Chapter 7 Girl Talk, Gossip, and One Big Dare

DENZEL'S POV

Rule #20: If everyone's talking about you, make sure they're wrong.

"I dare you to ask Basti if he's single."

I choked on my juice box. "What?"

"You heard me," Hannah said, licking ketchup off her fries like she hadn't just committed social homicide. "Go up to him. Bat your lashes. Say, 'Hey, I heard you're into tragic chess girls. Is that true?'"

"You're deranged."

"I'm bored," she corrected. "And you're clearly in denial."

I gave her a flat look. "There's nothing to deny."

"You've had more eye contact with Basti Garcia in the last forty-eight hours than I've had with all my exes combined," she said. "Just for a change. Who knows? This might finally break one of your damsel rules."

Across the table, Rheiza stirred her soup with the serenity of a monk who had seen too much. "To be fair, you do seem flustered every time his name comes up."

"I do not."

"You just twitched."

"That was a sneeze."

"No, it wasn't," both of them said in unison, with disturbing synchronization.

I dropped my head onto the cafeteria table and groaned. "I hate both of you."

Holy Cross Academy's cafeteria was its own type of battleground. Tables cramped together like a game of territorial conquest. There were cliques, of course. Cheerleaders in full gloss and volume, the theater kids who didn't know what an indoor voice was, and the debate team who somehow managed to sound condescending even when ordering siomai.

The chess team had our own unofficial corner: mostly introverts hunched over notebooks, half-asleep over leftover bento and thermos flasks filled with lukewarm coffee.

And me? I was being bullied. Lovingly. Probably.

Somewhere behind me, a group of juniors was whispering too loudly. And today, for some reason, those whispers were about me. Or more specifically, me and the fact that two Mater Carmeli heartthrobs had allegedly interacted with me.

"I saw her talking to the volleyball captain," someone said behind me.

"No way, I saw her with Luke Rodriguez. She was blushing."

"I heard she rides in Basti's car."

"They also shared an umbrella."

"She beat Bia in chess, too. Savage."

"She probably has a secret boyfriend."

"Who do you think she'd pick? Basti?"

"Or both. Honestly, I'd pick Luke."

"Basti's more mysterious."

I stared at my tray and considered shoving my entire banana into my ears. I tried to focus on my food. My banana was too soft. My rice too dry. Everything was wrong.

"This is why I keep to myself," I muttered.

"No, this is why people like you," Hannah said, stealing one of my pork lumpia-a crispy spring roll stuffed with seasoned meat. "You're cool. You don't chase drama. And yet, drama runs to you like a lost puppy."

"I don't want a puppy."

"But you've got two, and they're both tall and emotionally unavailable!"

"They're not puppies, they're hurricanes," I said. "Noisy and destructive."

"They're like opposite flavors of ruin," Rheiza added. "One's a romantic tragedy. The other's a wattpad flirt with a six-pack."

"I'm begging you to stop."

Rheiza reached into her bag and pulled out a small tin of calming tea bags. "Do you want to scream into this? Or drink it?"

I sighed. "Both."

"Denzel," Hannah said, tone suddenly serious. "Let's pretend, hypothetically, that one of them did like you. Would that be so bad?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I don't trust it."

I didn't say: because I don't know what to do with attention unless it's related to skill. I didn't say: because sometimes the people who promise to stay are the first to walk away and the ones who don't leave still find a way to disappear.

Instead, I opened my milk carton like it had personally offended me.

Hannah let the silence hang for a beat before brightening again. "Honestly, you could do worse. I mean, look at them. One's a human smolder and the other's a walking playlist."

"Stop it," I groaned.

"Fine, fine. But I'm just saying. Basti's the type who stares like he's reading your soul. And Luke? He probably leaves handwritten notes on coffee cups."

"You made that up."

"And yet, you smiled."

My phone buzzed. A message from the group chat with our chess coach.

Coach: Rematch sched has been approved.

Rheiza looked over. "Bia's finally coming back for round two?"

"Looks like it."

Hannah straightened. "This is your villain origin story."

"Why am I the villain?"

"Because she's mad. And you're unbothered. That's how it starts."

"Don't jinx it."

"She's going to train like a demon for this."

"I know."

"Are you?"

I didn't answer right away. I just stared at the screen. I hadn't stopped reviewing since the last match. I'd been rewatching footage, dissecting her defenses, tuning my aggression.

