Chapter 154

I couldn't help but raise my brows in question as I stared at James's phone screen, my eyes locked on Victoria's name.

It wouldn't have been weird if Victoria's name in James's phone was just plain, but there was a red heart emoji that followed her name.

It was such an intimate display, one that friends typically didn't exchange.

Did this mean what I thought it did?

I always thought they didn’t realize that their arguing might mean something more than that. And they were just too afraid to admit it that they liked each other.

But judging from the suspicious heart, I was probably wrong.

I don't even think I had a heart in my phone for Lucas... and the two of us were actually dating!

My curiosity got the best of me, and I couldn't resist prying.

"Why is Victoria calling you, James?" I asked, trying to sound casual but failing to hide my surprise.

James, on the other hand, jumped as if I'd given him an electric shock. He quickly tried to shield his phone screen from me, but it was too late. I'd already seen the evidence.

His reaction only made me question him even more. My suspicions deepened further.

I persisted, "What's going on with you two? Friends don't put heart emojis in their contacts."

"It's nothing," James said a little too quickly. His cheeks started to turn a bright red.

That was really out of character for James. He never blushed because he never got embarrassed. Is that what was going on right now?

Seeing how weird James was getting, I was almost certain that they already had something before Lucas and I even realized.

I should have stopped digging deeper into their relationship, but James was my best friend and I thought it would be fun to mess with him.

After all, it would possibly be the best news amongst all of the drama from the past week. And if something had changed between James and Victoria, then I was happy for him. He deserved someone as much as anyone else did.

"It's nothing?" I questioned, giving him an unconvinced look. "I wouldn't call that nothing. It seems like you're trying to hide something from me now. I thought you and Victoria hated each other."

"I don't hate her." James let out an exasperated sigh, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "We're... friends."

"Really? Since when?" I asked patiently, trying to hide my smile.

His shoulders slumped, and it was clear that he was about to confess something.

"Since the beach house trip, the two of us have been talking more. After she got injured, I would visit her on occasion to check up on her and make sure she was okay," James explained, avoiding my gaze.

I remember seeing James carrying her in his arms as they walked down the mountain.

Victoria was injured after the earthquake hit on our hike. She had been knocked unconscious and had to spend a night or two at the hospital.

So, that’s when they realized they didn’t really hate each other?

I sort of expected it, but I didn’t think they would realize their true feelings so soon. They didn’t appear to be nicer to each other after that, and even insisted that they still hated each other.

Maybe they just had their special way to communicate with each other.

Although, it was sweet of James to check up on her after that, but it didn't explain why she had a heart next to her name in his phone.

"That's all?" I asked, my voice clearly letting him know that I expected him to tell me more.

I had enough practice with Lucas avoiding my pestering questions to know when James was keeping something from me.

"Okay, fine, no," James said. "There's more..."

"Well, tell me!" I said, growing eager and greedy over the news he was about to spill to me.

"Shana, calm down. I'll tell you," he said, looking around to see if anyone was listening to us. "You have to promise me you'll keep this between the two of us and you won't tell anyone—that includes Lucas, too."

"James, Lucas and I are hardly talking right now as is. And besides! Who else would I tell? You and Lucas are my only friends," I said, trying to convince him that he could trust me with whatever he wanted to reveal.

"Hm, I guess you're right," James teased, making me roll my eyes.

"Just tell me already!" I poked his shoulder aggressively. "I'm starting to lose my patience."

"Not like you had any before to deal with," he teased again. I pinned him with a hard glare, making him laugh.

"Okay," he took a deep breath. "So I started visiting her more and more. She made a comment that I was coming around a lot. I joked around one day saying that if I had her phone number, I wouldn't need to constantly keep going to her house to check on her."

"Smooth," I interrupted his story and wiggled my eyebrows.

"I know I am," he continued, "So, obviously, she gave me her phone number."

"Obviously," I joked.

"Are you going to let me tell the story, or not?" James asked with a smile. "You keep butting in."

"Sorry," I put my hands up in mock surrender. "Please, continue."

"As I was saying, she gave me her phone number and we started talking. This carried on for a few days and after a while, I realized that we had a lot more in common than I originally thought."

"I doubt she's as annoying as you," I commented.

"Yeah, not as good looking or funny or talented either," James joked, shooting me a wink when I shook my head.

"You're so full of it."

James shrugged. "Well... one thing led to another...."

I waited for him to finish his sentence, growing impatient with every second that passed by.

I raised my eyebrow, unable to wait any longer. "One thing led to another... and then what?"

The blush returned to his cheeks as his voice was tinged with embarrassment. "Well... I don't know if we're officially dating, but we've kissed."

His admission hung in the air between us, and I struggled to process it. How did they go from texting to kissing? I felt like there was a lot to the story here he was leaving out.

The two of them could hardly be in the same room together a while ago, and now they were kissing each other.

I wanted to smile and tell James, “I knew it! I knew this would happen” but I held back.

I thought about what Lucas would say once he found out.

I wasn't going to tell him, but I couldn't help but think about his opinion on the matter. Especially since Lucas and I both had a slight inkling that the two of them didn't exactly hate each other.

They always seemed to tease each other a little too much, as if they enjoyed it.

I couldn't help but ask for clarification. "Wait—what do you mean you don't know if you're dating?"

"We just kissed, that's it." James leaned in closer, his expression serious. "Please, Shana, promise me you won't tell anyone about this. It's still new... well, whatever it is and I'm not sure where it's going. We're keeping it quiet for now."

I nodded, agreeing to keep their secret, "I promise, I won't tell anyone. So, nobody else knows? Not even Lucas?"