𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

four

When Friday finally came around, Hero had told me in the morning we would discuss the details for the party at lunch.

So now, here I was, at their lunch table. With Emilia.

"Are you sure they're not gonna be mad if I sit here?" she whispered to me. Hero and his friends hadn't arrived yet.

I shook my head. "Of course not."

"Okay then," she replied.

I took my lunch out of my backpack and peered inside the tinfoil. I sighed out and folded it up again, slouching in my chair.

"Sup kiddo," Tyler asked, ruffling my hair as he plopped down in the chair on my other side - the side where Emilia wasn't sitting, which was also the end of the table. "With all the sighing."

I slid my lunch across the table, over to him. "It's yours. It's that weird thing my mom makes that you like so much."

"Ooh," he smiled. "So that's what the sighing was about. You have mine then."

He gave me a box filled with pieces of various fruits. I sighed again, this time contently. "I fucking love your mom. Tell her that. I love her. And the fruit."

He chuckled. "Will do."

"Oh!" I said, suddenly remembering to introduce the girl next to me. "This is Emilia, by the way. The only person who was nice enough to start talking to me on my first day of school."

"I'm Tyler," Ty smiled at her.

"Emilia," she smiled back.

I frowned. "Now that all the girls know I'm Hero Hayes' sister, suddenly everyone wants to befriend me."

Tyler laughed, shaking his head. "That was expected. Speaking of the devil."

I turned my head to see Hero enter the cafeteria. With about ten other guys.

"God, they look like they're straight out of a fucking chick flick," I rolled my eyes and sat straight in my chair again.

"They do," Emilia snickered and put her lunch down on the table.

Tyler laughed a little as well. "I shouldn't be laughing. I'm literally one of them."

"Except you're always either earlier or later than them at this table," I replied. "Laugh at Liam, who calls this group a fucking 'clique'."

Tyler shook his head, trying to bite back his laughter as half the football team sat down at the table. Hero sat down in front of me, as usual, and looked at me with his head tilted. "Is this Emilia?"

"That's her," I nodded. "Emilia, football team. Football team, Emilia."

She waved awkwardly before turning back to her food.

"Are you coming to the party?" Hero asked her. This was always Hero, trying to get people involved so they didn't feel left out. I envied him and how he did that so effortlessly. Though he really could be a dick to people he didn't like.

She shook her head. "Sadly I'm not. I have to babysit my niece."

"Sure hope they pay you good," Hero chuckled and opened the wrapper of his lunch. He looked up at me with a knowing look, and then glanced down at the fruit I was eating. And then his eyes moved to Tyler who was eating my lunch.

"They do, luckily," Emilia nodded.

"Maybe next time, then. There's always enough parties," Hero nodded and poked his food. "God damn if I didn't know mom prepared this and therefore cooked the shit out of it - I'd have thought it was alive."

"It's so good though," Tyler said after swallowing a bite. "I can't believe you guys don't like this."

"And it's because you always eat it that our mom thinks we like it," Hero shook his head and shoved his food towards Tyler as well.

Ty smirked. "It's my lucky day."

"Hey Daniel!" Hero suddenly shouted across the cafeteria. A couple people looked our way, but they disregarded it as it was Hero.

This Daniel guy's head jerked back and he looked at us. He was waiting in line for the food our school provided. "What?" he mouthed.

"Pizza!" my brother yelled at him.

The guy nodded and put a couple of other things on his tray.

"This is how you order food? Your friends aren't your slaves, Hero," I told him sternly, but he just shrugged.

"I'll pay him a little extra for ya," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyways. Party details. Who, what, where, when."

"Well, me, obviously. I'm driving. We're picking up Tyler and Liam. Ten o'clock? Does that sound good?" he asked Tyler.

"Yeah, man, doesn't really matter," Tyler agreed.

Hero nodded and continued. "So Ara, seeing you always take hours, I'm leaving at nine forty-five. If you're not ready, I'm leaving without you."

"Alright, alright," I sighed harshly. "I'll be ready."

"Great, everything's settled then," Hero spoke and clapped his hands together.

Emilia tapped my shoulder. "Hey Ara, I'm meeting one of my friends in the library for Monday's math homework. Do you wanna join? It's hard so I figured, the more souls that can help - the better."

I nodded. "Yeah sounds good."

"Okay," she smiled.

I closed up the - now empty - box Tyler had given me and slid it back towards him. "Thanks for the fruit, Ty. I owe you one."

"We traded fairly, you owe me nothing," he chuckled.

Hero frowned. "I gave you my food without anything in return. Does that mean you owe me?"

"Nah, man. You're still in debt with me," Tyler snickered and reached across the table to pat Hero's shoulder. "You're in debt for life."

"For what?" my brother asked, frowning.

I swung my backpack over my shoulder. Tyler replied. "For having to be your friend."

"Harsh," Hero pouted.

"See you tonight," I told Tyler, and then spoke to Hero. "And you, please turn on the heater in your car so it's nice and warm when I get there after school."

"If I don't forget," Hero replied and tapped his head.

"See you later," Tyler waved and I left the cafeteria with Emilia.

"Your brother and his friends are actually pretty nice," she spoke up once we were in the hallway. "I can't believe I used to be scared of them."

"Oh, not all of them are nice, but yeah. My brother's closest friends usually are," I chuckled.

She laughed a little as well. "I wish I had an older brother."

"Yeah," I chuckled softly. "What friend is it we're meeting?"

"Jenny," she replied. "She's the brunette with the braids."

I smiled. "Okay. You guys any good at math?"

"She is. I'm not bad at it, but also not that good," she told me.

"Good thing I'm a math genius, then," I snickered.