My Romance Life System
Chapter 31: Wingman

Chapter 31: Wingman

My eyes flickered from the blue mission screen to Jake’s face, then back to the screen.

[Penalty for Failure: Acute Social-Triggered Spasmodic Diaphragmatic Flutter (Uncontrollable Hiccups) for 72 hours.]

’Hiccups?’

My brain just stalled on that one word. Socially-triggered hiccups. I pictured it. Standing next to Nina, trying to be cool, and then just—hic!—like an idiot. Trying to answer a question in class, and—hic!—everyone laughing. It was a nightmare. It was a weapon designed by the goddess specifically to destroy the fragile peace I had just found.

’No way,’ I thought. ’Absolutely not. I’d rather die.’

The classroom door opened, and Miss Foibe walked in, a stack of papers in her hand. The chatter in the room died down as she walked to the front. "Alright, everyone, settle down. I have your life science tests from last week."

Her voice was calm, but my internal monologue was a siren. ’Don’t do it, Kofi. Don’t accept. You don’t owe him anything. This isn’t your problem.’

Miss Foibe started calling out names. "Ronnie, 78." "Selma, 85."

My eyes, against my will, were locked on the mission window floating in front of me. The timer wasn’t visible, but I felt it ticking down.

"Kofi, 99. Excellent work."

A few kids looked over at me. I stood up, my body feeling disconnected from my brain, and walked to the front to get my test. On autopilot. The whole time, I was just thinking, ’Decline. Just say no.’

My path back to my desk took me right past Ruby’s. Just as Miss Foibe called her name—"Ruby, 92. A very strong effort"—Ruby stood up. Our eyes met for a split second as we crossed paths. She gave me a small, bright smile.

"Hey, nice job," she whispered.

’Eh?’

My brain stuttered. It was just a smile. A normal, friendly smile. Why was my brain stuttering?

Then I glanced over at Jake.

His face... man, it was ugly. He was staring daggers at me. It was pure jealousy, all twisted and mean. But as I got closer to my own desk, I saw what was underneath all that anger. He just looked... pathetic. Like a lost kid who just had his favorite toy given to someone else. He looked weak, and scared.

He looked a lot like me.

My gaze drifted across the room, searching for something, anything to ground me. And I found her. Nina.

She wasn’t watching the drama. She was watching me. The second our eyes locked, her face broke into this huge, blinding smile. She lifted her hand, not caring who saw, and flashed a quick, two-fingered peace sign.

It wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t just a random gesture. It was a message, sent directly to me, through all the noise and all the stares. It said, ’I see you. You got this.’

And something inside me just... broke.

I looked at Jake’s pathetic, jealous face. I saw Nina’s bright, supportive smile.

’Damn it.’

I remembered her promising to be my pillar. Was this what it meant? Not just her helping me, but me... helping someone else? Even if that someone was the annoying class gossip?

’Damn it all.’

With a feeling of total dread, like I was willingly jumping off a cliff, I mashed the ’Accept’ button.

The blue window vanished.

The rest of the classes were gone. My brain was just static. All I could think was ’What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?’

The final bell was like an alarm I wasn’t ready for. I saw Jake start stuffing his books into his bag, ready to escape.

’It’s now or never, you idiot!’ my brain screamed.

My legs felt like they were filled with concrete. I pushed my chair back, the sound scraping across the floor. I stood up. My whole body felt stiff and weird.

He was almost at the door.

’MOVE!’

I lurched forward, my limp feeling more obvious than ever. I was just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, my mind completely blank. I had zero plan. Zero.

He turned, saw me heading for him, and froze, a confused look on his face.

I stopped right in front of him. And said nothing. My mouth opened, but no words came out. We just stood there in the emptying classroom for what felt like an entire, painful eternity.

"Hey," I finally croaked. It sounded awful.

Jake just looked at me, completely baffled. "Uh... hey, man. What’s up?"

I took a shaky breath. Just rip the bandage off. "You, uh... got a minute?"

His eyes lit up instantly. The gossip-hound was back. "Yeah? What is it? Did something happen with Nina?"

Of course. That’s all he cared about.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "It’s... about you." I swallowed. My throat was so dry. "And Ruby."

His face went from curious to horrified in half a second. The color drained from his skin, then came rushing back as a blotchy, panicked red. He looked like he was about to faint.

"I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about," he stammered, his eyes darting around like a trapped animal.

"It’s cool," I said quickly, trying to sound way calmer than I felt. "I’m not gonna say anything." I glanced toward the door, desperate for an escape plan. "Meet me after school. We’ll... talk."

He just stared, his mouth hanging open. He didn’t say yes. He just made this tiny, jerky nod, like his head wasn’t screwed on right.

Good enough.

I walked back to my desk like a zombie, my legs feeling disconnected from my body. I collapsed into my chair, the plastic groaning under my weight.

’What did I do? What did I just do? What in the absolute hell did I just do?’

The words looped in my head, a frantic, silent scream. My hands were shaking. I hid them under my desk, hoping no one would see. I stared at my textbook, but the words were just black squiggles on a white page. They meant nothing.

I risked a glance at Jake. He was still frozen by the door, his face a blotchy, panicked mess. He looked like a cornered animal. My fault. I did that.

’I’m going to be a wingman,’ I thought, and the sheer absurdity of it made me want to laugh, or cry, or maybe just throw up again. I, Kofi L Dameire, the guy whose only successful social interaction in the last two years involved getting hit by a car, was now responsible for someone else’s love life.

This was a comedy. A tragedy. It was a train wreck, and I was the conductor, the engineer, and the guy tied to the tracks all at once.