One Man Band System

One and a half hours later, Eric dropped Chloe and Laura off at school, carrying the uniforms belonging to Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi. After pulling up in front of the second gate,

"Alright, we’re heading out," Chloe said cheerfully, leaning over to plant a kiss on Eric’s cheek.

"Yeah... even though my head is still spinning... we’re still grinding through the school day, haha," Laura added, kissing Eric’s other cheek.

"Yeah... have a blast," Eric replied with a smile, planting a gentle kiss on both of their cheeks.

Once both of them got out and walked toward the entrance, turning back to wave at him, Eric waved back. But his mind was a complete tangled mess, and his thoughts drifted back to what had happened just hours earlier before they left.

***

After Eric had woken up and wallowed in absolute regret, "ugh," Chloe finally stirred. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes, but as she glanced down and saw her completely bare body, her face instantly turned bright red and she quickly pulled the comforter up to cover herself. Feeling the blanket being yanked, Eric turned to look at Chloe, who was offering a shy, bashful smile.

"Hey... morning," Chloe said, smiling.

"Yeah... morning," Eric replied, his voice weak and drained, his face totally pale.

"Whoa, what’s wrong with you?" Chloe asked, crawling over to cup Eric’s cheek.

Eric instinctively pulled his face away from Chloe’s hand, but seeing a flash of hurt cross her features, he immediately leaned back in, letting her hold his cheek.

"Last night... we did it," Eric said dejectedly.

"Yeah... I know... we got drunk and... things just happened... it’s fine... I don’t mind. Don’t feel guilty and don’t overthink it," Chloe said, smiling despite her obvious embarrassment.

Eric stayed quiet, but suddenly, "squeeze," he turned to see Laura already clinging onto him from the other side. She rubbed her eyes and then winced from the pounding headache.

"Uh... my head," Laura groaned.

"This is all your fault... Laura. If you hadn’t dragged us to your uncle’s bar, none of this would’ve happened," Chloe countered.

"Oh," it seemed the realization of what had happened last night finally hit Laura. Her face instantly flushed deep red, and she rolled over to bury her face into Eric’s arm, her hand pulling the blanket up to shield her body.

After that, the three of them just lay there completely motionless, because they all clearly felt the exact same thing, the crushing weight of crossing the line, and knowing that being drunk was absolutely no excuse.

Finally, after sitting in silent reflection for a long moment, Eric slapped both of his cheeks hard, the sharp crack making Chloe and Laura jump and turn to look at him. Eric glanced down at Chloe, who was keeping herself wrapped tightly in the blanket, and then at Laura, who was doing the same. He took both of their hands in his.

"I’m sorry... I couldn’t control myself last night. This kind of thing will never happen again, I promise," Eric said.

"Oh... yeah... me too, I’m sorry. I was way too wild last night," Chloe said, looking down and squeezing Eric’s hand.

"Same... I really regret dragging you guys out to drink... I’m sorry," Laura added, also squeezing his hand.

"Um... we have to keep this a complete secret from the others," Eric whispered.

"Yeah... I know, this is a secret between the three of us. You hear that, Laura?" Chloe asked.

"I hear you, and I get it," Laura answered.

The three of them fell silent again. Then, Chloe let go of Eric’s hand and slid closer, pressing her body against him, and Laura did the same. Eric wrapped his arms around both of them, his mind filled with a whirlwind of mixed emotions, and he knew that they were undoubtedly riding the exact same emotional rollercoaster.

But just as they managed to find a brief moment of peace, "ding... ding... ding," a rapid-fire string of notifications flooded Chloe’s and Laura’s smartphones. Both of them immediately broke away from Eric’s embrace, turning around while holding their blankets up to grab their phones off the nightstand.

They scrambled back to Eric’s side and unlocked their screens. It turned out the notifications were a barrage of group chat messages from Emma, Heidi, Monica, and Priya, reminding Chloe and Laura to bring their uniforms to school and complaining that their parents were forcing them to stay home for a week as punishment.

