Cold Coffee and Stale Cigarettes *on hold*

Chapter 5

      "You totally have the hots for Dalton." Danny, an Asian American with hazel eyes and hair to match grinned at me, sliding into the chair beside me just as her indian friend, Rishi, sat on the other side of me with a matching grin, his white teeth flashing against his darker skin. 

       "I do not." I mumbled, shoveling a spoonful of sticky macaroni into my mouth. 

       "Rishi, I think she's in denial."

       "About what?" Another girl, Katie, slid into the seat across from me.

       "Her secret lover." Rishi said as he pulled his lunch out of his bag.

       "Nice juice box." Danny smirked, causing Rishi to flip her off. "Hey, I used to bring them to school too. Ya' know. When I was seven."

        "You know what Danny? Shut up." His face was serious but anyone who knew him could feel the jesting undertone in his voice.

         "What I miss?" A third girl, Charlie, joined the table, quirking her brow.

         "Sam's lost her innocence." A flush spread through my cheeks as everyone looked at me.

         "Fuck off." I grumbled, shaking my head. Suddenly, the table grew very quiet and when I looked up, Dalton was standing there without his tray, shifting as if he was uncomfortable. I flashed a look at his table, nearly flinching when I saw Gabriel watching us with burning eyes, as if he was extremely pissed off. How much of that did Dalton hear?

         "Uhm, hey?" The greeting came off as more of a question and Dalton seemed to be avoiding eye contact with all my table mates.

           "Uhm, Gabe wanted to know if you were sitting with us today?"

          "Oh." I blinked. I had almost forgotten about that.

          "She'll be there in a minute." Danny answered for me, waving him away. He hesitate before nodded and turning away. "Text me later." She hissed.

          "I don't have your number." I said drily, sort of hurt but not really. People didn't really text me.

          "Oh, right. What's yours?" Rolling my eyes, I wrote down my number onto a napkin.

          "Later." I told them, dumping my tray before sitting down at Gabriel's table as I had two days before.

         "Why were you sitting there?" He said without giving me time to so much as prop my feet up on the metal legs below the table.

         "Uh, those are my friends?" The word "friends" sounded sour on my tongue.

         "No they aren't." He leaned forward, a malicious smirk on his face. "You know as well as I do they aren't your real friends." I swallowed the lump in my throat, a sickening twisting sensation rupturing my heart. I can't let him know that bothered me. Pressing my cheek to my fisted palm, I quirked a brow. 

        "'Cause we're so close." I drawled, eliciting a flash of anger in his eyes.

        "You're in our group now." His jaw ticked, as the table seemed tense and silent around us.

        "I'm in no group." A small stirring of anger swirled in my chest, burning against my lungs. "Take it or leave it." Gabriel opened his mouth but Dalton, who had been sitting there, stood.

         "I need a smoke." Inclining his head towards me, he waited for a moment. "Coming?" Seeing it as a way out of the conversation, I resigned with a sigh, following him outdoors, where he pulled out his pack of smokes, offering one to me, which I declined again. Shrugging, he leaned against the fence, pressing the ciggarette to his lips as he flicked the lighter, bringing it to life. I watched the end of it glow dimly, running my tongue over my chapped lips even though I knew it would make them worse.