Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 5 |

Rebecca once again found herself navigating through the endless hallways.

She turned the corner and noticed Pamela walking in her direction alone. They made eye contact and Pamela let out her famous, bubbly smile. Rebecca looked over at her with a smile mixed with a slight look of confusion.

Pamela walked up to her and gave her another hug. Rebecca knew she always tended to be around at least one of the other girls, so seeing her walking alone was strange.

Rebecca went to open her mouth and ask where at least one of the girls was, but Pamela beat her to it.

Pamela turned around and pointed to Mercedes. Rebecca looked past Pamela and saw a girl handing Mercedes some cash, Rebecca looked back at Pamela and nodded. The two quickly got lost in conversation as they leaned against the nearest wall, waiting for the other girls.

A few minutes went by and Mercedes made her way over to the two nonchalantly, joining in on the conversation.

After a while of listening to Pamela and Mercedes talk, something behind Mercedes caught Rebecca's attention and she quickly became distracted. She looked behind Mercedes and let out a scoff as she rolled her eyes.

"What? I just looked at the cookie, I wasn't gonna eat it! I swear!" Pamela looked to Rebecca, and Rebecca just shook her head, leaning back on the wall. She had a slight look of disgust on her face at both Pamela's story and what she had just seen. After the two waited for her to elaborate on her sudden attitude shift, she looked at the two and sighed, gesturing her head between the two of them and staring directly behind them.

Pamela and Mercedes looked at Rebecca and quickly caught the hint, redirecting their attention to the scene that was unfolding behind them.

Ashley stood behind them with the same jock that she was flirting with from earlier on in the day. She was playing with her curls and laughing at whatever he was saying.

Rebecca looked back at Pamela and Mercedes and a slight smirk was pulling at her lips.

Rebecca pulled out her phone and began typing something, suddenly Mercedes and Pamela both heard their phone ding. Pamela reached in her pocket and pulled out her phone, while Mercedes grabbed her's from her purse. The two read the messages that were sent in the group chat—which included all four girls in it—and looked back up at Rebecca. Pamela let out a giggle and Mercedes shook her head with a laugh. The two began typing along with Rebecca and all three of them rapidly sent endless texts within the chat they knew Ashley would see.

The three of the girls all heard Ashley's obnoxious ringtone continuously chiming, and after a while, they stopped their antics. They quickly looked back over at Ashley and watched her say something to the jock before rummaging around and seeing what all of the ruckus on her phone was about. The trio watched as Ashley's eyebrows lifted and a devious smile overtook her face.

She quickly shrugged off the jock, obviously leaving him as a plan B due to the kiss she left on his cheek before she sashayed away.

When she noticed the group her pace quickened and she let out a small squeal while smiling. "Where is he?!" Ashley practically sang her words and Rebecca almost felt bad for the stunt they pulled. Almost.

Pamela turned her head to stifle a laugh, but Mercedes didn't even try hiding hers. Ashley looked over at Rebecca for an answer and even she forced herself to hide her smile. "Who?"

Ashley raised her hands in confusion and gestured around, "The hot foreign exchange student! You know, the one that was 'the hottest guy to ever walk the planet.' The one with 'the best smile you've ever seen.' Not to mention the one that has 'the most captivating eyes.' Where is he?!" Ashley continued pausing between each statement and pointing to each finger as she listed things the girls had texted about said exchange student.

Suddenly all three girls broke out into laughter, while Ashley stood there furiously. "What?! Where is he?! I've got to mark my territory! I need to get to him before the other vultures of the school beat me to it!"

The girls continued laughing as Ashley tapped her foot impatiently. "Okay, okay," Rebecca put her hands up in surrender, "We lied to you. There's no exchange student."

Ashley's eyes darted between the three of them as a look of annoyance overtook her face. All three girls continued laughing but eventually composed themselves.

"You were taking too long, and I'm hungry." Pamela shrugged and Ashely rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," Ashley mumbled and rolled her eyes again for good measure.

Mercedes finished looking at something on her phone and looked up at the group, "Yes, we definitely have to get Pamela some food before she eats that cookie she was telling us about."

"Cookie?" Ashley looked at Mercedes confused.

Rebecca chimed in, "Yeah, the one she was eyeballing, even though it was on the floor."

"I told you I wasn't gonna eat it!" Pamela threw her hands up in the air.

"Yeah, sure you weren't." Rebecca's voice had a hint of disgust in it and she definitely didn't put it past Pamela to eat a cookie she saw on the floor.

They all stared at each other seriously, and after a few seconds all four of them were laughing and joking around.

"Okay, can we just go get food? All of this cookie talk is making me want a cookie!" Pamela questioned and another burst of laughter overtook the group.

The girls nodded and began to make their way towards the busiest place in the school during lunchtime. The cafeteria.