#jantom week

“Because!” Tom replied a bit annoyed at her, “She’ll remember the time we were together! On how we had fun and it was nice, warm and how I held her hands in mine…”

The Filipino girl looked at him annoyed, “Are you crying?”

“No!” Tom quickly covered and looked at Janna annoyed, “Look, I have to try something that this might work, ok?!”

She shrugged, “We both know you’re completely wrong, but you’re so desperate I’ll pretend we both are ignorant about that fact, so…” She sipped more of her milk-shake “Third, why me of all people? You’re the prince of Underworld, you can literally ask any demons to help you with that.”

“And it would get my parents to hear about and they would begin to try to make the relationship real even if I were to explain it was just to show.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“Have you seen my mother?!” Without waiting for the negative reply from Janna, the demon got his phone and began to browse on it until he found what he wanted and showed Janna “This is my mother.”

Janna grabbed his phone and looked at the picture of him in the horn of his mother and his father beside him, only her face was in the picture because it was all it could capture. He was expecting the “I got so many questions” people usually did, but she just shrugged and gave his phone back to him.

“She’s cute,” she replied, “though I was expecting your father to be the demon one.”

“He is, he just don't look like one.” The demon looked at her and frowned, “Aren’t you curious? About… how it was possible?”

The Filipino girl looked at her own phone sipping more of her milk-shake before replying, “Nah. I do get questions, but you should be the one who tells people whenever you want. Even if I ask if you didn’t want to reply you wouldn’t anyway. It’s easier to let you decide for yourself.”

Tom looked at her confused and brushed it off by remembering how Marco referred to her as “freak as hell”, but then… Well, he’s the prince of there and he didn’t see no problem.

“Next question,” Janna said taking her gaze away from the phone for a moment, “why me?”

“I just told you.”

“No, you said why not a demon. I want to know why me.”

Tom looked down embarrassed and trying not to sound offending as he replied sincerely “Because you have no boyfriend, no one in interest and would have no intention to be in a relationship, so… you’re the best option?” He said making a face of uncertain, but she just looked at him like she didn’t believe a word that he said, “Ok, it is because you’re the only one who might agree with this plan.”

“Huh…” Janna gave a slight nod and looked back at her phone sipping the milk-shake again. Tom was about to beg when she replied, “Fine. Under one condition.”

He sighed, it was expected. After all, he was asking too much. “Ok, what is it?”

“You owe me one and you’ll have no options to take that back.”

“Ugh, fine!” Tom said raising his hands in surrender. “I owe you one.”

Janna smiled and held his arm pulling him along with her as she went down the street. She showed him her phone before he asked where they were going, the screen was showing a status from Star saying she was enjoying her day at the park with the laser puppies along of a picture of the park on fire.

“The best way to do your plan it’s to be on the way to something planned and be casual about it, but coincidentally being around the person you’re stalking.”

Tom began to follow looking at her annoyed, “I’m not stalking her!”

The beanie girl shrugged throwing her empty cup of milk-shake in the trash can, “whatever makes you sleep at night.”

.

The most surprising thing out of that day had come at night.

Not because the rest wasn’t special, but because… Well, it was unexpected.

The “coincidental” encounter at the park was very smooth. Janna wasn’t clingy and wasn’t even holding his hands or anything, but having them together, saying they were going to the movies later and were there wasting time around for their session was enough to convince Star of their fake date. There was a curious stare of Star and a confused one by Marco, but they didn’t ask anything else, it was just proof they were not doubting of their word even if they were completely natural there and not looking like lovey-dovey couple.

When they went to the movies, Janna explained that if they were to keep contact and try to be super sweet to each other, then it would look fake. That being natural and friendly on each other was enough for them to think that they were in the beginning of dating. And after a certain thought, Tom realized she was right, even he and Star didn’t start off as a love at first sight and lovely from the start.

In movies, Janna almost convinced him to watch a movie about shades… But her smile was too wide and “innocent-trying” to convince him it was either a good movie or a good option… That and the fact it was for adults (which was no problem to him being a demon for longer than a human life could last.)

Watching the superhero movie was surprisingly fun, and Tom got himself enjoying both the movie and the company that would make silly jokes once in a while. It made him wonder how long it had been since he had done that, he sure went to watch Mackie Hand with Marco, but there was something else that made that moment special and enjoyable.

