The Beginning of The End

Chapter 18 - The Friends

THE FRIENDS

Two days after arriving back at Headquarters, Carlie seemed to really be fitting in well. She got along great with Johnny, and Johnny obviously really liked her back...now all Luke had to do was introduce her to his other friends. That should be fun...

Carlie hadn't been out of their apartment for two days. She hasn't seen the way the place is run, or how to act around certain people, so Johnny and Luke were trying to explain to her who she can unleash her attitude on and who she could never even mutter a bad thing about.

"So this girl, what's her name, is like, not nice?" Carlie questioned. They were all sitting at the dining table, waiting to go downstairs to get breakfast and sit with Luke and Johnny's friends.

"Yeah, so don't tick her off, okay? Like, don't look at her weird or talk back or anything that gives her a chance to get you."

The boys were trying to describe a girl named Mia Jenkins. She sat at their table and was a complete pain in the butt, but they were forced to let her stay there because of the hold her mother had on the whole Headquarters. If Mia said a single bad thing about anyone, they'd be out before they could even deny what she had accused them of. Nobody wanted to take the risk of being kicked out, so they put up with her snobby remarks and complaints quietly every single day.

"Then why do you sit with her if she's such a jerk?"

Luke glanced at Johnny. "Well, her mom is kind of the head of Headquarters...and if her daughter says anything bad about any one of us, we can be kicked out very easily."

"Oh, well, who else is there?"

Johnny and Luke both stood up. Carlie followed, grabbing her crutches.

"How about you just see for yourself. The rest of them are actually nice, so you don't have to be warned to be decent to them." Johnny opened the door. "After you, my lady."

Carlie rolled her eyes and stepped through the doorway. "I'm decent around everyone."

"I bet," Johnny laughed, earning him a slap to the shoulder.

"Okay! Okay! You're decent to everyone!" He held his hands up in mock surrender. "Fine!"

They made their way down to the cafeteria. It took them a little bit because of Carlie's small panic attack in the elevator, but they finally made it. Luke had been quiet for most of the time, and unfortunately for him, Johnny noticed.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing," he lied.

Johnny tried to read his face, but eventually sighed. "Just let me know if you want to talk."

Luke nodded and they both turned into the cafeteria. Carlie was behind them and gasped when she saw the huge room. It was normal for Luke and Johnny, but to her it was probably like a castle dining hall.

"It's huge!" she exclaimed, mouth gaping open.

Johnny stepped up to her and gently lifted her chin back up to her upper lip. He smirked. "Catching flies? If not, then it sure looks like it."

She made a face at him. "Catching girls? If so, it sure doesn't look like it."

"Oof, harsh, Mystery Girl."

"Uh, still keeping that nickname, Johnny Boy?"

"Yeah, you keeping that one?"

"Shut up you two," Luke rolled his eyes and scanned the room for their friends. A hand waved to them, bringing his attention to that area. "Found them."