My Savior | First Love Series

Chapter 27

"Whipped cream, double whipped cream, triple whipped cream, what comes after that?" Madaline yells as I approach our lunch table.

"Quadruple?" Julie wonders, her painted nails shimmering in the cafeteria light as she holds up four fingers.

"Quadruple whipped cream," Madaline sings in Scarlette's face.

I slow my steps until I'm at the table, looking at my group of friends with nothing but confusion. Scarlette rolls her eyes at Madaline's antics, her eyes sliding over to me soon after- a smile sliding its way on her face. I smile shyly at her when she scoots over and takes my tray from me, allowing me to sit down.

Madaline coos at this, her whispers turning to Jackson and Julie. Something about a bet makes it way to my ears, but I ignore it as Scarlette leans on her arm with her gaze focused on me. It made me nervous before, and that nervousness apparently never went away. I guess being in a relationship doesn't change that.

"Hi," I say, after a while of Scarlette looking at me.

"Hey," she answers back just as quickly.

I don't know what to say after that, so I slide over my tray to let her have my fries. Scarlette laughs quietly before running her free hand over my cheek, stopping at my dimples, then going to grab at my fries. My cheeks turn their familiar shade of pink as I dip my face down into my shoulder.

"How were your classes?" she asks, going to grab at my hand instead, leaning up to use her other hand to eat her food and some of mine.

"They were okay. A lot of notes," I complain while interlocking our fingers. "How were yours?"

"Boring as shitaki mushrooms," she tries to save herself at the end, knowing I'd say something about it. I laugh, making her grin at me before continuing her sentence. "I'm probably a genius in zoology from the fucking hours long lessons."

I shake my head, causing her to sheepishly smile at me. Scarlette mutters an exaggerated sorry which got her a 'whipped' from Madaline's side. I'm tempted to tease her, and hint at something going on between her and Jackson, but I don't want to get punched into the ground. She'd try it until she got tired or satisfied with the amount of hits she got on me. Plus, she's already been on edge because of Jackson not making any sudden moves. Me saying something would make things a lot more awkward.

Madaline glances at me, while squinting her eyes, like she knows what's going through my mind at the moment. I give her an innocent smile that she returns in an instant. I'm about to turn back to Scarlette when Julie taps on my shoulder. I'm met with a tiny but kind smile as I face her. I give one back and she leans in to talk to me. Her voice can be quiet sometimes- especially in our cafeteria.

"Hi, Nolan" she says, with a wave.

"Hey, Julie" I give her my own little wave.

"How are you?"

"I'm good," I answer, while moving to completely face her. Scarlette complains from behind me about how I let her hand go, causing me to shake my head for a second time with a smile worming its way onto my lips. I put my hand on the table for her to grab, quickly quieting her protests.

Julie glances at our hands, smiling to herself before looking back at me. "You're doing good at this relationship thing."

"Am I?" I ask, surprisingly and hopefully, "I'm really new to this."

Julie nods, and we jump into conversation quickly after that. We talk about how her mom is planning to sign her up for summer camp. It sounds bad if it was without her permission, but Julie seems excited to be a camp counselor. Madaline decides to join in at the time, putting on her best theatre skills, crying about how we'll miss her. I agree, telling her the group would miss her the entire time. That gets us a rising blush and a huge smile.