The rest of the thread was just Emma, Heidi, Monica, and Priya aggressively venting their frustrations in the chat.

"So they’re grounded at home for a whole week," Chloe muttered, looking at her smartphone after texting back an okay about bringing the uniforms.

"That means it’s just going to be the three of us here... for a week," Laura said, keeping her eyes on her screen.

"I see... so they actually got grounded," Eric remarked in response.

The three of them fell silent again. The only sound in the room was the constant chiming of incoming messages as the four grounded girls kept spamming the group chat. Eric looked at Chloe’s conflicted face and then turned to see Laura looking just as conflicted.

"Um... if you guys want to head back to your own places, I totally get it... it must be pretty awkward... because of what the three of us did last night," Eric said with a faint smile.

Instantly, Chloe and Laura snapped their heads around to stare at Eric, catching him completely off guard.

"Of course I’m staying here to keep you company. Last night was definitely an accident, but it’s not like an accident can happen a second time, right?" Chloe asked.

"Exactly. You don’t need to overthink this. I’m totally fine, and I don’t have an issue with what happened last night, so I’m staying put," Laura added reassuringly.

"Oh... okay, I get it then. Thanks, guys," Eric said, pulling them both back into an embrace, feeling a slight wave of relief.

"Yeah," Chloe and Laura chimed in, their spirits instantly lifting.

Then, Chloe kissed Eric straight on the lips, immediately followed by Laura, who did the exact same thing. Right after that, they dashed out of the bedroom to wash up and get ready for school, grabbing the other girls’ uniforms on their way out.

Meanwhile, Eric climbed out of bed and pulled back the comforter. He froze in shock when he noticed two small crimson spots, like drops of blood, stained on his bedsheets. He touched his lips instinctively and glanced toward the door.

"Uh... hopefully the accidents stop today... but... the three of us all alone for a week? I need to stay strong so a second accident doesn’t happen," Eric thought to himself, shaking his head.

***

Back in the present moment, as Eric turned his car around and drove off, Chloe and Laura walked into the school building. They were walking a little gingerly, still feeling the physical sensations from the night before, on top of dealing with a pounding hangover headache. The second they stepped inside the building,

"Hey,"

They lifted their heads and saw Emma, Monica, Heidi, and Priya already standing right in front of them, wearing their gym jerseys. Chloe and Laura immediately handed over their uniforms, but the four girls just locked their eyes onto Chloe’s and Laura’s faces.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"Hmm... you look exhausted with those bags under your eyes... but at the same time, why do you look so refreshed? And honestly, you look like you’ve changed somehow," Emma said, inspecting Chloe’s face.

"Not just her, the one next to her too," Priya added, studying Laura’s face.

"Hmm... why were you two walking so weirdly when you came in?" Monica asked, eyeing them both up and down.

"What exactly happened after me, Emma, Monica, and Priya left the place?" Heidi asked, starting to get suspicious.

Chloe and Laura glanced at each other before answering, the memories of what they had done with Eric in his bedroom last night flashing through their minds. They instantly put on smiles and faced their friends again.

"Nothing happened, you don’t need to overthink it," Chloe said with a smile.

"Yep... exactly. Now go on, change your clothes, and enjoy being grounded," Laura added mockingly.

The four girls’ expressions dropped instantly, and they immediately went back to venting their frustrations out loud as they walked further inside alongside Chloe and Laura. Meanwhile, knowing they were going to be completely alone with Eric for the next week without anyone else around, Chloe and Laura both thought to themselves,

"Hopefully a second accident doesn’t happen... but if a second accident is basically bound to happen... let’s just hope there isn’t a third one," both of them unconsciously shared the exact same thought, meaningful smiles spreading across their faces because they clearly expected something to trigger that second accident, their minds completely consumed by thoughts of Eric.

Meanwhile, back in the car, "achoo," Eric suddenly sneezed as he navigated the traffic toward the Trinity Entertainment office. He wiped his nose and gripped the steering wheel again.

"Why the sudden sneeze... is someone talking about me or thinking about me?" Eric wondered to himself, focusing back on the road.

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