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Chapter 21: Blooming Socialite

Finn's POV

Today was the Lancaster Spring Festival. It was a little event that the school organized every year whenever Spring would start and it's usually after the Spring Break. It marked the beginning of the end of the school year and there, they would also announce who the nominees was for the Prom King and Queen. It was an important day for the school but in the last two years, I've never attended it at least once. But this year, Heather managed to convince me to go. I was also swayed by the thought of spending more time with Oliver.

I picked an oversized, white shirt with a dark orange jacket to match it and dark blue jeans as an outfit for that day. I had no intention of grabbing more attention especially now that Oliver and I had a thing so I kept it simple. I had Heather pick me up that day and we made our way to the school.

We got out of the car and the colorful scenery greeted me with a warm wind going through my hair. I didn't expect everything to be colorful and alive because just two weeks ago, the trees were all leafless and dead but I welcomed the warm, colorful and bright scenery.

We entered the school gates to see tents scattered around in the quad with various activities to choose from, the smell of food wafting in the air. Just the feel of it all, it felt like it was gonna be a great day.

"Where do you wanna go first, Finn?"

I looked around the very busy quad. There were barely any familiar faces. Hundreds of people milled around, greeting friends with hugs. 

"Let's find our friends first." I suggested. Heather nodded before taking my hand and entering the busy crowd. 

Because of my height combined with the crowd surging the opposite way as me, I bumped into a guy who was definitely taller than me. I was about to voice out a quick apology when I noticed that it was Jason in front of me.

"Oh hey, Finn! I didn't see you there." He greeted brightly as he gave me a one-armed hug. "You looking for Oliver?"

I nodded. "Kind of. You know where he is?" 

"He's there in the kissing booth." 

My mouth opened in a gasp, my heart instantly dropping to my stomach.

Jason laughed and clapped my back. "April fools, he's by the fountain." 

I frowned and gave his shoulder a light punch. "Damn you. I'll see you later." I said before leaving the two of them in each other's company.

After a long trudge of elbowing through a crowd of people and muttering a million 'excuse me', I finally reached the fountain where Oliver was indeed sitting by. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain as he fiddled with the small flower in his hands. I couldn't help but smile at the sight as I started to make my way towards him. The moment he saw me, his face lit up, a smile making its way to his face.

"Hey my Finnegan." He greeted sweetly and just when I was close enough to be in his reach, he pulled me into him, making my hand fly to his chest because of the impact. He supported my back with his hand so I wouldn't fall out of his hold.

"Oh hi. That was a greeting." I said in surprise as I looked up at him, our noses were almost touching.  

"Too much?"

"People are gonna look..." I trailed off quietly as I subtly looked around us, searching for any prying eyes.

He chuckled as he slowly loosened his hold on me. "It's fine, let them look. If I can even shout the two of us out, I would." 

We started to walk back to the quad with our hands laced together. I did get some dirty looks from people to the point where I could only look away to avoid eye contact but thankfully, most of them smiled or nodded at our direction and some even said 'hi'. Heather and Jason appeared in my field of vision and I just realized that it was them right when Heather wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Hope you guys aren't busy. My booth's about to open up and there's a pretty long line." Jason said as he pointed to a tent that looked like it belonged to a carnival... I mean, duh.

"What's your booth about?" I asked him.

"A photo booth. We were planning to use a machine but it was very last minute, that's why they hired me and a couple photographer instead for the job."

"Wow, dude. You're actually doing that, huh?" Oliver said before clapping Jason's back.

"Yeah, yeah, and you guys are VIPs. So I'm letting you in first." He said before leading us to the tent. 

"You're allowed to do that?" I asked.

Oliver smirked at me. "It's wrong... only if we get caught, so we better hurry up." He said which gave me a good chuckle.

Jason took his place behind a camera and in front of a white and red wall. He gestured at the x's that was marked on the floor. I looked at Oliver and Heather just to see the both of them looking at me.

"Hey Oliver, do you mind if I take photos with Finn first?" Heather asked.

"Sure thing. I've been hogging him in the past two weeks anyway." He joked which made Heather laugh.

As we took our place, Heather gasped and grabbed my hand in excitement. "Oh my God. There are props." Heather pointed at the box of various of things you put on your face.

