devo’s Comments (group member since Nov 26, 2018)

Salem watched his stuttering mess of an explanation with amusement written clearly across her face. It was odd to see him flustered like this, maybe it was all a result of her subsequently forcing him out of his shell and throwing him into a new environment that was foreign to him. The way his ears turned pink as a result of her staring was too adorable, and the way he shuffled awkwardly was enough for Salem to forgive him for having her look pretty stupid standing alone in a room full of partnered up people. But as uncomfortable as he was she didn’t not waste the opportunity to embarrass him even more. Sighing dramatically she looked at him once again and rolled her eyes. “Jesus, it’s always excuses and apologizes with you isn’t it?” Raising an eyebrow at his other comment about making it all up to her Salem didn’t reply and instead turned away from him making her way to the dance floor, knowing he would be following after her.

The humidity in the second room alone was almost enough to cause Salem’s recently straightened hair to revert back to its ugly and slightly heat damaged natural state. It was hard to breathe in there, and the smell of the smoke machine that threw up a constant stream of thick mist and the flashing lights that changed patterns and speeds at a blindingly fast rate was almost enough to make Salem nauseous, but she was kind of enjoying it oddly enough. The DJ was pumping out track after track of fist pumping EDM and attendees were just eating the whole experience up. Well, except for Lorenzo. His sour expression could tell her that much. Glancing at his expression she laughed “Oh my god, lighten up!” She chided, smacking him on the side of his arm playfully. Salem turned again and led them further through the ball.

On any good day, Salem would say she could walk perfectly fine in heels. But today was different. For some reason, the ground felt slippery, her knees wobbled and Salem teetered like a newborn baby deer more than ever today, like the ballroom was a rolling rink (the spilled drinks did not help in the slightest). How embarrassing. And it seemed like Lorenzo had noticed for his hand slipped to her waist, right in-between her jumpsuit where her skin was exposed. And this time his hand stayed there, keeping her balanced and walking straight. His touch alone was enough to make her legs feel like jello. She didn’t even notice the other guys brushing past her, only focusing on his voice as he called back at them angrily — defending her honor yet again. But as a friend of course. She’s learned her lesson not to be hopeful the first time.

In the back of her mind she was thinking about Elizabeth. She hasn’t seen her in over a week now, before she wasn’t too worried but now knowing that there was a more than 97% chance she would see her made her even more nervous and slightly guilty. I mean, how would she react seeing Salem all buddy buddy with the person she just recently screamed at. Odds are she wouldn’t be too happy. Admittedly Salem wouldn’t be too please either if the roles were reversed. That’s why it was imperative that she didn’t get caught. She’d would have to give Liz a little bit more time before coming clean about the whole “going-to-the-ball-with-your-brother” thing. It would be only right.

The Are you okay? made her snap out of her abyss of paranoid thinking as she turned her head to look at him, concern written on his face. “Hmm? Oh no i’m totally fine,” this time she was telling the truth “But the real question is are you okay?”

It had been 6 days, 17 hours and 35 minutes since she’s last heard from Lorenzo. She’d know because every morning Salem roll over to check her phone to no avail — he simply wasn’t going to text her back. The only breakthrough was a confirmation of whether or not they were even still going which was as alarming as saying he didn’t want to go at all. Her texts thankfully did not reflect how much she was panicking when she re-read over and over again what Lorenzo said (thank god for technology) and she tried to remain as coy and cynical as possible, for she read in a Buzzfeed article once that boys liked when a girl plays hard to get — Salem isn’t too sure how good she is at playing that role, but at least she isn’t attacking him with double messages which should be a plus, right?

Every single thought has revolved around him for the entire week of school that she had, instead of listening to the soliloquies of Shakespeare, Salem would stare blankly at the chalkboard, chewed up mechanical pencil dangling from her mouth as she pictured him picking her up as the last bell rang and driving off into the sunset totally free from unsupportive sisters and social constraints where he would stop the car to turn around, grab her by her chin and k-

Ok, let’s just stop it right there. She’s definitely getting ahead of herself at this point. The time for the ball was steadily arriving and she had nothing to wear and no idea how she would do her hair or makeup.

