Chapter 5 Anonymous Texter

"Hey, my cousin will start melting if you don't stop staring," Lemon whispered, lightly tapping Audrey's arm. The girl blushed immediately and gave Lemon a light nudge.

"What are you whispering about?" Kip asked when he noticed they were nudging at each other. Audrey suddenly stiffened while Lemon couldn't stop smiling.

"Nothing! I didn't know you're a gossipmonger, Kip!" Lemon called him off, and he messed up her hair. He stood up to play again, but she held him back. "Stay with us. We have no one to talk to," she pouted.

Kip glanced at Audrey, who was now red as a tomato. Then he pulled a chair close to the girls and sat there. He was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Kale.

"Give me the cue stick, Kip. I'll play with Drew," and Kale took it from him.

The way Kale said it, one would think he was good at playing billiards. But he doesn't even know how to hold a cue stick properly. He just wanted to show off.

"Are you sick?" Kip asked, looking at Audrey. "Your face is bright red," he added, and Lemon almost laughed. 'How can this guy be so dense?!'

"Are there any terror teachers at SMU?" Lemon asked, stealing his attention. She noticed that Audrey had gotten redder, and Lemon didn't even know if she was still breathing.

"Most teachers there are nice. You don't have to worry about anything," he responded. Lemon was about to say something when someone screamed.

Looking at the billiard table, she immediately saw Drew's red face. He was bent down and holding his foot.

Kevz told them the billiard ball jumped off the table and landed on Drew's foot after Kale hit it. Now Kale didn't know where to hide as he was embarrassed and scared at the same time.

"You should just sit down," Lemon whispered thru gritted teeth as Kale tried to hide behind her.

"Sorry, Drew. The ball probably got too excited," he said, trying to make the situation funny, but Drew scowled at him.

"Are you okay?" Lemon asked, concerned for him and worried for her friend.

Drew suddenly stood up straight as if nothing had happened. "Yeah, I'm fine, Leslie," he replied coldly.

"Are you sure? It looks painful, and your face is still red," she commented, but Roj butted in.

"He's fine now since you asked," he gave Drew a nudge, and Lemon suddenly felt a bit panicky after what he said. So Lemon smiled awkwardly before going back to her seat.

"It looks like you already got an admirer, cuz!" Kip teased, pointing at Drew.

"Silly! Roj was just kidding," she refuted.

"You should know, Lem, most of Roj's jokes are true," Kevz chimed, then he and Kip laughed. Lemon didn't even notice that he was already standing next to them.

She bowed her head, feeling embarrassed because of what Kevz said. She also can't help but glance at Drew, checking if he is okay, only to see him glaring at the two.

"I need to go, guys! Mom's calling!" Roj cut the foolishness between his friends.

Drew and the rest of their bandmates nodded at him, so they had no choice but to stand up and follow. Again, Audrey hooked her arm to hers as they walked out of the billiard hall.

"When are you moving to your new house?" Kip asked as he placed an arm over Lemon's shoulders. Audrey's hand turned cold, and she almost laughed.

"We're moving tomorrow," Lemon responded.

"Really? That's nice. We'll be neighbors by tomorrow," he said, smiling widely.

"Really, Kip? We're becoming neighbors?" Kale asked to confirm.

"Yep, as in neighbors! Homme's our neighbor too," he nodded toward his friend, who gave them a salute in return. "They moved to the subdivision earlier today," Kip added.

Kellen's eyes widened in shock after hearing what her twin said. Lemon can only shake her head at her reaction.

When she looked the other way, Lemon met Drew's eyes. She suddenly panicked, not knowing where to avert her gaze.

Feeling shy, she smiled at him, but he didn't bother returning it. Lemon smirked and bowed, disappointed at his reaction.

If someone asked, Lemon would say Drew is the most good-looking among the group. But then he seemed to have a not-so-nice attitude. He seemed snob.

Compared to his bandmates, he smiles the least and rarely speaks. Thus making it awkward to be with him.

Lemon and Kale reached the hotel past seven in the evening, but while in the car, Letty called to ask them to go straight to the restaurant. So they did.

When they got there, Letty was busy chatting with Dahlia. "Where's Kellen? I thought she was with you," she asked as they reached their table.

"She went home because Uncle Rigo called," Kale informed her, and she nodded in return.

"How's your day, fille? We're you able to buy everything?" she then asked.

"Yes, mom. I'll go back to the mall if I need anything else."

"Okay then. Tomorrow, the driver will pick you up. So don't leave unless Gab's there," Lemon turned to look at Letty, her forehead creased. "He'll be your driver. He will take you straight to the new house. Your uncle's finished with the final touches. So you can use your room. You, too, Kale," she announced.

"How's the shop, Mom?" Lemon asked in return.

She had no interest in fashion design, though. She took after her father as she was more interested in running a business.

"It's good so far. We already got clients, too. They're your Uncle Rigo's friends. That's why we'll be busy these coming weeks. You know, most want to become June brides," Letty narrated.

After a while, their orders arrived, and they happily conversed over dinner. Afterward, they went up to their suite to get some rest.

Lemon and Kale got early classes the next day. She was thankful she wasn't as nervous as she was, compared to when they first came, especially after meeting Kip's bandmates.

She found out they were all in the same class. So that calmed her down a little. However, it looked like it would be chaos with Kale added to their group. They had already started at the billiard hall earlier.

On her bed, Lemon checked her phone when it vibrated and got another message from an unknown number.

'See you tomorrow, goodnight!'

"Who are you?"

'...'

Whoever the sender was, Lemon didn't find it funny as he didn't want to be known. She wanted to feel scared, but whoever it was could have gotten a wrong number too.

Lemon saved the number as 'IGNORE.' Then she put her phone under the pillow and pushed herself off the bed to go to the bathroom and wash up.

When she came out, her phone was already ringing. "Cuz!" Kellen exclaimed when she answered.

"Hi, Kel! Why are you still up?"

"I'm about to sleep too. I just wanted to check if Drew texted you," without seeing her, Lemon knew she was smiling just by the sound of her voice.

"Someone texted, but he didn't say who he was. Is his number 19*******?"

"Nope, his digits start with 17. Maybe he's not texting you tonight," Kellen sounded teasing.

"Silly, I thought Kip gave out my number to someone!"

"Good luck! If it were Kip, he wouldn't give it for sure. Maybe that's why Drew asked me. So what did the texter say?" she pried.

"See you tomorrow, and goodnight," Lemon answered casually. But she was surprised when Kellen suddenly shrieked that she had to pull the phone away from her ear.

"O-M-G! We haven't even gone to school, but you already got an admirer! Sadly, it doesn't seem to be Drew."

"Kel, you're being silly. Go get some sleep!" She tried to shoo her away, but Kellen just laughed at me. She shook her head when what her cousin said sunk in.

"Okay, fine! I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night!" and Kellen ended the call.

Lemon quickly put the phone back under the pillow and lay down. But then she can't help but think about what her cousin said.

'It was too impossible to be Drew. He barely talked to us earlier,' so Lemon pushed the thought aside. 'Kellen's probably just overthinking. But why am I feeling disappointed?'