Chapter 7: The Lunch Bar

"He hearts me, he hearts me not, he hearts me, he hearts me not…" Elizabeth pouted before picking up an already plucked rose petal and arranging it back onto the destroyed flower as best she could before plucking it off again and grinning in satisfaction. "Ah ha, he most definitely hearts me."

"Emagod Elizabeth, you are so fifth grade. Sometimes I can't believe we're the same age." A leggy brunette huffed, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at her best friends twin sister, who sat at the kitchen table next to a dozen destroyed roses. "Your Mom's gonna be pissed you messed up her precious flower arrangement for your petty games and insecurities."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and glared at her sister's best friend. Only Lila Fowler went about someone else's house like she owned the place. "Whatever Lila." She was used to Lila's holier then thou 'tude. Lila was forever bitter that she wasn't as pretty as the Wakefield twins. Not that she was ugly; she just wasn't as pretty as Elizabeth or Jessica, rendering her one bitter bitch. The only thing Lila had on her the two gorgeous blondes were her Double D's. Elizabeth and Jessica only had 36 C's. Only, pfffft.

Lila stalked over to the cupboard and began rummaging around for anything-low fat. "So who's the unlucky guy that apparently 'hearts' your cheatin' self?"

Elizabeth grinned cheekily up at her Lila's big ass (the only part of the bent over rummaging girl she could see). "Homer Simpson." She heard Lila snort.

"Really Liz. I know for a fact you don't go after taken men, and poor Homer's married to Marge. 'Sides I don't think you could handle mothering little Bart and Lisa."

"You forgot Maggie." Elizabeth added, just to grate on Lila's nerves.

Lila opened her mouth but was (thank you heavenly father) cut off by the shrill ring of the phone. Lila picked it up (See? Lila was probably the only person on earth who would pick up someone else's phone. The girl thought she owned everything.) "Oh hey Amy!"

Elizabeth groaned. Amy was Lila's REALLY annoying best friend. The two girls had never really gotten along. Ok, that was an understatement. Amy hated her guts.

"Emagod he's so hot!" Lila was saying, twirling the phone cord around her hand and getting it caught on her 1000$ ring. "No way! He said that to you? You are so lucky!" Blah, blah, he's so dreamy! Blah, so sexy and fine, blah, blah, blah, His cheekbones are perfect! And so on so blah.

Elizabeth was in pain. Physical pain, no. But listening to Lila's mindless babble was turning her brain to mush. She got up and began to retreat to quieter and less hazardous surroundings.

"Dibs on Ice Amy, but feel free to take Conner. He's such a grade A jerk. You know he called me a talkative pain in the ass? Me! Of all people. Humph…"

Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks; amidst all the bullshit and "he's so dreamy!" mush she could have sworn she heard Lila say she liked Ice. Her Ice.

Well ok, not officially her Ice yet, but they had that amazing ground breaking kiss just the other day, and she was sure he was crushing on her like she was him. God, why did Lila have to be like those conceited bimbos from bad television who fell for the beautiful and innocent younger characters man every single time. Elizabeth huffed to herself. Lila sooo needs to be killed off.

"Eww you think Conner's hotter? Amy did you brake into your parents liquor cabinet again? Ice is by far the more perfect male specimen." Lila nearly shrieked.

Ah ha! All suspicions were now confirmed.

"Lila?" Elizabeth butt in. She needed to talk to her. Now.

The brunette continued to blather on. "Seriously 'Amy, Ice is above and beyond that little asshole friend of his. Of course I respect your opinion. You know I'd never expect you to agree with me just because I wanted you to…But come on, admit it. Ice is hotter." Lila let out a strangled cry. "I can't believe you won't agree with me." So much for respecting her friend's opinion.

"Lila?" Elizabeth tried again.

"Fine, whatever Amy. Did I tell you what Liz was doing earlier? Ha…I know, she is clue-" Suddenly Lila stopped talking and listened intently into the phone, which meant something had to be wrong because Lila never listened intently to anyone. "Amy? Amy? Helloooo?" She placed the phone back on its cradle. "Stupid phone, disconnecting…"

"Lila!" Elizabeth shouted, glad when the chatterbox of doom finally acknowledged her presence.

Lila shot daggers at her sister. "Not now Elizabeth." The phone rang and Lila pounced on it (Never minding it was LIZ'S phone!). "Hey Amy, now what were you saying about that lunchable stud muffin Ice?" Suddenly Lila let out a very unlady like groan. "Oh hey Evan, no my sister is not available to talk right now."