On the morning of big day (very last minute, she’s aware) Salem’s bedroom floor was littered with Teen Vogue magazines with certain pages torn out for inspiration and a pool of clothes that could literally touch the ceiling if she continued to throw more items out of her closet. In the bathroom a makeup tutorial was blasting from her laptop, though she was completely ignoring it due to the fact that she was completely submerged in her closet, frantically digging like an archeologist searching for fossils. It was very hypocritical of her to expect him to go out and buy something when she hasn’t left her apartment building in days. She had just assumed she already had the perfect outfit stored away in her bedroom but everything was either too sparkly, too boring, or just plain old ugly. She even asked Balthazar for his opinion even though he was most indifferent to it all, which I mean is understandable — he is a cat after all.

At last she discovered a pink off the shoulder jumpsuit with the tag still attached. When did she even buy this? Ah, it doesn’t matter this is good enough. At this time it was around 4:30. So realistically she only had time to do hair and makeup and dash out the door. Which is precisely what she did. And thankfully she arrived on time. Entering the lobby she breathed a sigh of relief as she wasn’t too late. Lorenzo should be coming soon

But he didn’t come right away. What should she do now? Should she wait?

At first Salem stood. Then sat down. Then stood again, tapping the back of her heel anxiously, but resorted back to plopping back into the chair. She crossed her legs. Then uncrossed them. Then she checked the time on her phone. After seeing no new notifications she turned it off, then she turned it back on, then she disappeared to the bar for a bit, was disappointed by the bartenders refusal to give her some alcohol and sulked back to her seat — which was now taken by some girl in a purple bodycon dress.

Well great, now she has to stand. Again. The whole time her mind was buzzing with possibilities. At this point it was 30 minutes into the night, without a single call or text from the brooding man. Did he get into an accident? Was he ever planning on showing up? Was this all an elaborate plot between Elizabeth and Lorenzo to lure her to the ball just to be stood up and humiliat-

Then she heard a voice. A voice that was familiar, too familiar. Lorenzo’s voice. In a split second like turning off a switch all her antsy, paranoid fears melted and where replaced with ravenous butterflies when she finally saw him standing in front of her (looking quite hot, but Salem always thinks he’s hot). To be completely honest, she wasn’t truly paying attention to whatever was coming out of Lorenzo’s mouth. She was completely starstruck at this point, eyes gazing over every detail of his outfit and face. Shit this boy cleans up nice. Forcing back a nervous cough back down her throat she let a playful smile dance on her lips crossing her arms defiantly. “Look who decided to show up. I was so sure you pulled a Cinderella on me just then, Calderon.”

SALEM
well shit i hope so
jk yeah ofc

i hope u bought something fancy

The moment his hand left her grip she immediately felt colder, which made sense since Renny suddenly turned away from her — reverting back into his icy and distant persona like he always does when he’s upset. His jaw locked and he brushed her aside stepping ahead of her as he asked her if she was done, and she watched silently as he did so. What is with him? Her own hands found its way deep into her sweater pockets as she headed towards the checkout section, her only reply coming in the form of a silent nod.

He ran up to defend her he protected her and now? Well now he’s acting as if nothing really happening. She guesses it’s because he regretted what he said. I mean, Salem should’ve known. In a damsel in distress situation it only made sense for Lorenzo to step in, that was just the person he was. She was Liz’s best friend, if he didn’t he’d simply seem like an asshole. That’s it. That was the reason. Of course it was. But even though that was the most plausible reason, that didn’t stop her shoulders from slumping ever so slightly. My Girl was just a disguise for “My Sisters Best friend”. As always.

Momentarily abandoning on the silly unobtainable dream of finally getting Lorenzo to recuperate any sort of romantic attraction to her she shook off all her mixed feelings. There were bigger fishes to fry — the ball was coming up soon. She was glad for the distraction of checking out because if she were forced to say anything to Lorenzo she wasn’t sure what would spill out. So she just kept quiet and to herself, offering Sam a smile or wink once or twice so he wouldn’t notice the shift in moods between the two grownups. She stayed silent through check, didn’t say a word while picking up her bags and quietly hopped back into the passenger seat.

