"You're meeting her after school?"
'Yeah…'
"And you didn't think of asking me first if I'd be OK with it?"
'Of course not, babe, I KNOW you're cool…'
"Cool with you breaking our date to hang out with another girl…"
'It's not like that babe… she's a good friend, and she kind of needs someone there for her right now… and you know if I wanted to cheat, I wouldn't even tell you where I'm going…'
Trish is NOT happy about the situation, but her boyfriend's persuasive smile and charming grin seems to put her at ease. He's not standing her up, he didn't dump her the minute he found out Cleo was in town… which was what she'd secretly been fearing when she'd seen Cleo seated in class that morning. She had taken great pains to emphasize the fact that Otto was HERS now, even though she knew he probably wanted to break things to Reggie slowly. She rests her head on his shoulder, relaxing against his chest, blatantly defying the school's PDA rules. Otto Rocket WAS all hers, and she intended for it to stay that way.
Meanwhile, Cleo Roodriguez is having a conversation with her best friend, who seems unnecessarily suspicious of their plans.
'We're just going skating, Reg…just as friends'
"You"
'Yeah…'
"And Otto"
'Yeah…' Cleo is getting defensive. For some reason, the mention of her name and Otto's together seems to make her heart thump.
"Just friends?"
'Reg, you're SUPPOSED to be the English wiz, here…you think you could manage more than two words per sentence?'
Reggie only responds with a snort.
'Seriously… it's like you and Maurice…'
Reggie chokes at that last comment.
"You two are not and will never BE just friends." With a toss of her head, she gets up and heads towards the exit, only to crash into a tall redhead.
"TWIST"
'Er… hi?'
They lie awkwardly on the floor for some time, until they are roused by the sound of raucous laughter from the rest of the cafeteria. With dignity, Reggie gets up and leaves, while a red faced Twister proceeds to join his cousin.
'What got HER so tweaked?'
"I'm meeting Otto to skate later… she thinks it's a bad idea and that he and I can't be friends…" Cleo shifts uncomfortably in her seat. Somehow, she doesn't think her friend's theory is too far off the mark.
'Er… Cleo… she's not really wrong, you know. Some girls and guys just can't be friends…' He seems to be looking dreamily at the door as he contemplates this. Her eyes narrowing in suspicion, Cleo follows his gaze.
"Maybe you're right… maybe some girls and guys really CAN'T be friends…"
Meanwhile, Sam and Sherry are huddled together over a computer in the computer lab, when a slamming door causes them to jump apart.
'Reg?'
"Hey guys…"
'W-what's wrong….' Sam is slightly flushed, but concerned for his friend. And whoever appears to be the object of her wrath. Reggie Rocket may not be as temperamental as her brother, but when not even Otto liked getting on her wrong side.
"Otto… Cleo… Trish…" Reggie seems only capable of grunting as she types furiously on a computer. Sam looks at the machine in alarm. The force of his friends' fingers was quite likely to damage the keyboard. With a nod from Sherry, he hastily beats a retreat out the door, leaving the girls to their 'girl time.'
"Otto… Trish AND Cleo?" Now Sherry is getting annoyed, too. Trish, Reggie and herself had been best friends since childhood, and whenever Cleo was in town she was a de facto fourth member of their little group. Otto's antics would undoubtedly split them up. Plus, there was the little matter of Sam Dullard. It had taken almost four years of high school for Sam to have a proper conversation with her. She was NOT going to lose her chance with Sam just because Otto Rocket was a stubborn flirt
AN: Sorry for the short chap... thought it was a good place to break… plus inspirations a little low :P r/r!