Thin Lines - Chapter Four
It had been a while since Trish had laughed this hard. She was literally holding her stomach as she let out more and more uncontrollable laughter. Sitting in a booth at the 'Melody Diner', people were beginning to stare disapprovingly at the noise she was making - but she didn't care. The discomfort and torture in Dez's eyes was something she didn't expect to enjoy so much, but thanks to creepy Mindy, she was enjoying it a hell of a lot.
"Trish, please keep it down. People are staring." Ally said looking exasperated, she was also noticeably clutching the fork that was in her hand very tightly.
"Okay, okay." Trish said after a few minutes, wiping a few tears that had escaped from her eyes. "I think I'm done." Dez, who was sitting next to her, turned to give her a peeved look.
"I hope you explode later from all that unflattering laughter you just emitted." Trish just simply grinned back, leaning in closer towards him and resting her chin in her hands before replying.
"Oooh, using our big words now are we? Well, good for you dofus you're finally learning." Dez clenched his jaw, wanting nothing more than to do something that would maker her extremely uncomfortable or mad...or both.
"DEZZY CHEEKS!" Mindy's loud voice was back, as she rushed over to the table with a tray in her hands that contained two big dishes. One with egg salad, and another with the famous 'Cha-cha' chicken pot pie.
"I bought some more of your favourites just for you." She shoved the two plates in front of him before flicking his nose affectionately. Dez gulped, looking down at the food before looking back up with a nervous smile. Trish had to slap a hand over her mouth, for she felt laughter bubbling up in her throat again.
"Th-thanks Mindy...but uh, I'm not really that -"
"Come on, eat it Dezzy."
"You see, I would but I -"
"I SAID EAT IT." In fear, Dez quickly did as he was told, shoving mouthfuls of both foods at a time with his small spoon. Trish at this point had abandoned her efforts of keeping quiet and let out more humored laughter; probably the loudest of the night.
-TXD-
"Aw man, I don't think I've ever laughed this much in my life." Trish said, sounding content as the four friends left the melody diner. Austin and Ally simultaneously rolled their eyes as they walked in front with their hands clasped. Dez who was walking beside Trish, shoved his hands in his pockets in silent irritation.
"Can't something appear out of nowhere and trip her up?" He muttered, not intending for Trish to hear but not being quiet enough...so she did.
"It's a shame dreams can't always come true freckles...but you definitely made sure Mindy's did tonight." And then she was off laughing again and all Dez could do was let out a small growl of annoyance. "
"Come on Trish, leave him alone. He's suffered enough for one day." Ally spoke up as they finally reached the two cars parked next to each other.
"Thank you, Ally," Dez said with a smile. "Tell me why you hang out with this...person over here again?" He heard Trish scoff and he was suddenly feeling slightly better. That was to be short lived however as his smile slowly faded once he noticed Ally and Austin both moving to sit in Ally's car.
"Uh...Austin, that's not your car." Trish said slowly, as if Austin were a slow child himself.
"Yeah I know, I'm riding back with Ally." He replied simply, as if leaving his car in the parking lot was an option. Dez and Trish glanced at each other in confusion before looking back at the couple.
"But what about your car?" Dez asked the obvious question out loud.
"Here's my keys buddy." Austin threw Dez the keys to his car and Dez not expecting it, barely caught them. "Make sure you park it carefully once you get to my place...and have fun with Trish on the way home."
"WHAT?" Both Trish and Dez exclaimed. They both turned to face each other with incredulous looks while Austin and Ally smirked.
"You know they're only making us do this because they think we're not getting along. You just had to make all those little comments in the Melody diner didn't you."
"Me? What about you Mr. 'I'm not going to be a gentlemen the whole night'. If anything you put us in this mess for not following your own stupid agreement." The two continued to bicker while Austin and Ally silently got into the car. They only stopped sniping at each other once they heard the rev of the engine start.
"Enjoy the rest of your date guys!" Austin shouted, waving mockingly and soon enough Ally's car was out of sight.
There was moment of shocked silence.
