Charlie's POV.
Andy, Maya and I sit around the table as Andy and I argue over who gets the last cookie brownie that Maya baked. Of course, Maya says that Andy's argument is more valid and therefore Andy plopped it in her mouth with no remorse or guilt. We all laughed. The two of them were holding hands underneath the table and sharing whispered secrets between the two of them. As happy as I was to see them together, it was bittersweet to be their third wheel.
I haven't seen Noah since the last time we all had lunch together and I was worried I said or did something to set him off. It was unfair of me to act the way I did when he received Madison's number but I didn't expect him to fall underneath her trap so easily. I don't know, I guess you could say I thought he was different than that.
My thoughts were interrupted when Brian Sanderson walked up to our table. Andy instantly dropped Maya's hand.
"Hey Andy," He smirked to her. He didn't pay attention to me or Maya. Andy's been hanging out with him more recently. She even skipped half of her classes to smoke with him behind the school. Guys like Brian were attracted to girls like Andy.
She smiled a sweet smile as she played with her ear, "Hey Brian. What's up?"
He casually touched her arm as he said, "Well I was wondering if we could talk in private."
She smiled but hesitated in her seat.
"Uh, yeah sure. Meet me in the hallway, I'll be right there."
He grinned and turned around to exit the cafeteria. As soon as he was out of earshot, she whipped towards Maya and immediately started flooding her with apologies. Yet she stood up anyway and chased after Brian.
Maya and I were left alone. I stayed silent for a moment longer before working up the courage to say, "You know Andy is my bestfriend. I love her to death but.. you know you deserve so much better right?"
She looked at me with watery eyes yet she held them back. "Yeah, I know. I'm still trying to realize that."
I extended my hand across the table and held hers tightly. "Come on," I nudged her, "Maybe we can see if the art teacher will let us us experiment with her new oil pastels."
That made a quickly smile appear on Maya's face. We stood up and walked down the empty halls arm in arm. We walked past the cafeteria doors and another exit. That's when I stopped in my place.
Noah and Madison sat on a bench outside, sharing a bag of chips from the vending machines. They seemed to laugh among one another and for a second, I realized how foolish I was standing there watching them.
I heard Maya say beside me, "Of course Madison would snatch him up when she had the chance to. She just can't seem to keep her claws to herself."
I shrugged it off, "Well I wasn't surprised. Noah is a big shot and it just seems right that he's with her. You can tell they like each other."
Suddenly Noah's eyes snapped up, as if sensing we were there, and so did Madison's. But her eyes were more unkind. Noah waved us over.
"Shit." I cursed.
"We don't have to go." Maya said but I knew she didn't want to bump into Madison without Andy here. Even I started wishing Andy was here too.
But I didn't want to let them know anything was wrong. Because there is nothing wrong with them hanging out. He's a single dude and she's a single girl. It was their business whether they hung out or not. I took Maya's arm with a new sense of bravery. We walked up to the bench.
"Hey," I smiled to Noah.
"Hey," He smiled even wider. "What were you two doing in the hallway?"
"Oh we were just about to go to the art room."
Noah's scultped eyebrows lifted, "I didn't know you liked art."
"I like art too," Madison chimed in, "I like all th greatest artists; Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Mozart."
Maya and I busted into a fit of laughter. Even Noah surpressed his grin. Panic overtook Madison's features. She knew said something wrong. She covered it up with giggles of her own. "Obviously I was kidding."
"You're really funny," Noah said. Her grin became prideful and I was once again faced with worry.
"Anyways, we gotta go." I interrupted, "We'll leave you two be."
Noah stood up. "Maybe we can go with you. I would like to see what you're interested in." That last part caught me and Madison a bit off guard. Thankfully Maya cut in. "Maybe another time," She said, "We're really in a hurry and wouldn't need any distractions of the such."
He frowned. "Oh."
"Right, well let's go Charlie." She said pulling me along back inside. I glanced back, catching sight of Noah's frown and Madison's scowl once more before we turned the corner and left.