Chapter 185 - A Plan to Escape the Friendzone

Scarlet was nervous. Her classes ended earlier than it should and she was currently waiting for Edward to show up before they got to the atrium. Unknown to her, somebody else was even more nervous than she was. 

Edward dragged his feet over after class to meet up with Scarlet. He had to admit, Elfie had a good plan but even so, Edward doing it with a huge risk. The hacker outwardly refused to pretend to be Jedd77 simply because "Scarlet would find out and hate you forever when she does". Edward couldn't refute that. Knowing Scarlet, lying to her was a bad idea even if keeping secrets isn't much better. Edward would rather be hated than ignored by the girl.

The plan was simple. Edward wasn't going to lie to Scarlet but he was also not going to simply blurt it out. Elfie told the spy he had to do a little acting and let Scarlet expose herself to him as Frost. In other words, Edward was going to accompany Scarlet over first as a friend. They would wait for Jedd77 to appear and because Elfie refused to play that role, Jedd77 was going to ghost Scarlet. Edward's job was to convince Scarlet to send her text buddy a text and hold onto his phone to 'confirm his suspicions'. From that point onwards, it was up to Edward to manipulate the situation to his favour.

Edward agreed to the plan but was extremely nervous. This was even an even more nerve-wracking operation as compared to getting close to a rumoured terrorist for a four-men-take-down. He didn't really care if he put his life on the line for a mission but why was he so concerned about the fate of his heart?

According to the signs he read, Scarlet wasn't ready to open up to him completely. To be more precise, she was constantly giving him mixed signals when he was Edward. On the other hand, Scarlet was more open with him as Jedd77 because she had faith in that wall of anonymity. However, when Jedd77 proposed a face to face meet-up, Scarlet pulled back to the safety net and agreed with a condition indicating that the level of trust she had for Jedd77 isn't the same as Edward Bayon. How was he meant to understand what Scarlet wanted? If she truly liked Jedd77 romantically, she wouldn't have asked a male friend along. She would have asked a female friend along because bringing a male friend over to see a potential love interest was only going to deter them from asking her out.

On the other hand, he didn't know what to feel as Edward Bayon - the man getting called to be Scarlet's bodyguard in the meeting. He might be flattered that Scarlet placed so much trust in him to feel safe around him. However, those feelings usually extended to a friendship or a sibling level. Many men find themselves getting stopped in the friend zone or the brother zone by the ladies they liked even though they were always the ones the ladies cry to when they broke up with a cheating jerk. He didn't want to fall into this horrible category in Scarlet's eyes, he wanted more.

Today's meet-up was going to be a gamble. According to Elfie, it could either go very well or very badly. However, there was one bright side to it. Edward would know for sure where Scarlet's feelings lie for both Jedd77 and Edward Bayon. If Scarlet rejected him calmly, he would know that she never harboured those feelings for him. However, if Scarlet hesitated or reacted differently from the norm, Edward would take it as a sign of her interest and denial of feelings for him due to personal reasons. Scarlet was a kind-hearted person and Edward was going to place bets that she wouldn't truly reject him if he wanted her too. It was the biggest gamble of his life and one that Edward didn't know if he was ready to take but there was no time to back out, he was already here.

"Edward!" Scarlet waved with a huge smile of relief and the teen put on a reassuring smile like how he practised in the mirror till two in the morning last night.

Yes, just do it as rehearsed, Edward convinced himself and walked over to the girl. "Hello, Scarlet. Sorry, my class got delayed. Is your friend waiting already?"

The writer shook her head. "I guess his class is getting delayed too. Shall we head over and find a place first?"

Edward agreed and offered to help Scarlet carry her laptop. "It looks heavy," he told her.

