chapter 23

Everyone sat quietly, no one addressed the elephant in the room which was why Hunter and I were here together instead of at school.

Ashton looked like he was going to burst into laughter anytime, Sierra was blushing at whatever thoughts and theories she had come up with. 

Dylan looked like he was trying to solve a math problem, and Hunter just looked like he was tired of the silence.

"So…"

"Is anyone going to talk,"

"We've been trying to reach you …"

"Are you two dating?" We all seemed to have the courage to speak at the same time but what stood out the most was Sierra's question, maybe because it was the last to be said or because it was on all their minds I wasn't sure. 

"Yeah, how come you're here together and none of us could reach you the whole day?" Aston questioned further. 

"Because we wanted to ditch school," Hunter replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"I wasn't having a great morning and Hunter just felt like ditching, it sort of made sense to hung out," I rectified 

"Why were you two together early in the morning, wait you didn't come home last night, did you not come back after your practice?" Dylan asked and I went red, this was not helping our case. 

"It was raining dumbass, how was I supposed to come back," Hunter replied 

"So you slept over at Lia, correct? Hence why you were together. ." 

"Okay enough you guys Hunter and I are not together, we are not dating, nothing is going on, just please... Please stop with the questions," I cut Ashton off and he held his hands up in surrender, Sierra giggled and I narrowed my eyes at her to which she whispered sorry and had a sip of my drink. 

Reiny came back with their drinks and informed us all our food will be ready in a few which I was thankful for because truth be told i  was starving and am hardly a good person when I am hungry. 

Dylan was telling this story about some party he attended when he was a freshman that had the table cracking, the earlier tension long forgotten and we all settled into desultory conversations and easy laughs.

Our food arrived and I couldn't have been happier, I took a bite and my mouth sort of had an orgasmic experience, how could something as basic as fries taste so dissimilar. The burger was a whole other story, what the hell does Reiny put in these things. 

"I feel like I've eaten a burger for the first time Oh my God," Dylan said and I nodded in agreement. 

"This is heavenly, I swear to God," I replied and Ashton smirked at Dylan and Sierra, "I told you guys it was nothing like you've ever tasted," 

"I believe you now," Sierra replied but because her mouth was full it sounded something like "hubbyyouna" making me laugh. 

My eyes dashed to Hunter he was quietly devouring his food a bit of cheese got caught on the corner of his mouth and the urge to reach forward and wipe it away was so strong I had to ball my fists, I hadn't even realised that his eye were on me with a questioning look on his face, my heart beat speed up. 

"You have cheese on your face," I answered my voice betraying me and coming out shaky, he sat upright and whipped it off, his eyes never leaving mine making it all the more awkward. 

"Is it off?" He asked and I nodded suddenly not so trusting of my own voice then someone cleared their throat and I blushed when I realised three pairs of eyes were watching us, a knowing smirk visible on all their faces.

"Anyway, as I was saying…." Dylan started again with a stupid smile on his face and a wink to me making me frown, i was definitely going to be interrogated later. 

Reiny came back and collected our plates with a huge smile talking about how happy customers with good appetites made her, referring to the fact that none of us had  left a single fry on our plates.

My smile got even bigger when I heard Peter Frampton show me the way, playing in the background. Ashton must love it as well because he asked Reiny to turn it up.

Then he started singing along and dancing next to our table looking absolutely ridiculous but we clapped and cheered him on and as the second chorus approached, Hunter joined him in his efforts to completely ridicule himself. Dylan soon joined in and Sierra recorded the three boys going crazy on their make believe stage. 

They went as far as voicing the instrumentals. Ashton was on the floor playing his imaginary guitar, the whole scene was extremely bizarro and I watched it heartily, trying to embed the moment in my head forever because it was just that beautiful, they were all beautiful.