The Plan (Troyler AU)

Standing Up For Ember

The next day at lunch, while I was heading outside, I was stopped by Tanya and Jim.

“Hey Ember! Are you coming to sit with us at lunch?” Tanya said, wrapping her arm around Jim’s.

“Well actually, I normally eat outside, on the bleachers...” I mumbled, not sure whether or not to join them.

“Oh come on Ember, sit with us! And if you don’t, chances are Tyler will go outside and sit with you. He seems quite attached to you.” Jim insisted.

I wrinkled my nose. The school cafeteria is a disgusting mess. The food is usually a mysterious mix of meat, that tastes and smells of plastic. It’s always incredibly crowded, students yelling and singing and laughing with their friends. The cacophonous noise is not the only reason I avoid this place- I don’t want to see the stereotype this high school has become.

But, I want to keep the friends I’ve made so far. They are a rarity, and if they want me to sit with them, then I think that it’d be best if I sit with them so that I don’t lose them.

I reluctantly nod, biting my lip and changing courses to walk with the adorable couple. It can’t be that bad, can it?

I make it about halfway across the cafeteria, stumbling along after Tan and Jim again, before I run directly into trouble. And by trouble, I mean Roxie Salbray. Five feet and eleven inches of straight up bitch.

Roxie Salbray was head cheerleader, on again off again girlfriend of Jack Blakeman. Her deceptively pretty face and cold onyx colored eyes were famous for being traumatizing, and if you got on her bad side you should probably move to the nearest country to escape her wrath. She could make a girl cry with three words, and every male hormone in the school basically worshipped her.

And I had just smashed her Caesar salad into her nose job, apparently.

She gasped, taking several steps back as if that would make the salad dressing in her hair extensions dissipate. “I cannot believe you!” She squealed loudly, and the sudden silence in the cafeteria was overwhelming. “What the hell is wrong with you? This is designer!” She practically wailed, trying to swipe the mess off of her top, only succeeding in smearing it around more. Seeing that it was doing no help, she looked up, her eyes locked with mine threateningly. “You- you bitch! This is all your fault! This is why scum like you should stay out of my way! Why can’t you just go be gross somewhere else? You don’t belong here. It’d be a hell of a lot easier on all of us if you just disappeared.” I stood there, eyes wide, paralyzed with the force of the insults she was hurling at me. Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder, and I turned, seeing that it belonged to Tyler. He was glaring at Roxie, and opening his mouth to retort, most likely.

Disappear, disappear, disappear, I should just disappear. The words rotated around my mind, getting louder and louder. I need to disappear. Everybody would be happier if I just disappeared.

I tore away from Tyler, darting along the tables of the cafeteria, the tears pressing against the backs of my eyes. I ran outside, racing under the bleachers. Huddling as close to the ground as I could, I shut my eyes, trying to get Roxie’s voice out of my head.

I don’t know how long I sat there before I felt a presence beside me, heard someone bend down to face level. A heavy hand fell on my shoulder, and the soft scent of fabric softener and vanilla filled my nostrils. “Go away Tyler.” I groaned, not lifting my head because I could feel my makeup dripping down my face onto the knees of my jeans.

“I’m not Tyler.” A gentle accent replied, and I glanced up in surprise to see Troye there.

“Troye? What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you’re okay. Tyler’s a little occupied in there, verbally kicking Roxie’s ass for you.”

I managed a chuckle, picturing the scene. “But seriously, why are you out here?”

He rolled his eyes. “You do realize that not all us men are evil, right? And that I am capable of choosing a side that everybody else is too chicken to take?”

“Does Jack know that you’re comforting the girl who his girlfriend called scum?”

“Look, Em.” I smiled a little bit at his nickname, even though he barely knew me. He seemed to not even have realized it slipped out, continuing on with his statement. “Roxie is a full-on bitch. You are not scum. You do not need to disappear. You are a beautiful girl who could probably beat Roxie any day in a fistfight, not that I advise that way of settling things. She’s irrelevant. And just because my friends like her, that doesn’t mean I do too.”

We sat there for a while, in a slightly awkward silence. I felt soothed by Troye’s words, even though we barely knew each other. Eventually, I heard the crunch of feet on gravel, and knew someone else was approaching. Glancing up, I saw Tyler’s figure before us.

I stood up, giving Tyler a huge hug. “Thank you.” I murmured into his shoulder, as Troye awkwardly cleared his throat behind me.

“Alright Ember, I should probably get going, I don’t want to miss all of lunch. Remember what I said, okay?” He clumsily patted me on the back and basically ran off, although I didn’t miss his face flushing a bit pink for some reason.

Tyler stared in confusion after him. “What was Troye Mellet doing down here?”

“Well, he was making sure I was okay and giving me some pretty good advice.”

“Weird...” Tyler murmured, his eyes still on the path that Troye had run down.

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OH MY GOSH GUYS I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HIT 50 READS THIS IS SO AMAZING I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! This chapter is dedicated to friendlyturkey, because a) her story is amazing and b) she was the first of two to comment/vote on all my chapters and it really meant a lot! Okay so now Troye is in the mixture, and Roxie Salbray is after Ember... Mwahahaha! Also I really wasn't feeling motivated to write but TYLER LIKED MY POST ON TUMBLR AND I WAS LIKE OH HELLO I'M AWAKE OKAY HI THERE TYLER WELCOME TO MY TUMBLR PAGE

Anyways babes I'm rambling so see you tomorrow squish nuggets! 

-Elle xx