[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 158 & 159. (Patreon)

Chapter 158: Reunion.

After ten minutes of struggle, Mila finally gave up and came to sit with us in the living room.

“I didn’t give up!” she insisted. “I’m letting her rest. It won’t do to be so pushy.”

Cake herself decided that this was her opportunity to explore the house some more, so she walked around under my watchful gaze. I didn’t want her to drop anything or trip over any cables.

“So your sister found Cake and brought her home?” Grace asked.

I nodded. “Her friends, actually, but yes. Mom said no until I asked. I almost wish she had told me no, too.”

“Why? Didn’t you want to have a pet?” Sarah asked.

“Taking care of a living being is scary.”

Grace chuckled. “You always take everything so seriously.”

“I just don’t want a cat to die because I forgot to feed it.”

“Don’t worry, I bet she’ll tell you when she’s hungry,” Mila said, laughing.

“And besides, it’s not just your responsibility, right? Your sister brought her here.”

Yeah. I said I’d help take care of Cake, not take on all the responsibility. Isabelle had to do her part as well. And speak of the devil and she shall appear. The main door opened and in came Isabelle with her friends, Alice and Noelle.

“Oliver, Ms. Hope says thanks for the chocolate,” she said from the door.

She stopped at the entrance to the living room and saw us all there. It was Alice’s reaction in which I was interested, though. The blonde girl’s eyes went wide at the sight of the three other girls in the room, and her mouth half-opened to say something before she stopped.

“Um… Hello,” Noelle said with a small, nervous smile. “Sorry to intrude.”

I stood up from my seat. “Make yourselves comfortable. I… need to prepare Cake’s milk.” That was true, it was about time for her to have it, but I mostly wanted to run away.

Five guests in our living room felt way too oppressive, even if three of them were my girlfriends. I’d let Isabelle play host for now. This was her idea, after all.

I went to the kitchen followed closely by Cake. Did her instincts tell her I was going to make her food?

“Go to the living room,” I told her. “They’re all here to see you.”

She meowed at me and stayed there, looking up. I don’t know what I expected.

While I made Cake’s formula, my ears perked up at the voices coming from the living room.

“Was this your idea, Isabelle?” Alice asked with a resigned sigh.

“I mean… not exactly?” my sister said, sheepishly.

“So you told her?” Grace asked, sounding amused.

“That we’re friends, yes,” Alice admitted.

“W-Wait, you girls are friends?” Noelle asked, shocked.

“Since forever,” Mila said. I could see her, but by her tone I could imagine the smile on her face. “We just don’t hang out a lot these days.”

“Why?” Noelle asked.

“It wouldn’t do for Ms. President here to be seen with a girl with a violence record,” Sarah said.

“So… You really have hit someone, Sarah?” Isabelle asked, carefully.

“I threw a racket at a guy in the tennis club,” Sarah admitted easily.

“But why?”

“He deserved it,” Grace and Alice said in unison. Mila laughed at that.

“There are enough rumors about us that we don’t want to stain Alice’s reputation. That’s it,” Grace said. “Unlike previous presidents, Alice is actually trying to get things done and not just fill a position. Did you know that she’s trying to bring back the Talent Show this year?”

“Wait, what?” Isabelle and Mila exclaimed. “The Talent Show?” my sister asked.

“They canceled it in our freshman year because the school deemed it a waste of resources since not many people signed up for it,” Nolle explained. “But Alice wants to bring it back. She’s been trying to convince the teachers and the principal that it’s a cultural event that can bring students together.”

“That’s the speech I give them,” Alice said, laughing softly. She had a soft tone of voice in general. “I also told them it would raise the prestige of our school even more, and that seemed to strike a chord with the principal. Apparently the focus on poetry of one of our rival schools has made them win prizes and appear in the news. The principal thinks we’re lagging behind. I took that chance to offer some suggestions for the anniversary festival as well.”

“Please do,” Sarah said, grunting. “Every year is the same, and it’s boring. Spelling contests, decorate the classroom, maybe the drama club will prepare a play…”

“For a school that prides itself on its cultural events, things get duller each year,” Grace agreed.

“Right?” Alice said. “They’re pushing academics so much that they’re forgetting that most people choose our school for its variety of club activities. I’m trying to bring that back.”

“Yeah! That’s my President!” Isabelle cheered.

“One more term! One more term!” Mila chanted along, laughing.

Things in there sounded surprisingly civil, even cheerful. Even Isabelle sounded like she was having a good time, and two weeks ago she acted like she loathed Mila, Grace and Sarah.

In fact, I almost didn’t want to go back. I got the feeling I would make things awkward, and I didn’t want to risk it. Alice did seem to be the friend the girls had told me about, and if she was, I didn’t want to get in the way of them being able to talk and laugh like that.

Cake clawing at my pants brought me back from my thoughts. I had stopped stirring the milk in the glass, and she wasn’t happy about it.

I took a syringe without a needle and filled it with milk. I took Cake in my arms and walked to the kitchen entrance, looking towards the living room. I would just watch from here while I fed Cake for a while.

The conversation over there was getting more lively.

