Life in Hiding

25 ~ Almost

**Part One of a Triple Update**

"Was it really that bad?"

"Two words!" I exclaim, shoving fries into my mouth. Our friend group decided to meet for lunch to discuss how horrible my night went. "Garlic. Breath."

Maggie and Zayne make a face. The former playing with the sleeves of her boyfriend's hoodie. "That's unfortunate."

"So no post dinner fun?" Wes asks.

"No!" I slurp my milkshake. "I brushed my teeth for a solid ten minutes." I lost more than a few taste buds.

"Want to try again?" He asks. "I'm sure she'd be more than happy to."

"I'm good."

Wes and Graham look at me in shock. The latter pushing his glasses up. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but what the hell is wrong with you?"

"She's boring." I shrug. "She talked all about herself, has no aspirations in life and is kinda shallow."

"She's a girl." Wes says like I'm an idiot.

Maggie and Chloe punch him. "We're girls."

Wincing, he corrects himself. "A different type of girl than Freya. She's gifted and it's not in school." Almost the entire football team can agree with that statement.

"Pig." Chloe reaches across the table to hit him again.

"What now?" Maggie wonders, nibbling on a chicken tender.

"Who cares." Chloe sighs. "Can we talk about something else?"

Looking down at her, I raise a brow. "Did someone else not have a good night?"

"A certain itch not get scratched?" Wes props his elbow on the table.

"It was scratched just fine." She tears into her burger. "Just like I'm gonna do to your eyes in a second.

Wes makes a cat noise, scratching his nails at her. "Down, kitty cat."

"So, what should we talk about?" Graham asks. "Because we're only here to discuss garlic breath."

Holding my head in my hands, I'm ready to head out. Chloe fumbles for her words. "I-I don't know."

"Zayne had to hide under my bed last night." Maggie blurts out.

Oh, shit. "Now that's funny."

"Why?" Graham asks.

"Because we were cuddling, and he fell off my bed."

"A twin bed is too small for the both of us." He protests. "I moved an inch and bam, I was on the ground."

"I don't even remember the last time I saw a twin bed." I admit. I outgrew mine when I was ten.

"We get it, you're huge." Chloe waves me off. "But how did you end up under the bed?"

"My grandparents were asleep and after they heard the earthquake that shook the house," she sends a pointed look to Zayne. "Gramps wanted to check on me."

"So why did he hide?" Wes demands.

She sips her shake. "Because I snuck him in through the window."

Our jaws drops, a mix of shock and admiration washing over us. Our little goody two shoes isn't so good after all.

"Maggie, you're a lot more badass than I thought." Wes says, appraising her in a new light. Hell yeah, she is. I've never even snuck anyone inside the house. Granted the person responsible for me is 19 and not 60.