Does My Romantic Comedy Need a Happy Ending?

Chapter 10: Three is not a crowd

Jenna looked surprised at what I just said to her, she bowed her head and offered me a handshake.

"Y-you'll be a huge help, Lark! I'm truly grateful, thank you so much."

I gave Jenna my support, I know well that she will be up against a formidable candidate, but I saw a glimpse of hope from Jenna, she could actually pull this one off if we execute her campaign and speech perfectly, and to top it all up, we will also be up against Johann, another popular figure in our school. But I admit, I only have little to no experience in my arsenal when it comes to student council elections, I'm basically a neophyte in this category so I need to do research about this election thing thoroughly to give Jenna some support.

"So when will the campaign period start?"

"It'll start next week, it will be a 3-day campaign." I'm acting all professional right now but to be honest, I don't know how will we start. I acted composed and confident in front of Jenna so she can muster up some courage little by little, facing a crowd when you're running for a position in student council is inevitable, so she needs to be confident enough.

"Let's see, we can lay our groundwork, for now, let's take care of the essentials for the campaign." Jenna nodded at me. She's hesitating to say something, she's playing with her empty cup of coffee, but finally, she invited me...

"Y-you see, my original plan was to have a meeting in my place, and I already recruited someone, she should be coming any minute now. Is it fine for you if we hold it at my house?

"I see nothing wrong in doing it in your place, and I should be the one asking you if it is okay to you that I'll be in your house."

"Of course! I'll take care of all the stuff we need for my campaign and honestly, I'm really thankful that you lend me your hand, you'll be a huge help, Lark."

"N-no problem, you're my friend after all."

The door opened, a girl entered the coffee shop with great charisma, it was Johann. She immediately found our seat and rushed towards us, she looks shocked when she saw me though.

"Good afternoon! Ah... eh... so Lark's part of our team?" Wait, what? So she was the one Jenna talking about earlier, but I thought Johann will be on Tracie's side? Since when Jenna recruited her? Well, this will be a good opportunity for us, Johann's presence alone is a huge boost for our team.

Jenna explained to us what happened.

"Ah, yes, Lark will be part of our team starting today. And Lark, I recruited Johann awhile back when I was submitting my form in the principal's office, Tracie approved it. Well, I actually didn't recruit her, she said that she wanted to help me instead of Tracie, but she didn't give me any explanation, I'm desperate at that time to gain some members so I accepted her offer." It's understandable, and if I were Jenna, I'll gladly accept that offer, too. So right now, popularity will not be a problem anymore because Johann will take care of that department, she's really popular with boys.

"Yes, that's right! I'll be helping Jenna throughout her campaign! I'm genuinely happy that she's taking a huge step forward, I also really want to see her go toe to toe with Tracie. Anyway, I have some news for the both of you since you're already a member, Lark."

Jenna's just looking at Johann, so I did the asking part...

"What is it?"

"There's another competitor in the scene!

His name is Kirk, president of the journalism club. So you will be up against those two, Jenna."

"Let's talk about it all in our house, shall we?" And with that, we all headed out from the coffee shop and went to Jenna's place, and I just realized, this will be my first time going to a girl's place, so I'm feeling a bit nervous.

What's with Johann? Tracie a close friend of her yet she chose to join Jenna's group, she's on good terms with Tracie earlier today, they're even talking about how they will execute their plan, so I don't see any rift between those two, and Johann also said that she got Tracie's approval of joining us.

Finally, we have arrived at Jenna's place. The first I noticed was how huge their house, it's double or even triple the size of our house, and they also have two vehicles parked in front, one luxurious-looking sports car, and the other one is a family van, no doubt, they are one wealthy family. Johann's surprised too, you will not expect Jenna to be this rich because she's such a normal-looking girl in school, nothing luxurious on her things.

Jenna let us in, I was planning to remove my shoes and leave them in front of the door, but Jenna insists that it's alright to wear them inside, deep inside, I'm hesitant to step foot on their gorgeous floor, the tiles used here probably cost more than my entire room. They even have maids who greeted us, she's living like a princess here no doubt, Johann looked so amazed, too, staring at the floor while looking like she's searching for some golds or diamonds. We were so mesmerized that we forgot how to even walk.

"Uhm... let's head upstairs, shall we?" Jenna's invitation made us come to our senses and followed her right away.

Jenna's room is surprisingly average, I was expecting it to be a huge, fancy-looking room but I was wrong, but it did have high-end furniture and stuffs like Jenna's personal computer, I wonder how will it hold on its own when handling graphically intensive games, but why am I thinking it right now?

"Have a seat you two, I'll go get us some snacks." Jenna didn't specify where we should sit, so we sat on the floor, it has a carpet anyway so it should be alright. While we're waiting, I grabbed the chance to asked Johann's purpose in helping Jenna with her campaign.

