Not Like Before

Chapter 13

I cannot stress this enough
TRIGGER WARNING
TRIGGER WARNING
TRIGGER WARNING

Third Person POV

Zay and Laura were working a little more on the project at a coffee shop they decided to meet up at.

"What do you think is up with Chandler?" Zay asked Laura. She scoffed.

"Probably Juvie again." She said. Zay chewed on his lip. He had the feeling something was wrong.

"What is it?" Laura asked.

Zay sighed. "I don't know. I just get the feeling something's wrong." He said.

"It's Chandler. Something's always wrong, right? He's got Andy, he'll be fine. Can we just...not think about him for a little while?" Laura asks.

Zay nodded. "Yeah, he's exhausting." He smiles.

"Are those girls still bothering you?" Zay asks, changing the subject. Laura sighs.

"Yeah. Accusing me of sleeping with countless people who's names I don't even know. At least buy me dinner first." She said sarcastically, but there was no humor behind the words.

Then, a boy sitting beside them pitched in.

"You know, people like Haleigh practically survive on drama, if she knows it gets to you, she'll keep doing it." He said casually and sipped his coffee.

"Are you friends with her?"  Zay asked the kid.

"I was. I used to go out with Brianna, her former best friend." The boy answered.

"Former? They're not friends anymore?" Laura asked. The boy scoffed.

"No, Brianna's grown up a lot. She started living in the real world and left Haleigh in the high school world. I'm Vince by the way." He said.

"I'm Zay, this is Laura." Zay said, motioning to Laura beside him.

Vince smiled. "I know. I uh...tend to know a lot of people who don't know me. I know that makes me sound like a stalker, it's just that...people talk. You're the one who everyone is saying has the clap right?" He asked, nodding at Laura.

"Depends on who you ask I guess. Seems to be 12 different stories." Laura sighed.

"None of them are true though, I'm guessing." Vince said.

"Bingo." Zay sighed.

"I just got back here from Ohio. Haleigh literally has no reason to do this, other than the drama we had freshman year. But seriously? It was two years ago! Who cares?" Laura said frustratedly.

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking." Vince asked.

Both Laura and Zay sighed.

"That is a really long and pointless story. And it was all Brianna's fault to begin with. If you want you could give me your number and I'd be happy to catch you up to speed." Laura said confidently. Vince smirked.

"I feel like that was a really slick way to ask for my number." He said.

"It definitely was." Zay laughed.

Laura rolled her eyes as she handed Vince her phone. He put in his number and handed it back to her.

"Cool, be prepared for a whole book filled with angst, tears, and countless 'what just happened' moments." Laura smiled sarcastically.

Vince laughed. "Sounds fun." He said.

Then, Zay's phone dinged.

He looked down. "It's Jamie. She wants to meet up later to help us and she's sorry for not being much help today." He read aloud.