"Well, I think that we can say for sure that Cindy and I will step aside but I don't think we can speak for her" Zuemy said, glancing at Lillian.

"I mean, I barely got a chance to meet him but what if I like him too?"

"I think you already do" Cindy teased.

"Then what's the point on agreeing to calling dibs in the first place?" Jen sighed.

"I think we can reach a compromise" Zuemy said, thinking quickly "Neither Cindy nor I will interfere but if Lillian wants, she can 'challenge' your call, meaning that you two would be competing for him" She explained and Jen frowned, not liking where this was going while Lillian's interest was piqued.
"Of course, this comes at the cost of forfeiting your own right to call dibs, Lillian" Zuemy added "Are you really willing to do that trade?"

Lillian took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking deeply about it. Trying to steal away the guy Jen was clearly interested in wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do to a bestie, but on the other hand, ever since she met you, she got a strong gut feeling that there could be more, that something could blossom out of it. If she were to give up entirely, she was sure that she'd regret it her whole life.

Then again, what if it was just a stupid infatuation that wouldn't get anywhere? She could seriously miss her chances with anyone else if she solely focused on you. Zuemy's comments about you possibly being a hybrid and not just an ordinary Lillie gnawed at her, as confident as she was, she was completely aware that her curvaceous physique came at the cost of being heavy even for Brob standards, it could be moderately dangerous to get too wild with a normal Lillie and the chances to find another one of mixed heritage seemed rather low.

But she also remembered how Zuemy asked Jen directly if she liked you for who you were and not just because of some specific trait. Her head soon began to hurt, but she realized that all this time, she had already made up her mind and was just trying to convince herself against it. Her mother's wisdom about these kinds of things was to follow her heart and fully commit, embracing whatever comes of it. With this, she took another deep breath and opened her eyes.

"Alright. I don't even need you to say it, I can see it all over your face" Jen said.

"Then I guess that settles it. May the best woman win?" Zuemy shrugged. Lillian nodded solemnly, then she and Jen shook hands to seal the deal.

"Damn, you two are really gonna gun for the same boy" Cindy said with a chuckle but then she turned to Zuemy "Maybe I should've tried to take my shot then?"

"Cindy!" Jen pouted.

"Just kidding! Besides, I suck at these things, if I had any competition I'd be guaranteed to lose" Cindy said, laughing a bit "Who knows, maybe I'll find myself a guy if my request to form an Anime/Videogame club goes through this year"

"Cindy, the Principal shot down your request back in 7th and 8th grade, what makes you think it would go through this time?" Lillian replied.

"Reason one: That was another Principal, not Ms. Abalos. And reason two: The Gulliver Initiative actively calls for stuff that makes coexistence and integration easier" Cindy replied with a confidence that surprised Lillian.

"Since when did you start looking up that kind of stuff?" Lillian raised an eyebrow.

"Ten bucks say Zuemy told her" Jen chuckled.

"Damn, was it that obvious?" Zuemy then burst out laughing "I mean, it'd be awesome if Cindy could make that club happen and it's her best chance. Besides, I'm already tired of the Science club, I hardly accomplished anything there, I'm better off working on my own but even then, I mean, I like other stuff besides science, you know? Having somewhere to goof around about anime or videogames would be nice"

"I think Cindy's got us all hooked on one thing or another" Jen said with a playful smile "Then again, Zuemy got us all into Lillies and I believe I was the one who told you guys about the real Mexican food rather than the fast food bullshit they try to pass off as it"

"Yeah, I think we've all left our mark on everyone else here" Cindy giggled and took a stray glance at Jen's slightly bouncing chest, remembering you "By the way, are you gonna take him out or is he gonna stay there all lunch?" She then asked, making Jen blush and giggle.

"Maybe he'll want to stay but I'd have to ask him" She replied "I guess I should-" Just as she spoke, her phone made a 'ping!' noise and buzzed, indicating a notification, which turned out to be a text.

"Ooh, he texted? What did he say?" Zuemy gave a smug smirk as she spoke "C'mon, tell us!"

"I wanna know too! Did he like it?" Cindy asked while Jen only blushed harder at these two, shaking her head while giggling embarrassedly.

