Zenon's Game Chapter 309

He lowered the joint in his fingers and raised his phone closer to his face instead.

"Isn't it funny how a basketball looks so much like a halo?" Axel mused, high as a kite, "But if Bianca is an emoji she'd be the opposite of a halo don't you think?"

I wasn't paying attention anymore. I was trying to face my problems for once, but Axel decided to get high.

"A carrot!" Axel exclaimed, tapping the same spot on his phone multiple times.

I could only guess he was sending Bianca a bunch of carrot emojis.

All I wanted was to get Candace on the phone so we could talk. Instead, I was here with Tweedledum and-

My phone started to ring and I saw caller ID: Bianca.

Tweedledee.

My patience snapped. I grabbed Axel's phone out of his hand and chucked it onto the kitchen counter behind us.

It took Axel an insanely long time before his delayed reaction came. "Hey!"

"Stop talking to her. I'm not interested in hearing Bianca right now," I said.

He looked up at me with the most confused expression, "Why is she trying to reach you?"

"She wrote some comment about puppies and the school's gone crazy with it," I said, really bored of Bianca's antics.

I've ignored her and she's now trying to go through Axel.

"I guess that explains the basketball emojis," Axel nodded, as if that made perfect sense.

It didn't.

We've been through this before. Bianca's been protective of our friendship, but I've made it clear that I'm defensive of my relationship. And if she doesn't figure that out, then there won't be a friendship to protect.

"Candace, where are you?" I asked, finally receiving her call.

While I spoke to her, I glanced over at Axel who was trying to stealthily get to his phone.

"I'm with Jake," she said, "He found someone online who's selling a guitar at a cheap price, so we're in Alpine. Strangely, Lara and Layton are here too."

I'm with Jake. Her words felt like chalk on a blackboard.

"When are you free?" I asked, focusing on the only thing I cared about.

"Aren't you curious about Lara being here? I find it so odd-"

"I just want to talk to you. Give me a time and a place."

"We're going to Jake's performance after this."

"That's an easy one to skip."

"Zenon! This means a lot to your brother-"

"Half-brother."

"Can we try to have fun, for half a second, and support someone else instead of ourselves?"

She makes a good point. Except that I'm completely fine with being self-absorbed.

And watching Jake screech lullabies into a mic isn't my idea of fun, but hey. It's her call.

"Fine," I said, giving in to what she wanted, "I'll see you there."

"Great. Jake will be so happy!"

I couldn't think of a worse emotion.

I know she's trying to mend a burnt bridge between Jake and me, but not many relationships can pick up after they break. My laptop and Candace is the exception.

We hung up and I looked at Axel who was tapping away on his phone with his joint between his lips. "I see Bianca's comment on Oma's photos and I'll divert the attention by posting the world's most incredible album. Boom."

"Axel," I interrupted his random campaign, "Want to go to a party?"

He looked up at me and his lips curled into a smile. "Always."

~Candace's POV~

Twin strangers.

Doppelgangers. I've watched enough TVD to make these assumptions.

Lara parties with DJs in Dubai and travels on her yacht. She goes to that prestigious high school, Callington Prep, so what was she doing here? Bryce said that they would never step foot in Alpine...

Oh, there's the problem.

Bryce.

I should stop getting all my information from Roland Chadwick III.

Jake entered the apartment and started talking to a kind middle-aged lady who was selling the second-hand guitar. I stayed outside, even though her apartment smelt amazing, to stare at Layton and Lara.

They looked like a duo out of a Marvel movie, except that neither of them were wearing bright or tight clothing. Or weapons or superpowers so... I don't really know where I'm going with this...

"What are you doing here, Candace?" Layton asked me.

I get why he's suspicious. Whenever we bump into Layton, we always end up roping him into some weird situation.

"My friend's buying a guitar," I answered, "What about you?"

"We live in this building," Layton replied, standing between us with a bag of groceries in his left hand.

"Together?"

"No," Layton gave me a weird look.

I'm pretty sure Bryce told me that Lara's family had some mansion somewhere.

Does Layton not know she's a billionaire?

"Nice to see you, Candace," Lara smiled at me, "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, Jake? He's my neighbor and Zenon's half-brother." I ramble too much when I'm nervous.

"Zenon has a brother?" Layton asked, looking between Lara and me, "And how do you two know each other?"

Good questions.

"Mutual friends," Lara smiled, "We should get going Layton. We don't want to keep my aunt waiting."

She slipped her hands into her open black jacket and started to walk.

"Uh," I hesitated before calling out to them, "Do you two want to come to Jake's show tonight? It's a competition and he's singing a... song."

"Just one?" Lara joked.

"Good luck to him," Layton added, "Let's hope he isn't used to second place like his brother."

Layton's basketball rivalry with Zenon was well known but I think that competitive rivalry had pushed them both to play better. They both secured college scholarships with strong teams.

But Layton hit a lot closer to home with that joke than he could ever know. Jake did feel second place.

He needed more people to believe in him.