Lucas ✔️

Twenty-Nine

Brunch was going as well as I expected: horribly.

The café Janie chose was one of her favourites, apart from our usual, one she visited often with her perfect mother and perfect father, looking like the perfect family. White, circular tables covered in gaudy lace doilies and colourful fine china sat throughout the room, all equally spaced. Tea cakes and quiches were being served in bite-sized pieces and I shuffled uncomfortably under the intense gazes of those around me.

I sipped from my coffee lightly, glaring at Janie over the rim as she smirked at me, wholly understanding how uncomfortable I was in the light and airy room. Floor to ceiling windows to our right opened up to a bright green hill that rolled away from us, with planters filled with colourful flowers edging the room.

"See this isn't so bad, right?" Janie's eyes told me she knew exactly what I thought about our scenario, so I glared at her.

"You're lucky these quiches are good," I hissed, popping one in my mouth as I finished and brushing my fingers on the arm of my long-sleeved, pastel pink cardigan Janie had found buried god-knows-where in my cupboard. She had paired it with an equally horrific white skirt that fell loosely to my knees and a set of ballet flats. It was way too last years' Lilith for my liking, but I must admit my usual getup of dirty jeans and crumbled hoodies wouldn't have worked here.

My stomach grumbled in protest to the food I was stuffing in it, but Janie's hawk-like eyes were analysing my every move, watching how many calories I shoved down my throat. I could almost see the numbers ticking over in her head, a horrible side-effect from too many calorie-restricting diets she has undertaken with her mother. Not that she ever really needed them. I always figured it was a mother-daughter bonding ritual for those in the upper-middle class or higher categories.

"They are good, aren't they?" she hummed in reply, grabbing another one for herself and eating it in two-bites, even though it was small enough for one.

"Is there any particular reason we had to come here of all places, and not just any of the other normal cafés available in town?" She rolled her eyes at me as she chewed.

"Sure, I wanted to dress you up again and..." she trailed off and looked away, her eyes roaming the room before she glanced back at me.

"And?" I prompted, leaning forward and using the conversation as a sad reason not to eat any more. To distract her.

"Well, there's this guy I saw here last week," she hesitated slightly and blushed as I raised an eyebrow at her. And here I was, thinking her and Cole were finally getting on the same page. "It's not like that!" she said quickly, shaking her hands and head. "He's just really, really good-looking."

"That sounds exactly like what I thought you were thinking," I mused with a smirk.

"No! Look, I just saw him a couple of weeks ago when I came here with Mum and Dad," she explained, twirling a spoon in her tea. "I literally was never even going to mention him, but then I met Lucas."

"Lucas?" I was interested for more than simple hot-guy gossip now, and Janie could tell. She nodded her head and looked at me with a determined expression, leaning forward slightly as she whispered.

"He looks just like him," she whispered as though she was sharing a national secret. "Like, exactly the same, except he has blonde hair, blue eyes, and maybe a bit more tanned."

"So," I trailed off, my eyebrows furrowing as I leant back in my chair, my interest slowly fading. "Nothing like him, then?"

"No, no, no." She huffed and dropped the spoon on the napkin next to her. "Okay, I didn't explain that very well. I made him sound like someone else, but imagine Lucas, his face, his body, everything about him, but make him blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and tanned – that's him."