I really didn't want to see them at all, let alone hitch an awkward ride with them. What if they both know about Sunday, what if they hate me; what if's ran too much in my head because next thing I knew, we were parked outside Luke's mom restaurant. Doors slammed and I was still inside, not wanting to move. Ashton peeked inside "Em's you okay?" I turn to him and clear my throat "um... yeah I just forgot something." I scoot over and get out. Arlene was wrapped around Luke, while Zayn waited for me to get out. I close the door and he locks the car.
We walk to the entrance; the entire parking lot was full. The place seemed real busy once we entered. Plates clashing, pans were sizzling and orders being shout out. The lady in the front smiled at us and we walked through the tables. We sat in the back booths. Thank god I sat in between Ashton and Arlene.
Even though both Luke and Zayn greeted me nicely, I couldn't help but feel like I'm unwanted. We sat in awkward silence, looking at the menu and waiting to order. I didn't have any cash so I just flipped through menu just to see. The Hemmo's are known for pizzas and burgers but their specialty is pasta and desserts.
A lady with a note pad and pencil approached us. Everyone order and when it came to my turn to turn down the offer, Zayn immediately volunteered "it's okay, ill pay for plate." I smile "No its okay Zayn, I'm not hungry." He emphasizes "Emma, its fine really. Just order or ill order something for you." I stand my ground "Zayn I said I wasn't hungry, really its fine." Zayn ignores my wishes and orders me a bacon burger with fries.
I shyly raise my sweater sleeves upward and look at Ashton, who was wiggling his eye brows. I smirk and Luke questions "so Louis just left and he didn't do anything to defend you?" Arlene sighs "yeah." Zayn asks "so why were you guys fighting in the first place?"
Arlene shifted her weight to one side and sighed "well after school, I walked to Louis's car as usual but Eleanor was there waiting for Louis. She wanted me to tell Louis that she couldn't make it to dinner at my house for the evening. That got me mad, telling her to grow balls and tell Louis himself. Then we started arguing about their stupid freaking relationship, that she really likes him and shit but I told her she's a lying cunt. By the time I knew it, she slapped me. Thank god Emma came when she did because I was about sock her. Anyways when Louis came, he protected her and got mad at me for nothing." Both Zayn and Luke sigh, cursing Louis under their breath.
Ashton added "I can't believe Louis; I mean yeah he says he hates you but he never means it. It's just weird for him to act this way. I mean I know Louis and he would have done something about it but he didn't. I don't know what's up with him." Arlene laughed out of the nowhere "it's funny because Emma was about to sock her but Louis stopped her, but at least now I know..." Luke chocked "Emma! Emma was about to sock her." I blush at all the eyes on me but thank fully the food came, reverting eyes.
Luke mocked "are we going to pray miss?" Ashton laughed "better say amen, it's weird not to." Arlene snorted "yeah, you know, I'm gonna pray." She starts off "My dearest lord in the heaven, fuck my big brother in the ass and kill that little cunt. Thank you for the food. Amen!" we all laugh and start eating.
Ashton does ridiculous things throughout while everyone else jokes around or curses. I was just there, observing. I chew on my fry when I see Luke had finished eating everything off his plate, whereas everyone else was half way done. He sees me looking and mouths "member?" I smile and mouth back "yeah." He looks away and I go back to eating.
Once were done, Arlene and Zayn went off to the arcade section, playing Pac man. Ashton throws his hug arm around me "let's go say hi to mom." Luke yelps "she's working today?" Ashton scoffs "dumbass, she's the manager, she always ..." Luke sits up "she's manager now? When did this happen?" Ashton scratches his head "two months ago, she didn't tell you?" Luke stands up and walks towards the kitchen. Ashton follows him, and turn back to me, telling me to go with them.
I lazily get up and walk. We enter the kitchen and pans are clashing and flames roaring, employees roaming chaotically. We go through the crowd and enter a small room. It was the manager's office. Liz was sitting there, clicking away at her computer.
She looks up and screams "Jesus boys! What a surprise." Luke immediately asked her "why didn't you tell me?" she sighed "Luke, not right now. I'm working..." he cut her off "MOM! You just can't keep these things from me; I have a right to know. He's my father for fuck sake." She rose from her chair, slamming her palms against the desk "LUKE! Don't swear to me!"
