(Can't believe this is already chapter 17. Whoa. Lily Collins is who I imagine as Alexis but you can imagine whoever you like!)
"Hey guys!" Alexis shouts from where they are standing. My eyes remain fixed on the person next to her, my body completely in shock.
From the look on his face, I can tell he, too, is stunned at seeing me here. Maybe a little amused even.
Before they come over, the long, curly haired celebrity whispers something to her and takes off in another direction.
The red haired girl scampers across the room, through tables and chairs, exhilaration written all over her expression.
I don't know what to start with as I am flabbergasted at who I just saw.
"Hey, you two," Alexis says cheerfully as she slides her way on my side of the booth. Our shoulders slightly bump and she gives me a warm, apologetic smile.
Marco and I are speechless, waiting for an explanation as to why she's with Harry Styles.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner!" She squeals and I'm a little confused.
"Tell us what sooner?" I question.
"Well, to start off, my parents have connections with someone who has connections with someone who knows Harry's parents." They're already on a first name basis? "Apparently they all attended the same university and have been friends ever since," she explains.
"How long have you known?" Marco asks, finally speaking up.
"I've known for a while," she says with an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry for keeping you two in the dark about this. I hope you understand that I couldn't reveal anything to anyone. He's only here for my birthday and I'm inviting only a few friends so he wanted me to introduce him, you know, to get to know you all better."
While she continues clarifying her connection with Harry Styles, I'm dumbstruck. The fact that she, Alexis, a friend of mine since high school, knows and is miraculously linked to Harry Styles is out of my grasp of comprehension.
"Well, this may come a surprise to you," Marco starts. "But we've already met."
"No way," the glowing birthday girl next to me slams her hands on the table. "When?"
Marco explains that we ran into each other in London, beginning with Niall's invitation to a party. His story is cut short when someone walks towards us.
It's the waitress who was getting our drinks. She places my glass of water beside me and gives Marco his drinks. She asks Alexis if she wants anything but she just smiles and shakes her head.
Now it makes more sense why he ordered a raspberry tea. It was for Alexis. I forgot she has an obsession with tea.
"How weird," Alexis states as she runs her fingers through her dark maroon hair. "I even told him your names, but he didn't say a thing about you. I mean how many Marco's and Elaine's are paired together. He must have forgotten but, it's like, what are the chances of that even happening?"
"Of what happening?" The deep voice causes me eyes to dart to the source. He's hovered over our shoulders and walks gracefully over to Marco's side. My best friend scoots in his seat before they both share a friendly hand shake.
"We were just talking about you," Alexis confesses and I find my cheeks warming like a furnace.
"What about me?" He asks with a curious expression.
"You didn't tell me that you already met Marco and Elaine in London," Alexis says to her supposably male friend, of many years, I'm assuming.
For a second, our eyes meet from across the table and this time, I'm the one who looks away first. I don't know what it is that's causing me to be so flustered and aloof. The thoughts in my head are racing along with Alexis' words.
"I even told him your names, but he didn't say a thing about you ... He must have forgotten..."
Forgotten?
We met earlier today. We even had a conversation. Not a forgettable one too, in my opinion. And he simply forgot.
I don't think his capabilities for storing information is that small since he remembers so many things about me.
I don't get it.
I just don't get it.
I don't get him.
"Elaine, you okay?" Alexis asks beside me. Her hand rests itself on my shoulder while her brown eyes disclose a genuine concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I mutter, lower than usual. My eyes fire towards Marco who is also wearing a worried facial expression.
"I was gonna ask if you wanted to know how long we've known each other," Alexis says and I nod, trying to follow along.
"Right. Sorry," I say. "Go on."
She clears her throat, proceeding to tell her story. I try to listen in as hard as I can, but I'm so distracted. I can't seem to focus on anything she's saying because of one specific person in the room.
The idea that he's acting oblivious, that he knew I would be here yet here he sits, pretending that we don't even know each other. It bothers me more than it should.
The waitress comes back to is in high spirits, asking if we are ready to order. I haven't even looked at my menu yet but I already know what I want. Coherent words don't find their way to my lips so Marco orders for me. The chicken avocado sandwich with extra avocado and a side of curly fries. He knows me too well.
She finishes taking our order and from the corner of my eye, I see her wink at Harry Styles and he returns the gesture, making me belch out a hearty scoff.
The stories are endless as Marco and I are forced to stay silent through the narratives that are literally flying from Alexis' mouth. I'm not surprised though. She's always been more talkative out of us three.
