The Ghost Of Us (HWGA sequel)

Food

I sit down next to Andrew and he looks up from the book he was reading.
  "Hey," he says.
  "Hey," I reply unwrapping the granola bar I have. He was sitting on the bleachers during his spare, we had almost all the same spares. This one was just before lunch.
  "How did you know I was out here?" He asks shutting his book.
  "I didn't," I reply. "I just came out here and I saw you," I retort and he nods. "So what're you reading?" I ask.
  "Moby Dick," he replies. "Don't ask why, my dad had it and I was bored," he says.
  "Fun," I reply. "Is it good?" I ask squinting from the sun.
  "Yeah," he nods. "Surprisingly, the concept is weird as fuck," he says and I laugh. "Seriously, this is something you would do," he adds.
  "Oh whatever," I mutter.
  "So, how are things with Sam?" He sits back stretching his legs out.
  "Um... things are good right now," I say. "He apologized, and he's being nice," I add.
  "That's good," he says and I nod. "As long as you're happy," he adds looking straight at the field.
  "You wanna come over to Calebs after school?" I ask him. "Video games and whatnot."
  "Yeah, you don't need to twist my arm. I know you want me there," he leans his elbows back against the bleacher behind him and looks over at me and I roll my eyes.
  "You wish," I said and he chuckles. "Should we go get some food from somewhere before lunch?" I ask him.
  "Where?" He asks.
  "Somewhere," I say again.
  "Jo," he gives me a look.
  "Where can we get some easy pizza?" I ask.
  "Anywhere," he says. "We live in New York," he retorts.
  "True!" I nod. "Should we go?"
  "I'm down," he nods. "I could go for pizza."
  "Let's go," I stand and put my hand out and he takes it and I help him up. "Where should we go?"
  "Pizza Hut," he says and I nod.

We get to Andrew's car and get into it to go get pizza.
"Jo," he says starting the car and I buckle my seatbelt.
"Yeah?" I ask.
"Why did you randomly start liking me?" He asks and I laugh looking at him. "I'm serious! What did I do for you to get closer to me?"
"Why does this matter?" I ask. "I don't know," I shrug. "You know what you just make friends. That's what happens," I say. "You offered me a ride that one time and I guess I found out you're nicer than and cooler than I initially thought," I add and he nods.
"You didn't think I was cool or nice?" He asks.
"No, I thought you were just a weird acquaintance," I admit and he laughs.
"Fuck you," he says. "I'm not weird."
"Dude," I look at him.
"Shut up, so are you," he says.
"I know," I nod. "But so are you. That's why we get along obviously."
"Whatever," he mutters tapping his finger on the wheel as he drives.
I hear a loud honk and it startles me, which makes me put my hand over Andrews that was in the middle console. He looks at our hands confused and I move it quickly.
"Sorry," I rush out feeling my heart beat wildly in my chest because of the car honk.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"Yeah," I gulp. "The car horn just scared me," I wave it off.
"Oh," he nods. "I think that person just cut off someone," he looks down at the cars.
"Yeah, it's not a big deal," I feel the heat rush to my cheeks. Not a big deal Jo. I look out the window calming my nerves.
"They really shouldn't make those things so loud, could give someone a heart attack," he retorts and I laugh glancing at him. "You good?" He asks.
"Yeah," I nod.
"Sorry to be blunt..." he drifts. "But because of the accident right?" He asks glancing at me and then back at the road.
"Uh yeah," I say and he nods slowly.
"Well I mean... if you want I can start a petition for all car horns not to be so loud, more like a little... 'beep'," he says and I laugh shaking my head and he grins. "Good idea?" He asks.
"Yeah," I nod. "Really good idea," I say and he chuckles.

We go to Pizza Hut, get 2 large pizzas. One cheese, the other Hawaiian. Andrew didn't like Hawaiian, but he also didn't judge me for liking pineapple on my pizza which was refreshing because most people criticized me for it.
We go back to the school and head out to the bleachers, it was already lunch by the time we got back.