Luke scoffed "stop making excuses!" Ashton and I started backing away from them. I had never seen Luke this angry, granted I've only met him, I didn't expect him to blow up like this. Hopefully this is the only thing that really pisses him off in order to get him red. Ashton takes my hand and we leave them alone in the room. We walk back to front and go to the arcade section. Zayn and Arlene were already off to another game.
Ashton sighs "sorry, it's just family stuff. He never gets like that unless its family related." I nod "oh, its fine. I just hope everything is fine." He smiles and hugs me. We stand next to street fighter and watch a little boy master the game. I was impressed by his skills. I had played that with my sister, usually she's the one into playing video games and so I know things but he is way better at it than my sister.
Zayn yelled "are you guys ready to leave?" Ashton lets go of me and walks over to them "Luke will be out in a bit but we could wait for him in the car." Zayn nods okay and heads for the cashier. I follow behind him, alone. "Hey Zayn." He turns to me and smiles "hey Emma." I blush and tuck my hair behind my ears "thanks for the food, but you didn't have to buy. I already owe you for Sunday remember." He smirks "yeah I remember but you don't owe me anything. I wanted to do this. It's not a favor." I smile "thanks Zayn but next time, if I say no, its no." he looks into my eyes "independent?" I scoff "nah, I just don't want to be those girls you know." He laughs "Emma, you're far from being those girls."
I smile and head outside with Arlene. She sits on the hood of Zayn's car and watches the cars pass by. I stand in front of her "you okay now?" she looks up to me, squinting "yeah, I'm fine now. It's just the emotions got to me is all?" Luke comes out "hey guys, what are you guys talking about?"
Arlene smiles bigly "about you." Luke smirks "what about me?" he leans in closer to us. Arlene smirks "about the time you cried for the dead bird on the side walk, after our date." My eyes grow big, yelling "date?" Arlene laughs loudly, tilting her head back. Luke questions "I thought you told her!? What the hell Arlene?" Arlene sits up, still laughing "no and yes Em's, we used to date back in the day when I was blind and desperate." Luke slams his hand onto his chest "ouch that hurt." She sticks out her tongue and continues to giggle.
So many thoughts ran through my head but Zayn and Ashton had already come. We left; agreeing to go to Ashton's to spend some time together. On the way, questions were circling my mind. Why did she tell me, why does she keep encouraging me and Luke, why, why, why.
When we arrived, we headed out back to a decent size back yard. There were two pots with a flower called kangaroo Paws. I sat on a beach chair and tilted my head back and looked at the dim sky. Arlene sat on the floor next to me and the boys were at the table playing a poker game. I closed my eyes for a second and the next time I open them, a dog jumps on top of my lap, licking my entire face. I move around and giggle. Then Ashton directs the dog to get off, and when it does, I'm covered in slob.
Arlene grabs the dog and pets it, letting it lick her a bit. Ashton come to me with a towel "Sorry Em's, he tends to get a little crazy with new people." I grab the towel and clean myself "It's okay, I have a dog of my own, I know." I reach over to Arlene and pet the dog too. I turn around and ask "What's his name?" Everyone laughs but Luke. Zayn yelled over "Margo." Ashton laughs "Luke thought it was a girl when they first got him." Luke blushes and flips him off "I was nine and mom kept calling him a her."
I smile and go back to petting the cute dog. After a few minutes the dog was asleep in Arlene's lap. I decide to go to the table and watch the guys play. I stand behind Ashton and look at his cards. He looks up at me "What do you think?" Then Zayn scoffs "what? Nah that ain't fair. We can't get help." I laugh and sit on the arm of Ashton's chair. They place their bet of monopoly money. When all three put their cards down, Ashton won with a full house. Both Luke and Zayn tug at their hair. Zayn throws his beanie on the table and walks away. Luke barriers his face in his hands and curses. I asked "Why are they so mad?" he chuckles "when we started off the game, we set on ultimatum that either Luke or Zayn win, the daring challenge was off." My stomach drops and I clear my voice "And what if, what if you win?" he smiles big "if I win, the dares would be extreme." I close my eyes and process the words. I sigh "so they lost and now..." Luke looks up, cutting me off "and now they will think of really bad things for us to do."