There's this increasing need inside of me, nagging me to turn my head and steal a glance at him. But I resist, my attention being solely on the girl rambling beside me.
Once in a while, I nod and smile, and occasionally laugh through her stories. How she and him first met at his parent's Christmas party in Cheshire. Their constant yet childish bickering through the years. Their first inadvertent kiss.
Sounds a little too familiar.
Relief washes over me for a bit as someone's phone rings, allowing my ears to rest for a bit. It turns out to be Alexis' and she excuses herself, telling us it's her parents probably ordering her to bring back her famous friend.
As soon as she leaves us, I'm suddenly very conscious about myself. I have two guys sitting across from me. One of them my best friend and one of them .. I don't even know what he is to me. I thought that there was a chance that he could be my friend.
But for some reason, regarding him as a friend of mine doesn't settle well in my stomach after knowing how deceitful he can be. I mean, I know I'm deceitful. But not like this. He knew that we would meet again and all this time, he was mocking me with my bracelet.
"Fate works in funny ways..."
Yeah, it does. When you have it all planned out already and the other party is left naive and gullible and feeling stupid.
"You haven't said a word, Elaine." That accent of his isn't hard for me to tell who it is.
My eyes roam from the table to him. He's wearing the usual grin, small enough to be friendly yet wide enough to show his dimples. Blinking slowly, I in turn fake a smile.
"I haven't," I say. "I'm just .. starstruck, you could say."
"Starstruck? We've met before," he points out the obvious.
"Did you plan all of this?"
"Plan what? What are you talking about?"
"Fate works in funny ways," I repeat his words, emphasizing each one with a tone of antipathy. I roll my eyes, disappointed with myself that I actually believed his words for a second. "Excuse me," I mutter with defiance as I move out of my seat.
I don't get very far as someone's grasp gently wraps around my wrist. When I turn around, I see that it's Marco, a begging grimace forms on his face.
"Don't leave," he whispers and I look from him to the curly haired boy whose gaze is out the glass window. "You're being really rude leaving like this," Marco adds and I want to retaliate that he, over there, is the one being rude. "Just stay until we're finished eating."
I stay quiet and let Marco drag me back to the table and for the rest of the time, I continue to stay quiet.
By the time Alexis returns, our food also arrives. The lady sets my platter in front of me and instantly, I know I'm not satisfied. They forgot the most important ingredient.
"Excuse me, miss," I say, earning the stares from everyone around me. "Is it that hard to remember to put the main component of the sandwich in it?"
"I'm sorry?" She asks, her tone soft and afraid.
"There's no avocado. How thick headed must they be that they can't remember something so simple? How can someone be so dumb as to not put avocado on a chicken avocado sandwich? Are you trying to mock me? Are you trying to make me into a fool?"
The volume of my voice is escalating quickly. I can feel it. In my veins. I can hear it. My breaths are drawing louder, shorter and I can feel my body shaking a bit.
I know there was no need for the uproar. I know I could have nicely told her that my sandwich was missing it but I didn't. And I almost feel bad for the unnecessary yelling, but I don't. Because I know it wasn't geared towards her. It was geared to the person next to her.
"Elaine," Alexis mumbles my name in slight revulsion. "Calm down. She can just bring it back and fix it," she reassures me smoothly.
"No. What's done is done. I don't want any part of this deceit."
What is going on with me?
How did I lose control of myself?
My friend kindly asks the waitress to correct my order and she quickly obliges. Once she leaves, awkward silence fills the space and I can't handle the shameful tension that I created.
"I need to go," I say to Marco more than anyone else at the table. The words leave my lips so quickly and hushed that I'm not even sure if he heard me.
"Where are you going?" Alexis asks. "We still need to talk about my birthday arrangements tomorrow. I want you to be there."
I ignore her and storm out of that restaurant as fast as I can. I can feel their eyes burning through my back as I rush out the restaurant, avoiding anything I can trip on that would me embarrass me even more.
Relief and a small sense of tranquility washes over the embarrassment in me. The blazing, afternoon sun shining down on my face has never felt so good. Unfortunately, it's not enough to deter me from my thoughts about Harry Styles ... that despicable man.
(I'm sorry this chapter is crap. Home girl doesn't play about her avocado yalls. Next chapter will have some good stuff! For reals. I might even post it up in a bit if I finish! But Elaine has a little bit of a temper...hmmm..)