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five • espresso

☂ five: espresso

And so, Carter and I began our bet. I decided to be passive and not make the first move. It was strategic - I wanted him to come after me first so I could get a sense of the game he was playing. I expected him to have an obvious approach and throw loads of charm at me, but his approach was quite different than I predicted. He actually avoided me for a few days. Weird. However, he pulled off oddly well, considering we lived in the same house. Finally, he made his first attempt of interaction one day at lunch.

---

"That was the hardest psychology test ever," Cameron groaned as we placed our lunch trays down on the table.

"Tell me about it," I agreed.

Emily plopped down on the bench. "I'm going to drown my sorrows in French fries," she said, shoving a handful of the greasy morsels in her mouth.

"I hear you. Give me some?" She tossed me a few on top of my bland turkey sandwich. Delicious.

"Hey, look who's coming over." Cam gestured at the tall, approaching body of the one and only Carter Daniels.

"Try not to swoon this time, Em," I teased.

"Hey! That was one time," she complained. "But you can't deny it, that boy's so hot, he should come with a fire extinguisher." She fanned herself dramatically.

"Is it hotter over here or something?" Carter raised a brow, eyeing Emily's vigorous fanning.

Emily turned bright red but quickly composed herself. "Only because I'm here," she said, flipping her hair.

I snorted. "That was terrible."

She simply rolled her eyes at me and stuck out her tongue.

I turned to Carter. "So are you going to stand there all day or..?"

"Am I allowed to sit here and bask in your greatness?" he asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up and sit down, pretty boy."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Hm, never mind, I take it back. Your afternoon shadow is really killing the pretty factor."

"Ouch, I'm hurt." He placed a hand over his heart.

"Get used to it," Cameron said. "Our dear Kennedy here is painfully blunt. One time, when she was tutoring me, she got so frustrated that she told me if stupidity were a drop of water, I'd be the Pacific Ocean."

"I feel your pain, my friend. I feel your pain," Carter sympathized.

These two were enjoying this too much.

"So why are you here?" Emily asked.

So straightforward. I taught her well.

"Well, I just wanted to hang out with you guys. I am new here, after all."

Liar.

"Are you sure your army of bimbos won't mind?" I said, gesturing to a table where some of Carter's past flings were seated.

"They don't care about me unless it has to do with my body. Don't worry, there's plenty of me for you," he smirked.

"Great," I dragged out. "Because that's exactly what I want. It's not enough to see you at home, I have to talk to you at school too."

"Exactly!" Carter said, either not picking up on my sarcasm or choosing to ignore it.

The bell rang and I noticed that Cameron and Emily had already thrown away their trays while Carter and I were bickering.