We took a total of three pictures and after we were finished, Heather took all of the photos from Jason without even letting me look and left. Oliver shortly entered the booth with a smirk on his face. 

"You ready, Finn? Heather told me there's props." He said before picking up a pair of glasses. 

I picked up a sign that I didn't even bother reading before Jason started a countdown and the first flash of the camera blinded me, causing me to wince. 

"Gosh dang, that flash is bright." I said which made Oliver and Jason chuckle in amusement.

After a few more shots, the photos came out. Once Oliver had a peek of them, he burst out of laughter.

"Did you even read the sign you picked up?" He asked through his uncontrolled laughter as he pointed at the first photo.

My eyes widened as I skimmed the photo, particularly the sign I was holding. 

'Just got laid' 

And then I proceeded to look at my face that was in a frozen grimace and then to Oliver that was beside me with his arms around me and a bright smile on his face.

"This is embarrassing. That should be illegal." I said.

"No, it's perfect. I'm gonna be having six hundred copies of this when I get home." He said before pinching my cheeks. "Hey Jason, good luck on the booth, I'm sure you'll get a lot of customers." Oliver said to Jason and he didn't even wait for a response as he lead me out the booth, still traces of humor on his face.

. . . 

A few hours have passed, it was just Heather, Oliver and I enjoying what the festival had to offer. I was kind of nervous to spend the day with the two of them since they used to kind of date and now I was dating Oliver. But the day we spent was just worth it, there wasn't weird or awkward moments, we were having fun and that's what mattered. Oliver always made sure I wasn't in trouble and that I didn't get away from the two of them.

Heather excused herself because she needed air but I knew exactly what she was doing just from the wink she gave me before she left. 

Oliver and I were sitting on a bench outside the library, just the two of us, talking about whatever. And we were currently talking about how it was when Austin was just born.

"To be honest, I was thirteen when Austin was born and I didn't want any siblings so I didn't talk to my mom for a week straight after she recovered from birthing Austin."

I laughed at his story as I took a sip from my drink. "Somehow, I could just imagine thirteen year old you being so stubborn and ignoring your mom during dinner."

"Wrong... I didn't even eat dinner with them, I'd usually just sneak into the kitchen at night after they were done eating." He admitted which made me laugh harder. 

As my laughter died down, Oliver suddenly went quiet as he stared at me with a contented smile on his face.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"Yeah. Beauty." 

My face soured from his attempt at flattery. "Oliver, if you don't stop with that." I said before rolling my eyes but I wasn't gonna lie when I say that it didn't make me blush.

"By the way, Finn. My friends want to meet you."

"Huh? Who? You have like five hundred million friends." 

He chuckled as he wrapped an arm around me. He was silent as he started to lead me to wherever and then he finally spoke. "My teammates."

"Huh?! Wait!" I said as I stopped him from taking me any further.

"What's wrong?" He asked in concern.

"Nothing, it's just you know those guys... I'm literally gonna get hate crime there." 

"No, you're gonna be fine and if otherwise, I'm gonna be there. Nothing will happen to you. But if you really don't want to, we can just stay here." 

I hesitated for a bit before nodding reluctantly. "Okay, fine."

Turned out, his friends was just a few distance away from the table we were previously sitting in. Oliver approached them with me glued to his side, gripping his arm nervously.

"Hey guys, here he is." Oliver announced which made everyone turn to us, their previous conversation dying down with it.

They all stared at me for a few moments and I was about to say something when cheers erupted from the table which scared me to death. A bunch of ripped jocks screaming at the same time could never mean a good thing.

"What's up kid! You're part of us now, any friend- boyfriend or girlfriend of Oliver is a friend of ours!" One of the familiar jock said before grabbing my shoulder and pulling me on the seat beside him.

"Oh!" I said in surprise. I mean, who pulls a random guy whom they've never met to just sit with them like they've been buddies for years? 

The rest of the guys either went back to their conversation, were curiously looking at me or were asking me questions. 

"Careful, Shawn, Vasco's seems fragile." Another guy said.

"No, I-"

"Yo, stop squeezing him, Luke." Another guy said which just made me realize how crowded the bench was.

