It's Complicated

Chapter 3

The day passed in a blur of teachers, books, and lessons. I already had homework, and this was just day one.

It didn't bode well for the rest of the year.

I always did my homework on time and I was one of the straight-A students, but I hated studying. It always drove me to draw more, and that took away all the time I generally devoted to Susan and Larry and George.

Sadly, those had been the only people I called my friends up to that point.

The final bell rang and Mario and I headed to our locker. George and Dan were waiting for us. Once Mario and I were ready, the four of us headed over to Starbucks. I glanced nervously at Mario and Dan when we went inside, wondering if they could afford it. I knew that most of the students were able to, whether it was because they had jobs after school or because their parents made a lot, but there were some that had a lot less.

Me, well... Dad and Aunt Millie made a bit and Mom would send me money sometimes.

While I watched, Mario pulled out his wallet and I glimpsed a lot of money inside. I nearly made a little noise, but I looked away before he knew I'd seen.

Not poor, then.

I wondered if he had a job over the summer or if he maybe had a job after school. After all, that amount of money wasn't exactly normal for a high school student.

Once we all had our coffees, we found a table and started on our homework. It wasn't exactly the most fun after school activity, but at least we could get it out of the way. Well, some of it. We usually goofed around or simply hung out too much to get it all done.

Less than ten minutes after we sat down, three guys came through the door and began ordering coffee. They called out to George, who put his arm around the back of my chair and waved. I smiled and nodded at them. Dan turned around and grinned at the guys, giving them a friendly nod.

Mario's eyes were on me. I tried to ignore him, but, for the first time of many, I found it impossible. It would have been easier for me to go to sleep after drinking three double-espressos than to ignore him. I found myself looking back, meeting his eyes. They seemed to drill into me as he studied me. All that had passed was a couple of moments before he looked away, but it felt longer.

I nearly shivered when he did.

George looked over at me and I quickly smiled at him. His friends were on their way over to the table. "Babe, you remember everyone, right?"

I blushed when he called me 'babe', nodding with a smile. "Of course."

He kissed the top of my head and introduced them to Mario as they slid a table and chairs closer and sat. "These are some of my buddies. The blond guy is Harvey, the guy over there is Justin, and that's Kevin."

Harvey was blond with brown eyes and reminded me faintly of Ross Lynch. Justin had dark hair and green eyes that were accentuated by his boyish facial features, and those features were made handsome by his defined jawline. Kevin had darker skin and black hair accompanied by brown eyes. He wasn't a lot different in the face than Justin. If it wasn't for the difference in skin tones and their builds – Justin was tall but a bit stocky while Calvin was towering and thin with visible muscles in his arms – they'd look related.

Dan eagerly introduced himself while Mario did so a bit more reluctantly. I noticed the way he also kept eyeing them, as if he knew something about them that we didn't. We stayed for a long while there at Starbucks before I finally I told everyone I had to go. George offered to give me a ride, but, after finding out they were only a couple of blocks from my house, Mario and Dan ended up taking me home.