I notice Austin and everyone already on the bleachers, so we just walk up to them.
"Hey guys," I say and they all turn to us and Sam looks up from his phone and smiles when he sees me, but when he looks at Andrew his smile slips.
"Hey," Austin says.
"You have pizza," Caleb retorts. "What?"
"We had a spare," I shrug.
"So we got pizza for lunch," Andrew adds and we take our seats. I sit next to Sam and Andrew sits on my other side.
"Hey," he says.
"Hey," I reply opening the box of Hawaiian pizza. "Want some?" I offer. "Hawaiian," I grin and he laughs taking a piece.
"Thanks," he says and leans in pecking my lips.
"How do you do if with pineapple?" Austin asks and Andrew passes him a piece of cheese pizza.
"It's good," I shrug. "Adds the sweetness, and mmm," I bite into a piece.
"It's gross," Austin says and I shrug.
"It's not gross," Sam mumbles.
"You guys are weird," Kyle adds.
"We're rare," I retort. "That's better than you generic asshats," I say.
"Excuse me," Andrew mumbles mouth full. "I don't want to be put into the generic group."
"Slightly different," I point to him and he nods.
"Oh, is it switch your bestie day?" Austin asks and I laugh.
"Austin, c'mon. You're the most basic bitch," I tell him and he laughs at that.
"Okay... true," he nods.
"You all coming over after?" Caleb changes the subject.
"Yup," I nod. "I told Andrew to come too," I mumble and he shrugs.
"What're we doing this weekend?" Austin asks.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
  "This weekend," he says again. "What should we do? Party, or kickback?" He glances at me hopeful.
"You want to go to another party," I retort.
"Well, I do know that Travis... Jackson's friend is having a kickback on Friday," he says.
  "Kickback as in party?" I ask.
  "No... well, I don't know. But Mila who's friends with Travis told me about it," he says. "Who's down?" He asks.
  "I'm down for whatever," Caleb mumbles and everyone else nods, but Andrew and I just stare at each other, knowing that we both didn't want to go.
  "Jo?" Austin looks at me.
Just go with the flow... right? I couldn't always be the downer.
  "I'm down for whatever... also," I mumble.
  "Really?" Austin asked shocked.
  "Yeah," I shrug eating my pizza.
  "I'm sure it'll just be a kickback and not a party," he nudges me excitedly.
"Sure," I say.
"You really wanna go?" Sam asks me in a low voice and I turn to him.
"Yeah, I don't mind going," I mostly lie.
I didn't want to be the friend that is a downer. I know, he was drunk and said things. But does everyone else feel that way because I don't like to party and I'm kind of an introvert when it comes to social things. So I was gonna be more open... I guess.
"Andrew, you're coming," I mostly tell him rather than just ask.
"I am?" He asks looking up from his pizza.
"Yeah," I nod. "Please," I add.
"Maybe," he mumbles.
"I need a definite answer," I say. "C'mon," I add.
"You're so obsessed with me," he shakes his head.
"You can stay home," I retort and he laughs.
  "Don't worry, I'll come," he says. "Because I like to help charity cases," he adds and I turn to him and he laughs which makes me push him and he gasps.
  "I almost dropped my pizza Jo," he says.
  "Good," I say.
  "How dare you," he said and I laugh.
  "Ooh! Jo look... it's Jackson!" Austin says and I turn to where he points out.
  "If you're gonna scream that, you might as well go up to him," I retort.
  "No," he says. "I have to play hard to get," he says.
  "You comment on every hot guys photo... you aren't hard to get," I tell him and he laughs.
  "That's only for famous people who can get it," he says and I laugh.
  "Sam's not famous, and when you first met him..." I drift off and Sam chuckles.
  "Okay... that's an exception," Austin says.
  "Oh thanks, that makes me proud," Sam says.
  "Hey, I'm not hot enough?" Andrew asks and Sam nearly rolls his eyes.
What's up with him? Why doesn't he like Andrew? He's the guy version of me.
  "You're cute," Austin shrugs. "But you weren't the new guy, I'm sure roles would've been different if you were," he says and I look back at the field ignoring them and eating my pizza.

