𝔻𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕣 ℝ𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖

𝔻𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕪𝕤

Cuori's POV"
    David Jacobs, you absolute dumbass." Albert pinched the bridge of his nose.

    "What was I supposed to do?" He shrugged.
"Oh here's a crazy idea, keep trying?" I hissed. Shiner had ran away from Davey, again. As one of the smartest people I knew she was being pretty dumb right now.

      "Ok, so maybe giving up wasn't the best idea." Davey admitted quietly.
"Yeah no shit." Albert crossed his arms.
"But I don't know what else to do. I've tried in class, at lunch, in the halls, at her locker. Everywhere. So unless you two can think of something better don't yell at me." Davey pouted taking a bite of a curly fry. Albert and I looked at each other desperately trying to come up with another idea. To our disappointment, we had none.

      "Oo! Oo! Pick me!" Race jumped up and down with his hand in the air from behind Davey.
"Yes Race?" I addressed the tall blonde.
"Flowers." was his simple answer.
"Oh my God! Like, a whole bunch of 'em. Hundreds of flowers down the hall." Albert fantasized.
"Exactly!" Race squealed.

      Davey and I shook our heads. "C'mon guys I'm not proposing." Davey deadpanned.
"Ya will someday." Albert smirked. I flicked Albert on the head. The familiar sound of the doorbell rang out through the small diner.
"Oh thank God." Ace rushed over to me wrapping me in a hug. "Where did you go last night? I lost my shit and couldn't get a hold of you!" he asked.
     
      "It was getting too crowded so Jack, Crutchie, and I came here." I told him.
"Oh ok. Just don't scare me like that." he smiled. Ace's smile was so bright and beautiful. Not as big as Jack's but definitely still brilliant.
"Excuse me?" a small voice spoke up. I look down to see a small girl. She had tanned skin and straight, brown hair. Light freckles covered her nose and under her brown eyes. I crouched down to her level.

     "How can I help you?" I smiled.
"Do you maybe haf a quawter?" she asked, giving me a toothy smile. I fished through the pocket of my jacket, pulling out a quarter and handing it to the girl. "Fanks!" She exclaimed.
"Franny!" A familiar voice called in my direction. I looked up to see Spot, heading over to the girl. "Sorry about that." he apologized.
"It's fine." I shrugged.
"ItS fInE." Race mocked in my ear. I grabbed the blonde pulling him into a headlock. I was doing that a lot more recently, but I didn't care. It was fun.

     "You missy," Spot booped the smaller girl's nose as she let out a giggle. "need to stop running off." he smirked. He turned back to me taking in the sight of a struggling Race in a headlock and me casually holding him there.
Albert sighed, "Don't question it."
Spot just nodded. "Oh. This is my sister Franny. I'm sorry if she bothered you. She's a bit of a pain sometimes." Spot playfully glared at Franny.

      "She's fine! She just needed a quarter is all."  Ace shrugged.
Spot sighed, glancing at Franny. "We talked about this." Franny crossed her arms making a pouty face. I laughed lightly.
"You said you knew she." Franny said, gesturing me.
Spot shook his head, chuckling. "I knew her. Not she." He corrected.
"Oh so he talks about you?" Race smirked sticking his cigar in his mouth. I let him go from the headlock just to punch him in the gut.
"Keep ya mouth shut next time Racer." Albert suggested stealing one of Davey's fries, he had finished his a while ago.
     
      "Noted." Race winced holding his stomach. I turned back to Spot to find Franny gone, she was now over at the jukebox using the quarter for some music. Spot was watching her carefully. She selected a song before bouncing back over to the group of us.

     "Shit." Shiner swore under her breath as the bell rang for the diner. I looked up to see none other than Oscar and Morris.
"Shit indeed." I mumbled back.
"Heya toots." Oscar smirked. Albert and Race immediately tensed up, standing a little closer. I appreciated their efforts, but I didn't need to be protected. I could fend for myself just fine.
"I told ya a million times, cut it out with the pet names."

     Oscar just smirked. "Yeah whatever doll." I was ready to punch the crap out of this guy, but I stopped myself. Race took a long drag from his cigar. He wasn't supposed to smoke inside, but Medda gave up a while ago.

      "Where didja get the cigars Racey?" Morris teased.
"Probably stole em." Oscar stepped closer to Race who was fidgeting like crazy. "Pickin' up habits from his dad."
Albert lunged at Race holding him back before anything could happen. Race's face was an inch away from Oscar's. Ah, if looks could kill. Albert let go of Race after pulling him back. Race kept a tough demeanor but I could tell it hurt him.

      "You two! Out! Now!" Medda ordered. Morris rolled his eyes, turning and walking towards the door.
Oscar followed but stopped in front of me. "See ya around toots." I reared back my fist and punched him straight in the jaw. He staggered backwards, looking shocked.

      "Beat it." Ace sneared. Oscar rushed out the door. He's lucky all he got was a bruised jaw, he could've ended up with much worse. "Did he, touch ya?" Ace asked hesitantly. I shook my head.
"I wouldn't have let them." I assured him.
"Lucky I ain't gonna soak em." Spot spoke up. We all just kind of, looked at him. He turned to us, "What?"

      "Well, we just didn't think you would stand up for people like us." Shiner shrugged.
"People like you?" Ace cocked an eyebrow.
Spot let out a sigh. "We're all people. Doesn't matter how popular we are or how much money we have. Yada yada. That's the worst thing about high school, all the stereotypes and shit. Popular ends up with popular and nerds are lonely forever, or whatever. Personally, I hate it all. Damaging on mental health, ya know?"

      "That's deep shit right there." Albert said through a mouthful of fries.
"My mom's a therapist." he shrugged casually.
"Sean, lets go." A lady who I assumed was Spot's mom called from the door.
"Sean?" I asked playfully.
"Don't try me, Elizabeth." he smirked.
"Wait how did you-" I asked, shocked as to how he knew my real name.
"Shiner told me." He cut me off, glancing at a grinning Shiner.
"Oh so you're talking to my best friend now, huh?"
He chuckled softly. "Nah. Heard her call you that the other day. See ya around." he smirked.
"See ya around." I smiled back at him as he walked out the door of the diner.

       "You're in love." Shiner teased in my ear.
"Oooooo C's gotta crush! C's gotta crush!" Race sang. Albert did a funky dance behind me, I don't know what that meant.
"Quit it." I waved them off like flies. "Love's a strong word. And besides." I wrapped my arm around Ace. "I got him." Ace smiled down at me.
Albert faked a gag. "Ew. Coupleyness."
"Pretty sure that's not a word." Davey finally spoke.

      Shiner seemed to just now notice that Davey was here. She tried to turn and leave, but Albert quickly jumped to the rescue, literally tackling her. They whispered back and forth to each other for a while on the floor before getting up off the ground.

      "I heard you wanted to talk to me?" Shiner asked Davey awkwardly. I sighed in relief. I was getting tired of being Davey's wingman and listening to Shiner go on and on about him almost every night. The two really liked each other even though they had just met a week ago. Now THAT was love at first sight, and if they weren't together by the end of the year I was  locking them in a closet until they were.

      "Um. Yeah." Davey breathed out. "I'm sorry for upsetting you a couple days ago." Shiner shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I overreacted and just, wasn't right in the head then." she laughed tensely.
"So, are we back on speaking terms or are you going to still run away from me?" Davey joked.
"Nah. We're good" He smiled.
"Good." Shiner nodded.
     
       I gave Albert a fist bump before returning back to my fries. Davey and Shiner were friends which brought us one step closer to the ultimate goal of getting the two together. But it also brought the attention back to me and Ace. Great.