Elizabeth cringed at Evan's name. She had gone out on a pity date with the nice but handsomely challenged (a.k.a pretty dam ugly) boy a few weeks ago and he had been calling her ever since. Unfortunately the poor guy had taken "lets just be friends" literally and 'harassed' Elizabeth every chance he got. Aw, the hard and breaking problems of stunningly beautiful girls.

Lila's face turned into one giant blush and she nearly dropped the phone. "Ice? Umm, yeah she's here. One sec."

The next thing Elizabeth knew the phone was hurled at her chest and a tomato red Lila was charging out of the kitchen, stomping like a rhinoceros as she went.

Elizabeth slowly lifted the phone to her ear, her heart beating wildly. Ice had called her. Was wanting to scream "Yay!" and dance around the kitchen an immature reaction? Nerveless she held it in. "Hey Ice." She winced at how nervous she sounded.

"Hey Elizabeth." Ice replied smoothly, of course. "Listen, are you busy?"

Elizabeth grinned. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was hoping you could baby sit."

Elizabeth faltered. Was he serious? "Excuse me?"

Ice's chuckles reached her ear. "Relax baby, I was kidding. I was hoping we could go grab some lunch together."

Elizabeth was ecstatic. He called her baby! He wanted to have lunch with her! It was a lot for a girl to take in. She REALLY had to work at keeping her squeals at bay.

"Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth snapped back to reality. "It just so happens that I am free. Something came up and George had to cancel." She imagined a look of jealously on his virtually irresistible face.

"George?"

"Clooney. We've become very close." She said breezily.

Ice laughed. "I must admit babe, you're just a stand in for Angelina yourself. She was busy today."

He called her babe! That was twice, yes twice; he called her a 'couple like' endearment. Elizabeth tried not to hyperventilate. She really needed to get control over herself. She was becoming an obsessed freak. She was becoming…a Lila. Yuck. Elizabeth pouted playfully. "Oh poor baby, is she cheating on you with Brad Pitt?"

"George Clooney actually." He shot back.

"Ouch." Elizabeth giggled. "You got me there."

"Listen, I'll be around to pick you up in 15 minutes." He informed her, ending their game.

She quickly gave him her address and hung up. Then it hit her. The evil 15 minutes. How was she going manage to get ready in that despicably short amount of time? Ice's stupid timing had just screwed her. And believe you me, that was not the way she had envisioned being screwed by the guy.

(Later On)

"Icey, honey, if your hair is blonde and you dye it blue…shouldn't it turn green?" Gina Cho whined, batted her very large beyond faux pas lashes and latched her-princess-self onto Roy Sanchez's muscular right arm like there was no tomorrow.

Wow. This girl invented the dumb blonde stereotype. Elizabeth thought to herself shooting the blonde, Gina Cho, an incredulous look. Not five seconds had she and Ice been alone at The Lunch Bar, before Roy had shown up with his new sex toy, and preceded to crash their date.

The expression on Ice's peeved face told Roy that he was not going to answer such a question. Especially not from a girl who called him 'Icey.'

"Greta, baby, as you can clearly see, that is not what happens."

Gina's lower lip jutted out even farther and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not Greta! My name is Gina, you say you love me but you can't even remember my name!"

Elizabeth heard Ice snort and the two exchanged amused glances. That was about the only good part of this outing. Elizabeth loved how she and Ice would communicate with each other through smoldering looks. 'Sides Gina had just given them a thousand inside jokes, making Elizabeth feel they were closer then ever.

Hold your horses girly, he hasn't exactly proposed yet.

The look on Roy's face was anything but loving; it was obvious this girl was good for nothing but a quick fuck. "Baby calm down, people are looking at you." Roy said, his face a mask of annoyance.

Gina huffed. "Of course they're looking at me. I'm pretty." She sneered in Elizabeth's direction.

You're right Gina. You are pretty. Pretty dam stupid, pretty dam ugly, pretty dam annoying, and honey you're pretty much a size 8. Elizabeth thoughts burned inside her mind, screaming to be said aloud.

Gina winked and blew a kiss to a guy at the table next to her, not realizing he was gay. (It wasn't hard to figure out, he was holding hands with a fat dude, but that was Gina for you.)

Elizabeth cried inside. The only thing that could have made this date worse was if it had been Conner with Gina instead of Roy.

"Conner! Man! Over here!" Roy shouted eagerly, waving to his buddy.

Speak of the devil. Stupid fucking jinxes!

