In the End

9 ~ Kiss Cam

"Peyton, when are you going to talk about your date?" Gentry asks.

She blushes, dropping a carrot. "Oh, it was good."

"Just good?" AJ asks, "That's not exactly a real wowza."

She focuses on her hands, "Fine, it was great. He said he a good time and so did I."

"You ran from the theater."

"I was scared." She defends herself, "It's not his fault."

"Pey, ignoring the movie, how do you feel about him?" I cut in.

"He's sweet and we have very interesting conversations about science, which I can't do with you guys." She informs us. "No offense."

My love for science can only be forced for so long.

"Well, if you like him then that's all that matters." I assure her, hoping she's genuine about this.

"Who does the nerd like?" Meredith asks, slamming her salad down.

"Peyton went out with Will, we were just talking about it." Aspen tells her as they kiss.

"Will who?"

"Will Manning."

She drops her fork, "You ditched our date night to watch the nerd go out with an even bigger nerd."

"Stop calling her that." I snap, really hating the way my best friend shrinks a little each time she hears it.

Peyton is just a smart girl who likes science. Does that make her a nerd, maybe but Meredith King is the last person that gets to call her that.

"I was babysitting and you don't like to hang around when I'm with Brooklynn." Aspen reminds her calmly.

"That's because all the baby does is cry and hog your attention. It's not fair."

"She only cries because you're there." Houston mutters and we all snicker.

"My sister needs attention, she's a baby." God, I praise Aspen for having this level of calmness because I would've thrown her salad on her already. "It's not like you missed much."

"Yeah, Brookie had explosive poops." Gentry laughs.

"And how would you know that?" She demands, annoyed he bothered speaking to her.

"Because she shit on Jo's sleeve." AJ cracks up, still humored by the horrible fate of my sweater.

Flipping them all off, I shrug. "Just think, Mere, that could've been you."

Her nostrils curl up in disgust. "No, I don't mess with babies. However, sounds like you had a perfect night."

My smirk turns to a glare. Maybe I'll save Aspen the trouble and dump the salad on her myself.

"Sup, guys." Beau sits beside me, stealing a grape from my lunch.

I smile at him, trying to keep my giddiness at bay. I'm expecting a certain question any day now. "Just mourning my sweater."

He chuckles, "It certainly looked a lot prettier on you then your outfit change."

It certainly was but the second sweater was more comfortable, I splurged on brownies at Jay's house and unbutton my pants. No one had any idea.

Aspen glares at him, "If only you offered to help, maybe her sweater would still be alive."

"Not my sister, not my problem. If anything it should've been you, not Jovie who had a party foul." He states, resting his hand on my knee.