Chapter 8. All Together Now

The clock on Vert's convertible read 2:56pm as he, AJ, and Tezz pulled into the parking lot of Zeke's Diner.

"Dude!" AJ said excitedly, causing the whole vehicle to shake. "This is so exciting!"

Tezz braced himself against the seat, one hand against the door and the other gripping his seatbelt. "AJ, please. We're not even parked yet."

"Sorry, Tezz."

Vert ignored them. He was surprised by the number of cars currently in the lot. Stanford did say he had invited a few other people. There were five other vehicles besides his own. Vert recognized Zoom's motorcycle among them. He wasn't sure who the other motorcycle belonged to, but he could tell that it was custom built and had features he didn't recognize despite the fact that he worked in an auto shop. It was also parked in one of the accessible spots and indeed had an accessible plate on it. Weird, but Vert wasn't going to question it. Then there was a standard Jeep and a sleek, blue SUV parked next to each other. Vert ended up parking next to whoever owned the fucking purple Lamborghini. Life just wasn't fair.

A little bell sounded as Vert pushed open the door to the diner and stepped inside.

"Vert!" Zoom waved at him from a large booth across the restaurant. "Over here!"

Vert walked over to where Zoom and the others were, AJ and Tezz trailing behind him. He was almost at the table when he saw a familiar flash of ridiculously styled brown hair and jumped away from the table.

"Axel Scott!" He half-shouted. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Axel whipped around, his grey eyes wide. "Vert? What the fuck? Why are you here?"

"I asked you first!"

"I asked you second!"

Spinner looked between the two of them. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah," Axel said. "We work together. But it still doesn't explain why you're here, Wheeler."

"Excuse you, but I'm the newest member of Battle Force 5." Vert told him while gesturing towards Zoom and Stanford wildly. "So, why are you here?"

"Because I'm dating this one," Jax pointed to Spinner who nodded.

Vert turned to Spinner. "Spinner, what the fuck?"

Spinner held up one finger. "In my defense, I've been dating him for like two years and I've known you for like two days."

"Fair." Vert said. "But you were the one who helped with that spring-loaded baby powder, oil bomb!"

"Actually, that was Tezz." Axel pointed out. "But you," he turned to AJ, "were the one that helped with the honey, Nutella, and peanut butter mix that also happened to be a sprinkle and glitter grenade!"

"That was also Tezz." As soon as the words were out of his mouth both he and Axel turned to glare at Tezz.

Tezz shrugged. "I live for chaos." He said in a monotone voice. Beside him, AJ was trying not to laugh.

"Right then," Stanford clasped his hands together on the table. "Uh, glad we got that out of the way. Go ahead and have a seat."

Sherman, Spinner, and Axel moved so Vert, AJ, and Tezz could slide into the booth. Vert ended up in the corner, between Zoom and AJ. Sherman and a very petite blonde girl Vert didn't recognize were seated on either end of the booth. Next to the petite blonde was another girl who was pretty much the exact opposite: toned, black, and very intimidating. Vert was trying not to stare at the two of them, but at this point, they were the only ones at the table that he didn't know. The black girl punched Stanford's arm.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, rubbing the spot she had just hit. "What was that for?"

She gestured towards Vert. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Right." Stanford said, embarrassed. "Vert, uh, Vert's roommate-"

"AJ." AJ interrupted him.

"AJ. Thank you. This is Agura." He gestured to the girl who had just punched him. "And Viv." He gestured towards the petite blonde. "And then you already know Jax, so." His voice trailed off.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Viv said, smiling. "Stanford's been talking about you non-stop since he saw that video."

Vert nodded. "Oh. So, then how long have you been together?"

Viv and Stanford exchanged looks. "Us? No way." She said at the same time Stanford said, "Viv and I are not dating."

Okay, so Vert fucked that up. He was done talking for a while.

"How did you meet each other then?" AJ asked.

"We're both music majors, so we've been in a lot of the same classes," Stanford explained.

"Cool. What about you, Agura?"

"I'm a Zoology major, but Viv and I are roommates." She said. "I'm just kind of stuck with Stanford."

"Hey! I thought we were friends, Agura."

"Only in your dreams."