"Ooookay. Finn, you... probably should just stand here with me." Oliver said before helping me out of my seat.

"Thank you." I muttered. 

I heard my name being called again by one of the guys.

"Yo, Vasco. How is Oliver as a boyfriend of yours? He's never been in a relationship." The guy, who I assumed was named Luke, said.

"What do you mean he's never been in a-"

"Not an official one with a guy." Luke corrected me.

"Well, um... It's nice, he's very sweet." I said shyly as I gripped Oliver's hand tighter, keeping myself close to him just in case anything happens. I was still overly cautious of the group.

Luke suddenly hit Chad on the back of his head, causing him to shout in pain.

"Ow! What did I do asshole?!" He asked as he rubbed the back of his head, still wincing.

"Look what you did. He's so skeptical of us now 'cause of your dumbass."

Another guy cut the both of them off by gesturing to me. "If you two didn't notice, he's standing right there, imbeciles."

Chad snickered humorlessly. "Not my fault that he's gay-"

"Chad, do you ever stay quiet?" Oliver clapped back before he could finish his sentence.

Chad's mouth kept shut, and rightfully so, as he should. He huffed in his seat and muttered something under his breath but he didn't leave.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. I didn't know this was gonna be a bad idea-"

"No. You know what? It's fine." I reassured before taking the initiative and taking a seat on a vacant spot.

Most of them turned their focus towards me and I wasn't gonna lie, being seated in a table with jocks who have the capability to literally overthrow me intimidated me a little bit but I kept my ground and clapped my hands together.

"You're Oliver's friends, right? And I adore him, a lot. So I want all of us to have a civil relationship... Well, except for you Chad because you're never gonna change. But for the rest of you, is that okay?"

They all shouted yeses and their own reasons why, drowning each other out. 

"Shhh. He's trying to speak." Another familiar guy said to silence the others and he successfully did so.

"Thank you Richard, back to my point." I said along with a clearing of my throat.

"My name is Noah-"

"I want to get to know you all better, I hope you're okay with gay people, or in your language... phaguettes." 

"I don't know why people make such big deal about being gay. I mean, what if a guy likes it up the ass. Who the heck cares?" Luke said before pointedly looking at Chad.

"Don't worry, Vasco, we're more decent than you think. S'Long as you don't break Oliver's heart, we're fine."

I felt Oliver's hand on my back. "Okay. I think we need to go, I'll see you guys later." He said to the group before nodding at me.

I stood up and waved goodbye and I didn't expect any response but surprisingly, most of them also waved goodbye. The moment Oliver and I were out of there, he smiled at me.

"I've never seen my friends like that, they're usually not that sweet."

"I think they were sweeter for you more than for me." I pointed out jokingly.

"Nah, they love you. I mean, how can they not? You're adorable." He said, making me laugh as he swung an arm over my shoulder.

Just as we reach the quad, Jason and Heather appeared once again as Mrs. Ponds, the Principal, gathered everyone. 

"Okay. So I'm going to be announcing the nominees for the Prom King and Queen and I'm surprised to say that in the past three years, this is the first time the nominees will be slightly different. So let's get this circus show over with." She said which caused everyone to quiet down, holding their breaths.

"I bet you Finn is gonna be one of them." Jason whispered to us.

I shook my head in disbelief as I looked at Mr. Ponds just as she opened her mouth to speak. "Our nominees for Prom Queen are Mia Hayes, Talia Greenman, Bella Lee-Evans and Ariana Grande." 

The crowd gasped in surprise as everyone started looking around, searching for what I assumed was a sign of Ariana Grande.

"...Ariana Grande, who we will be playing the whole night at prom, let's move on. The nominees for the Prom King are Oliver Hunt, Chad Russo and Finn Vasco. Okay, you can all go now, I'm tired of this." Mrs. Ponds announced in an uninterested tone before leaving the middle of the quad.

"Ahhh! Congrats Finn! I'm so freaking happy for you!" Heather said as she gave me a bone-crushing hug.

"At this point, I should just give up my position for you." Oliver teased and I was just about to sound out a thank you when I heard an awfully familiar voice speak behind me.

"Well, well, well, you actually got nominated!" Bella said as she slow clapped her way towards me.

