A Piece of Me

14

Elizabeth's pov

I opened my eyes, stretching as I mocked to wake up. The car was stopped, and I could see the interior car lights turn on through my closed eyelids.

"Good morning sunshine," Sam teased before nodding to Jake, who was still out like I should have been for the past ten minutes.

"Hi," I said, pushing myself off Corey to make Jake sit up.

"What's going on?" Jake asked, sitting up like he had been awake the entire time.

"We're here brother. Get the fuck out," Colby said, opening Jake's door as he spoke.

"The girls have been here for like five minutes now and already got us drinks," Sam said, reading off of his phone.

I slid out through Jake's side of the car, shutting the door instead of making Colby do it, who was ready as soon as I got out of the car.

"Your welcome," I grinned at him, walking beside him as we walked to the front doors of Tendergreens.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked, seeming amused, "You and Jake fell asleep while we were jamming,"

"Pretty good. The ride was a little bumpy so if you could fix that for next time that would be fantastic," I liked messing with Colby, mostly because he seemed to be offended at mostly anything that was said to him.

"Yes, because I will smooth out the roads so there are zero bumps. Just for you," Colby said sarcastically.

"Thanks. Much appreciated," I playfully blew him a kiss, only for him to catch it and put it in his pocket.

"I've never been here before, I don't know what to get," I said as Sam held the doors open for us.

"You haven't even looked at the menu," Colby said as a girl, who I quickly recognized as Kat, waved us to her mostly empty table.

"There's probably too many options," I shrugged, looking at all of the other people's food as we walked by.

"Where is everyone else?" Corey asked, and I looked to see purses hanging on a few chairs but no bodies to tie them to.

"Bathroom. But Devyn's sitting there and Xepher is right there. Elton and Amanda will be here soon," Kat pointed to the two seats next to her, so I followed Colby and sat to his left.

"Isn't Mike coming?" He asked, "I thought he said he might come,"

"Oh, yeah. He'll be here any second I think," Kat sighed as Sam kissed her forehead before taking a seat across from her.

Corey sat across from where Devyn would be, and it seems I must have mentally summoned her because she and another girl, who must be Xepher, came to the table and took their seats.

"Who's this, Colby?" Xepher asked, nodding to me as Jake came to sit down on my other side.

"I'm Liz," I said, deciding to introduce myself, "You're Xepher I'm guessing?"

"Yep, in the flesh," She said before smiling and looking at Colby, "So, how was exploring tonight?"

"It was great," Jake answered for him quickly after taking a sip of his dark colored drink, "There was cool graffiti and furniture everywhere,"

"Huh," Xepher hummed, taking a sip of her own drink, "Colby, did you see anything weird?"

This time, it was Corey who answered for Colby from where he was at the other end of the table, "Liz got trapped in a room and we had to kick down the door to get her out,"

I took one glance at Colby, noticing that his face was as still as a stone yet he was twisting his rings underneath the table.

I reached over and grabbed one of them to pull his hands apart. I didn't understand why everyone was acting weird about them but I didn't want it to be an issue.

"What'd you get to drink?" I asked quietly, nodding to his drink.

"Pepsi. Why, you want some?" His expression told me he was confused, but relieved to have a distraction from Xepher's interrogation.

"No, Coke is better," I said, causing Kat to pause her conversation with Devyn and say, "I didn't know what you wanted Liz so I got you a tea. I hope that's okay,"

"Thank you Kat," I wasn't the hugest fan of tea, even though I loved the taste. It left my mouth feeling dry, as if I needed to keep drinking it, "What should I get to eat?"

I picked up the menu, leaning towards Colby as I thought about different options. I refused to glance up and see Xepher's reaction, making it seem as if I was truly interested in what I wanted to eat.

"What are you in the mood for?" Jake asked before footsteps alerted us that someone was coming to the table. It was two people I didn't recognize, but must be someone everyone knew because they sat down beside and across from Jake.

"Hi guys, how is everyone?" The man, a very hairy guy with a baseball hat, asked.

"Have we met before?" The girl, a beautiful, naturally red-haired girl asked.

"No, I'm Liz," I waved with a smile, and the guy leaned over Jake to introduce himself.

"I'm Elton and that's my girlfriend Amanda," He motioned to her, and something in her eyes let me know that she wasn't all that happy with the term girlfriend.

"Is this the girl you guys were talking about?" Amanda asked, looking down the table at Devyn and Kat.

"Yeah," Kat said, "She's one of Colby's friends,"

"I'll order for you," Jake offered, snapping me back into our food conversation.

"Thanks," I said, setting my menu down with a shrug.

I glanced up at Colby, who was staring at Jake, giving him a silent warning it seemed.

I didn't like the tension that I was swarmed in, between Colby and Xepher and then Jake and Colby it was all too much.

Finally, one more man joined us. It must have been Mike, who sat next to Xepher and across from me.

"Hey, Mike what's up?" Jake asked, reaching over the table to shake his hand. The closer his hand got, the more I got a whiff of cigarette smoke.

He was late because he was smoking. Poor priority choice on his part.

"Who are you?" Mike asked, his head tilted as he smiled, "I feel like I've seen you before,"

"I'm Liz," I mirrored his smile, hoping to make myself look a bit better.

Mike stared at me for a moment before glancing at Colby. Back and forth between us a couple of times before leaning back in his seat, "Cool,"

"Are we ready to order?" A very, very familiar voice asked.

I looked and saw Isaac, in an apron, waiting expectantly at the end of the table.

His eyes flashing recognition, and a smirk appearing on his face.

Shit.