Everything According to Juliana

Chapter Four: Lunch Time

Cassie stood in the lunch line, grabbing an already prepared turkey sandwich as she tried to ignore Jordan Evans behind her. He reached over her, grabbing a banana as she jumped back in disgust.

He stroked the banana up and down with his hand as Cassie watched. "Remember that?" He asked her as she rolled her eyes at his behavior. The lunch lady gave him a look of disgust, knowing exactly what he was doing.

"No," was all she said even though she knew exactly what he was talking about. She grabbed a bag of chips, turning her back to him. It was obvious she didn't want to talk and he was annoying her yet again. When would he learn that she didn't obsess over him like the rest of the girls at school did?

He threw the banana down on his tray. She turned her attention back to him, watching him pick up the banana again before throwing it down on his tray for the second time. "That's what it felt like when you gave me blue balls."

"That really sucks for you," she sneered, pushing her tray down the line, waiting upon her turn to pay for her lunch.

Juliana approached Cassie, ending her and Jordan's reminiscing of what happened between them over the summer. It was sure a night that Jordan wanted to relive while it was a night that Cassie wanted to forget.

"Hey!" She exclaimed as Cassie was quick to turn to her.

A big smile formed on her face. She was relieved to see Juliana after being bothered by Jordan for too long. "Hey!" She greeted as Juliana cut in front of her, grabbing a bagel and a bag of chips. "Douchebag is behind me."

"I see that," she nodded, turning to look at Jordan. He ran a hand through his messy blond hair, texting someone on his phone. A few girls beside Cassie shot her a glare, jealous that she was even in a ten foot radius of Jordan. "I actually have to talk to you about something before we sit down."

"Okay," she nodded her head, watching as her friend handed her student ID to the lunch lady. "Did something happen between you and Parker?" She whispered, knowing Jordan was most definitely listening behind them.

Juliana quickly shook her head. "No! What? No!" She exclaimed as the lunch lady handed back her ID. "It's about Brittany."

"Oh, great," she rolled her eyes as Juliana stepped to the side, waiting for her as she handed her ID to the lunch lady. "What did she do this time?"

"Starting drama as always," Juliana explained as they walked towards the utensils. She grabbed a fork and a knife before continuing. "I overheard her talking with Savanna and Tiff about how she plans to win Parker back. She said she can't stand seeing Parker with Alivia. If I'm being honest, neither can I, but it's worse if Brittany wins Parker back. Then my chances with him are slim to none."

Cassie rolled her eyes as Juliana grabbed butter for her bagel. "It's like you don't listen to me. You ask for my advice and then forget what I tell you. I said to be a bitch. Fight for what you want. So, if Brittany wants to play a game, then play her back. Doesn't mean she'll win."

"Doesn't mean I'll win either," she shook her head as she grabbed a few napkins. Cassie turned to look at her, shaking her head in disagreement. Juliana could already tell she was tired of Alivia liking Parker and it had only been less than a week since the news. "We need a game plan. Something that will pull Alivia and Parker closer. I just can't watch Brittany get her way once again. It will only inflate her ego. She needs to lose."

"Umm..." Cassie thought to herself, looking up at the ceiling as a concentrated look was on her face. "Make Alivia miss her ex, get her drunk, and then boom... she hooks up with Parker!"

Juliana stared at her with a blank expression on her face. "I hope you aren't serious, Cassie."

"Of course I'm not serious! Do you think I wanted to hook up with Jordan Evans? No!" She exclaimed, clenching her lunch tray with anger. "Even though Alivia gets on my nerves ninety percent of the time, I wouldn't want her to make the same mistake I did." She shook her head in disappointment. Juliana sympathized with Cassie. She knew she made a mistake she could never take back. "I don't have any ideas. I've never played cupid before."

The second she voiced that, Juliana shared a glance with Luke Garcia, Cassie's ex-boyfriend. He wasn't a member of The Wolf Pack but he had his connections, like being friends with his teammates, Jordan Evans and Jake Flemming, and best friends with Cassie's brother, Trevor.

He greeted Jordan with a wave. Juliana's complexion turned white. She didn't even know why—it wasn't like she had any connection with Jordan or Luke like Cassie did. She guessed she was just nervous for her friend.

Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, noticing her sudden change of expression. "What? Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick—"

"Look who it is! Cassie Mendez!" Luke exclaimed as he walked towards her. Jordan trailed behind him. Cassie was now the one whose complexion was white. "I heard about what happened between you and my friend."

"Fuck!" She whispered, knowing exactly who was talking behind her. A fake smile then formed on her face. "As the entire school knows at this point, Luke," she turned around, her wavy blonde hair following with her. She stood confident, her back straight as she held strong eye contact with her ex-boyfriend. Juliana knew she would never be able to act the same way if she was in Cassie's position. After all, she carried a lot of weight on her shoulders; breaking up with her boyfriend and then hooking up with his friend, but this was pain only she could be able to endure. "Don't act like you've heard any new drama."

"Still have that hard to please attitude, I see," he winked, making Jordan chuckle as he grabbed a fork and knife beside Cassie. "For the record, you hooking up with my friend and teammate did not make me jealous like you thought it would. It only made things weird for us, Cassie. We could have been friends."

And I see you're still an asshole, Cassie thought to herself as she kept her cool.

"And you act like I would even want to be friends with an asshole like you," she crossed her arms as Juliana gulped. She knew Luke wasn't going to take her words very well. "And I didn't hook up with Jordan to make you jealous, Luke. I did it because I wanted to forget that you broke my heart."

"What heart?" He questioned before chuckling. Juliana's face fell. He really thought he was so cool with a comeback like that? He just sounded like a jerk. Jordan laughed at his response. "You can't break something that doesn't exist."

"Luke—" Juliana tried to warn him but he immediately interrupted her.

"Her heart isn't big enough to carry the mindset that I broke it. There's no fucking shot," he told Juliana before laughing obnoxiously.

A smirk formed on Cassie's face. A smirk that Juliana had seen many times before. She knew what was about to come and didn't think Luke could say the same. If he was going to be mean, Cassie was going to be even meaner. "Oh, yeah. Well, your dick isn't big enough to carry the mindset that you're the shit."

Well, at least Juliana could say she tried to warn Luke but he didn't listen.

Jordan held this breath, stepping to the side as he laughed to himself. Luke looked away from Cassie and towards the floor. Now she was the one laughing. "Do you have anything else you would like to accuse me of? Because we could go all day."

He slowly shook his head, not saying another word to her. This wasn't even the feistiest Cassie had been. In fact, she was going easy on him. She knew he wasn't worth her time to argue, yet she still had to show him that he didn't have any right to talk to her the way he was. Ex-boyfriend or not.

"That's what I thought," she told him as she began to walk away and towards her lunch table. Juliana was quick to follow after her. "Fucking asshole."

Jordan turned around, eyeing her up and down as she walked away. "Bye, Cassie."

She ignored him as she and Juliana continued to walk to their table. As she sat her tray down next to Paisley, she turned to Juliana with flushed cheeks. "I still like him," she confessed, Juliana's eyes widening in surprise. She definitely didn't think she still liked him after the conversation they just had. "And I hate that I do. Maybe you should set me up with someone else while you force Alivia and Parker together."

Juliana laughed, sitting down beside her. Well, considering that she had no plan and no ideas, there was no such thing as forcing them together.

So, until then, Juliana's task was to brainstorm until she came up with the next move to get her best friend and the guy they both liked together.