I raised an eyebrow at her, silently challenging her.

"You must be happy... so savor that since it won't last long." She said smugly as she crossed her arms across her chest with Talia and Mia beside her, sizing me up.

I smirked as I started to walk closer and just then, our height differences really stood out.

"Sorry, I don't speak Dumbanese, can you perhaps say that again but with less desperation?"

Bella's smile faded, her face unsurprisingly going red as a bunch of 'oohs' sounded from the forming crowd around us, watching the two of us face each other. 

Haven't this girl learned not to get into a verbal fight with anyone, really? I'm just fearing that one day, she'll get so mad she might explode... Not that that has never happened before. What perplexed me the most was that Bella would always want to embarrass me in front of everyone but when I outdo her, she always gets mad. And it happens every time.

"You've been a pain in my side this whole year and your whole personality is built around being sarcastic. And you think you can compare to me? You might have been nominated for Prom King but guess what? You're forever gonna be known as the dumbass who got his clout for clashing with me publicly. You're just a pathetic worm that will never ever compare to the queen you think you're better than."

Fewer oohs came from the crowd this time and I wasn't gonna lie, that was the first good roast she's ever thrown at me, but that only fueled my anger for her.

"Clout? Off of you? The only thing I get from clashing with you is brain damage. You think you're all that when you think people worship you, when they're actually afraid of you, that just shows what kind of person you are. I never even did anything to you in the first place, I minded my business yet you still bothered me. I'm tired of you, Bella, and if beating you in this reputation thing is the only thing that will fold your ego then so be it. Just don't cry about it when it happens, Queen B."

And that's when the crowd, once again, sided with me by erupting into oohs and cheers. I could only stare at her patronizingly before I turned around to walk away. And then... I felt a hand roughly grip my shoulders.

"YOU NEVER WALK AWAY FROM ME. I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU." She screamed maniacally and started to pull me towards a nearby puddle of water.

People started to notice what she was trying to do which caused the cheers and shouts to go even louder.

Before Bella could succeed, she was thrown off of me, causing her to land into the puddle herself with a gasp.

The crowd burst into collective laughter and they started taking out their phones and snapping photos of Bella covered in mud, if I wasn't on the floor at the time, I would've made fun of her too. I could just imagine the school news article the next day. Because of her condition, I momentarily forgot about my own. Oliver helped me stand up while also brushing off the leaves and grass that clung onto my shirt.

"Oh my God, Oliver, you really just pushed her into that. That's gonna be the highlight of this year." Jason laughed in disbelief as he also helped me stand up.

"It's what she deserves." Oliver shook his head, his eyes landing on Bella for a few moments before it returned to me again. "I'm so sorry she did that to you. I'm hoping you're okay?"

"I'm fine, just shaken up... I'm not sure about her though." I said as I turned to Bella who was still struggling to stand up with no absolute help from her minions who were trying to keep their laughs in.

"You stupid rats! Help me stand up!" She ordered and that's when the minions only started to help her up. 

It was cruel but it was satisfying to see her, missing a shoe, her signature pink jacket covered in mud, her shiny blonde hair now covered in dirt and her tumbling ungracefully out of the puddle. 

"I'm so sorry I didn't do enough, Finn. I should've kept her away from you." Oliver continued to apologize, his hand gripping mine tightly.

"Are you kidding, Oliver? You literally pushed her into the mud puddle! That's more than enough." I reassured to which Oliver stopped but he still looked guilty. 

The two of us looked at Bella just as she stood up straight, still dripping wet. Oliver stood in front of me as to shield me from her.

"I can't believe you'd push me like that, Oliver! I thought we-"

"Well you thought wrong, Bella. I've kept my anger in because I didn't want problems or anything to do with you but you physically harming Finn is where I draw the line. You're just a pretentious, manipulative, cruel bitch who has no life. I don't ever want to see you near Finn again, try something like this again next time and I don't know what I'd do to you." Oliver finished and the crowd was in complete silence from that.

Bella looked hurt, so hurt, the most vulnerable I've seen her before she buried her face in her hands and ran away.

That must've hurt like hell. Imagine being such a shitty human being and then having everyone against you and the guy you're thirsty for suddenly said those things. 

One big oof for Bella.

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