As Salem buckled her seat belt she stole a look at Lorenzo, his eyes still locked on whatever he was doing, not bothering to look back and she sighed. How long must she have do endure the friend-zone? At this point it would simply be best for her to give it up. After the ball would probably be the end of Lorenzo and Salem’s one on one time — realistically his sister would finally give up her tirade that came in the form of silent treatment and come running back into Lorenzo’s arms. At this point he would totally forget about any interaction he shared with Salem, forcing her back to square one.

The whole ordeal was just so frustrating! It’s like one minute they’re sharing and moment and the next it’s like that moment never existed. How does someone like Salem deal with it all. She still hasn’t spoke as the car hummed to life, all she did was reach for the radio and turn it up to a reasonable volume like she did when they first arrived. Forcing her eyes out the window she stared instead at the trees and the houses that whizzed back rather than Lorenzo and his hurricane of mixed signals. The best thing for right now is going home where she can finally burrow herself back into her blankets and watch cheesy romcoms. At least in The Kissing Booth the girl gets the guy.

Finally arriving at her apartment complex she stepped out of the car and offered him a wavering smile. “Thank you for taking me Lorenzo,” (Renny has since been abandoned.) “See you later.” And with a small halfhearted wave the small blonde disappeared behind the large double doors.

Her chocolate brown eyes gazed at the scene in front of her, completely dazed. The atmosphere in the air was so thick with tension that you could cut it with a knife. Sam was still hiding behind Salem, wrapping his arms around her legs rather than clutching to her sweater. She felt a pang of guilt that this whole situation had to happen. Without Salem, Renny and Sam could probably have had a normal shopping day, void of any interruption. It was her fault that Lorenzo is standing there — stiff and raging with anger.

Which brings up the other topic; Lorenzo. He was standing in front of her in all his gloriousness and handsomeness preparing to fight someone for cat-calling her. Why? Is it because this is all happening in front of Sam? That had to be the most plausible reason, after all before this week Lorenzo didn't even remember that Salem existed. She's imagined Lorenzo being her knight in shining armor all the time in her daydreamed fantasies, but seeing this all unravel in front of her is so baffling to her that she couldn't wrap her mind around it. She could however, hear the blood rushing to her ears as every part of her face flushed a bright pink in response to all this commotion.

The you slut hit Salem in the chest like a dagger. How hypocritical would it be for someone to completely force themselves on someone else then turn around and call that person promiscuous? In her mind she said you asshole but the only sound that emitted from her mouth was a breath of air, as she was too frozen to speak a word. She did however, inch closer to Lorenzo. Only after everyone dispersed was Salem finally allowed to breathe normally again. She didn't realize how much she was physically shaking until she reached for his arm that came with the hand she was holding, wanting more than ever to feel his warmth through his jacket.

She didn't want to think about how perfectly her small dainty hand fit into his rough one, she didn't want to replay the sight of Lorenzo gazing down at her with concern, small bits of fury still etched in the lines of his jaw and in eyes and she definitely didn't want to let him see her blush. And yet, she did all three. The "my girl" rang through her head so many times that her brain was self destructing. Why did he say that? Was that a heat of the moment thing? Of course it was. Everything Lorenzo has done up to this point has been in the heat of the moment. Right? Right?!?

"I'm okay," She murmured, eyes lowering to the ground as she lied through her teeth. Any person with a set of eyes could tell she was shaken up by the whole ordeal—she was shivering as a byproduct of her anxiety and her ears and nose were bright red from nervousness. Yet she lied. "He-he only brushed my hair back that's all. I'm fine really." Refusing to meet his eyes Salem tried to focus on something else, anything else. But the only thing on her mind was his hands on her, every touch sending electric sparks through her nerves. My girl. His girl. Lorenzo's girl.

All of those had a pretty good ring to it.

Hanging out with Sam made her feel like she should go grocery shopping more often. The whole time they abandoned Ren and went on little adventures — seeing who could find the items on the list first in an aisle or pretending like the cart was a spaceship and Sam was the captain. At the produce section she handed Sam a bag and sent him off to find fruits, keeping a close eye on him but also eyeing the things she needed for herself. It was by the apples and bananas where Lorenzo appeared again, smiling bashfully at her when she looked at his direction, her own smile awkward and shy. This was nice. It was relaxing, and Salem could say she was having fun.