Conner grinned at Roy and headed over to their table, a girl who could have easily been Gina's prettier twin by his side. Oh this, this was not going to be good.

As he got closer Elizabeth noticed he was wearing a black muscle shirt that read 'Hades.' She let out an unintentional snort. It just seemed so appropriate.

"Hey Ice, Sanchez." He greeted, giving Ice one of those complicated guy greeting handshake thingies that Elizabeth could never figure out. Why didn't they just hug or give each other a kiss on the cheek like normal people? Oh god, she did NOT just think that. Gina was getting to her. She really, really, had to die.

"Hey …." Conner acknowledged her, jutting out his chin in one of those 'I really don't like you' greetings that she'd seen guys do to a million girls, but never, ever, to her. Hey, she wasn't conceited, it was the truth. And then, (proving that things can ALWAYS get worse) he took a seat directly across from her; destroying every hope she had of ignoring him. "Eliza is it?"

Elizabeth fumed silently. Oh please. He knew her name. He sooo did that purposely. "It's Elizabeth." She mumbled angrily running a hand through her hair and knocking her purse onto the floor.

"Nice going klutzy." Conner muttered quietly, and Elizabeth was pretty sure she was the only one who heard him. She glared at him and he grinned widely at her.

Oh great, it's back too klutzy, why ever was I mad at Eliza again? She thought while leaning over to grab her pink purse.

"Ashley! Omigod! I haven't seen you in forever!" Gina squealed, jumping up and hugging Conner's floozy.

It's REALLY, REALLY, not surprising that they know each other.

"Gina! Girl you look fantastic. Have you lost weight?" Ashley cried looking Gina up and down.

Eww, that's her AFTER she LOST weight? Ok Liz, that was mean. Why do I get all Jessica-ish when I'm angry? Not that Gina was fat, but next to Elizabeth, who was a size two, she looked like a lumberjack.

Gina nodded enthusiastically. "Jenny Craig! I love her."

"Conner man, what's up?" Ice asked, completely ignoring the two girls.

Conner leaned back in his seat and shrugged. "Not much more then a headache."

Ice chuckled and looked at the two girls. "I know what you mean man." He wrapped his arm around Elizabeth and motioned to Conner and Roy. "No offence, but you two have the worst taste in chicks."

"Your dress is sooo cute!"

"I know I got it at Bendels! They're having a…..(dun dun dun dun) 30 off sale!"

Roy winked. "Hey man, it's not my fault you stole the only girl around here worth anything."

Elizabeth blushed, and snuck a glance at Conner, who, although remained silent, had a humungous smirk planted on his face. She felt like kicking him.

Ashley took that moment to join the reality of those who didn't shriek like maniacs. "Connie, honey I'm thirsty." She gave him an insisting look. It was obvious she wanted him to play the loving waiter.

Catching the hint, but choosing to ignore it, he handed the blonde girl a five-dollar bill. "Go do something about it."

Her mouth dropped open and she stomped off to (god forbid) order her drink herself, grabbing Gina's arm as she went.

Roy laughed. "Oh man, that was good." He gasped, doubling over slightly. "One question though, how the hell do you keep them around when you treat them like that? Gina would bust out if I said that to her."

Conner shrugged. He never had trouble keeping girls around. They litterly ambushed him.

Roy slurped down the rest of his coke (poor baby hadn't been able to order a beer) and waggled his eyebrows in Conner's direction. "I'm thirsty 'Connie', give me a five."

Elizabeth giggled and Conner's eyes flashed. "Stuff it Sanchez."

Oooh he's hot when he's mad. Wait, what am I saying? Not hot, hot headed. And I'm not becoming one of those annoying Queen's of Denial. Nope. Not me.

Ice tugged Elizabeth closer to him (at least if he wasn't talking all that much to her, he was holding her, right?). "Yeah, cut it out Sanchez. He's already had to put up with enough. Haven't you Connie?" Everyone laughed, with the exception of Conner, who seemed to be taking the whole thing a little too seriously. He shot daggers at Elizabeth.

Great, what did I do? I'm not even the one who said anything. What a freak.

"Aww Connie's feelings are hurt." Roy cooed mockingly.

"I said, stuff it Sanchez."

Ice nodded. "Face it man, getting Sanchez to shut up is like trying to deflower the Virgin Mary."

Roy waved his arms around animatedly. "He's right Connie, there's nothing you can do to shut me u-"

Conner socked Roy in the arm. Hard.

Roy fell silent.

Ashley took that time to return, carrying a diet coke in hand. "Connie, honey, I'm back." She sing songed plopping herself down on his lap. "Did you miss me?"