"I can't believe this." Dez said to himself in outrage, angrily unlocking the car doors and getting in the driver's seat. Trish still very much so pissed off about what had just happened, stubbornly folded her arms over her chest and stood her ground.
"I'd rather walk." She told him briskly, before turning around to do just that.
"Fine by me, but have fun walking the ten blocks back." He wasn't exactly sure of where she lived, but he knew it wasn't exactly close. He also knew that he'd rather be alone, but what kind of person would he be if he let a girl walk home by herself at night...even if it was Trish De La Rosa.
Trish stopped in her tracks, now taking a moment to really think about what she was doing. The thought of walking for even more than ten minutes was suddenly very unappealing when there was a perfectly good car less than a few feet away from her. After a few more moments of hesitation, she gave in.
"Let's just get this over with." She grumbled, walking over to the passenger side of the car before Dez could say anything else.
Twenty minutes later, they were at the halfway point to Trish's house and nothing could be heard but silence. There had been times in which one would glance at the other without them knowing, but for the most part it was a very quiet ride. It wasn't until Dez finally asked the question that had been burning in the back of his mind for most of the night now that the silence was broken.
"So what's the deal with you and Trent?" Trish looked alarmed at the sound of his voice, as if only remembering he was there. Once registering what he had said, she turned to face him with narrowed eyes but he was keeping his own eyes on the road.
"What did you say?" She sounded more like she was daring him to ask again instead of someone who had just misheard.
"Well, you two obviously have some history if you're going to make me of all people pretend to be your fake boyfriend." He could feel her unwavering gaze on him, but he didn't flinch. Trish didn't say anything for a long moment and just as Dez had decided that she wasn't going to say anything at all she spoke again.
"Just know that he is an ass...and that he didn't deserve me at all." Her tone held regret, causing Dez's curiosity over their situation to rise.
"Well at least we agree on something, that guy is definitely a douchebag." He turned his attention away from the road to glance at her for only a second before turning back. And he wasn't sure if he had imagined it, but her lips looked to have been turned up at the corners slightly...in what could've been a small smile.
-TXD-
Two weeks had gone by since Ally and Austin had gone public and the wretched double date had happened. Trish was still trying to get her mind around the fact that her best friend was dating Austin Moon - but none the less she could see how perfect they were for each other. They were around each other pretty much 24/7 and oddly enough, she didn't feel like the third wheel as much as she had expected. She was also getting used to Austin's company too, and from the time spent with him she had determined that he really was as cool of a guy as Ally would often say.
The only down side to the relationship was all the extra time she had to spend with Dez.
He was usually there if not always, and he didn't make it easy to stick to there so called agreement. So many things about him annoyed her, and it really didn't help that he would call her 'Moody' every chance he got. He didn't fail to also repeatedly mention that she would now owe him a favor for being her fake boyfriend - even if it had only been for a total of five minutes.
"I already gave you fifteen dollars, what else could you possibly want?" She had asked him incredulously a week prior at their usual lunch table. Austin was getting his lunch and Ally had decided to tag along, so they were the only two current occupants at the table.
"A favor." He replied shortly. The smile on his face hadn't exactly been innocent, and it had prompted her to narrow her eyes.
"I don't do favors, and even if I was about start, it definitely wouldn't be for you." The same suspicious smile on his face never left his lips as he simply looked back at her.
"I think even having to be your pretend boyfriend for thirty seconds should grant me a free favor." She had been about to interject but he quickly spoke up again.
"Wouldn't you if the roles were reversed?" At that point she was seething because annoyingly so, he was right. If he had asked her, what she did of him, she would have been demanding practically the world.
"...Fine." She eventually snapped. Dez's smug smile had turned into an even wider smug grin and Trish had to refrain herself from punching him square in the jaw. She'd waited for him to elaborate on this so called favor...but he didn't. Instead, he had once againsimply stared at her which quickly made her increasingly uncomfortable.
"What it is the stupid favor then." She'd almost yelled, sounding impatient and it made Dez laugh.
"Oh, I'll figure out once I need one." He had told her, and just like that he'd turned away and ignored her for the rest of the lunch period. Austin had appeared and sat down next to him just as the conversation ended.
