I was extremely thankful for that, because I didn't know how I could handle more from this situation. It was terrifying, it was shameful, and it made me want cry in front of everyone.

I bent down and picked up my things from the bleachers, taking out my phone from my bag's pocket. With my hands still shaking, I tried to find Zoey's name in my contacts and called her up.

"Hi Avy," she sang happily, "What's up?"

"Zo, can you pick me up from school?" I asked, my voice breaking halfway with my plea, "Please."

Sasha and Mia stopped from their fighting to look at me, hunched down and clutching onto my phone like a vice. Fortunately, Zoey caught on quickly, "I'll be right there."

I didn't say goodbye to them. I didn't say goodbye to anybody. The boys already retreated to the locker room and when Sasha tried to follow me, Mia pulled her back and shook her head.

When I saw Zoey's car pulling into the parking lot, I didn't even wait until she fully stopped when I rushed towards her. The moment I got myself into the passenger side, I broke down into a pool of tears.

She kept one hand on the steering wheel and used the other one to continuously rub my back soothingly as we drove back home. She didn't ask any question, she kept her mouth shut and allowed herself to be a shoulder to lean on.

And that was honestly all I needed at that moment.

----------------------------

Here's a little lesson from dear auntie me. Unless you both explicitly  discussed things, never ever do what Pat did. May it be asking someone out, promposal, or a marriage proposal, don't ever put somebody on the spot like that by asking them in public. Unless you are a hundred percent sure that your partner is on board, don't do it. It's only cute and romantic if you are both on the same page.

If not, they'll be pressured to say or if they says no, then people would label them as a bitch.

Question: So I'm thinking about having a little group chat on telegram with my readers. You know, just where I can interact with you guys like answer some questions or give you previews of next updates or literally anything. Will you guys join if I do that? Or would it be better if I just make a group list on instagram where I send you guys the previews because I don't want to flood my other friends with Wattpad related stuff? 

Also, why do you think Pat suddenly did that?

Please comment guys. I treat comments as my gold. Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow. Thank you for reading and I'll see you next chapter!