Zenon's Game Chapter 312

I don't know what that means.

Bianca scanned the bar to see if she recognized anyone. I've never been here before, but the retro arcade game machine was calling out to me.

"I feel it in my bones that it's going to be a good night!" Bianca announced, sipping her margarita.

I recognize that twinkle in her eyes: she had her eyes set on Jake.

I mean, he's cute - if you like the Justin Bieber look. But really, Bianca wanted to taunt Zenon by dating his brother.

"Lighten up Oma," Bianca insisted, watching my unimpressed reaction, "Even a future chemistry major needs to have some fun."

Her idea of fun only ends up in heartbreak.

"We have different ideas of fun," I murmured, cocktail in one hand and my phone in the other.

Axel had tagged me in a photo on Instagram and I scrolled through his album. I almost choked.

"B," I said, taking her attention away from scouting the venue, "You know how I posted that album from our vacation? The one I spent hours editing and choosing-"

"Obviously," Bianca replied, "I'm getting so much heat for my comment about puppy love that I really know your album."

"Yeah, well I spent ages on it. Meanwhile, Axel posts an album of fish and gets more likes," I said, showing her my phone.

She peered over and scrolled through the seven photos of Axel's aquatic adventure.

All taken when he went scubadiving over new year's. I mean, not a single picture of the group, of any of the sights, of our nights out or moments together. He posted fish.

"He's tagged us," Bianca added, "Do you think we're meant to be the fish?"

I don't even try to understand Axel's mind.

Bianca scrolled through the comments next and stopped to read Candace's. We both noticed Axel's reply:

Candace Turner: Not a bad album, cod do better

Austinuntaylored: Any fin is possible, don't trout yourself

Their friendship is just...

"Hi girls!" Stacey exclaimed, appearing on the other side of the high-top table.

"What are you doing here?" Bianca asked, handing me back my phone.

I scrolled through the other comments, letting Bianca deal with Stacey. Ever since Stacey tried to sell out Candace to be part of our group, I lost all respect.

Stacey recapped for us, "Remember after I gave you the information on Candace, you agreed to invite me to all social events? Amy lets me know where you're going. She's holding up your side of the bargain."

What a useless bargain.

"I didn't realize Amy was doing that," Bianca said, "Your information was so weak that I'm going to have to rethink our agreement. Unless you can come up with something better."

"Um, well I did hear something recently," she offered up all the gossip she had, "Candace and Zenon are arguing and not sleeping together."

"That's barely news," Bianca fake yawned, dismissing her with a flick of her hand.

"It's news if they're about to break up," Stacey insisted, "That's the most likely outcome anyway. What does anyone expect when a nerd dates a jock? It's a nice story, but reality doesn't work like that."

"He's more than a jock," Bianca said, "Don't fall for stereotypes. You want to believe he's dumb because it makes you feel better about yourself. Some people are multi-talented and others are... not."

Harshly put. But Bianca always defends Zenon.

Zenon was her first love, and it hurts her to have him as a friend and nothing more. I used to think they were so well suited to each other. They're both smart and manipulative. They're blunt with their words and direct with their actions. They both loved partying, casually dating people to fill their own voids and accepting of each other's vanity.

Bianca's also confident, which I think you need to be to date Zenon. He's an attention magnate. He's been with a lot of girls who still talk about him and that's hard to handle.

I think Candace is the version Zenon wants to be. She might be naïve, but she has ideals that Zenon wishes he could have.

But I don't really know.

"Ohh," Bianca whistled, staring at the two boys who walked through the door, "I did not expect to see them."

Zenon Albert and Axel Thomas headed towards the bar. I never expected them to be here.

Was Zenon really here to support Jake? I thought they weren't close. Maybe there isn't bad blood between them after all.

Bianca was already gone, holding her cocktail, and heading straight for Zenon.

A magnet will always be a magnet.

I sighed and followed her. I didn't want to be left behind with Stacey the Snitch.

~Candace's POV, ten minutes later~

The music got louder with the chorus of the rock band on stage. The crowd around us got more active and someone accidentally pushed me. Zenon shoved them back and held my waist, while I held onto his muscular arm for support.

Something about Zenon always makes me feel comfortable in the most uncomfortable of situations. But we were interrupted. The group that had surrounded him by the bar was now coming towards us on the dance floor.

"CANDACE!" Axel called out to me, continuing the fish puns that we started on Instagram, "You're krilling me with those puns!"

I grinned back, trying to come up with something else. "They're ofishally..."

Flip, I got nothing!

I didn't know how to make my response any less awkward, especially since Axel seemed fine to chill in the awkwardness. His pupils were super dilated, and I realized he was high.

Zenon was less fine. He stared at his best friend and then at me like I had a tap dancing fly on my face.

"It's an inside joke," I muttered, realizing he hadn't seen Axel's Instagram.