Working With The Rockstar - JH

Chapter 22

Liza pov

He called you angel.

He was being nice. It was on a fucking piece of paper.

Still said it in a roundabout way.

I hit my head against the steering wheel, causing the horn to go off and echo through the parking lot. I jumped back slightly and let out a small yelp. Well Finn knows I'm here now.

"Hey Lizzie." They smiled as they appeared a few minutes later.

"Hello Finn." I smiled, waiting for them to get their belt on before driving off.

"Was your guilty conscience really that bad for 'ditching' me that you need to take me out for dinner?" They laughed as we made our way into the main town.

"Ah, you got me." I joked. "Well, that's half the reason. The other half is that I cannot sit there and lie to Travis one more time about how good the food is at Crossroads." I admitted as I turned at the lights.

"You lie so elegantly though. I wonder how you do it." They trailed off to themselves.

"No Finn. You don't need to figure out how I do it, because it's not a good habit to get into." I warned as we pulled up to the restaurant.

"You can't blame me for being curious little Lizzie." He joked as he booped my nose.

"Just because you're taller than me doesn't mean you call me little. I still know how to beat your ass." I threatened as we walked in.

And boy do I regret that.

Almost automatically, I noticed a mop of fluffy hair out of the corner of my eye. He was sat there with a bunch of friends at a table on the right side.

"Hello, how many am I seating today?" Asked the waitress as she looked up from the booking tablet.

"Uh, just two please." Finn smiled at her.

She smiled back at them and grabbed out two menus. My eyes followed her first, watching her look over the room. Because of the time we came in, the restaurant wasn't busy but it wasn't empty either. I watched as her eyes fixed on a two seater booth closer to the back and I let out a short breath of a relief.

"So, what course are you thinking of taking in college?" I asked as they looked over the menu.

"I'd like to ask a better question." They stated.

"Okay go on." I intrigued as I sipped the glass of water.

"Why are you avoiding Jaden?" I almost spat my water back into the cup.

"I-I'm not." I stuttered out.

"Yeah Liza, you are. It was easy to tell. If you aren't avoiding him, then you definitely didn't wanna be seen by him. You watched the waitress like a hawk when she was looking for a place to sit, making sure she didn't sit us near him." They explained, putting the menu down.

"Wow. I'm surprised you saw that considering you were drooling all over her." Their cheeks flushed red as I called them out. "No, but seriously, I'm not avoiding Jaden. I just wanted to hang out with my baby bro without any interruptions." I lied as they nodded.

"Okay. I believe you."

The waitress came back over and we both ordered. She then took away our menus and left us again while we waited for the food.

"So anyway, back to my question: what course of courses are you thinking of doing at college?" I asked again, watching their eyes light up.

"Well, before Sarah and Mike kicked me out, I was looking at the photography and videography courses, but they're all really expensive. Even in some of the cheapest of colleges they're still over five thousand dollars all over." They sighed.

"What's wrong with that? I told you if you want to do it, I'd happily pay. Whatever cost it is, if it makes you happy and you're actually going to apply your knowledge in later life, I'd give my last dime to put you through college." I reiterated as they half rolled their eyes.

"I know that. But I don't want to just be mooching off of you to go to school. It doesn't feel right spending someone else's money, especially at the high amounts like a college can take." They explained.

"Okay, how about we do it this way: I'll pay to put you through college. I'll pay for everything that comes with it, all the equipment you need, all the resources and trips that will come with it. And by the time your years at college come to an end and you fall into money, you can pay me back. That way, you're paying for it all, just in a really long way. I'll note down every expense I pay, and if you still feel guilty or un-right about it, you can pay me back ever dime?" I offered.

It's not going to happen. I'll forget by tomorrow I promised that, even if I planned on it having any form of truth behind it. If it gets them to agree on going to college with my funding I'll happily spin them whatever lie I need to.

"I guess that works. But it's going to take me years to even make a dent in the amount of debt I'll be in." I could them fighting with themselves in their mind.

"Ah, see, that's where you're wrong dear brother. You won't be in a debt to me. Call it an extended loan that has no time limit to be paid back in." I clarified as they nodded.

"Okay, that's great. Thank you."

We both sat there, randomly talking about anything that came to mind while we waited for our food. It wasn't long before it came over and we started eating.

"Do you think Travis lets them do dessert here?" Finn joked as they are more of their pasta.

"That fitness freak? Surprisingly yes, Crossroads does have vegan desserts." I answered as they laughed at my comment.

Both of us continued to eat, me completely ignoring the sort of sneak looks he kept trying to give me from across the room.