"GUYS, I'm telling you, I don't know why it happened. It was like all the stars aligned and they hated me."
Savannah shot me a supportive smile and gave my shoulder a comforting rub, which I was grateful for.
Eva was not wholly convinced, those cinnamon eyes suspicious and stationed on me, probably considering on the third degree. "So you're saying that it's just like- totally left field? No explanation whatsoever? Like Britney Spears circa 2007 rationality?"
I nodded, keeping my best poker face. "Precisely. I think she just got the wrong idea. Wrong place, wrong time, you know." I shrugged for casual emphasis.
Savannah continued with her consoling hand rub, which had morphed into a half massage I was very fond of. I could feel a wave of relaxation pour over me as she dug her thumb into the crook of my neck. Literally the heart of a golden retriever.
"I'm sure it was just a weird coincidence," the blonde agreed, and I replied with a soft smile back.
"Okay," Eva murmured, but her face still had traces of skepticism. "Just saying, you live next to Reese, you're around Reese, chemistry happens."
I shot her a dry look.
"I think it's like the noodles were so attracted to my face, they used telekinetic powers to find a way to get into my mouth as soon as possible, and Melissa was just a sad pawn in their little game," I reassured them, grinning.
Eva snorted and Savannah giggled, both rolling their eyes at my very, totally reasonable explanation for the event.
We sat in my room, only hours after the entire noodle to face ordeal, and although I'd given myself a very thorough shower I still smelled the phantom aroma of sweet and sour sauce every so often. Apparently Savannah had only seen the results, but Eva had gotten a full view of my attack and clearly was not convinced that I was the innocent party.
I was new born baby bunny levels of innocent.
But according to Eva, there was something up, and although she wasn't entirely wrong I needed the lying skills to convince her exactly that. My tactic was diversion, and the psychic noodle claim was ridiculous enough to make her lose her train of thought for a little while, at least.
"Well, Mr. Matthews' ridiculous amount of homework is calling for me, I think it's about time to go," Savannah murmured while checking the time on her phone, doing her best to stifle a yawn.
"I swear that the most boy interaction I've gotten in a week was when he reamed me out for copying Savannah's home work," Eva groaned, also lifting herself from the comforts of the pillow fortress I'd assembled on my bed.
"Oh, does Eva have the hots for teacher?" I grinned.
Eva pulled a face and Savannah laughed, because Mr. Matthews was much balder and plumper than the type that Eva usually went for. Also I was still pretty convinced he was sexually attracted to turtles after biology junior year.
"I have the hots for some fucking sleep," she moaned, and Savannah jingled her keys in response.
"Goodnight Stella, get lots of sleep," Savannah chimed and they both disappeared through the doorway, leaving me alone in my little sanctuary.
I sighed and blew a string of damp hair out of my face, instinctively running my fingers underneath my pillow to find it uncharacteristically bare. My diary used to make it's home there, but now it was next door in the clutches of Satan, and I felt it was almost like cheating to start a new one without finishing the other. I couldn't betray my diary like that, I had morals. And yet this was oddly one of the most distressing times of my life, with flying food and deals with the devil, and I had nowhere to write it.
Inside was bubbling a range of emotions that needed a release, and the diary was one of the only things that actually stuck for me. Where else was I going to pour the mortifying embarrassment of having Tyler see me dressed up in noodle couture? People didn't just live comfortably with that sort of shame. Reese was supposed to be helping me, my ass
My gaze shifted towards the open window. The sun was setting outside, dipping below the horizon and leaving the remnants of pink, purple and orange ribbons in its wake. For a moment I was so mesmerized by the mirage of blushing colours outside that I jumped when the doorbell resonated through the air.
I leaped to my feet, feeling the cool touch of wood underneath my bare toes, and figured that Eva probably forgot something or another in my room. Which was why when I pulled the door open and was met with chin stubble and an Adam's apple, I was more than a bit confused.
But mostly pissed off.
"Dude, what the hell?" I hissed, pulling Reese inside by his shirt and slamming the door behind him. "What if Vannah or Eva saw you?"
He placed his palms on my shoulders, those amber eyes staring straight into mine. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
I shrugged off his hands and crossed my arms over my chest, fixing him with a deadpan stare. "Is that a question or a statement? Because I think you've answered yourself already there, bud."
He shot me a look and kicked off his shoes, brushing past me and strolling right towards the living room. It took me a second to process this, sending him a look of sarcastic confusion. "No, no, don't worry about it, invite yourself in. Who needs manners in this day and age, am I right?"
Reese dumped himself on my couch, clearly unfazed by my words and rested his arms on the tops of the cushions. As I followed suit behind him, I made sure to sit myself at the edge of the seat with no threat of physical touching near my body. He arched a brow, but I ignored it.
"I've been waiting for like an hour for them to leave. Anyway, I came up with the best idea," he said, wiggling his fingers antagonizingly at me as they ghosted my shoulder.
I shifted. "Excuse me for having friends, I'll work on it for next time. Also, first, I need to know, what the hell was that whole thing that happened today? Why was Melissa crazy trying to kill me for being at your locker? That seems pretty... small."
Reese casually shrugged, but I could tell he was purposely trying to evade the question. "You know," he murmured. "It's sort of like- you know, all right, okay so..."
When trailed off again, earning an impatient glare from yours truly, his mouth fell shut and I assumed he received the message.