“Saleeeeem you promised fruit snacks.” Sam reminded her pulling on the corner of her sweatshirt. Laughing she nodded “Ok, ok sheesh kid! Lead the way.” And he took off, Salem trailing behind him, slumped over the cart lazily with a toothy grin. Heading into the snack aisle, she turned around to peer at Ren one more time before disappearing behind a wall of chips and cookies. She leaned against the shelves casually as Sam ran around, deciding which fruit snack package he wanted (he finally decided with the most expensive one, of course.) Dropping it in the cart with a grin he looked back up at Salem. “Done?” Sam nodded “Ok let’s go find your brother.” And off they went in search of Lorenzo.

They wheeled past different aisles looking for Ren. The pair weren’t in too much of a rush, the store wasn’t busy and there wasn’t much commotion so this whole ordeal was stress free and actually a little relaxing. Salem spoke too soon. She was unaware of the group of boys who have been watching her since she left the snack aisle. One of them took it upon themselves to stop the cart with the top of his foot. “Hey beautiful.” He crooned. Sam felt the sudden change in atmosphere and ran behind her legs, seemingly terrified of the strangers.

“Is that your kid? You seem a little young to be a single mom.” One of them breathed nodding his head towards Sam shifting his weight from one foot to the other which made the others laugh in response. Salem could only produce an awkward chuckle along with them, as all the pairs of eyes looking at her making her feel more and more uncomfortable, and a little bit queasy. Putting her hand on Sam’s hair, partially to comfort him and partially to shield him even further as he buried himself behind her, she shook her head. Her plan was simply to entertain them for now until she can find a way to exit the situation. “Aha, no he’s not my kid.” She offered simply and bluntly giving no further details. The ringleader, a tan boy with a clean buzz cut and piercing green eyes crossed his arms and took her reply as an invitation to inch his way closer.

“Thank God. You’re too hot to be wasting your life like that.” Her eyebrows scrunched defensively but before she could even open her mouth in protest, he cut her off again. “I’m thinking,” One step closer “After you drop that twerp off,” Another one “Maybe me and you could hang out at my place, I’m having a little get together and you’re the perfect eye candy.” He was so close to her at this point she could smell his breath as he towered over her. Salem didn’t reply.

“C’mon...it’ll be a good time baby.”

The last comment caused Salem to freeze up, for he reached over and brushed some of her hair away from her face and behind her ear. Who the fuck does this guy think he is? Blood rushing to her ears and her nose she searched for something to say that wouldn’t be too offensive — guys like these seem like the type who would not take a simple no for an answer. Her left hand clenched against the handle of the cart. “I’m sorry I just-“ before she could finish her sentence Ren appeared in front of her, arm brushed against her protectively (she’s blushing a tomato red at this point), angrily cursing the the boy in front of them. Buzz cut looked back at him with surprise. “The hell did you just say?” He said in retort, pushing up against Lorenzo, fists starting to ball.

The other boys also stood up a bit straighter, feeling that they had a need to copy whatever their ringleader was doing. In the grand scheme of things their odds weren’t entirely too great: three college boys who most likely did sports, against Lorenzo (though he was muscular, and gorgeous and perfect-) with a skinny teenage girl and a six year old. No matter how bad Lorenzo felt like fighting to defend her honor (which is a whole shock to her, but in this moment she wasn’t really thinking of the significance, her realization will come later) he simply couldn’t fight all of them. Instinctively she reached for his closest hand, smoothing out the fist with her fingers. “Renny, it’s not worth it.” Renny? when has she ever called him that? It seemed fitting in this situation probably only in Salem’s mind, though.

Buzz cut scoffed. “What is that you’re boyfriend or something? Why would you be talking to me if you have a boyfriend, you slut?”

(view spoiler)[kind garbage but also kinda fun and fresh so read at ur own discretion

also love re-reading and finding typos ;P (hide spoiler)]