"Alright, alright, I'll show you" Jen replied, having already seen the text and saw that there was nothing embarrassing about it. The text itself read:

"Hey Jen, hi! I've been looking around and I didn't really find any books"

"Wow, he really spent this whole time spelunking between those mountains trying to find Lillie-sized books" Zuemy now had a more serious but still surprised look "I mean, after I've met him, I can believe it but on the other hand... I think most guys would've just enjoyed their time in there"

"Maybe he would've done that if she had put him in her ass" Lillian joked. Just then, another text came up.

"I don't think any of my books fell, I checked my backpack. But I found what was bothering you"

"Huh?!" All four girls were caught off-guard by this, since they knew that the whole thing about the books was just a little white lie Jen used to get you into her makeshift soundproofed room she called a cleavage. The phone buzzed yet again, showing an additional message.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad! Well, I think. It was just a couple of tortilla crumbs that got wedged pretty deep. Took a bit of effort to yank them out"

The 3 girls then looked at Jen in the eye while her blush returned with a vengeance until her whole face looked beet red and her hands shook a little. Despite her immense levels of embarrassment, she decided to respond as she didn't want to seem like she was ghosting you.

"Oh, really? Thank you!" Jen sent.

"No problem. So, uh, think you can take me out now?" You replied and before Jen could text back, Zuemy snatched the phone off her hands.

"What? You don't like it down there?" Zuemy sent, giggling mischievously.

"Zuemy, what the hell?!" Jen shouted but then they noticed that the phone showed you saw the message, yet there was nothing, just silence.

"What was that about not interfering?" Jen said, narrowing her eyes at the two giggling friends sitting across her.

"We agreed not to steal your man, we never made any promises on not trolling you" Zuemy said, with Cindy nodding in agreement. The girls then paused when they saw that you were finally typing a response.

"I mean, it's nice but if these small crumbs were bothering you then I imagine I'm worse"

"Wow... that's... actually kind of sweet" Zuemy said with sincere surprise "He does care more about how you feel" Then Cindy grabbed the phone and typed a response of her own.

"Don't worry about it! You feel way better than those nasty little crumbs! Do you wanna stay~?"

"Cindy, what the actual hell?!" Jen was more surprised at Cindy's newly-found brazenness than at the message she typed.

"Now's your chance, give him a good hug and he won't want to leave!" Cindy giggled, making Jen shake her head but laugh at the same time, finding that even her pranks were cute. Once again, they noticed that you paused for a few minutes and this only made Cindy, Zuemy and even Lillian giggle more at both yours and Jen's expense.

"If you don't mind, yeah, I guess I could stay some other time" You sent.

"Awww. But why?" Cindy wondered out loud, and almost as if cued in by her, you sent another text right away.

"Actually, I have one more favor to ask. I'm sorry if I've asked for too much already, I promise this will be the last thing: I need to find my friends, Jim and Pete. They have to be somewhere in the Lillie section, I saw on the school app that there is a designated Lillie section here at the cafeteria. I can take it from there if you just take me"

"Oh yeah, he mentioned his two friends before" Cindy noted.

"Jen! Wake up! He's gonna slip free if you snooze!" Zuemy said with a playful smile, snapping her fingers at her to get her attention, as Jen herself was staring at her phone's screen, processing your text.

"He still acts like I don't want him around" Jen sighed sadly.

"Was it something we did?" Cindy turned to Zuemy and asked with a concerned face "Did we make him feel unwelcome?" The cute black-haired nerd said, already feeling bad, feeling like she did something wrong without realizing.

"Look, he's not rejecting you. That's Lillie cultural abuse speaking" Zuemy explained, putting a hand on Jen's shoulder.
"I'm not a boy and research can only teach me so far, but I think that he might still be in disbelief that a bunch of girls actually care about him. It's gonna take a bit of time for the notion to fully sink in but you have to keep going. I saw the way he looked at you when Cindy asked to pick him up, he feels safe with you for real and that's like winning half the battle already!"

"Gimme the phone" Lillian said, holding her hand out, and as Zuemy was trying to cheer Jen up, she handed it over without questioning, only after Lillian took it did Zuemy realize what she'd done.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Both Zuemy and Jen asked worriedly but Lillian remained silent until she finished typing and sending her message on Jen's phone:

"Hey, don't you worry about a thing! It won't be any problem to take you there. How about you text me back after you find them and we can all meet each other?"

The girls were a bit surprised that Lillian was willing to help her newly appointed romantic rival, but then again she and Jen were still besties. Zuemy and Cindy also noticed that Lillian might be throwing them a bone with the added chance of meeting two more Lillie boys. Now all they had to do was to wait for your reply with bated breath...