"So the red-headed girl, Lucy? Yeah, so she was actually, well is actually best friends with Melissa. And I totally broke up with Melissa three weeks ago. Two weeks ago?" He hummed in question. I restrained myself from face palming. "Probably three weeks ago, but she was a little, I guess, jealous? Probably 'cause I may have cheated on her before, so she's still sort of sour about it," he admitted, giving a sheepish shrug.
My jaw clenched.
"This is helping me help you with Savannah, how?"
"I'm a different guy!" he insisted. I was not convinced.
"When you'd cheat on her?" My voice was low.
He paused, lips pressed in a thin line as I could see him mulling over his options, averting his gaze everywhere but my face. "Which time?" he murmured, quiet, but enough that I could hear and enough that I could slap him in the arm, not that lightly.
"Powers... if you do not get on with your big reveal, I will probably gouge out your eyes and stuff them so far up your ass you'll be able to see your own heart beating."
Apparently this barely fazed him as he managed to compose himself with the free pass I'd throw at him, that megawatt grin once again plastered across his face. "Well first," he began, "I just wanted to mention that Savannah was really wearing those jeans today."
I supressed a gag and forced a tight, polite smile. "How would you feel about wearing two black eyes?" I batted my eyelashes at him.
Reese shrugged nonchalant. "I'm just saying that with a view like that, I still didn't give myself away or anything. Shows how serious I am about this whole thing."
I snorted, pinching at the fabric of his tight, black t-shirt. "She would've lost herself at this ensemble, I know. Where'd you get it, Baby Gap?" I quipped, but couldn't deny that it really didn't look absolutely terrible the way that it very slightly accentuated what some may call abs.
He smirked. "Hey, control yourself, Sandavol, I'm here for your friend, not you."
"Wow," I stretched out the vowel and drowned it in all the cynicism I could gather, retracting my hand back at lightening speeds. "Wow."
Reese's smirk continued to dig into his cheek, creating that signature Reese dimple, and my words were quickly ignored. "More importantly, I found out a way for you and Tyler to get some quality alone time."
I couldn't deny that my interest had been piqued, and the glint in Reese's eye told me that he'd realized as well. There was a constant struggle for my long time crush and my new found hatred, but as soon as Tyler's beautiful face crossed my vision, well, rationality was a thing of dinosaurs and floppy disks.
Although, I still tried to remain somewhat composed. I didn't drool, at least.
Which couldn't really be said for Geography class.
"Okay, what are you doing this Saturday morning?" he asked, still looking smug.
I hummed in thought. "Well, I have a pretty tight schedule, to be honest. First some sleeping, and then some more sleeping, and I hoping to squeeze a quick nap in between."
He blatantly ignored me, as usual. "You know how Tyler's on the track team, right?"
I couldn't suppress the smile at the image of Tyler in minimal, loose clothing, sweat dripping down the nape of his tanned neck, jogging around the school. I sighed, "Oh yeah."
"Well, he asked me if I could go running with him Saturday morning..."
I gripped onto his words, impatiently anticipating the part when I got to make out with Tyler. "And...?"
"And," he stretched it out agonizingly, "I thought that I could invite you, and then half way through just screw off somewhere and you guys could hang out!"
As he announced his proposal, Reese's face undeniably lit up, those amber eyes sparkling and his dark brows jumping to his hairline. The grin on his face appeared to reach Cheshire of sizes as he eagerly awaited what I assumed he thought was going to be a standing ovation.
All he received was the most deadpan of looks. "Bruh?"
He blinked, face frozen in excitement. "Bruh what?"
"Bruh... did you say... exercise? As in, you want me to purposely run, without the threat of imminent death behind me?" The words felt strange in my mouth, and the thought was just too much for my mind to process. These new age hippies with their kale and their running- I was part of the lazy generation where cardio was for zombie apocalypses exclusively.
He gave me a look of confusion. "Yeah, running...?"
We locked eyes, and I couldn't swallow the laughter that followed. "Ha! You want me to what? Running! Powers, that was a good one. That's rich, seriously, talk to me when the sky is falling, and then maybe we'll see."
***
The sky was falling and we were all going to die.
"Oh hey Stella, I didn't know that you went running?" Tyler shot me a smile, an undeniable vigour in his voice that was probably the result of angels and bacon colliding in the universe. His dark brown hair was touchable-y soft as usual, and I was almost lulled into a false sense of security until I saw the water bottle in his hand.
Reese was next to him, wearing that too broad grin and sadistically loving every second of this, I knew it. I was donned in a pair of spandex shorts that hadn't seen the light of day since freshman year and a white t-shirt that I was pretty sure belonged to my brother, my hair pulled back into a ponytail. I'd read that these were exercise appropriate clothes, if the myths on the internet were true.
I plastered on a ridiculously forced and broad smile on my face as I met Tyler's eye. "Oh yeah," I mused, quite pathetically. "I, uh, love exercise. Running, jogging, walking, all that jazz. Really gets me going." I swung my arm for enthusiastic effect.
I internally apologized to my mouth for saying such terrible things.
Tyler nodded his head, the angelic smile never falling. "Awesome, well, the more the merrier! How about we start off with 5K for now, and then we'll see where it goes from there, yeah?"
Reese beamed. "Sounds great!"
I pitifully tried to reflect their enthusiasm. "Yeah, awesome!"
Tyler grinned. "Well, let's go!"
I hope they said nice things about me in my obituary.
***
Well then, we're finally getting places, aha. WELCOME TO THE SLOW BURN THAT IS THIS STORY.
Also a thank you to SocialDeath for that ah-maaaazing banner!
Let me know, who's your favourite character so far? c: