Chapter Seven- Shefani Coffee
"And she was like all over Blake," Caroline gossiped. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was totally into her."
Miranda slammed her fist into the table they gathered upon. "What?!"
"It's true, isn't it Raelynn?" Caroline asked the little blondie to back up her evidence.
"I don't know," Raelynn said, not wanting to get involved in pointless drama. Gwen and Blake liked each other, so what? "It looked like they were just friends."
"Yeah," Caroline scoffed. "Friends with benefits."
Miranda gasped. Raelynn looked shocked.
"Are you implying Gwen's sleeping with Blake?" Raelynn asked.
"Obviously," Caroline rolled her eyes. "New girl hooks up with one of the hottest boys on campus, duh."
"That whore!" Miranda hissed.
"Hey," Raelynn suddenly stood up. "They're not sleeping together. Gwen's done nothing, and to be honest, I don't see why you two are acting so crazy."
"Who's sighed are you on, Rae?" Miranda confronted the girl.
Raelynn sighed. "I'm not on anyone's side. Now, if we're just going to sit here and act like middle schoolers, then I'm gonna leave." the girl picked up her purse.
Caroline scoffed. "Oh, really? Who are you gonna run off to, your boyfriend?"
"I'm gonna hang out with whoever the hell I want to!" Raelynn said, and then walked out of Miranda's house.
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"Where did you go?" Gavin sneered as Gwen walked past him.
Gwen sighed. He was the last person she wanted to see. "What do you mean?"
"At my concert," Gavin stated. "You disappeared with that hillbilly before the end."
Gwen stayed quiet. She wasn't going to lie to him. She hated liars. What do I say? She brainstormed in her mind.
"Did you sleep with him?"
"God, no!" Gwen erupted. Jeez, is sex the only thing people around here think about?
"Then why did you leave with him?" Gavin pressed Gwen.
Because your show was boring and I like Blake a lot better than I like you, Gwen wanted to say. But, she was raised to be kind.
"We decided to head out somewhere," Gwen decided to say, even though it sounded lame. "I didn't think you would mind."
"What do you mean you didn't think I would mind?!" Gavin raised his voice. "You're my girlfriend, and you don't think I'd be concerned if she ran off with another guy?"
"First of all, I don't recall ever stating I was your girlfriend," Gwen hissed, getting tired of the man's crap. "Second of all, shut up. We're at work. Keep it professional or I'll make sure my parents fire you."
Gavin rolled his eyes. "Well, since you claim I never officially asked you. Would you like to be my girlfriend."
Gwen raised her brow. "Seriously? You're asking that now?"
"Gavin," a voice behind them boomed. "I'm letting you off early today. I think Gwen and I can handle the shop."
The two turned to see Mr. Stefani. "Oh, thank you, sir," Gavin quickly smiled and went to put away his apron.
"Why'd you do that?" Gwen asked. Though she was thankful for it, she didn't want her dad hearing her drama.
"I thought we could spend some father-daughter time together," Dennis, Gwen's father, shrugged.
"While working," Gwen raised her eyebrow again.
"Better than nothing, right?" Dennis smiled, hugging his daughter.
"Yeah, sure," Gwen muttered.
Tonight is going to be a long night.
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Blake awoke from his nap due to loud banging on the door. He assumed Luke had just forgotten his keys again.
Go away, Blake thought as he tried to go back to sleep. He forgot how tiring it was to go to class everyday and then do the shit ton of homework the professors assigned instead of sleeping.
The loud banging continued. Blake groaned. "What the fuck do you want?" he got up and opened the door.
"It took you long enough," Raelynn hissed as she welcomed herself in his dorm room. She grabbed a coke from the fridge and sat down on his bed.
"What are you doing here, Rae?" Blake asked.
"What? I can't hang out with my friend?" Raelynn said in a snooty tone.
Blake sat down next to the small blondie. "Raelynn, what happened?" he asked. She was rarely ever in a bad mood.
Raelynn groaned. "I'm just tired of everyone actin' like we're in middle school!"
Blake looked at her. "I'm assuming you're talking 'bout our friend group?
"Yes!" Raelynn threw her hands up in the air. "Luke, Caroline, Miranda. They need to grow up!"
"What'd they do?" Blake asked.
I can't tell you that, Raelynn answered in her mind. Miranda would probably be pissed if she knew she was talking to Blake right now. "Nothin'. Forget I even said anything."
"Rae," Blake raised his brow. "Speak."
Raelynn sighed. "It's nothing, really. You know how Miranda gets sometimes, that's all."
Blake knew there was more, but he decided to not push anymore. "I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt 'ya."
It's not me she's hurting, Raelynn huffed in her mind. "Anyway," the girl began, wanting to change the topic. "What're you doing?"
"What do you mean?" Blake questioned.
"C'mon," Raelynn elbowed him lightly. "You gotta be doing something! Partying, just hanging out..."
"It's a school night, Rae," Blake stated like it was obvious.
"So?" Raelynn got up from the bed. "That doesn't stop people from doing stuff."
Blake sighed. "Really, I ain't doing anything."
"What about you and Gwen? 'Ya got any plans?" Rae asked.
"She's working tonight," Blake shrugged.
"What if we go surprise her? C'mon, it'll be fun!" Raelynn tried pulling him off his bed.
"What's gotten into 'ya?" Blake asked his hyper friend.
Raelynn shrugged. "Nothin'," she stated. "I just wanna hang out with my friends, that's all."
"Well, I guess we could go visit her," Blake claimed, believing Raelynn. He was just surprised that she'd rather hangout with him and Gwen than Miranda.
"Yay! We walking or drivin'?" Rae asked.
"Walking," Blake claimed. "It's not too far. Let's go." and the two best friends were out the door.