"What's going on guys? You were talking and not shouting, which is weird." Austin had asked, as Ally sat down next to Trish on the opposite side; she also looked curious.
"Nothing." The two being accused had replied, and quickly shared a sharp gaze.
That had been a week ago, and now a week later, the stupid tall freak hadn't asked her to do anything yet. If he wanted her to do his homework or something, then why didn't he just ask? She would get it done - probably fail too, but at least it would be over and she could laugh when he realised what a terrible favor it was to ask of her.
These thoughts were going through her mind as she sat at a table alone in the library on one of her free periods. She of course, didn't have book to read because it wasn't like she was Ally or anything. She was instead reading the latest issue of 'Cheetah Beat' magazine she had purchased in the morning (Forcing Ally to stop at the convenience store on their drive to school.) Now that her mind had wandered, the page was beginning to blur in her eyesight.
Stupid freckle face, she thought to herself. Why are boys such idiots...or is it just him?
No more than a minute later, she decided that it was probably just Dez.
-TXD-
How much longer was he going to have to live like this?
This was the third time in a span of two weeks in which he was ducking behind bookshelves in the school's library. It was perfect because none of his friends visited the place that often if ever at all, and so it was unlikely for anyone else to think he would too. Surely enough this was the perfect hiding place from -
"Dez!" Oh no, His mind began to panic, she found me. He shut his eyes and cursed to himself before opening them and peering tentatively around the corner of a book shelf. As soon as he spotted the waves of red long hair he quickly ducked again.
"Dez dear, are you in here?" The loud speaker got a choruses of hushes from the few people that were in there and they simply rolled their eyes and ignored them.
Maybe if he held his breathe she would never think to look behind this specific shelf. She had ears like a cat, that one...which was probably fitting considering her name was Kitty.
Kitty Glam was a preppy sort of girl, some would say too preppy but others would say she was just really enthusiastic. She, like Dez, also had red hair and was over the average height for a girl her age. They had so many things in common and she was pretty much the definition of Dez's perfect girl.
He himself had thought so too...at some point. Now he wasn't so sure.
Quickly running past a row of shelves, he practically dived behind a couch. After hearing her fast feet shuffling past, he let out a small sigh of relief.
Once he heard the sound of laughter however, he was driven out of the little rejoicing party in his mind. Looking up, he saw none other than Trish sitting at a table with one of those celebrity magazine's he noticed girls were always reading. He watched her for a moment, as she let out an another amused laugh before turning the page. Although he had seen her like this before not too long ago, it really was weird to see her like this again. 'Moody' always seemed like the perfect nickname for her - hence why he used it. But in moments like this, when she seemed so carefree about everything...it made him think.
And he didn't like to think about such things.
"Oh my gosh, Dez is that you behind that couch?" Upon hearing the voice, he froze in fear. Looking to his left, he could see from a very large amount of rows down that Kitty had spotted him, and was walking towards him with purpose. Not really thinking coherently, he shot up and ran over to Trish's table, taking a seat next to her. Trish jumped in surprise and looked up sharply, but once she saw who was now occupying the seat next to her, the surprise was replaced with glaring eyes and a scowl.
"What do you want? Actually, no, the better question is what are you even doing in here?" The grip on her magazine had tightened, and if she wasn't careful it would rip in her fingers. Dez didn't even know why he'd run over to her in the first place. It's wasn't like this was going to solve the fact that his ex-girlfriend wanted to -
And at that exact thought, an idea came to his head.
He didn't have much time, Kitty would be here soon and it was like she was on a mission or something. Composing himself, he spoke.
"I...I need that favor. Now." Trish's scowl seemed to look all the more menacing once she heard his words.
"Now? Can't this wait until -"
"Dez!" Crap! She's here. With his brain in panic mode, he grabbed one of Trish's hands away from the magazine and interlaced their fingers. In both shock and outrage, she dropped the magazine that was in the remaining hand and stared at their clasped hands as if her own hand had been cut off.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Just play along." He hissed, just out of Kitty's earshot who was rapidly approaching.
