Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Fifty-Two

The new sitting arrangements ended up working impressively well. One week and a half in, it felt like they had been eating lunch together for years.

If anyone had asked Carter, eight months before, whether he imagined himself getting along with Bella Santoro, he would have rolled on the floor laughing. Same thing if somebody told him his dorky AP Calculus partner would be switching lunch foods with his loud-mouthed teammate, every day. Or if someone suggested Jenna Torres would be accepting the challenge from one of the debate club girls to try out volunteering at an animal shelter, without Melanie forcing her. Or if anyone warned him his boyfriend would develop inside jokes about him with his best friend.

None of it made sense in theory. But in practice, it felt too perfect to doubt. All the reasons that seemed to promise this group wouldn't be compatible appeared to be exactly what made it work so smoothly.

Of course, smoothly didn't mean without a hitch.

"For the love of God," Jenna huffed, dropping her fork. "Will you two please stop being all couple-y, right in front of my salad?"

Bella scoffed, pulling away from Seth. They had been whispering in each other's ears, leaning really close, for the past ten minutes. 

"We are not being couple-y," Bella shot back, defensively.

Jenna smiled cynically. "The stench of your lovey-doveyness is getting on my hair."

"Someone's pissed because she got broken up with," Joey mused aloud, over a helping of tater tots he was sharing with Roy.

Jenna glared at him, grabbing her fork tightly. "Are you asking me to stab you in the eye with this fork?"

"Aren't you supposed to try to be nicer?" Joey exclaimed.

"Aren't you supposed to try to be less stupid?" Jenna clapped back.

Joey huffed, flailing his arms in outrage. "How is this not bullying?" He asked the rest of the table.

"You should just know better by now, dude," Seth said.

"How is this my fault?" Joey screeched. "Do not blame the victim. Never blame the victim. Johnny boy, back me up here!"

Johnny raised his eyebrows. "She's clearly in a bad mood," he reasoned. "You enticed the beast."

Jenna nodded. "Which was a really dumb move."

"Have you considered Pilates?" Lauren chimed in, softly. "My sister started taking me to a new place and it does wonders to the soul. Your soul could use some wonders."

Jenna scrunched up her face. "My mom does hot yoga. It's all middle-aged women sweating away in a room, throwing thirsty looks at a guy just old enough to be their son."

"I promise there's no high temperatures in this place," Lauren assured her. "And the instructor is a woman."

Jenna's attention spiked lightly. "She hot? I could use a rebound."

Johnny snorted, shaking his head. "I aspire to that level of confidence," he mused.

"Please." Jenna rolled her eyes, flicking a lock of coal-black hair over her shoulder. "You don't need confidence when you already scored the ultimate boy toy."

"Hey," Carter complained.

Johnny smiled, laying a hand on his shoulder. "No, champ. That was definitely a compliment," he said.

"Bella has an invitation to make," Seth declared loudly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the back of Bella's hand collided with his chest harshly. He laughed through it, but still rubbed a hand over the afflicted area.