"Jamie, I forgot to ask you," Mark leads in "how do you feel about the latest bankruptcy?" He likes laughing at the pain of others. He also likes helping other people laugh at the pain of others. My friends have such great character.
"How do you want me to feel? How do you think I feel?" I force out a laugh. "I'm happy."
Noah makes a sound of disgust "You guys aren't even thinking about poor Kyle." Oh that's what his first name was!
"Who cares?" Leo asks and I agree, though we have different reasons for our disdain for Kyle Fletcher.
Kyle replaced Leo after he got kicked off of our school's football team last year. Apparently Leo wasn't good at 'teamwork' nor 'keeping his hands to himself'. Long story short he picked a few too many fights with the other players, some from opposing teams. Anyway, he's been holding a grudge ever since.
I, on the other hand, hate Kyle because his last name is Fletcher. Petty? I don't give a fuck.
"He's probably going to get bullied a lot." Noah sympathizes, continuing to be the only one who cares.
"Oh, just wait until the Lee High kids come in. Our peers will have a riot. They'll actually have people different enough from them to pick on." Mark says.
"Yeah, can we talk about how the Lee high schoolers are going to be infecting our school in less than a week?" I ask.
"Ew don't remind me." Leo tries to make a disgusted face but ends up just looking adorable. "We have to come up with a name for them. Leemurs?"
"No that's too cute."
"Leeches?" Leo asks. "Yeah, leeches because they make our school suck!"
"Wow brilliant." Mark tells him, staying heavy on the sarcasm.
waitress comes by presumably to take or orders. "Hello, I'm Charlotte and I'll be your waitress for today. What would you all like to drink?"
"I'll order for Cameron since he's not here." Noah says reminding us all that our friend is out with some side chick.
Actually everyone that he 'dates' is a side chick. He doesn't have enough commitment in anyone to let them be otherwise. For most girls it's their own clingy-ness that promotes them higher. But even then the devotion is one sided.
"That'll be two Iced Caramel Macchiattos with extra caramel and extra, extra whipped cream." Noah says, already hyper.
"I'll just have a Chai Tea Latte." Leo says. He's been believing that coffee makes you short for the longest, yet he still hasn't even grown a centimeter since the ninth grade.
"I'll have-"
"Wait, you look so familiar!" The waitress, I've already forgotten her irrelevant name, cuts Mark off- to say something to me. Sigh. "That's right you're Jamie Wellsworth! I almost didn't recognize you, but luckily I remembered hearing on the news that you dyed your hair." She rambles on.
I give her a half smile, trying not to seem as rude to her as she seems to Mark, who's currently cutting her a deadly glare. "Yeah can you-"
"Can I have your autograph. I'm a huge fan"
She's a huge fan yet she barely recognized me, and she just cut me off. Sigh, again.
"Sorry I don't give out autographs anymore, but I'd like an espresso and my friend here would like one as well." I say casually bringing back relevancy. I even cock my head towards Mark's direction to get her to remember that this is a Starbucks not a fan signing event.
"Oh sorry." She says bowing slightly before jotting something down on her tiny notepad. "Anything else?"
"No." Mark responds so quickly he almost cuts her off.
She bows before apologizing again and walking away.
It's silent for a few seconds, because we don't have Cameron here to ramble the awkwardness away.
Leo, the pessimist, comes in to save the day. "At least she wasn't a crazy stalker fan."
He's right but, "Speaking of crazy stalker fans, what do you think of the new girl?"
"Meh." Leo mumbles indifferently.
Noah seems strangely offended by my comment. "Hey, don't call Rosey that!"
Mark scoffs at the cheesy pet name for the girl we met half a week ago.
"Besides it's not her fault that she has to hang around us." Noah continues.
"You're right, it's not. She just hasn't realized that she's being forced into all of this yet." Mark welcomes the awkward silence that slowly creeps over us again. It gives us time to think but not speak.
Each of us have the same thing on our minds. Who's forcing Rosalina to be in this group. Who's forcing all of us to carry out these bucket list wishes every week day. Even in death, Ella.
**7 months ago**
"I just wanted to see you naked."
Through the mirror I see Ella staring at the pill bottle in my hand. "I wasn't expecting this at all." She walks over to me before taking the small child-proof container and reading it. There's really no point in stopping her.
"'Take once a day for ADHD'? Wow Jamie, Jamie Wellsworth." She says emphasizing my last name. "I never thought someone as perfect as you would be taking something like this. I mean, if it were any other person it'd be fine but, you? This could make headlines." A sly smirk creeps onto her face.
"It's either you actually do have ADHD and you've been taking these for medical reasons or, you're a substance abusing drugie who get's a kick out of prescription meds. I think they're both equally hard to believe. But.." She turns the bottle around. "It has your name on it! This is just great, you're a real freak!"She bemuses and the smirk on her face widens.
"Ella-"
"What? Are you going to ask me not to blackmail you?"
"No, I was going to tell you to get out of my house."
"Or what?" She folds her arms over her chest still holding onto the pill bottle.
"Or I'll have someone escort you out." I bluff knowing the guys are downstairs. I don't want to make a scene in front of them especially with Ella.
"I don't believe you but, fine. I'll give you some privacy." She sets the bottle back down on the marble counter top before sashaying out of the room. I walk over and close the door, lock it, and then slide down until my fingertips are gracing the, especially cold today, white tile. Someone found out. She found out.
Shit.
**Present Day**
"Will this be all?" The waitress, whatever her name was, asks for the fifth time. She pulls me back to present time as she places the steaming beverage directly in front of me.
"That's it." I say handing her my card.
"Oh, don't worry it's on the house." She says with a giant smile.
I shrug. Twenty dollars isn't going to make a difference to my life in any way, shape or form. With her being a fan and all, I'd expect her to at least know that much.
Just when I think she's going to say something along the lines of 'Have a nice day!' or 'Enjoy the rest of your meal!' and then leave. She persists. "Can I at least have a picture?"
"This is going to be a long day." Leo says before signing loudly.
"Sure, you can have a picture!" Noah says after gulping down the last of his coffee. He moves onto ''Cameron's " drink without hesitation. " Do you wanna take it sitting down?" He asks with a mouth full of whipped cream. "Or standing up?" He's out of his seat now. "Here?" He's suddenly across the cafe. "Or here?"
"I was actually thinking about taking a picture with bae-I mean Jamie."
"So you're saying I'm not good enough for you!" Noah's back at the table.
"This is really going to be a long day." Mark says.
"So...Jamie can I please, please have a picture?"
"Sorry, I can't." I say truthfully. My father made me stop giving out autographs and pictures. He also banned the acceptance of fan gifts, which sucks because food. He hates the way I'm treated more like a pop star than a businesses man and quite frankly, I do too.
"Please"
"Can you just leave us the fuck alone." Mark says banging a hand onto the table and making everyone jump.
What's her face walks away looking humiliated and ready cry. Seconds later I hear a 'click' sound from behind the counter.
Once we all finish our drinks and exit the quaint cafe, Rosalina pt.2, my new nickname for annoyances, takes yet another obvious and off guard picture of me.
"Since when did Starbucks have waitresses like that?" Leo says pushing his hands into his pockets.
"Don't know but she was so rude!" Noah says pouting.
●●●
Patricia isn't the one to greet me as I enter my home. Robin is.
"Hey Jay, how was school? Do you need me to help you with any homework?"
The imagination is a powerful thing.
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Author's Note: Robin Wellsworth's picture! He's played by the lovely Myungsoo yes yes yes. There's also a song over there--> Thank you for all of the support towards this story it motivates me and it really really means a lot! Chu~