~

We all walk into Caleb's house and Caleb kicks his shoes off.
"Mom, dad... you home?" He yells out and gets no reply. "Home alone," he nods.
We all head down to the game room and Caleb grabs the remote and drops onto the couch.
"Who's playing first game with me?" He asks.
"I'm gonna go get some food," I said.
"Oh I'm coming with," Sam says.
"Bring down some Cola's please," Caleb says. "Andrew wanna play? Although I know you'll beat me."
"Sure," Andrew says and Sam and I head upstairs to the kitchen.
When we walk in I go to the pantry grabbing a bag of original chips and some cookies.
  "Sam, which ones?" I ask stepping to the door of the pantry to show him and he looks over to me.
  "Both," he says.
  "Good idea," I nod and put them onto the counter and open the chips and the cookies. "Even better idea," I grin and put them together and bite into them and he laughs. "Andrews gonna love that," I say and his grin drops only slightly.
  "So..." he drifts stepping closer and grabbing a chip from the bag. "You and Andrew are super close huh?" He asks.
  "We're close," I nod.
  "Why now?" He asks and I turn to the fridge and grab a bunch of cokes for us.
  "What?" I ask. "What do you mean?"
  "Well... you guys are like best friends," he says. "As of late..." he drifts off looking out the back window.
  "Well, yeah..." I shrug. "I mean, Austin's my best friend. But we're close," I say. "Something wrong with that?" I ask.
  "No," he shakes his head. "Obviously not," he adds. "I'm just saying," he shrugs. "He does like you a lot..." he says.
  "What are you saying, Sam?" I turn to him eating a chip. "If you think he's into me..." I laugh.
  "Well... I wouldn't be surprised," he says.
  "Sam! No!" I shake my head. "No way. We're just friends... it's Andrew," I say. "He doesn't even flirt with me," I retort.
  "Okay," he shrugs. "Just observing," he adds.
  "Observing," I nod. "You seem jealous," I retort.
  "No," he says. "I'm just saying. I know I have nothing to be jealous of," he said.
  "Okay," I shrug. "Do you not like him," I ask grabbing a cookie.
  "I never said that," he says.
  "Yeah, but...." I say. "You give off some vibes that you don't like him," I tell him.
  "Vibes?" He laughs. "I don't not like the guy," he says. "I barely know him."
"Okay, well good," I reply, although I didn't believe him. I know Sam, and it's not hard to tell when he doesn't like a person. "Should we go back down?" I ask and he nods.
"Wait," he says before I move and I look at him again and he pulls me closer to him by my waist. "Can I come over later?" He asks.
"Later? After this thing?" I ask.
"A little bit later than that. Dani asked me to be home for something," he says.
"Yeah sure," I shrug. "Weird question," I retort and he nods.
"I'll bring coffee," he says with a grin.
"I won't let you in if you don't," I joke and he laughs.
"Deal," he nods and leans down kissing me lightly. "Love you," he says.
"Love you too," I grin. "Now help me grab these drinks," I say grabbing the snacks and he helps me bring down the drinks.

We walk back down and Andrew and Caleb were playing while everyone just sat around.
"Andrew, you're gonna love this concoction," I tell him sitting with Sam on the couch.
"What concoction?" He asks.
"Of food," I reply obviously.
"Wanna feed me? I need the fuel for my game," he says.
"You don't," Caleb sighs and he laughs.
"Sure," I say stacking a cookie with 2 chips like a sandwich. "Open," I step over to him and he opens his mouth and I shove the food into it.
"Don't gag me," he mutters with his mouth full and I laugh walking back. Before I sit down Sam pulls me onto his lap.
"Oh, that's good!" Andrew says. "Did you take original chips with those ahoy cookies?" He asks.
"Yup," I reply.
"Nice," he says and Sam's arms circle around me keeping me close to him.
"I know," I nod. "Wanna try?" I turn to Sam.
"No, I'm good," he shakes his head and I nod again watching the tv as they kill each other on COD.