In the night,
Tyler stood on a building corner, waiting for Stephen. After a few minutes, he saw Stephen approaching and dragged him to the side.
"Hey, man, what are you doing? You scared me," Stephen said.
"I'm sorry I dragged you like that," Tyler replied.
"It's fine, so what's up?"
"What's going on?"
"What do you mean by what's going on?'
"Of course, you know what I'm talking about, so stop pretending."
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about what's going on between you and Chloe."
"Me and Chloe?"
"Yes."
"Is there something wrong?"
"Of course."
"But how?"
"You like her, don't you?"
"What are you even saying?"
"Don't lie to me, you like Chloe. What do you think Bonnie will say if she finds out that you like Chloe and you're still trying to find the person who's trying to break you two up? If you think you like Chloe, then just let go of Bonnie."
"Okay, I get it now. To be honest with you, hmm, I like Chloe."
"What?" Tyler asked angrily. "Then why are you still looking for the person who's trying to break you and Bonnie huh?"
"Hey, calm down. I'm looking for the person because I don't want him to also break me and Chloe."
"Tyler calmed down a little and said, "But you didn't tell me."
"Look, man, I don't love Bonnie anymore."
Tyler kept quiet for a while and asked, "and when did you stop loving her?"
Stephen kept quiet for a few minutes and answered, since the day she slapped me".
"She did what?"
"Yeah, she did, and let me tell you why. Bonnie doesn't love me."
"How? What do you mean?"
"I can see it in her eyes. She was just trying to love me, but she couldn't, and I was trying to do everything to make her love me, but she didn't. That's why she believed the lie someone told her about me, and she couldn't even talk to me about it. Instead, she broke up with me because she never loved me."
"Man, you've got secrets."
"Just think about it. If it were you, what would you suggest?"
"You're right because she didn't say anything. Man, you've been through a lot. So what do you want to do to the person if you find him/her?"
"I just want to know why he did it."
"That makes sense, but how do we find the person?"
"He's smarter than us, but I suspect someone."
"And who is that?" "Charles." Tyler looked surprised and said.
"But how?"
"The way he behaved, and again, do you remember that day Bonnie accepted my proposal? The same day he started acting strange and distancing himself from us. And the day he came back happy was the same day that Bonnie broke up with me."
"That's going somewhere. Does that mean Charles secretly liked Bonnie and he was angry the day she accepted you?"
"Yes, and he lied about me to her, and that's why Bonnie quickly believed him because she thought he couldn't lie to her because he's my best friend."
"Now, everything makes sense. That was the reason he didn't want you to talk about her or find out anything. He was just trying to make you forget her so that you could move on, and he could date her."
"Exactly."
"Holy secret identity! Oh man, this guy is smart."
"Very smart, but I don't want you to retaliate. Let's find evidence so that he can't deny it."
"That's right. Now we have to follow him, while Chloe follows Bonnie."
"That's a great idea, so we'll tell Chloe tomorrow." "Yes," Stephen said, feeling sleepy and yawning, I have to go home now. See you tomorrow."
"Same here".
"Alright, good night."
"Okay."
They left.
At lunch break, Stephen and Tyler were waiting for Chloe. After a while, they started complaining. "Where the hell is she?" Tyler asked.
"Don't worry, she'll show up," Stephen replied.
After some time, Chloe still hadn't arrived, so they decided to look for her. They went to her class but couldn't find her. Knowing she'd likely be at her club meeting, they went there and, to their surprise, they saw her with Alexander, holding hands and chatting. Stephen saw Chloe smiling at Alexander and immediately wanted to confront them, but Tyler held him back.
"Why the fuck are you holding me?" Stephen asked angrily.
"Calm down," Tyler said. "I know you're angry, but going over there to separate them won't solve anything."
"But she's standing with another man, and she's even smiling at him!" Tears welled up in Stephen's eyes.
"Hey, man, calm down, okay?" Tyler said. "If you really want her, just tell her the truth and see what she says. Stop hurting yourself."
Chloe saw them while they were talking and waved.
"Hey, over here!"
They went over to her. Chloe looked at Stephen and sensed something was wrong. She immediately took his hands. "Hey, what happened? Why are you sad? Did anyone do something to you?" she asked nervously.
"We've been waiting for you, but you didn't show up," Stephen said. "And I thought..." He paused, then continued, "I thought something had happened to you. We went to your class, but we couldn't find you, and that's why we came here.
Chloe hugged him and said, "It's okay. I'm here." Stephen hugged her back. They hugged for a moment, and then Chloe said, "Alex, this is Stephen, and this is Tyler, my friends."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Alexander said, shaking their hands.
"It's nice to meet you too," Tyler replied.
"Um, Stephen, Tyler, this is Alexander, my friend."
Alexander looked at her and said, "Not just friends, but soon to be boyfriend."
Chloe smiled and said, "Hey, watch it."
"But I'm just telling the truth, and I don't want it to be a secret," Alexander insisted.
"Hey, zip it. We're just friends," Chloe said.
"I know, but we'll be lovers soon," Alexander replied.
Chloe smiled and said, "You're so funny."
Stephen, though angry at Alexander's comment, couldn't do anything. He forced out laugh and said, "Wow, congratulations, my lovely friend will soon have a boyfriend."
Chloe laughed and said, "Stephen, you're funny."
"Am I?" Stephen asked.
"Of course..." Tyler interrupted,
"Um, SOS."
Chloe suddenly remembered. "Oh, I almost forgot! Um, Alexander, I need to go now."
"Oh, okay. Hopefully, I'll see you next time," Alexander said, smiling.
"Alright, bye," Chloe replied.
She took Stephen's hand, and they left.
They reached the tree, sat down, and Chloe said, "Um, I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting."
"It's okay," Tyler replied.
"Stephen, I hope you're not angry?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, I am," Stephen replied angrily.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Okay, please forgive me."
"That's not good enough."
"Okay, so what do you want me to do?"
He wanted to ask her to stay away from Alexander, but he thought better of it and instead said, "Nothing, but I'm not happy. But it's okay now that you're here."
"Alright, thank you," she said, smiling.
"So, back to what brings us here," Tyler said. "We have a suspect."
"Who's the suspect?" Chloe asked.
"Um, we don't know if he's the one, but our suspect is Charles."
"But how?"
"The way he behaved tells me he's the one, Stephen explained. The day Bonnie accepted my proposal was the same day he started acting strange and kept his distance from us. And the day he came back happy was the same day Bonnie broke up with me."
"And he has been trying to make Stephen forget about her so that he can have his way with her," Tyler added.
"Wow, that makes a lot of sense," Chloe said. "So what should we do now?"
"I want you to keep an eye on Bonnie while Tyler and I keep an eye on Charles, to see if he's really the one..."
Just then, Charles walked in. "What's up, man?"
"Hey, Charles, how are you doing today?" Stephen asked.
"I'm good, guys. I have good news."
"What's that?" they all asked.
"It's about Bonnie," Charles said.
"What happened to Bonnie?" Stephen asked.
"Bonnie told me that no matter what you do, she's not going to come back to you. So you see, it's good news," Charles said.
"And how is that good news?" Tyler asked.
"It's good news because that slimy, arrogant bitch can never come back to our friend," Charles said.
They all stared at him, and Chloe said, "Please just shut up if you have nothing to say."
"But it is good news," Charles insisted.
They ignored him and left.
"No matter what you do, Stephen, Bonnie is mine," Charles muttered to himself. "If I can't have her, no one will." He then left as well.