"Where's my change?" Was his romantic response.

Geez this guy is a jerk. Elizabeth thought, looking up at Ice and smiling at him, glad he wasn't like his friend. Sure Ashley's an annoying bitch but…

She never did understand those girls that felt the need to add an 'e' on the end of their mans name. Elizabeth could never see herself doing so. Imagen it: "Oh Icey! Icey take me now!" It was just plain weird.

Gina leaned across the table and batted her eyes in Conner's direction in what she hoped was a seductive manner. "Are you going to the dance tomorrow?" She purposely placed her arms in a way that shoved out her boobs.

Ashley glared at her, and pulled down her tube top slightly to compete, while sticking her chest up practically hitting Conner in his nose.

Elizabeth looked up at Ice questionably. She knew all about the school dance that (get ready for this) HE HADN'T INVITED HER TO. Now was his chance. But he merely stared at her and then pulled her onto his lap (which, yeah ok, she was grateful for, but WHAT THE HELL! Why hadn't he invited her to the dance?)

"Your laps a lot less hard then those cheap booths. Why exactly didn't you do that sooner?" Elizabeth smiled at him, getting comfortable before she felt something VERY (squeak) large poke her behind. Instantly she turned about a million different shades of red.

Ice kissed her ear, very aware that she knew exactly the kind of thoughts running around in his mind and not giving a dam. "I wasn't sure you wanted me to."

"Next time, just….uh…ask." She said trying in vain to remain composed as Ice began nuzzling her neck. She didn't know why she was acting like a stupid virgin on prom night. It's not like she'd never given a guy a boner before (and now she defiantly knew he wanted her) but it was making her squeamish and horny. And HE was right across from them.

"Yeah I'm going." Conner responded to Gina's question, looking out of the corner of his eye at HER. Her face said it all. They needed to get a room. NO ONE wanted to see that. (Except maybe Roy, who had 'free porn' running through his mind.)

"Save me a dance?" Gina asked demurely, running a hand through her hair and licking her lips.

"We'll see." He replied non-commitely.

Gina squealed in joy before clapping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. She rolled her eyes instantly forgetting her embarrassment when she heard a moan come from the lucky bitch beside her.

"Ice stop." Elizabeth muttered, pushing his head away from her neck (even though it killed her to do so.) She wasn't an Ashley/ Gina. No matter how good it felt she didn't want to get to 'xxx' in front of everyone. Besides she hardly knew him. Suddenly her heart went cold. He isn't with me just for sex is he?

What the hell? Ice wondered as he saw Elizabeth's face fall instantly. Her lower lip jutted out in a pout and it took all he had not to take it with his own. She hadn't been talking much the whole time she'd been there (not that he blamed her) so he'd placed her on his lap, hoping to get her more involved with everything (and just because he wanted her there, no shit) but she was so warm and hot, and he'd found himself turned on instantly. Normally girls let him do whatever he wanted with them, he didn't even think, he just acted on impulse. Oh shit, maybe she didn't like that.

"Just not in front of everyone, ok?" She said quietly and breathlessly, looking down at the ugly tablecloth.

Ice sighed in relief and hugged her in a friendly way. She wasn't mad….maybe. "Ye-eah, sorry." Ha! She made him stutter. She'd made Mr. Cool and Collected stutter. 1 point to her.

"Someone's gonna be getting it good tonight!" Roy hollered, grinning teasingly.

"Stuff it Sanchez." Ice growled sensing how uncomfortable the comment made Elizabeth.

"Yeah right Ice, like I'm just gonna shut u-."

Ice socked him in the arm.

Roy fell silent, a frown marring his cute face, as he clutched his now VERY battered and abused right arm.

Elizabeth giggled. Mentally she tried to send Ice a telepathic message. Ask me to the dance. Ask me to the dance. Dammit you SOB just ask me to the dance!

"Hey Elizabeth?" Ice asked. "Do you want-"

Ahh! This is it! He's asking me! I really need to take a chill pill…oh screw it, he's asking me!

"Anything to eat?" he finished.

She almost groaned aloud. She'd never understand men. And why the hell was HE staring at her?

TBC………

AN: OK, not much happened in this chapter but it's a lead into the VERY big chapter, the actual dance, where oh so much happens. I hope this wasn't TO boring. I know I haven't updated in forever, but that should change. I should be updating MUCH faster as of now. I hope people are still reading this, so if you are let me know:) It would be muchly appreciated. Thanks!