I put down two beautifully wrapped boxes on the coffee table. My gifts were for Lily and Jeff. It was two days before Christmas, and we agreed to have an exchange gift but we each got two persons to give a gift. I got a large coffee mug with musical instruments doodled all over it for Lily and aviator sunglasses for Jeff. I wonder who got to pick me and what they got for me. Lip and cheek stain, lip gloss, and a pastel blue satchel were among the things I listed on my wish list.

"When can we ever be complete?" Lily asked after putting down her phone on the table beside Kane's phone.

"Someone's always missing," Kane added and leaned back on the sofa.

"Unfortunately for you, Vino is missing today," Miguel said jokingly.

"Oh stop..." Kane rolled her eyes. "I'm over him."

"You know how people can say something but their eyes say another thing?" Jeff asked.

Lily, Kane, Miguel, and Jeff were in our house. Brian wasn't able to come because his family were travelling out of the country. Vino, on the other hand, couldn't come because they were flying to Australia to visit his dad's family.

"Give Kane a break," I said as I plopped down beside Jeff.

"Right. So how are you and Stephen?" Lily asked in a hushed voice.

"Right now, we're doing good."

"What does that even mean? I heard the guy's pissed about us," Jeff said.

Ever since the gang found out that I was already dating for the first time, Stephen had become an intriguing topic for them. We may not hang out often now that we were in college, but they never missed asking about Stephen every time they see me.

"Shall we open the apple pie now?" I asked Miguel, trying to change the subject.

"I know what you're trying to do," Miguel said. "The pie can wait."

I turned to Kane, who was eyeing one of the gifts which was wrapped in a pink and gold gift wrapper. I knew it was Miguel's gift for her and maybe she had a feeling that she would be the recipient. She was probably already thinking how to open it without tearing the wrapper so I asked her, "How about the gifts?"

"The gifts can wait too," she answered, tearing her eyes away from the pretty box.

"Fine..." I took a deep breath. "We're trying to be okay. And yes he doesn't like you guys. I think he is being unreasonable."

I felt disappointed that Stephen didn't like my male friends. It wasn't like I had a lot of male friends. The four guys were very important to me. I didn't want to choose between Stephen and them. It was impossible to make a choice.

I told Stephen about Miguel, Jeff, Brian, and Vino. I even showed pictures of us and told him about whom they liked back in high school, which I regretted because I felt like I gossiped about their private lives. I thought that Stephen was convinced, but he told me that he was still not comfortable about how close I was with these four. It was stressful.

"He's even jealous of Vino because of the stage play," I said.

When Stephen watched the video of our stage play in junior year, he got extremely jealous. He said Vino and I looked good together, and we had chemistry. We were portraying a prince and princess, so I thought it was normal to have chemistry on stage. But I never had a crush on Vino, and I know he never had a crush on me too.

"That's too much! I never imagined someone would think of something going on between you and Vino," Lily said, and she gave a quick sideways glance at Kane.

"He wants me to avoid you guys," I added.

"That is ridiculous," Jeff commented.

"Well, I guess I'm now banned in SHU," Miguel said.

"In the college of business administration, maybe. But I still welcome you in the college of arts and sciences," Kane joked.

Miguel laughed. "Thank you, Kane."

"It's so annoying," Lily grumbled. "He's being—"

"Unfair to Bianx?" Kane asked.

"Yeah, but I think the right word to describe him is...jerk." Lily laughed, and so did the other three. "He's being a jerk."

Stephen's jealousy certainly didn't help because aside from wanting to talk about him, they became more interested in roasting him.

"Maybe he needs a little more time before he wraps his head around the fact that you," Jeff wiggled his finger at me and Miguel. "...are just friends."

I gave him a small smile. "I hope you're right."