I sigh and bend my knees. I then stand still and walk over to Zayn and punch his arm. He grabs his left arm "Ooww!" I ignore him and walk back to Luke and sock his arm too. I exclaim "why would you bet on something like that and not consult me! I was the other team mate! You guys are bastards!" Zayn walked closer "Because we thought we could win Ashton, he never wins a poker bet!" I scoff "you do know he was cheating." They both look at me and Ashton blushes.
I sit in Zayn's chair "since I got there, I noticed more cards on the table than a normal deck. By further concluding, Ashton has either been switching out cards or added cards to the deck that he will know for sure he got them." Zayn yells "What the hell Ashton?" he chuckles "hey but a deal is a deal." Luke scoffed "We agreed to a fair deal not this crooked one." Ashton scoffed "It was crooked since the beginning; two against one, come on."
I sigh and Arlene laughed "All you guys are stupid, except Emma, she has some skills." I roll my eyes and stare at the deck of cards. Suddenly the sliding swooshes open and Matthew yells "Hey guys!" everyone says "Hey." But I wave hi shyly. He then asks "so I made some iced tea. Who wants some?" everyone walks inside, and I follow behind. We all sit in the kitchen table while Matthew and Ashton are serving the cups. Arlene and Zayn are playing the staring contest while Luke pets his dog, Margo. He looks up at me and smirks. I smile back and look at the pictures in the wall. A bunch of kid pictures of the boys when they were younger and few when they got older.
Ashton came in and gave me a long glass cup with iced tea. I took a little sip and settled it down in a coaster and followed the pictures in the wall to the living room. Every time I go to a stranger's house, I love looking at the family photos they put in display. As they got older, they got dorkier. Its funny how they looked alike when they were younger.
Suddenly Matthew, from behind me yelled "That was the day Ashton broke his arm." I turn swiftly and smile. He continued "I took him to the park and took a picture of him. When he went to the swings, he saw a bird fly and he wanted to do the same. As a father, you know, I wouldn't let him jump off the monkey bars but he ignored me anyways. Well when he reached the floor instead of crying of the pain, he cried because he wasn't a bird. That kid is a weird one." I laugh at his story and he goes to a picture in the wall and points at it "and this was the time he hated playing soccer so he punched the goalie but the goalie kicked him in the face and broke his nose." I laugh "so Ashton has a thing for broken bones." Matthew laughs so loud he holds his stomach "finally in words!" I giggle.
The Ashton appears from behind "what's going on in here?" Matthew points at me "I like her, she's funny." I smile and Ashton gives me a thumbs up. Matthew leaves us and goes up stairs. I sit on the couch and watch Ashton pull out something from the closet. It was the Wii. He yells "guys! Who wants to play Just Dance?" Luke and Arlene came rushing in. they helped him hook it to the system. Zayn came in and sat next to me. I smile and he puts his arm over me. Butterflies fluttered and then Louis words marked me so I got up to get my drink. When I came back, I sat on the sofas resting opposite from Zayn.
Once they had everything where it belongs, Ashton put "Drop the Mambo by Diva Carmina" Ashton and Arlene played against one another. It was so funny watching Ashton dance but funnier watching Arlene trying. She had two left feet. When Ashton was announced the winner, it came to no surprise. Luke went up and took Arlene's spot. She came and sat beside me and next to Zayn. She crosses her legs and scoffs "it's not fair! It's a fast dance." Zayn rubs his chin "yeah it's fast but that still doesn't mean you're a horrible dancer. Two left feet." We all chuckle and she curses under her breath, flipping him off.
Luke and Ashton chose a song and started dancing. Soon as the dance begins, Luke starts busting perfect moves, hitting every note perfect. Arlene and I cheer on Luke that pisses off Ashton causing him to give up. He sighs in defeat and hands the control to Zayn. Immediately Zayn rejected the control "oh hell nah, I have never danced with you guy and never will." Arlene laughs and coo's "aw come on Zayn!" I chime in with her "yeah Zayn, show us what you got." He smirks then scoffs "I hate you guys." He snatches away the control from Ashton's grip and walks next to Luke.