I was always training. That wasn't new.

Hannah grinned like she'd already written the opening monologue.

"Don't lose your edge," Hannah said, poking my arm. "Also, dare still stands. Unlike you, I believe in taking emotional risks."

"Not happening."

She smirked. "Then I'll do it."

I blinked. "What?"

"I'll ask him for you."

"Hannah-"

She stood dramatically, brushing off imaginary dust from her skirt. "If you won't do it, I will. For science."

"Hannah, sit down."

"For the nation."

"Seriously-"

"For the Damsel Legacy."

"I swear-"

Too late.

She was already walking away, giggling to herself.

Rheiza sipped her iced tea. "So, hypothetically, if Basti says yes... what are you going to do about it?"

I glared at her.

She sipped again. "Just asking."

Across the cafeteria, Hannah passed by the volleyball team's table. Basti was seated, quiet as usual, focused on his lunch like it might file a complaint. Luke was animated, laughing at something Tim said. I saw Hannah slow down, toss her hair, and flash the most chaotic wink I'd ever seen in my life.

The table went quiet for a second. Basti looked up. Their eyes met. Just for a second.

Then Hannah walked away like nothing happened.

"You think she actually said something?" I asked.

"With the bitch?" Rheiza said. "There's a ninety percent chance she did. And a ten percent chance she also did an interpretive dance."

The whispers around us surged again, louder now. I heard my name. I heard Basti's. And Luke's.

I pressed my fingers against my temple. "I am going to set fire to this school."

"You'd need a match," Rheiza said. "Or Bia's rage. That might do it."

The gossip swelled louder. Someone was probably live-tweeting this moment.

I wasn't used to attention. Not like this. I was used to chess clocks, to strategic silences, to watching and not being watched.

Now it felt like the whole school had eyes.

I leaned forward and picked at my lunch without tasting anything. My appetite was gone. My nerves weren't. They were doing somersaults.

I saw Basti glance in our direction once. Just once.

And it wasn't dramatic. It wasn't some lingering stare across time and space.

But it happened.

And somehow, it felt louder than all the noise around us.

"You know what's weird?" I said quietly.

"What?" Rheiza asked.

"I'm not even sure I mind."

She blinked. "The attention?"

"No. The idea of it. Of him."

Maybe I said it because chess practice was killing me and I needed a different kind of pressure.

"You're thinking about Basti."

I nodded.

"And Luke?"

I hesitated. "He's... different. Fun. But Basti..."

"He's your slow-burn trope."

I snorted. "Is that a literary diagnosis?"

"Yes," she said. "And it's fatal."

"You're weirdly into this dare," I said.

"You're weirdly into this dare," I said.

"Maybe I need the distraction," Rheiza muttered.

I tilted my head. "Everything okay at home?"

She exhaled through her nose. "Same old. Grandma's on my case again. One more grade below 80, and she says I'm out."

"Out, like... out out?"

"As in kicked out of the house and disowned. You know. Classic family guilt combo: academic shame and housing threats."

I frowned. "Well, if it ever gets serious... you can crash at Hannah's. Or mine. Though I'm warning you now, all I've got are sardines and instant noodles."

She grinned. "Tempting. But no thanks, Denz. Not unless your noodles come with emotional stability."

Hannah returned, plopping down like she'd just delivered the Ten Commandments.

"Well?" I asked.

"Luke was gorgeous!" she squealed quietly. "I once had a thing for Luke but got over it. I mean, everyone has a thing for that guy. Understandable. I am gladly passing that thing to our Denzel in Distress."

"Bitch, that has nothing to do with the dare," Rheiza commented.

"Okay, wench, whatever." She leaned in. "No actual conversation. Just strategic hovering. But he looked up when I passed, and I may or may not have winked."

I stared. "What does that even mean?"

"It means," she said dramatically, "the seeds of chaos have been sown."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"Not at the moment."

"Understandable. But just so you know..." She wiggled her eyebrows. "There was a flicker."

"Of?"

"Interest. Suspicion. Magnetic tension. Call it what you want."

"You have a problem."

"And you have butterflies."

I paused. Blinked.

"I do not."

"Girl, you're blushing."

I touched my face. "Am I?"

"No. But it felt like a powerful line to end the chapter on."

I gave her the dirtiest look I could manage.

Unfortunately, I also smiled.