Our spare period passed by a little too quickly for my liking, but I was happy to know that I was sharing my next class with a very excited Gabby.
As we stroll into Biology class, I immediately spot Mason, who notices me and smiles. His smile transforms into an amused smirk when he sees who I was with. I plop down in the empty seat in front of Mason, and Gabby settles down beside me as she says, "Well, well, if it isn't the apple of my eye, Mason Geller." Mason grins at her, his brown eyes dancing with laughter. "Biology is going to be ten times fun with poking you every two seconds."
Gabby rolls her eyes, and I raise an amused eyebrow, a confused smile spreading across my face. "You two know each other?" Mason scoffs like I just told him the Earth was flat. "Of course. Gabe-" Mason rolls his eyes and clears his throat when he finds Gabby glaring at him. "Gabby is the sun to my shine."
Gabby shakes her head and narrows her hazel eyes at Mason, looking more fierce than ever. "Call me that again, and I'll definitely kick you where the sun doesn't shine, Mason." Mason lifts his arms, his palms facing Gabby as a surrender motion, all while grinning. Gabby's threats didn't seem to have any kind of effect on him, which must mean that they're probably long time friends who've gotten used to each other's bickering and insults.
"So, how long have you guys known each other for?" I ask, genuinely wanting to know. Mason tells me he's known Gabby ever since birth, but their parents go even further. Their parents have known each other since high school, so Mason and Gabby literally grew up together.
"I'm literally familia with this idiota." Gabby grins at Mason, who mutters, "Likewise, Gabe." I chuckle at their childish bickering. It was so cute.
Gabby groaned at his use of the name she dearly hates. "Would you please stop calling me that?" Mason just shrugs, a small, mischievous smile playing on his lips, "You don't tell me what to do."
Gabby snorts at him. "Right, I don't. Becca, Tammy Taylor, Hannah, Zoe, and many other putas are entitled to strip your clothes to shreds and have the power to make you beg to get in their pants. Hombres como tú me disgustan." Gabby places her hand on her heart for a dramatic effect.
Mason just shakes his head at Gabby with a smile. And cocky Mason is back at it. "Guys like us are charming, Gabe, not disgusting. You're just jealous of all the attention I'm getting."
Now, it was my turn to scoff at Mason. He was a player, alright, a bad one. "Wow, Mason, you're good with girls. First, you trap Gabby, then Becca, Tammy something, and a bunch of other girls, and then me." Gabby chuckles and gives Mason the 'I-told-you-so' look. Mason simply shrugs and says he's naturally good at seducing girls to get in their pants.
Gabby and I roll our eyes at him as we turn to face each other. She asks me how I know Mason, and I briefly explain to her that we recently moved to this town and that my mom dragged my sister and me to garage sales. Coincidentally, we happened to visit Mason's garage sale out of all.
Right then, a blonde comes up to Mason and flashes him a cute smile, to which Mason sexily smirks at her and chats her up. Mason leaves all the right signals and charms the pants off of the blonde, telling her he'll meet her after school in his car with a wink. Mason definitely wasn't wrong when he said he's good at seducing.
The blonde and Mason talk some more. I use this opportunity to ask Gabby how long she knew Josh and Ethan. She tells me that they met Josh and Ethan in middle school and instantly became great friends until grade ten, where "shit happened." This gets my attention, and I ask, "What do you mean?"
Gabby nervously laughs, "You've met Josh, haven't you?" I nod at her, my eyebrows slightly draw together as I try to figure out where she was going with this. "That grouchy idiot has been like that since grade 10. It's a long story, but we're still friends. Josh is the distant one." She mutters the last bit, but I still heard Gabby, her voice set back with a deeper meaning. I decide not to push the topic further. I had no right to uncover my new friends' secrets just like that on the first day. I was a complete stranger to them for all they know while they've known each other for years.
As class was about to start, we pulled out our notebooks and pencils from our bags, ready to take notes. Right then, Ethan strolls into the classroom with a smile on his face like he didn't care that he was late for class. He notices us and sends a goofy grin before skipping his way to the empty desk beside Mason and plops down. The teacher didn't seem to see Ethan coming in late.
Ethan's grin never falters as he says to me, "Mason was right, you are in this class!" I felt something warm seep its way into my heart. "You came because I shared Biology with you?"
He nods exaggeratedly, his emerald green eyes twinkling at me with excitement. "Mason and Gabs have bored me to death. I'm too entertaining for them, and they're too dull for me. I figured I could use a new friend." Mason smacks the back of Ethan's head, and Gabby pinches the exposed skin on his slim but muscular arms.