Stanford sat back in the booth with his arms crossed. Zoom patted his shoulder and then turned to Vert. "So, we know you work with Axel, but do you go to school at all?"

Vert shook his head. "I did for a semester, but it wasn't for me. I would have dropped out sooner if I hadn't been cast in the musical that year."

"What musical?" Sherman asked, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

Vert felt his cheeks grow hot. "Uh, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I was the youngest brother."

Sherman's fist slammed down on the table causing the whole booth to shake. "I fucking knew it!"

"Sherman, what the fuck?" Spinner shouted at him.

"I knew you looked familiar," Sherman continued, ignoring his brother. "I was in that musical. I was the oldest brother, Adam! And Viv was Millie!"

Viv nodded. "Yeah! And then I introduced you and Spinner to Stanford."

"Exactly!"

"Wait a minute," Spinner said, looking between his brother and Vert. "You're telling me that you two got cast as brothers?"

"Blind casting. If I'm remembering right, that wasn't the worst casting decision." Vert told them. "There was that carrot-top, Ed Sheeran-looking motherfucker who was one of the brothers too."

"I'm ninety-percent sure that's my brother Simon you're talking about." Stanford chimed in.

"I'm so sorry," Vert said with fake sincerity. "If it's any consolation, you're much better looking than he is."

Stanford shrugged. "I'll take it."

"This conversation got really weird really fast. Maybe we should just go back to talking about everyone's majors." Agura suggested.

"I'll go!" Zoom volunteered. "I'm an Art major."

Vert turned to him, unable to resist. "Art major? Draw me like one of your French girls."

"Okay." Zoom said and produced a sketch boo out of nowhere.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah!" Zoom was already flipping through the pages. "I could always use another model."

Vert looked to AJ for help, but AJ was trying not to laugh. "Uh…"

Zoom huffed. "Come on, it's not that weird. Just ask Sherman."

Sherman nodded, and Viv choked on the water she had just started to drink. Zoom and Stanford exchanged a look.

"A little thirsty there, Viv?" Stanford asked playfully. Zoom snickered.

"I'm gonna fucking murder you, Stanford." She rasped, still couching, her cheeks and tips of her ears bright red.

Stanford just smirked in response while the rest of the table, minus Sherman who was the only one concerned that someone was choking, dissolved into quiet laughter that had Vert wondering what he was missing.

The waitress eventually came out to take orders and they spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know one another. Vert learned that Sherman and Spinner really were twins, that Stanford and Zoom had gone to the same high school, that Agura did off-road racing in her spare time, that the custom bike he'd seen in the parking lot belonged to Viv and that it was all hand-controlled because as Viv had put it, "she couldn't fucking walk." They stayed well past what anyone would stay at a restaurant and Vert wondered why no one had kicked them out yet. Then again, they were the only people currently in the diner and the desert menu was being passed around.

Zoom leaned over to Vert. "I suggest the apple pie." He said quietly as Stanford and Viv argued about milkshakes.

"I don't know if I could finish the whole thing." Vert whispered back.

"We could share it." Zoom's cheeks flushed almost immediately after he'd said it. Vert could feel his own cheeks heating up. AJ gently nudged him.

"Sure."

The deserts came around and Vert was glad he and Zoom weren't the only ones sharing. Though, Vert wasn't sure how much more of the PDA he could take. AJ and Tezz he was used to. Theirs was subtle. Spinner and Axel was weird just because he knew Axel from work and was seeing a whole new side to him. Sherman and Viv were probably the worst and they were sitting across the table from each other.

"Those two are dating, right?" Vert whispered to Zoom.

Zoom let out the most exasperated sigh. "Don't we all fucking wish."

Everyone's reactions to the sketch book fiasco suddenly made sense. Vert looked between them confused.

"Yeah, I don't get it either." Zoom said.

The rest of the meal was finished in relative silence. Phone numbers were exchanged and compiled into a group text labeled "Shenanigan Squad" at Spinner's instance of the name. The sun was setting as everyone piled into whatever vehicle they had arrived.

"See you Tuesday, Vert!" Zoom called out before he put on his helmet and drove off. Vert smiled, climbing into his own car not bothering with the door since the top was down. AJ was leaning between the seats, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but Vert cut him off.

"Not one fucking word, AJ."