This time, Scarlet didn't refuse. After getting to know Edward for a while, she had gotten used to Edward's considerate and gentlemanly behaviour even if Alicia and the girls still teased him for it. Edward simply replied that only Scarlet deserved special treatment. Hearing that made Alicia and her girls shut up but they continued making gooey eyes at Edward whenever he did something sweet for Scarlet. Those two were simply too adorable and according to Mandy, they should just get married when Scarlet becomes legal.

They got to the atrium and finally found a place for four to sit after walking two rounds. Jedd77 still hasn't texted Scarlet so they decided to settle down first and wait for another ten minutes. Time ticked and the writer was beginning to feel more nervous when her online texting buddy wasn't responding. Like Scarlet, Edward was nervous and he felt bad for keeping her waiting. Yet, he was waiting for her to make the first move.

Pretending to check the watch, Edward tapped his foot and glanced to Scarlet who was holding onto her phone tightly like a lifeline. The poor girl looked so lost that Edward felt his heart hurt a little. Even if he was the one going to be hurting later, he couldn't bear to keep her waiting for much longer.

"Why don't you drop him a text?" he suggested and Scarlet mulled over the suggestion for a long time.

"I don't know... Jedd will usually text me first. He wouldn't give me the cold shoulder and is always online. Do you think something might have happened?"

Edward couldn't say that she was right. He was doing it deliberately so that Scarlet would text him first, after all. Still, he pointed at her phone. "Only one way to find out."

The writer didn't say anything and hesitated for about a minute, fiddling with the device before she nodded and started to text Jedd. Edward looked away, pretending not to notice how Scarlet edited her message at least five times before she finally sent it. At the same time, he pretended to play a game on his phone to kill time while he waited for Scarlet's text.

Frost: Where are you? My friend and I are here. Do you want us to get you anything from the cafe?

Edward looked at the text and felt his heart pounding in his chest as he composed the reply he had in mind. He stayed up for a very long time last night, unable to keep as he devised several dozens of strategies to what Scarlet could possibly say and do according to his understanding of her. Elfie called him a fool but Edward simply couldn't sleep and leave it to fate. He'd be devastated and broken for real if Scarlet didn't return his feelings. When that happened, he might even launch himself headfirst into investigating Anastasia without a plan just to get killed. It might sound a little too dramatic but that was exactly what Edward felt. No mission was more dangerous than this. No stakes were higher than his heart.

Jedd77: No, it's alright. Sorry for being so late. Actually, it's not that I didn't want to meet up with you but I don't know how to do it without frightening you.

Scarlet who read the reply was immediately anxious. What did Jed mean? Frighten her? What was going on?

From across Scarlet, Edward watched her reaction discreetly. He didn't like to be the cause of worry for Scarlet but seeing how desperate her replies were made Edward feel as if there was a huge sinking stone in his stomach.

Frost: Why? What's wrong?

He composed the reply quickly. It was best to do it quickly and get over with it. A painless death was always the most merciful one.

Jedd77: The purpose of me calling you out for a face to face meeting was to confess to you. I like you, Scarlet. In a romantic way. Sorry for being selfish about my way of confession but I didn't want to come out before I knew your answer to my feelings.

Scarlet read the message over and over again as if she had read it wrong. She thought back about it and peeked at Edward who was still playing his games calmly. Jedd was a nice person that Scarlet felt at ease with. However, she now knew where her heart belonged. If it wasn't for Edward, she would probably never have the courage to meet up with Jedd in person. The one he liked was Edward and not Jedd.

Feeling bad but deciding to be firm, Scarlet typed her reply slowly. Across her, Edward didn't need to read her reply to know what it was going to be. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. With one of his personas shot down, he could only gamble on his other persona as Edward Bayon. If Scarlet was feeling calm and unruffled after such a sudden confession from Jedd, what was she going to do when she found out that Jedd was Edward?

Suddenly, he didn't feel nervous anymore. If he was going to be rejected, he preferred to be rejected while looking into her eyes in person he liked. Getting rejected over the phone was such a cold feeling and he pitied Jedd a little, smiling bitterly when his phone prompted him of a new message.