Forbidden Law (An Alien Love #1)

Chapter Eleven

"That means we can't be friends?" he asked. He sounded too innocent. He poured pepper on top of the salt, mixing it with the tip of his pinkie finger.

"Friends don't call five times a day, do they Calica?" Calica shook her head hard enough to make her dark curls bounce and sway. She rolled her eyes at me, but I did not understand why. I kept silent so that I would not alert anyone to my bewilderment of the conversation and expressions given.

"Do you want to order anything, sir?" a waitress asked, taking out a notepad.

"Sure. I'll take what she's having," nodding towards Stacey's kid burger. Then he faced me, the scrutinizing gaze scanning up and down my person for the first time. He paused at my eyes, giving a double take.

Stacey smiled up at me and her lashes fluttered. "This is Jace. He's new in town and we're just helping him along and getting acquainted." Her friends giggled and started whispering. My attention was snagged in four different directions.

"I'll bet," the boy muttered, He held out his hand to me. "I'm Liam. Nice to meet you." He didn't sound so friendly. I hesitantly took his hand, noticing that he squeezed a little too tightly to be a normal standard of manners.

I squeezed back to mimic him, a curl of laughter caught in my throat when he winced and quickly released.

"So, what do you want?" Calica asked bluntly as she dipped a fry in some ketchup and crunched on it. I saw that her eyes glanced almost nervously between Stacy and the newcomer, two glossy black nails tapping constantly on the edge of the table.

"Just wanted to stop by is all. I worry, you know. This being the usual spot, it's my favorite haunt too."

I did not feel so hungry. Stacey rubbed my arm, but again, I tried to discreetly wriggle away without being rude.

"Hey Jace, you up for a dare?" I looked up again. Liam studied this contact, his eyes deadpan. A dare? What was this dare? The only "dare' definition I knew was the one I had seen when reading the dictionary, and it did not seem the correct meaning in what he was implying.

"Dare?"

His eyebrows rose. "You know, the game." He shook his head. "You know, when someone dares you to do something, you either do it, or your stamped as a pussy for life." I didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound good. "Where'd you guys find him? Under a rock?"

The girls just giggled, their eyes round with interest as they flickered glances between the two of us. One of them, a petite girl with olive skin and bleached hair, whispered to her neighbor, "But it makes him even cuter, don't you think?"

"Okay. What is this dare you challenge me to?" I asked. I pushed my food away from me. There was no point in acting like I was going to eat it.

Liam laughed. "I dare you to jump on one of these tables and do the chicken dance. While you're on the phone with your crush." My face instantly burned. This word again. I could not escape it; it followed me like a phantom out for revenge. What was this chicken dance? My mind flipped through hundreds of scenarios where this did not end well, especially for me. What would Skyler think? Did she know this chicken dance? I must evade this or face my inevitable mortification.

"I need to go to the restroom," I said, pushing away from the table and shaking off the arms and hands that were around my own like restraints. The triumphant laughter and sniggers followed me to my hopeful escape as my eyes continually scanned my surroundings. The shirt I wore felt too tight; I stretched the neckline until I heard it pop, then stopped. The air crowded my lungs with a hot thickness that was too sudden to be coincidence.