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Gwen sighed as she scrubbed the countertop. She couldn't get Gavin's words out of her mind.
He asked me to be his girlfriend, Gwen thought to herself. What am I supposed to do?
Gwen scrubbed the countertop harder. She was annoyed and aggravated. I like Gavin, but I like Blake even more. She spoke to herself. But, Blake hasn't really made any moves, has he?
The OC girl gripped the rag she was cleaning with. How hard is it to say, "hey, Gwen. I like you. Please be my girlfriend?" She went on about her feelings.
Maybe I should take Gavin up on his offer, Gwen sighed. At least I know he likes me.
"Sunshine, you're gonna scrub a hole in that counter if you don't stop," a familiar country accent brought her out of her thoughts.
She looked up to see his blue eyes and amazing dimples. Sometimes she forgot how tall he was. He towered over everyone, especially the short girl beside him.
"Hi, Gwen!" Raelynn bounced, her smile huge as always.
"Rae!" Gwen exclaimed, walking out from behind the counter. The shorter girl immediately wrapped her in a hug. She looked up at Blake whilst hugging Rae. "What are you guys doing here?"
"She wanted to stop by," Blake chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"So did he," Raelynn claimed, ending the hug. "We thought we could just surprise you at work. No offense, but it seems really boring here."
"It is," Gwen agreed with the girl. "Thanks, guys."
"So, what do you wanna do?" Rae asked the taller blonde. "Or, what can you do here?"
"Well," Gwen began. "I could make us frappés and we could sit down and talk?"
"Sounds great," Raelynn smiled. "I'll take a caramel frappé, and so will the Sasquatch." the girl looked up at Blake.
"Hey," Blake said. "Who said you could order for me?"
"Me," Raelynn shrugged. "I'll get us a booth." the girl walked off.
"Sorry 'bout that," Blake said once the blondie was out of earshot.
Gwen giggled. "She's like a little kid sometimes."
"Here, I'll pay for the frappés," Blake pulled out his wallet.
"No, don't!" Gwen exclaimed. "I told you. Everything is always on the house for you. And Raelynn."
"You're too nice," Blake claimed, putting his wallet back in his pocket.
"Same goes for you," Gwen said as she made their drinks.
"Blake!" Raelynn yelled. "I'm getting lonely!"
Gwen and Blake laughed at their friend. "Go, sit down. I'll be there in a moment." Gwen told the boy, and he walked off to sit on the other side of Raelynn.
Gwen's father had given up on "father-daughter" time about an hour ago, and no one else was in the shop at this hour, so the girl decided to take a break and have some coffee with them. She needed one after everything that's happened today.
She walked over, three frappés in hand. "One for the crazy girl," Gwen handed a frappé to Rae. "And, one for the cowboy." she handed Blake his frappé, and then kissed him on the cheek.
Raelynn suddenly spit out her frappé when she saw. Gwen's eyes shot out of her head, realizing what she had just done. She didn't even know she did that.
She looked at Blake to see him blushing, a small smile across his lips. She suddenly felt really red, too.
Why did I do that? Gwen asked herself. She then felt tough hands sooth her own. She glanced at Blake, who gave her a nod. She understood that it was his way of telling her it was okay. She sighed and smiled at him. How was everything so natural with him?
"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Raelynn asked, breaking the silence.
Gwen raised her brow. "I told you, Rae. I have to work."
"I meant after, silly," Raelynn rolled her eyes like it was obvious.
"It's a school night," Gwen told the girl.
"Ugh!" Raelynn exclaimed. "You guys are so boring."
"We are not!" Gwen declared.
"Why don't you hang out with Miranda?" Blake asked. He noticed that she tensed up when he said Miranda's name.
Something must've happened, Blake told himself. But, he decided not to push it.
"I just wanna hang out with you two," Raelynn brushed it off. "What do you guys do when I'm not here?"
The two thought for a moment. "What do we do?" Gwen asked.
"I dunno," Blake said. "I guess we just do whatever comes to mind."
"Y'all better come up with something before I fall asleep," Raelynn teased.
"Well, we ran from the police once," Gwen claimed, and the country girl's head immediately shot up.
"What?!" Rae yelled.
"We ain't doing that," Blake said quickly.
"No, I mean what the hell did you guys do?! I don't care about doing anything now. I just wanna hear the story!" Raelynn exclaimed.
Gwen chuckled a bit when she recalled what happened. The two went back and forth, telling the story.
"Then this old man starting yellin' at us!" Gwen said. At this point, they were all dying of laughter.
"We ran faster than Luke goes through girlfriends!" Blake said, making everyone laugh harder.
"Who knew you two were trouble makers," Rae chuckled. "Running from the law."
"The cops went right past us," Blake grinned. "An easy escape."
"Wow," Raelynn sighed, trying to calm herself down. "I miss everything!"
"You woulda given us away!" Blake claimed.
Raelynn fake gasped. "How dare you say that!"
"Rae, you can't hide for shit!" Blake joked. Everyone was laughing.
The night went on, each of them telling funny stories. Gwen had felt like she had known the two for her entire life, especially Blake.
She zoned out of the conversation, thinking about her life ever since she moved to Tishomingo. She was the happiest she's ever been here.
Gwen looked at the two people in front of her. She was grateful that she had the pleasure to meet Raelynn and Blake. They were like family to her.
She smiled with content. Tishomingo was no longer a dread, it was where family was.
She had finally found home.
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Thanks for 2k reads and 100 votes!
I meant to update this days ago, but I'm out of town and I didn't realize I'd be this busy. But, I was able to update today!
What will Marinara Sauce do next? Will Blake man up and ask Gwen out?
You're gonna have to read to find out ;)
Until next time,
-ya boi lizzy