Wicked Heart Beat - A Listen To Your Heart Book

A Turn of Events

"I can't believe we won regionals!" Doug said ecstatically. He grabbed another slice of pizza and high fived Carlos.

Doug, Carlos, Lonnie, Evie , and Jane were celebrating their decathlon victory with pizza at Tiana's Place. It had turned into a major franchise all over the world, with Cajun style everything. Her Cajun pizzeria was to die for.

"You know, we have Carlos to thank," Lonnie said. Carlos blushed.

"Aww. That's sweet. But I can't take all the credit. You guys made it to regionals ok on your own." Carlos said.

"Yeah. Barely," Evie laughed. "You're our secret weapon."

"Yeah," Doug agreed. "Who would've guessed we would have a sudden death round with the topic being robotics? If it wasn't for you, we would've never won."

A round of cheers followed. Carlos blushed harder and focused on his pizza. Tiana sure did make a mean pizza. But soon his attention turned to Jane who had barely eaten or talked all night. He noticed she was a little off at the decathlon, too. She even got a question wrong. And she never gets anything wrong. He wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Hey, Jane, everything okay?" Evie asked.

Jane seemed to be really out of it because she snapped her head up when Evie spoke to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess. Mom's had me do a lot of paperwork for her. And homework for Mr. Teranstein is killer."

"Tell me about it," Carlos chuckled. "But you're not hungry either? You barely nibbled your pizza."

"I'm not hungry. I'll grab a bite at home. Pizza is just a little too greasy for me," Jane said.

"Aww, come on Jane. Today can be our cheat day," Lonnie giggled.

"No thank you," Jane declined politely. "You guys enjoy yourself. I have to get going. I have a curfew."

"But it's Saturday!" Doug said.

"Still," Jane smiled. "You know how my mom is about curfews." That earned a laugh from the group. She quietly slipped out of the restaurant with Carlos watching her every move. It might sound crazy, but he thought she looked very thin and small.

"So..Carlos," Doug smirked. "When are you gonna ask Jane out?"

Carlos was snapped out of his reverie. His eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What?!?"

"Yeah," Lonnie agreed. "When you gonna stop being a pansy and ask her out, like a real man."

"I'm a man!"

"Sure," Evie smirked.

"I am!"

"Then ask Jane out," Evie said matter of factly.

"No!"

"Why not?" Doug asked.

"Because I don't like her like that," Carlos said defensively.

"Sure you don't," Lonnie smirked.

The three older teens burst into laughter while a pouting Carlos ate his pizza in silence. He eventually joined in on their laughter. The teens just enjoyed the rest of their evening, even Carlos, who was still worrying about Jane.
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"They took me shopping!" Mal complained on the phone with her boyfriend. Ben laughed on the other line. "It's not funny!"