Maybe the fact he didn’t have to bring a dead person to live again to make Janna content? Or even try nothing at all? Maybe it was the fact there wasn’t any major interest in her company, so he wasn’t trying anything, just relaxing and getting in the moment…

That was probably it. He didn’t realize the major difference that made until the movie was over and they were in the exit.

“Ok, so we need a picture to post on Facebook to cover any suspicions that we weren’t doing what we said to be doing… Also because Star will see it.” Janna positioned the phone in front of her and smiled, “Come on, smile for the camera!” Even before he smiled at the camera she had already taken the picture, “Completely natural, perfect!”

Tom watched as she used her phone to post the picture on a quick caption on it. He gulped at the meaning of this. They saw Star, she was mostly convinced of their relationship, which meant the day, the date was over. He could finally go to his room and play some game until late night… Still didn’t felt appealing as before.

“Hey!” Tom jumped when the girl shouted at him, “Were you listening?”

“Oh, yeah… Sure why not?”

Janna just put her indifference face and crossed her arms, “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can tell me to what are you agreeing since I didn’t make a question?” Tom gulped, but she just rolled her eyes at him, “For the one who pulled the plan to fake date to try to get Star back you’re being very reckless and uncaring about it.”

“It’s just… Weird.” He replied motioning to her to walk with him whatever direction he was going, “It’s not like I am pretending or feel like I should do anything else to pretend… It comes naturally.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s because you are not affected by my natural charm of being a demon.”

“Oh…” Suddenly he felt a firm tug on his shirt and before he could understand what was going on, Janna’s eyes were right in front of his and her face completely violating any law of personal space there could exist. She smirked at his shocked face, “What makes you think I’m not affected by that?” She leaned even closer still looking directly into his soul (Someone save him, he could feel her violating every single deep secret he had in there and worse, he might not mind that much) before leaning back and letting go of his shirt and turning around walking again “I’m just really good at playing it off and working on it. The first thing to learn about me is: I know how to play.”

Tom stood up fixing his shirt in a failed way to not think he didn’t mind that… At all.

“I’ll leave you home.”

Janna laughed “You mean across the street?”

The underworld prince looked up confused and stated that it was indeed Janna’s home. he went there without realizing when all he did was to walk and chat for a while. For good or bad, they were in the destination and there was nothing else to do…

Why he felt somewhat disappointed?

“Well, that’s my leave,” Janna said walking ahead of him.

“Wait!” Janna turned around and just then Tom realized he had screamed before forming a thought about it “I-uh… I owe you one right? How about we go in gaming station tomorrow?”

The Filipino descendant looked at him and smirked, she turned around walking to him again, her feet stopped in front of his and she leaned in his direction tip of her toes looking so deep in his eyes Tom almost felt like she was the devilish one of the duo.

“That’s true… You do owe me a big one…” Tom refused to recognize he shivered at her voice and how her finger touched his chest sliding a bit down and stopping in his heart as if she really had on her hands (maybe she did but he wouldn’t admit that… yet) “Don’t you?”

Her eyes went to his lips and Tom gulped in both expectation and awkwardness. Janna stepped back and went to the house again waving to him without looking back. “I decide how and when you pay me back”

When she turned around to look at him on the last time she was closing the door of her house, giving him a wink before closing.

Tom turned around and get on his way out of any possible line of vision or witness ears before taking his phone from his pocket and dialing the number on automatic.

“Finally!” Marco’s voice came from the other side, “How was the date?”

“It was cool.”

“Did she found out?”

“She might suspect a bit but I don’t think she figured out”

“Good for you. I still don’t get why you would go like this, but oh well” Tom could see Marco shrugging dismissing any kind of debate about his decision, “At least you had fun.”

“Yeah…” Tom looked up and sighed “She got me bad and I think she knows. She said herself she knows how to play!”

Marco began to laugh on the other side before replying, “You do have it bad.”

“As if we both didn’t know that.” Tom sighed, then looked up. The image of the girl who unexpectedly got him while he was actually chasing another imprinted on his mind. He didn’t know how it happened and why he was so helpless about it, he still refuses to accept some facts of all this.

Like the fact he enjoys every single bit of that whole torture and slow burn a lot.

“Hey, Marco?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you be my best man?”