High School Again: The President's Secret Lady Boss

Winter brings Jacob to the woods and past a few oak trees. 

Eventually, they stumble upon four people stacked on top of each other on the ground. There are grumblings of aggravation and a bit of laughter despite the chaos. Jacob doesn't know how he should react. Sighing, Winter walks forward and snatches the cellphone from Courtney who is trying her best not to get it squished.

"What's going on?" Winter demanded, though there's nothing condemnatory about her tone.

"They're all idiots…!" Ace yelled from the bottom of the pile.

"Idiots, I say!" 

Jacob felt sorry for him. It must not be a very comfortable position. 

"That doesn't really explain anything, Ace."

She carefully places the gadget somewhere far from them. Courtney gives her a shy grin as she tries to explain, "Maxine brought fries. And well… you know…"

"Xander!" the three of them chorused. 

"We got a little tangled up…" Xander said sheepishly from wherever his head was – with his butt faced toward Jacob.

"We don't know how to get free without squishing Ace."

Winter groans. Jacob studies their positions.

He then walks closer to them, grabs the ankles of butt-head and lifts his legs over the blonde's head. He takes an arm and uncrosses it from another leg. 

"Ms. Middleton…" he beckoned, pointing at butt-head. 

"Pull him out for me, will you?"

"Oh, sure…" she beamed and cracked her knuckles. 

"Here we go!"

Winter pulled Xander out in one fell swoop. The pile immediately falls apart like the Tower of Babel. Jacob feels like god for a moment, watching a unified front become divided by his own hands. 

'Bad analogy, Jacob,' he winced, dispelling the god thought. 

Besides, it's Winter who deserves the recognition. She has the strength that Jacob did not quite expect. He feels somewhat elated at the notion. With a small smile, he looks at her through the corners of his eyes while she watches her friends untangle themselves with fascination.

It seems he's happier being proud of her rather than being proud of himself.

"Thank goodness," Ace breathed out, sitting up and stretching. 

Then, there's an audible crack. Worried, Courtney hastily places her hands on his back and starts massaging it. Everyone else grimaces at the sound – except Jacob who does so at his comment.

"Oof…" Winter expressed. 

"Thank Sir Minerva, Ace."

"Sir Minerva…?" Ace blurted out, raising his brow and shifting his gaze from her to her companion who's standing next to her. 

"Oh." 

He recognizes Jacob - not only as the heir of an esteemed and wealthy family, but also as the Snobby Rich Boy that they saw during graduation. She realizes the look of recognition that crosses his face at that moment. With that, she proceeds to introduce him.   

"Guys, meet Sir Jacob Minerva," Winter said while Jacob greeted them with a smile.

"Hello!" the four of them greeted back in sync. 

He examines their reactions. 

Ace doesn't seem to really care. Contrary to his expectation, he's kind of grumpy. Courtney is too busy worrying about her cellphone that got almost crushed. Maxine and Xander are bickering.

"I like your friends…" Jacob chimed in again. 

"They're very… cheerful."

Winter smiles at him. She then sits on the ground, pulling him down next to her. 

"The old married couple is Xander and Maxine," she introduced and he furrowed his brow at the term.

"They're married? They're too young, though-"

"It just means they bicker a lot."

"Oh, okay."

Winter giggles a little, which catches Ace's attention. Courtney noticed this. She could already read his thoughts just by seeing his expression - he's starting to get wary. And so, she continued in Winter's stead and introduced them to Jacob, "The younger married couple are Winter and Ace!"

The two people in question whipped their heads in her direction. She only lets out a guffaw at their reaction.

"Wait, so you're all paired off?" Jacob asked, dumbfounded. 

"Guys, stop playing matchmaker. It's annoying," Ace grumbled.

"You just don't want to admit you love it!" Courtney retorted. 

Verbal warfare ensues.

Jacob slumps, unsure of what to do. Maxine and Xander are arguing over some fries while Ace and Courtney are engaged in some Gladiator-style banter with Winter as their referee. He feels out of place, but it's what he expected. These are her friends. They know her more than her family does. To them, he's a stranger.

Jacob just wonders if he's not interrupting.

They didn't seem to mind since they didn't even ask where he popped out from.