************

Chapter 159: Intermission - Girls’ meeting.

Grace had expected it to happen eventually. Oliver’s sister was friends with Alice, so there was bound to be a time in which they would meet for some reason or another. She hadn’t expected it to be on purpose, however.

Alice told Isabelle she was friends with them, and Oliver had said his sister had stopped being so antagonistic about them, too. Was it possible that Isabelle planned this? To use this visit as an excuse for Alice to see them?

If so, if Isabelle really did plan this, she was a sweeter girl than Grace had thought. Maybe she really was Oliver’s sister. Just a joke, really, but she was in a good mood. To be able to sit down with her girls again, all four together, was a simple delight. That Noelle was here made things more fun, too, and this was their chance to grow a little closer to Isabelle.

On that last front, she’d need the thread carefully. Word had reached Grace weeks ago that Isabelle had broken up with her boyfriend. It was fairly wide-spread gossip because the two had only been together for about two weeks, but rumors stopped soon since it was all very simple to figure out. Ignacio was an ass, Isabelle had enough of him, she broke up with him. That was all there was to it.

Grace was now sitting on the couch with Sarah and Mila,

“I hope Alice isn’t a slave-driver, Noelle,” Grace said to the student council secretary. “There’s a lot she wants to do, but you’re probably left with all the paperwork, aren’t you?”

“N-No, it’s fine!” Noelle laughed. It was a cute, soft laugh that tried to hide some nervousness. “It’s all pretty easy to do. I just write suggestions, invitations to meetings, the proposals… Things like that. Alice is the one who has to come up with everything.”

“So long as you’re okay with it. Don’t be afraid to tell her to shove it,” Grace said, grinning and glancing at Alice, who simply shook her head with her own smile. “And I hope they’re not dragging you into it, too, Isabelle.”

“Huh? Me?” Isabelle asked, eyebrows rising.

With a closer look, one could really tell she was Oliver’s twin. Their eyes were practically the same, even to the length of their eyelashes. It wasn’t to say Oliver looked girly –he was quite manly, and Grace would fight anyone who said otherwise– but he was a nice mix of pretty and handsome. And sexy. Can’t forget the sexy. Isabelle was much the same, but leaning more on pretty than handsome.

“Come on, what do you take me for?” Alice said, crossing her arms. “I’ve only asked her help twice.”

“Twice more than you should,” Grace insisted. “She’s not part of the student council.”

“Ugh, I know, but our vice-president got sick and…”

“Hey, I don’t mind, seriously,” Isabelle said. “I offered to help. To be honest, I thought the student council was a joke, and the elections just a popularity contest, but helping Alice showed me that no sir, these girls have it rough.”

“Don’t overwork yourselves, you hear?” Sarah warned. “Midterms aren’t that far away now.”

“No, shut up.” Mila groaned. “Why am I even in this school? Exams are way too hard and I’m too dumb.”

“You’re lazy, that's what you are,” Alice told her. “30 minutes of studying every night would fix your grades.”

“I can confirm,” Noelle said. “Since I started doing that, I don’t have to spend nights cramming before a test anymore.”

“I still have to cram,” Isabelle admitted shamefully.

Time to take a risk. “Do you and Oliver study together?” Grace asked.

Isabelle’s face fell and she even turned a little pale. “I… No. We used to, but…”

“Um!” Oliver broke in, coming out of the kitchen with the kitten cradled in his arm and slowly feeding it milk with a syringe. Grace’s heart almost melted at the sight, and she had the extremely dangerous thought that she wanted to give him a baby.

Maybe someday. Not now. Someday.

“Y-You all came to see Cake, right?” he said. The syringe was practically empty, and Cake was only licking the tip trying to get whatever drops were left inside. Oliver set the kitten on the floor, and Noelle was the first one to rush to her, kneeling to play with her.

Unlike with her, Mila and Sarah, the kitten was happy to play with Noelle, even nuzzling into her fingers as she was petted.

“Whyyyy?” Mila moaned. “Why does she like you but hates me?”

“She hates you?” Noelle asked, surprised. “She took to everyone so easily.”

“Well, we did rescue her,” Alice said. “She ran at us out of some bushes when Noelle and I walked by near her house. And Isabelle and Oliver took her in. Maybe now that she has a home, she’s wary of strangers?”

“We have our theories.” Grace giggled. Really, Mila was taking it more personally than either her or Sarah. They’d win her over eventually. Patience was the key.

“Is she eating?” Noelle asked Oliver, looking up at him.

Now, it very well could’ve been her imagination, but Grace could swear she saw Oliver blush for a moment before he turned his attention from the petite redhead to the kitten.

“A lot. No problems there.”

“Thank God.” Noelle giggled and held Cake by the armpits. The kitten had no issues with the handling. “You need to behave, okay? Don’t cause trouble!”

The kitten meowed as if assenting.

Grace turned her attention back to her boyfriend. It was subtle, but he looked… uncomfortable. Well, that wasn’t a surprise, was it? There were five guests in his house, two of whom he didn’t know well. That was probably it, most likely.

But there was a chance that it was something else.

Something potentially… interesting.

God, she had to love this man more than was healthy.