"H-hey..." Johann immediately replied as if she's waiting for me this whole time to talk to her.

"Yes?"

"W-well, I'm kind of surprised that you actually chose Jenna over Tracie, she's your best friend, right?" Johann gave me a playful smile and replied.

"It's not that I chose Jenna over my best buddy! I just want to be close to Jenna that's all, and I'm sure this is the best opportunity to accomplish it, and besides, I want Tracie to be a more independent leader, so it's a win-win for both sides!"

"I see..."

"How about you? Why did you help Jenna?"

"T-to return the favor." That question startled me a bit because I didn't expect that Johann will return my question to me.

"Oh? Hmm... is there going on between you and Jenna?"

"What? No! Where did that come from?"

Johann muttered something under her breath. "Good." which I didn't hear.

"Eh? Can you repeat what you just said? It's too low to be heard."

"Nothing important!"

Jenna entered the room with a variety of snacks, interrupting our already awkward conversation.

"Here guys, have some. So, shall we start?" We nodded to her and started brainstorming. Johann suggested that we should think of a catchy slogan, one with a simple yet powerful message.

"First thing's first! Let's brainstorm ideas to create a campaign slogan for our future president, make it short but meaningful okay? Any suggestions? Yes, Lark! Go ahead." Eh? Why is she making it like a game show or something?

"Wait a minute, is this supposed to be on the spot? Let us use our brains to their full potential."

"Lame! Next is Jenna, go ahead!"

"Uh... eh... I think keeping it close to my personality and agendas is the right thing to do." She's not that confident with her answer, her body language showed it, that's not a good sign if she's running for president, so I suggested something that we should accomplish first...

"How about we work on your confidence first, Miss President?" They both paused for a couple of seconds, I followed up on what I just said because I just realized that saying it out loud in front of Jenna was rude.

"I-I mean, we kind of have a similar personality and I understood your struggles communicating with others, especially with a crowd, but I'm sorry for suddenly bringing it up, I'm just concern that's all." Jenna just giggled at me after that, but why? Is something in my face worth the laugh?

"Don't worry, Lark, no need to be formal. Actually, it's a great idea, if it's okay... C-can I practice speaking in front of you?" Johann and I looked and nodded at each other, and let Jenna practice her public speaking on us, but she didn't know how to start. Jenna tried to introduce herself to us, she did it flawlessly though, which means our presence is not enough to make her heart pound, we need a scenario worthy enough to bring out all the courage she's hiding inside her. After few minutes of pondering for a scenario, Johann finally came up with an idea, she rushed to Jenna and immediately explained what's on her mind. As the progressed, I noticed Johann with her uneasy facial expression, what are they talking about? I have a feeling it's some sort of embarrassing act, well if it is for Jenna's growth, I wouldn't mind giving them a hand. They both turned at me, well sort of, because Jenna is looking at our snacks while sweating hard, while Johann's grinning at me, I knew it, she came up with a plan involving me, she's somewhat a female version of Roy in my point of view.

"Now Jenna, go ahead." With a serious look, Johann said it to Jenna, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy. I looked away from them, a way of mine to handle this kind of mood, my heart's beating faster than it should right now, I have no idea what will happen, but I can't help feeling giddy, I feel like I'll catch a fever any moment.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone, just text me, Ms. President, if you're done, okay? Break a leg!" Now Johann's leaving? What the hell is going on? I thought Jenna will practice her public speaking, why it turned into something awkward? I'm restless right now.

Jenna finally spoke with a soft voice, she's hesitant at first, but she mustered up enough courage to face me.

"H-hey Lark, you see... I-I..."

"I like you, Lark." My eyes widened a bit, I felt butterflies in my stomach suddenly, my breathing became heavy, and my heart feels like it'll pop out any moment. Jenna's face is bright red right now, she's holding her shoulder tightly, is this a confession? Am I worthy of it? Or is it just a dream? It sure is realistic...

"You still need some practice, Ms. President! But I have to commend your boldness, you're one step closer to your goal." Johann barged in while I'm still processing what just happened, what is she talking about?

"Ha! You totally fell for it, huh? I'll explain everything! You see, I came up with a fake confession scenario for Jenna to take part, she needs to confess to you without stuttering, hesitating, or embarrassing herself, she must confess with a straight face and a confident stance. She failed on her first try, though. Sorry for all the misunderstanding, Lark! Uh... let's see... yeah that's right! Consider it a work as part of Jenna's team."

I'm still processing what happened, I thought it was the real deal! What the hell is wrong with Johann? I may not look like it, but I'm still a simple high school boy, I would take it as a real confession given the atmosphere you left before you leave us alone, damn you, Johann!

