"That skater kid?" Andrea looked up from her book with an annoyed glance. "I think he said he was going to the Richman's house."
Crap, Becca thought. He's probably hanging out with Derek. Fifteen minutes later, her hair pulled back into a messy pony tail, her shirt changed into something a little nicer, and still remaining in her boxers (they were just too cute to remove), Becca slipped on some shoes and sluggishly walked down the street to Zoey's house.
"Hello?" Becca called up the stairs as she opened the front door. She was always welcome there, so she never rang the doorbell.
"Becky? Is that you?" Zoey called back. Suddenly she appeared at the top of the stairs, somewhat similar in appearance to Becca. "Come on up, Hunter's just playing HALO with Derek."
Crap crap crap. I sooo hate Derek right now.
"Whoaa, Becca, you sure do dress to impress," Zoey laughed a little.
"Shut up. I'm just trying to save my future boyfriend from the clutches of evil," Becca replied, groaning.
"YES!" came an excited shout from the other room.
"Speaking of evil, what kinds of scheme has Derek gotten himself into now?"
Zoey laughed, "Making a new friend?"
Becca rolled her eyes and barged into Derek's room. "Oh… my… gosh!" she squealed. "What in the world died in here?" She held her breath as she looked around the premises of Derek's room. The wallpaper was coming off the walls, the window shade was broken, letting in little snidbits of light, clothes were piled high on the floor, the bed was a pile of sheets jumbled up into a ball, and in the corner sat a large TV and two boys, eyes wide and heavy.
"Nice of you to join us, umm…." Derek said sarcastically.
"Becca! MY NAME IS BECCA!"
"Oh right. Well Hunter was a little bored here, so he called me and we decided to play HALO. No problem there, I suppose?"
"Nope, just one question: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"Bec, chill. My room is kinda like this too, I guess," Hunter said as he flashed her a half-smile.
"If you come home smelling anything like this, you can find somewhere else to live for the next month!" Becca shrieked and slammed the door behind her. She smiled at Zoey in the hallway. "I'm not really mad, I just want them to talk about me." She squished her ear close to the door.
"Dang, that girl's just a little crazy," she could hear Derek say.
"Ha, yeah, I guess. She's hot though," she could also hear Hunter say.
"Really? I never really like, well, noticed her."
"Are you serious? Her body is like perfectly in shape and I love her brown hair and her beautiful eyes."
"You're so lame. Go home." They laughed. "Just kidding," Derek added. "Are you gonna ask her out?"
"When the time comes, maybe. I mean, I live all the way in L.A., it would never work, really," Hunter said.
"It could if you wanted it to," Derek said almost too softly.
Becca turned away from the door and back to Zoey. "He likes me," she said with a sigh.
"Derek?"
"No! Hunter. I am way over Derek. He said he might ask me out," Becca continued.
"Well go get that boy!" Zoey nudged her towards the door.
Becca squealed, "Not now!" Just then the door opened, and Becca fell face first into a muscular boy.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry," Hunter said with a nervous smile.
"It's okay. Do you, uh, wanna go back to my house?" They agreed and continued on towards Becca's house.
Zoey laughed as she watched Derek emerge from his bedroom, eyes bewildered and amazed. "He reallllly likes her, Zoey," he said.
"What's it to you?" Zoey replied.
"Nothing, it's just… maybe… nah. Nevermind."
Derek walked away and Zoey sat down right there, cross-legged in the middle of the floor. Things were finally unfolding and she needed to think. Becca was about to be happy, Hayden was pretending that Tyler was her boyfriend, and Hannah was making over Skye. She was the only one of the group that had an actual boyfriend, but she wasn't even sure she liked him. She missed Sean, but she sure didn't miss the lonely nights.
"Hey Zo, can I get you some coffee?" Forrest asked, shyly.
"No thanks. Did you sleep well?" she asked.
He came and sat next her on the floor. "Well enough. I was wondering what we should do for our first date."
Zoey, who by now was leaning against his chest, sat up straight. How romantic, she thought. He's already thinking about me and I feel guilty for second-guessing him.
"Meet me downstairs in about an hour, I have an idea," she replied quickly.
Dressed in jean shorts and a football t-shirt, Zoey was armed with a wicker basket and a colorful umbrella. Forrest came down the stairs to meet her and snickered a little. "Looks like you have everything planned," he added. He offered to carry the basket and she carried the umbrella.
Minutes later, they set a blanket that had been stuffed in the basket on the grass of a lonely field. Zoey pulled, one by one, a bottle of sparkling cider, two sandwiches, an assortment of store-bought cookies, and a few small bags of chips out of the basket.
Forrest took his sandwich and took a bite. After he swallowed he looked into her eyes and said, "You have beautiful blue eyes."
She smiled. "How come you wanted to be my boyfriend right away?"
He sort of laughed, "I didn't want you to find somebody else."
She blushed, "Well I thought a guy like you would've had a girlfriend already."
