"She said that?" Natalie asked practically horrified.
"Yes," I laughed. "It was ridiculous. I felt like I was going back and forth with a twelve-year-old."
Natalie kind of smiled along to my laughter before she made a subtle frown with her brows. "I kinda feel bad for her though. "
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just wonder what she's been through to make her so competitive and insecure like that."
"I suppose," I said. "But then again it really isn't that hard to be a decent human being. If I can do it, anyone can. There are healthier ways to be competitive anyway."
Natalie hummed in agreement as she fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt. Her mind seemed to be on something else at the moment as she bit her lip in thought.
"You okay?" I asked her.
She looked up at me, blinking away the thoughts that momentarily held her attention. "Yeah, I'm fine. How are the pictures looking this week?"
If she didn't want to talk about it, I wasn't going to force it out of her. So, we moved on and instead worked on next week's news release like we were here to do.
"Man, I'm so hungry," Lillian complained from the back of the room. "How much longer do we have left until we're out of here?"
"You can go as soon as the theatre section is filled out," Natalie answered.
Her response was a huff. "Damn it, I'm only halfway through. But whatever you say boss," She respectfully complained.
Tucker pulled his backpack from the floor and dug into his bag, looking for something. He eventually pulled out a granola bar from one of his side pockets and held it out to Lillian. "Here ya go," He said quietly before handing it off.
"Oh, thanks," Her eyes lit up a bit before she unwrapped it. He watched her silently from the side before shaking his head as if pushing a thought away. Then he got back to his work with Michelle.
"Hey Natalie, do you think I could cover the sports section for the next paper?" Lillian asked between chews.
We all know why she wanted to cover the sports section. At least I did, I think Natalie was always involved in her work to realize how obsessed with Cyrus Lillian truly was.
"Mmm, I guess so. But only for one week, okay?"
Lillian spent too much time watching what Cyrus was doing on the field instead of taking notes and observations on what to write for the paper. Natalie would have to go back and edit some spots in the writing that Lillian left a hole in, something she didn't need to do when Lillian stuck to her usual subjects. It made sense that Natalie was only to let her do it this once.
It would have made even more sense for Natalie to save herself some stress and just told her no. Unfortunately for her though, she was a bit of a people pleaser and didn't want to upset Lillian.
"You wanna come over?" I asked Natalie as we were packing up for the day. "My dad's not home till late tonight and I don't feel like being alone."
"Girl time?" She asks.
"Girl time," I agree. She says okay, letting me know she has to call her mom and let her know first.
We meet up at my house and get carried away in layers upon layers of girl talk. It was nice to have a friend that actually enjoys talking makeup and shoes and shopping that's not my mom.
We decided on watching Flipped, one of my favorite movies. It was about a little girl who was hopelessly in love with her next-door neighbor until years later she realizes she might have been wrong about him, and then she loses feelings for him just as he realizes he has feelings for her.
I was a sucker for the innocent romance of it all. It was fucking adorable. Natalie was enjoying just as much as I thought she would.
I was distracted by a buzz on my phone, signaling a text message as Declan's name appeared on the screen.
>>Julie says there's a fair coming into town this weekend and she asked me to take the squirts. You down to keep me company?
I figured "the squirts" were Parker and Evelyn.
Sounds fun. What day specifically? <<
>>Saturday afternoon. We could ask the goons to tag along too. That way we can trap them into babysitting for a bit while we go mess around. Sound good?
I knew for a fact that "the goons" were our friends and I found myself smiling at his code names.
I supposed I had time to get my shift covered... and going to a fair did sound like a lot of fun. I loved when fairs came into town. The smell of popcorn in the air, the lights of all the rides when the sun went down, and don't even get me started on the fried Oreos.
"You want to go to the fair with the boys this Saturday?"
Natalie shifted a little. "Um- actually I don't know if I can," She said uncomfortably.
I frowned at her sudden behavior. "Why not?"
"Well, it's just that..." She was fiddling with her sleeves again. "Jeremey doesn't really like that I'm spending so much time with the boys."
I raised my brows in a you've-got-to-be-shitting-me type of manner before speaking. "Natalie, Cyrus doesn't really like when I snag his swiss rolls from his snack stash, but a girls still gotta eat. You shouldn't feel guilty about spending time with the boys. They're your friends, and friends are important. Don't let him guilt trip you about having some good ole innocent fun every once in a while."
The only snag in my statement was that Adam did have a habit of shamelessly flirting with her. But then again he had a habit of flirting with every other girl. Yet Natalie shut him down at every turn, so it's not like she was untrustworthy. She was Natalie... loyal, kind-hearted, and cute as a button.
"I know. He just gets jealous pretty easily, that's all," She said quietly against the sound of the movie playing in the background. Her mood seemed to have deflated since she mentioned Jeremy. They must have been fighting again.
"Maybe you could... invite him with us," I let out, doing my best not to cringe at my own words. It was my lame attempt to make things better for her, though I was silently begging she would say no.
To my relief, she shook her head. "He doesn't like those kinds of things."
"I don't like him," I deadpanned suddenly.
She frowned and then blinked up at me. "Why is that?"
"Because his vibes are off. I hate to say it, but I wasn't much of a fan of his from the start," I did not in fact hate to say it. "You shouldn't be this stressed over going to a fair. I mean if you really don't wanna go, then don't go. But that should be your own personal choice."
She rubbed at her eyes with an exhausted sort of groan. "Yeah, you're right." She took a deep breath in thought and I waited for her to say something else.
"I do want to go," She said finally in a decisive tone.
"So then we go," I smiled and reached for my phone again to text Declan back.
A/N: Yes I did update right on time this week, I expect a thorough round of applause and I also like my cookies chocolate chipped. 😌
❤️Thanks for reading ofc❤️