"I'm not boring! Mason's the one who does that to you, to anyone." Gabby scowls and glares at Mason, who suddenly looks offended. "Hey, I can be fun! Who took you guys to my family cabin last month for an entire week? Who took you fishing and canoeing?" Wow, they seem to do everything together. I wonder if Josh was with them as well?
"You promised us skydiving and bungee jumping, not sitting under the hot sun trying to catch invisible fish!" Ethan deadpans, and Gabby nods her head, taking his side. "There was a heat warning that day, and I turned fifty shades darker in less than an hour!"
Mason looks between the two like they suddenly grew ten heads. "At least I took you guys with me!" I burst out laughing at their bickering, and Ethan and Gabby mutter something about Mason having all the fun in the world with different girls, but it's like his energy drains away when it comes to friends.
Ethan suddenly gasps out loud, causing the entire class to look at him like he lost his mind. Our teacher narrows her eyes at us, "Lower your volume, young man. We're starting class." I roll her eyes. It's been fifteen minutes already, and she's still figuring out where to access today's lesson.
Ethan looks at me with a smile, the excitement radiating from him as he says, "You know what would be fun?"
Gabby snorts, a smirk plastered on her face. "Getting fifty shades ashier again at Mason's cabin?" Mason glowers his brown eyes at Gabby, who just shrugs.
Ethan ignores Gabby's joke. "How about we go for ice cream after school? It'll be like a welcome-to-the-idiot-squad-Emma thing." I chuckle at him, feeling some warmth in my soul that fills me with happiness. He really wants me to be a part of their little group.
"I'll come if you're paying." Mason stretches his toned arms over his head, letting out a big yawn.
Ethan groans but concedes to pay for all of us only because he wants to pay for me, and this earns him a triumphant smile from me, Mason and Gabby.
I text Clarice to not pick me up after school since she ended her day of lectures at one pm.
***
Biology class passes by painfully slow, but the teacher dismisses us early. As I walk outside of class with the three goofballs, we decide that we're going to meet at my locker at the end of the day and go to their usual café for ice creams and other desserts. We spend the lunch period together, eating and laughing and having the boys fight over who gets the last slice of Gabby's homemade pizza.
When the lunch period was over, we parted ways after saying goodbye and promising to meet at my locker, but not before exchanging numbers. I make my way to my Kinesiology class but nearly gasp out loud when I notice who was in the class with me. Waves of excitement and irritation flood me.
Josh.
I try to remember how to breathe, feeling completely stunned as his name bounced everywhere in my head. Seriously, why is the guy everywhere I go? Not that I'm complaining, but he can't even pretend to be nice for a millisecond. Was he ever tired of being a sexy asshole, or did it run in his genes?
Josh was sitting at the back with a black-haired girl this time; his face was rigid than drying cement, his scowl deeper than the fucking Mariana Trench, his ocean eyes void of any emotion. Before Josh could notice and stupidly glare at me like the Grinch he was, I immediately took a seat near the front of the class, sitting close to the door so I could storm out the second class finished.
And that's what I did. Seventy-five minutes of Kinesiology later, I stuff my belongings in my bag and speed-walk out the door as fast as I could, making my way to Business class.
***
After school, I make my way towards my locker to meet my friends who were surprisingly already there. I greet them with a smile, and we start walking down the hall and staircase. I suddenly remember that Mason agreed to meet that blonde after school, so I ask him, "Hey, don't you have a booty call to attend?" Ethan snorts, and Mason scoffs, "She'll understand. I have plans with you guys now." I roll my eyes at him; way to go, Mason. That's definitely how you'll get more girls to fall at your feet.
Gabby shakes her head with disappointment and literally voices my thoughts. "You made fucking plans with her before we decided to go to the café. Don't you think that's rude to stand her up like that?"
Mason simply shrugs, not thinking too seriously of what it means to stand a girl up like that. "It's no big deal. I'd rather hang out with you freaks, anyways." He chuckles at the last sentence as we approach his car outside. Ethan calls shotgun, and Gabby and I hop in the back while Mason gets in the driver's seat, and we all buckle up. Mason fixes the rear-view mirror and smirks at us, "Did you guys know that Ethan's attracted to our hairy Chemistry teacher?"
I raise an amused eyebrow. "You mean drool-dripping-on-the-floor attracted or strip-for-me attracted?" Gabby snorts. "Is there even a difference between those two when it comes to Ethan?" This earns a laugh from Mason and me, and Ethan groan, clearly embarrassed that his best friend exposed him like that.
Ethan glares at Mason. "That was a bro-secret, dude! You suck at everything."
Mason's smirk widens as he pulls out of the school parking lot. "More like you want that old, hairy freak to suck your d-" Ethan covers his ears with his hands and shouts at the top of his lungs. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" The three of us burst out laughing and shook our heads at Ethan.
This was going to be an interesting day.