Forrest looked away. "That's what I wanted to talk about," he took Zoey's hand into his. "You see, I do have a girlfriend right now. She lives in L.A. with me and, I just couldn't help but liking you."
"So you have two girlfriends?" Zoey asked accusingly.
He smiled, "Well yeah. This can work, you see, my other girlfriend has another boyfriend and I'm fine with it. She said I could have another girlfriend too, if I wanted. So you can have another boyfriend if you want to, too."
"You are such a pig." She stood up, picked up the bottle of cider and left with her umbrella, leaving him the meal.
"Zoey? Zoey! C'mon Zoey, let me talk to you about it?" She walked faster and drove away in her blue Porsche.
"Oh my Lord!" Hannah exclaimed as she walked into her living room to find Skye sitting on the couch reading. He was gorgeous. His deep blue eyes were even deeper with the contacts, his hair was ruffled just right, and he was wearing a great outfit Hannah had picked out for him.
"You like?" he asked, braggingly.
She nodded, "I'm stunned. You are going to be fighting girls off with sticks!"
"Technically when a stick is used as a weapon it is called a club."
"Hannah," Carmen called from the kitchen, "Can I talk to you?" Hannah trudged into the kitchen and sat on a worn leather bar stool.
"Yeah Mom?"
"Honey, I know you were just trying to be nice, but I don't think… I don't think Skye enjoyed your little trip yesterday. I think he might feel like you're pressuring to be something he's not," Carmen said gently.
Hannah rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Mom. Skye loves his new look, I can see it in his deep dreamy eyes."
"Hannah," Carmen looked at her sternly. "You're in way over your head here. If you push Skye too hard he might never come back."
Hannah sighed. "Skye!" she yelled. "Come here!" Skye followed her voice into the kitchen and sat next to her on another worn leather bar stool. "What do you think about your makeover?"
Skye's eyes wandered the room wildly, "To tell you the truth, Hannah, I look hot. I really appreciate you buying all these things for me, but I'm not sure if they're the real me."
Hannah sat back in her chair a little. "The real you was nobody," she muttered.
He left the room.
"Skye? Wait come back, I didn't mean that!" Hannah chased after him. She found him on the couch, and she plopped down next to him. "I'm sorry, that was so stupid for me to say."
"Then why'd you say it?"
"Skye, you know it's not true."
"Then why'd you say it?"
"Okay, okay. Maybe it was a little true. But I don't even know you. I just thought you were some ugly nerd."
He looked at her sternly, "I have a girlfriend, thank you very much. Yeah, she's an ugly nerd too, but that's fine with me and it's fine with her. I like her a lot, so I don't need to be beating off girls with a stick. My personality should be worth more than what I look like on the outside."
"Skye, I'm sorry."
He ran to the guest room and slammed the door.
Carmen looked at Hannah through the kitchen archway with a look that told her I-told-you-so. Hannah crossed her arms and sunk deeper into the couch.A/N: This next part is a little weird because it's like Hayden's part but it's kinda not. You'll see.
David walked into the coffee shop to begin his shift. After a few long long hours, David watched with a sly smile as "Tyler Banks" walked in the door. Stupid fool, David thought, thinks he's some celebrity or something. Hayden is such a little liar.
"What can I do for you today, sir?" David asked, perfunctorily.
Tyler chuckled, "Hey, you're that kid that Hayden… knows."
"That I am. She would be one of my sister's friends."
"Right. Anyways, I'll have a small mochachino, iced but light on the ice, hold the whipped cream and you might as well put some non-fat milk in there," he said without even glancing at the menu. "Here's ten, keep the change."
David rolled his eyes. He certainly acts like a celebrity. As he prepared the drink, he looked over at Tyler and saw him sitting next to a tanned blonde girl he knew was a senior named Kelley. Ooh, I hope Hayden walks in. This would make my job less boring. "Here you go, sir," David said sharply as he handed the cold plastic cup to Tyler. He shot a glance at Kelley, who by now was giggling and holding his hands.
Tyler ignored him and went back to using cheap pickup lines on Kelley.
He is so gonna get it, as soon as he plants his lips on that... David's thoughts were interrupted as he saw Tyler hook lips with Kelley. David pushed his sleeves up his muscular arms and jumped over the counter, avoiding an elderly customer. He marched straight up to Tyler, pulled him up and away from Kelley by his shirt and punched him. He lowered Tyler, so he could attend to his bloody lip, and went back to work behind the counter.
"You'll be hearing from my lawyer!" Tyler managed to say, although David was sure his lip was quite numb. Tyler and Kelley left the coffee shop together and marched down the street.
Victory, David thought. Victory over evil. Yeah, I'll probably get sued and fired, but, well I don't even know why I did that. Oh, that's right, I like Hayden. No, I'm pretty sure I love her. I want to be her hero, and I don't want her to get hurt.
Sooo, sorry for the long wait, I really didn't think about continuing this story until earlier today when a couple thoughts pop into my head. I'm so excited to write the last chapter next, so enjoy this one. Oh, review, please so I know you're still reading. Thanks.