The Clique Effect

Chapter Fifteen: "Tell 'Em That It's My Birthday..."

Celia and I had been inseparable ever since that night when we gave each other everything, except when we had to separate for class, but other than that it was hard not to see me without her by my side, even Jake pointed out saying, "Where's your other half?" when I was caught by my lonesome, but not even five minutes later, Celia was already back bearing in her usual waffles for lunch. So when Nellie proposed a get-together that required going out all night, it took a lot in me to try and convince Celia to go, which she refused and tried telling me that she had a lot of homework to do that day.

While the rest of the group was fighting over who got dibs on the seating arrangement in the car on a two-hour drive, I was leaning against the doorframe of the car with my pods in and talking to Celia on video call. The party was supposedly in the next town over, celebrating Brook's birthday, that the girl couldn't stop shutting her mouth on and about, pestering me and everyone else for the gifts reserved for her. Being the person who'd just became a recent member of the group, I lied and told her that my gift to her would probably come in later, blaming it on the package delivery that somehow got it lost somewhere.

Brook took one for the team and got shotgun—for she played the birthday girl card—Jake's playlist thumped through the speakers, mostly 2000s music that even Seth Cohen and Peyton Sawyer would laugh over his horrible music taste. He danced erotically with his stomach sinking back and forth to that one song about being the sexiest in the world and alerted Nellie to laugh over the dance moves as she pulled her phone up and the click over her phone chimed in.

Nellie leaned over the cupboard between the two front seats. "This person just liked my story. Again. You think there's more to it?" She asked Brook, handing over her phone for Brook to turn around and see.

Brook glanced over Nellie's screen. "Let me see." Brook's scrunched forehead was casted over the rearview mirror, the curls falling against the side of her face bounce around as she moved. "I think it's usually just a like. Doesn't mean anything. Why, do you want it to be something more?"

"No, it's not just that, though." Nellie argued, dodging Brook's initial statement. "They started replying once and we ended up talking all night, literally all night. But you know what, maybe you're right, it probably doesn't mean anything." She stared into her phone as she leaned back in her seat, scowling, brushing her wavy bangs across her ear.

Jake tapped on the steering wheel, humming to the song the whole time during the conversation, but eventually turned around. "Oh no, they replied? Like actually replied?" Nellie only glanced up at him, which urged him to continue on his sentence, pulling up a boyish grin across his features. "Girl, they like you, alright. What more do you need?" He teased her.

Brook was belting to the middle of the song, Demi Lovato's Skyscraper, which was once every emo girl's anthem, completed with their tumblr era. Logan was sandwiched between Nellie and I—snacking on the chips that we'd bought for the trip, stopping a while ago at a local mart before we departed from the city. "How about you, Logan, do you ever have a stalker?" The question came out of nowhere, but ever since that night, I couldn't not tease him about Seth.

Logan shrugged, but everyone's eyes darted around him, waiting for him while he went still and chewed lowly on his chips. "Not that I know of." He waved it off, taking a handful of the seaweed-flavored potato chips. "But you guys will probably be the first to know if I did." He added.

"Okay, enough of this." Nellie held up her finger, clambering over Logan's lap the second time that he threw her a look of disdain, but she barely paid any attention to him and smacked the back of Jake's seat. "Jake, come on, it's my turn. Switch with me on the AUX cord. I have a lot of songs I want to scream on top of my lungs for." She pleaded, batting her eyelashes and looking teary-eyed as if that'd even work on Jake.