what are the odds? | j. martell

seventeen

UNFORTUNATELY, AUDREY AND WYATT WEREN'T able to see each other after lauren's birthday because wyatt was six hours away, working on some project that no one really knows about. the rest of the group would frequently talk to him in the group chat, and they were trying to convince audrey to just message him about the misunderstanding, but she figured she had to tell him in person.

it was two weeks after lauren's birthday and the play was today and the school's winter formal was a few weeks away too. jaeden came over more than usual to 'hang out with justin' but he'd actually just play video games with him for thirty minutes then slip away because he'd spend an hour or two talking to lauren.

things were weird between them after their almost kiss, not in an awkward way surprisingly. they were closer, much closer. there was this tension between them that was building up and it wasn't platonic. did they acknowledge? no. they wouldn't dare to, at least not yet.

did lucas care? he hasn't realized it yet surprisingly, he's been pretty occupied. he still made it a point to talk to lauren everyday though, not as much as but neither of them noticed.

it was the day of the play, and beth made sure to invite all their new friends to watch even though justin said that he didn't want a bunch of professional actors to watch him act.

"i just don't think they should watch! i mean, if they see how good i am, they're gonna wanna quit their jobs" justin stated arrogantly, stealing a french fry from lauren's plate before popping it in his mouth

lauren, lucas, justin, audrey, beth, and jill were gathered in their usual spot in the cafeteria. most of the time, they were with wyatt but he wasn't there today.

"ew shut up. don't you have friends your own age? why are you always sitting with us you're a senior" lauren snickered, rolling her eyes at her brother before scoffing

"hey i'm a senior!"

"not you jill, we adore you"

"so beth, who'd you invite to watch?" audrey then chimed in, propping her elbows up on the table before placing her head on her palm

"jaeden, chosen, sophia, and finn. not sure if wyatt can make it, but the rest are coming!" beth exclaimed excitedly, scrolling through her phone

"i invited bella to watch too" lucas then spoke up causing lauren to furrow her eyebrows. bella was amazing, she was funny, smart, and hella gorgeous, but lauren didn't like her.

and surprisingly, she could care less about lucas and bella spending time together because they have their tennis lessons together or whatever, she was more upset about the fact that she was pretty close to jaeden too. she never really bothered when lucas would bring her up but every time jaeden did she wanted to rip her head off.

thing is, they probably would be better friends if she wasn't so jealous of her, they watched the same shows, had very similar music tastes. but every time she thought of the possibility of bella and jaeden she wanted to run someone over with a bus.

"aw yay! i love bella!" beth chirped, scrunching her nose up before taking a sip of her water

"who doesn't love bella" lauren muttered under under her breath, fighting the urge to roll her eyes as she picked on her salad

"say something love?"

"what? no i wasn't sorry lucas" replied the blonde, waving her hand in dismissal.

unfortunately justin saw right through her, he raised an eyebrow at her before narrowing his eyes at her. lauren simply shook her head in response, telling him it was no big deal before taking a bite out of her salad.