There seems to be no one suspicious around. That's what he really came there for. He already checked the surroundings and found nothing to worry about. There's also no need for him to gather information about these people since he and Bianca already had all the data they needed. Right now, he's simply observing how they interact with one another. 

"Arm wrestle for the fries!" Xander suddenly declared over the chaos. 

"You're losing your cool again," Maxine sighed, face-palming.

"All this over some fries?" Jacob found himself asking, dumbfounded again. 

There's a collective sigh.

Four of them turn to look at him with exasperated expressions, which worries him greatly. When he turns his head to the fifth one, it looks dangerously hungry. He couldn't help but gulp.

"A challenger!" Xander announced, a crazed look in his eyes. 

His upper-body falls forward, landing on his elbow, while his fingers clench and unclench in excitement. He then continues, "Whoever wins gets the fries!"

"I don't really want it," Jacob tried to refuse.

"He's afraid," Xander taunted.

"Don't mind him," Courtney assured him, rolling her eyes at their friend's antics.

"He's just upset because I won't give him fries," Maxine deadpanned from beside her.

Jacob feels relieved. He's been saved. Yet not for too long as Xander grabbed his hand and continued to provoke him, "Arm wrestle me! I dare you!"

'Crap.'

He is unprepared, but he tries his best. Luckily, he trained martial arts and the likes. And he is strong enough to look manly at least. However, this is no competition of combat skills. This is purely a test of strength. 

So, Jacob loses. 

Xander is doing some weird victory dance while he looks away in embarrassment. He wonders what Winter will think of him now.

"Xander, I challenge you for the fries!" 

Jacob looks up in awe at the new challenger – Winter, the salvation of his wounded pride. Ace and the others are astonished. They never saw her this pumped up over something like an arm wrestle. 

"You got it! I won't lose…!" Xander remarked proudly and took Winter's hand. 

"I'm a strong, hungry man! I'll win!"

He loses.

Maxine and Courtney cheers while Ace claps, sharing Winter's moment of victory. She smirks at Xander who's been reduced to a ball of negativity at the side. She then sits next to Jacob, offering him some fries. 

"Do you want some?" she asked, grinning widely.

"I'm good. Thanks…" he replied with a smile. 

"Besides, these are your spoils. You have to enjoy them."

She shrugs and finishes off another fry before passing the rest to Maxine and Courtney. Ace gets some and offers one to Xander who's still sulking.

"That was a lot of dramatics over some fries…" Jacob commented. 

"Couldn't they have just shared it earlier?"

"That's a good point…" Winter conceded. 

"But it's kind of more fun this way. Speaking of, what did happen earlier?"

"Xander lunged for the fries. Courtney almost got squished. Then, the rest is history…" Ace explained, looking a little less ebullient than usual.

"By the way, I thought you're gonna buy something, Winter."

"Oh, yeah. You said that…" Xander interjected.

"Are you rich enough to buy a handsome dude now? Where did he come from?"

"Xander, that's rude…!" Courtney chided, mortified in his stead.

"I already told you guys about him before. He's Mr. Jacob Minerva. Though I'm aware that he's related to Winter now, I still didn't expect that he'd join us today."

"Related in what way…?" Maxine questioned, seemingly intrigued.

"Cousins?"

"No, future in-laws. Am I right?"

Winter nodded at that. 

Ace heaved a sigh of relief right then, which didn't go unnoticed. Jacob glances at him for a moment, recalling that he actually has one more piece of information that he is yet to gather. Until now, he is still uncertain if he's really in a romantic relationship with Winter.

Going by how Ace is acting, Jacob can tell that he has feelings for Winter at the very least. However, it's not his thing to meddle out in the open. He's more into investigating people in secret, so he has to hold back his curiosity for now. 

"Well, this was definitely interesting…" Jacob said as he stood up, preparing to leave.

"I've already checked, Ms. Middleton. It's all good. Thank you for having me." 

Jacob thinks he sees Ace give Winter a look. So did the others. 

But it's fleeting so he's not sure if he imagined it or not. Besides, they couldn't have been talking about him behind his back – not with the events from his arrival until then. Even so, he thinks he absolutely can't let the possibility slide. 

"I'll see you around," Jacob said for the last time, masking a scrutinizing gaze with a disarming grin.