Chapter 21.1: A mission

"Ivy, have you finished the new chapter mind map for history notes?" Andrew bugged Ivy, knowing she was distracted again as she stared outside the window for a long while. Ivy had been staying up to avoid her nightmares while thinking of ways to solve the conflict with Jason. After the event in college last night, she left for home when Jason drove her back to his house and continued the silent treatment. She thought of giving Jason some space of his own and kept Lucky with him.

Instead, she spent the entire Sunday with Andrew and Sandra for a group study since it was an exam week ahead of them. Sandra nudged Andrew to signal him to check on Ivy.

"Ivy…" Andrew held her right arm and startled Ivy from her thoughts.

"Yes?" Ivy asked while clumsily flipped her pen and dropped it to the ground. Sandra went over to her side while Andrew stood to pick the pen up for her.

"You… What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be revising accounts today or having to do your part time internship?" Sandra pretended to be angry and nagged while Ivy blinked in disappointment and sighed.

"What are you doing here?" Sandra pretended to pester more. "Studying…" Ivy mumbled while looking sad.

"Really? Your mind is wandering at Jason isn't it?" Andrew asked while teasing her.

Ivy smacked him lightly. "Says who?" Ivy retaliated as she shifted in the chair to sit right up and studied.

"Ivy… What happened?" Sandra finally asked in a serious and concerned tone but before Ivy could answer, they heard a bark from her front door.

Ivy instantly knew it was Lucky as she ran to greet him at the side entrance of her house. "Lucky!" Ivy delightedly hugged Lucky who was pouncing on her. Andrew and Ivy joined in greeting Lucky while being pounced on and cuddled with him.

Ivy then realised Jason could still be around the corner as she stepped out to the entrance of the winding road to look for him only to see his car sped off. She lamented at her efforts of trying to make peace with him while Andrew and Sandra walked towards her with Lucky.

"So, aren't you telling us what's going on?" Sandra asked while folding her arms, waiting for an answer with Andrew.

"Fine, fine… before last night's event, he was already angry with me cause he has really big events coming up this weekend and not just one but two. So, I asked him if he needed some part timers. I was supposed to tell you both about it too. If you both are fine with the timing and extra income, it would be of great help…" Ivy explained halfway while trying not to tell the other half of the truth. Both Sandra and Andrew seemed adamant to the plan.

"Not a bad idea… we will see how…" Sandra agreed.

"But that does not explain why he is angry… Come on stop beating around the bush Ivy…" Andrew scolded while Ivy pouted at her failure to hide the truth any further.

"I also suggested that since keeping your enemy closer is better so… I suggested that he also hire Nancy.. the girl you saw last night…'' Ivy's explanation was interrupted by Sandra.

"No, you did not! Do you know how psychotic she was, Ivy?" Sandra scolded.

"Listen… Listen… Like I said last night over the phone, she was Jason's ex-girlfriend and has depression. She has a stalker habit if she isn't under medication… I thought by keeping her close to Jason, she could start to take her medication obediently and stop doing dangerous attacks on people around her…" Ivy relaxed her shoulders knowing they both seemed to understand better of her predicaments as she took a seat by the stairs cuddling Lucky for refuge.

"Well… It's quite subjective to be honest. She seems to be aiming more at you than Jason. Is it because she thinks you're dating Jason seriously? " Andrew asked while Sandra and him took a seat by Ivy's side.

Ivy nodded to his question. "And the entire stalker events started when she knew about it… but I am also confused cause she apparently dates someone else whom she cheated on Jason with and is an acquaintance of Jason…" Ivy further explained in confusion.

"Guess, it's a psychology issue… You see the fact that she cheated on Jason with an acquaintance seemed to indicate she might have taken Jason for granted… When someone new comes by, then… only then she realised how important he was to her…" Sandra explained while Ivy pondered on the possibilities.

Andrew was staring at Sandra as her last sentence struck himself. After Ivy left the night before, Andrew decided to leave early as he was angry yet disappointed with himself after he saw Sandra being head over heels talking with one of the basketball boys. There and then, it dawned upon him that he himself, might have had a crush on Sandra for a little too long that he wondered should he confess.

"Let's head back in and continue with some studies before it gets late…" Sandra suggested this when she noticed Andrew was staring at her differently as though there were thousands of unspoken words and it was getting awkward for her.

Ivy nodded as she stood and walked back into the house without noticing the awkward situation among those two who broke away when Andrew suddenly realised he was staring too long and quickly followed them back into the house.

Sandra lamented at her effort of trying to tell the duo about her new relationship with Ryu's friend, Jeremy from the national basketball team whom she had agreed to date last night. She was worried they might judge her or laugh at her curiosity on the feeling of dating which resulted in her hasty decision. Besides, she could also sense something had changed with Andrew. After their study session, Sandra decided she needed to tell someone about her issues so she went to visit Ivy and stayed for the night.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting you! Come in!" Ivy greeted Sandra when she saw her side main door was open and Sandra stood in front of her. "Was playing with Lucky a little bit so it's a bit messy… " Ivy explained as she cleaned up the living room while Sandra stepped in and stood by the side watching Ivy.

"What's up? You are exceptionally quiet today…" Ivy asked, noticing something was wrong as she pulled Sandra to sit next to her and Lucky. "Come, tell us… We are happy to hear and help you out Ms. Sandra. Welcome to Lucky Ivy therapy session…" Sandra giggled at Ivy's attempt on lightening the mood.

Sandra sighed before she spilled the beans. "I am dating your friend's friend… We just started…" Sandra mumbled while Ivy got excited. "Really?! Who is it? Is it Ryu?" Ivy shrieked. "No! I said your friend's friend. Ryu's friend, Jeremy." Sandra explained while she blushed.

"Oh! Congratulations!" Ivy hugged her but Sandra was surprised at Ivy's reaction.

"Aren't you upset about it?" Sandra asked while Ivy raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I be? I mean my best friend is finally dating for real unlike me… I should be happy…" Ivy said while her mind wandered to Andrew who had been acting strangely lately and wondered if Sandra would want him to know. "But what's up with you? This isn't the reaction I expected of you either…" Ivy asked.

"Right… Don't tell Andrew just yet… He, well…" Sandra sighed. "I know.. he has been acting weirdly lately…" Ivy sighed.

"You noticed it too?" Sandra asked. "Yes… He has been behaving well around us and doesn't annoy us much, especially you…" Ivy explained. "Yes… and kept staring at me… it's so not him.. What's wrong with him lately?" Sandra pouted while Ivy questioned herself about his long stares which were suspicious.

"Alright let's keep it away from him for the time being then. Well, since you're here, let's binge watch movies till we fall asleep?" Ivy suggested lightening up the mood even more as it was their favorite pastime whenever they slept over each other's place.

At the back of Ivy's mind, she knew something was also not right with Andrew as she reminded herself to speak with Andrew soon. She didn't want to see her best of friends stay upset either.

The next few days went past really fast due to back to back exams that Ivy had the chance to speak with Andrew only after her last paper on Wednesday. She decided to treat him to ice cream instead, which Sandra often didn't want to join as she wasn't a fan of sweet food. Besides, Sandra has not only been occupied with studies for exams but also text messages with Jeremy.