"Why's he here?" asked Noah, when Connor entered Shakelicious. It was Sunday afternoon, hang time for all my friends and to celebrate Lauren and Esme's acceptance into the school dance team.
"Oh, I invited him. Thought he could check out the shop," I simply responded. Connor waved and took a seat next to me.
"Hey Connor!" Esme said, immediately brightening up. She turned her phone off and grinned at him, like he was a magnet for smiles.
He nodded once at her respectfully and then smiled at all of us, ending at me. "You look great."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Esme. Part of me thought (or hoped) that he actually meant that for me, but when Noah placed our milkshakes on the table, I let it go.
"Did you add something else in here?" I asked Noah, after I took a few sips from my Heavenly Happy milkshake. It was supposedly a combination of vanilla and cookie dough ice cream, with milk, and a bit of caramel cupcakes mixed into it.
Noah chuckled, "I added some cheesecake bits, knowing you like cheesecake."
"Ooh, really?" I beamed, as I took another sip. "It tastes really good."
"Better than the ones in New York?" Connor piped up.
"Hmm," I mumbled quickly, not wanting to offend anyone.
After Lauren finished serving a customer, she rushed over to us. I gasped when I noticed her wearing Noah's birthday gift. The zipup and the sweats.
"Fit check!" she laughed, posing with one leg in the air and a hand holding a milkshake.
"Cute, as always," Sasha smiled, snapping photos of her.
Esme looked over. "Might need to post those."
Lauren rolled her eyes in a teasing way. "You know I'm not into posting on Instagram like you guys. But yes, I know I'm cute." We all laughed in unison.
Suddenly, a girl came into the shop. I was pretty sure she was in our grade.
"Emmie!" waved Lauren.
The girl (Emmie) smiled back and walked up to the counter to order.
"Who's she?" I wanted to know.
"Member of the dance team," Esme whispered back.
I watched as Lauren went up to have a long conversation while she served her. She seemed more comfortable with meeting new people nowadays, being out of the shadow McCallisters (like me) created. I was happy for her, of course. But everytime she made a new friend or got into something new, at that moment it didn't just feel like she was just leaving the table, but leaving us.
YOU ARE READING
Jealousy, Jealousy (Part 2)
General FictionWith her New York City friend Connor in town, Amelia's life just gets more confusing. She's now caught between him and her former crush Noah. When Lauren tries something new, dance club, she finds herself tangled in a mystery. Someone is sending her...