"B-but why a confession?" Are the words that came out from my mouth...

Johann's eyes are wandering, I saw guilt written all over her face. I couldn't convey properly what I am feeling right now, I feel like I will be overreacting if I get upset with Johann, and I don't want to ruin our meeting because of that anger. Johann approached me and apologized.

"I'm very sorry... err... I chose a fake confession scenario because the feeling of confessing to someone and the feeling of speaking to the crowd is basically the same, right? You'll get nervous, anxious, and conscious all at the same time..."

"But I realized that I didn't consider what will you feel... sorry for being insensitive, Lark."

Jenna joined in and also apologized.

"S-sorry, Lark..."

After hearing their apologies, I came to my senses and regained myself...

"Well, if it will help you with your public speaking, I'll gladly play along." That's right, I just overreacted and get flustered for a small act like that, I voluntarily joined Jenna's team so I need to be cooperative. Yes, Johann's way of thinking is kind of against our personalities, but she's the most capable among us in terms of communicating, so we need to trust her.

As for our campaign slogan, we came up with something that suits Jenna's personality, but Johann made it a direct attack on the opposing teams, she proudly announced it to us.

"Perseverance over assurance, capability over popularity, please vote for me!"

"How's that, Ms. President?"

"Isn't a little taunting? I mean assurance and popularity are not bad things, right?" Jenna protested to Johann's idea.

"You're such a nice girl, Ms. President! But you know what? In the world of politics, there's no such thing as niceness, we have to do everything we can to win it all, even if it means declaring war against your friends."

Jenna paused for a moment, I think she's trying to absorb what just Johann said to her. She cleared her throat and started speaking.

"B-but I don't want to win using dirty tactics if that's what you mean..."

Johann puts her hand on top of Jenna's shoulder, trying to convince her that it's not what she thinks it is.

"No, we're not doing stuff like vote-buying, we're just using the full potential of our brain! We need to be one step ahead of them, so trust us, Ms. President!" She keeps calling Jenna "Ms. President" that she might jinx it.

"Okay, I'm counting on you, Ms. Campaign Manager." Jenna replied with a smile.

As the time passed by, Jenna worked on building her confidence by confessing to me, I endured all of that fake confession just for Jenna's growth, I think I deserve a payment here for taking all that hit. She managed to accomplish it without stuttering, but the embarrassment was still obvious, but progress is progress. Johann concluded our meeting today by giving tasks to us.

"It's getting late now, so let's call it a day. Well, as for your tasks, Miss President, you will print out 100 copies of the campaign handouts I made earlier on her computer, we will hand them out tomorrow. As for Lark, well, you will have a special task for tomorrow! I'll text you the details later."

And with that, we headed out and started walking to the terminal. I will be walking again with Johann and as usual, I'll be quiet as hell. Normally, she would immediately try to brighten up the mood by engaging in a conversation consisting of random topics, but she's just walking casually, is she starting to enjoy the peacefulness of being a quiet kid? Maybe she's exhausted with all the work we have done back in Jenna's place, she's the campaign manager after all, well, according to Jenna. Should I treat her again with some ice cream to lighten up her mood? But why am I thinking of her mood anyway?

We're near the station but she's still not saying any single word, of course, I will not initiate a conversation with her, but now I am bothered, what's wrong with this girl? This so unusual of her.

"Hey, what did you feel?" After years of keeping her mouth shut, Johann finally talked, but she just asked a confusing question out of nowhere.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What did you feel about those fake confessions of Jenna, did it somehow make you in love with her?"

"Wait, what? Of course not! I'm not that kind of guy, and where the hell did it come from?"

Johann stopped and looked me in the eye, her face was bright red already, she held out her laugh, and when she can't anymore, she let it burst out from her mouth.

"Hahaha! Look at you! You're blushing right now! Anyway, I'll be going now, I'll text you the details of your task when I get home, okay?"

"Y-yeah, take care on your way home."

She waved at me and gave me her lively

smile like nothing happened. I waved back at her, but with an irritated face. I'm confused, why would she ask that kind of question? She's the one who made that in the first place! Seriously, I don't understand girls most of the time.

I received a text from Johann when I got home, it's the details of the task she assigned to me.

"So here it goes, you will be in charge of stalking one of the candidates for student council president, Kirk. You need to monitor his movements inside the campus, give us important information about his campaign, got it? List it all down, take a video of it, it's up to you! We'll handle the distribution of Johann's campaign handouts tomorrow, I'll be counting on you!"

"Say, if I'm the one in Jenna's place, will you also help me?"

"Wait, never mind! I'll erase it! Please pretend that I didn't send that to you! Anyway, don't bother replying 'cause I'll sleep now."

Again, I really don't understand girls most of the time.