"Dez, honey, I was calling your name you silly goose," Kitty smiled, looking amused as she finally made it over to the two sitting at the table. When she noticed their hands however, her smiled immediately dropped.
"Oh, hey Kitty. Sorry, I didn't hear anything." Dez shot her a nonchalant smile, as if he had been calm, cool and collected the whole time and hadn't been a frantic mess trying to hide from her less than five minutes ago.
"What...what is this?" She asked them both in an a accusatory voice. As if what they were doing was not allowed.
"What does it look like? I'm holding hands with my new..." The words felt like they would burn to get them out. "My new girlfriend."
Trish almost snatched her hand away and drop-kicked him for even daring to bring her into this, but he had seen the look flash in her eyes and so quickly interrupted her once more.
"Isn't that right...babe." Just when she was about to deny the whole thing, she halted. If she just pretended to do this for five minutes, her owing the idiot a favor would be no more! After some careful contemplating, she eventually answered a beat later.
"Yeah...that is right." She turned to glance at Dez with what looked like a pained smile before looking up at Kitty with a more realistic one.
"But...but I thought you hated Trish De La Rosa." Kitty spluttered, not wanting to even think about her Dezikins being in the clutches of some other girl let alone seeing it. And with the one girl who apparently hated his guts not barely a month ago at that.
"Yeah, well that changed didn't it?" He decided to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb for effect and he soon found that it wasn't exactly too much of an effort to muster.
"Yeah...it took me a while to see how...amazing he really is." Trish had to force the words out without gagging, yet oddly she found the stroke of this thumb on the back of her hand a little comforting.
"Oh. Well. I see." Kitty said sounding dejecting. She was also looking back and fourth between the two as if she were studying them.
"Mhmm. Now if you don't mind, we'd like to spend some alone time together." Dez's smile managed to pass off as realistic as he said this. Kitty huffed, before giving them both one last betrayed look and practically stomping away. As Dez breathed out his second sigh of relief of the day, Trish immediately snatched her hand away.
"Okay, she's gone, run along now." Dez looked at her as if she were crazy.
"She'll probably still be lurking outside the library. I need to stay in here for at least another five minutes." With an annoyed sigh, Trish picked up her magazine.
"I thought you guys were all loved up and happy anyway, what happened? She revealed her Frankenstein skin underneath?" She snickered as she turned back to the page she had been reading before.
"Metaphorically you could say that." He sighed, putting a hand under his chin.
"First Mindy and now Kitty? Sheesh, you're always attracting the creeps. Not that I'm that surprised anyway I mean...it is you." Just as he was about to retort with something, he quickly realised something else.
"Wait...how did you know about me and Kitty anyway? Have you been keeping tabs on me?" He knew that definitely wasn't the case, but it was just too entertaining to watch her freeze in place and slowly look up at him with a harsh glare.
"Tabs on you? Please, like I haven't got better things to do." The smirk that never failed to make her all the more angry was on his face again. "You guys were practically flaunting your relationship in the whole school's faces. And trust me, I tried my best to keep my breakfast up every time you guys walked passed me in the hallways."
"Why? You weren't, jealous now were you?" Trish stared at him, indicating that she was silently questioning his sanity for a long moment before she let out an outrageous laugh.
"Wow, keep up jokes like that freckle face and maybe one day you'll make it as a comedian." She turned her attention back to her magazine, but she wasn't to know that it would only be for a second once Dez spoke again.
"Oh, but you of all people should know how funny I am, right Miss Tripster?" After hearing the nickname for the first time in a very long time, Trish slowly rose her head to share a steady gaze with him. With her eyes, she silently dared him to elaborate on what he was referring to.
The day they first met.
"I think it's been five minutes now." She said, and her voice sounded a little too calm. Scaringly calm. "I suggest you go now before I embarrass you in the school library." Her kick boxing tendencies were rearing its ugly head.
"I wasn't planning on staying longer anyway." Standing up, he turned to walk away but not before saying "See ya Moody, thanks for the help."
As if he knew it was coming, he ducked; narrowly missing the pencil she threw his way.