Nothing But Trouble

42/bamiyeh bonding

chapter 42: bamiyeh bonding
blake ren

        I sat parallel to the table of the booth we were in, my knees bent and close to my chest as I ripped off another piece of lavash. Riley and Violet both sat across from me without making a peep, processing what I told them about what went down yesterday. Penny kissed me. And then told me she wanted to be my friend—more or less.

        So I was stress-eating. And what better place to do that than your best friend's parent's restaurant? The answer was lots of places. But Riley was working off the amount of some expensive dish she accidentally broke and wasn't allowed to exist outside of the restaurant until the weekend.

       I ripped off another piece and stuffed it in my mouth, glancing at them worriedly since they still hadn't said anything. Violet perked up a little, sucking in a big breath for the words to come, only to watch her struggle and sink back against the wooden back of the booth.

        "Well..." she started. I watched her get the same crease in her brows that I currently had as she reached for the lavash too.

        "Did you..like the kiss?" Riley inquired. I choked on the bread a little.

        "With Penelope Truman?" I asked to remind who we were talking about. This was like my relationship with Lucas all over again. Just a few months ago the idea of being in the same room as him made me want to hurl, and in the present day we have decided to travel to Iceland together. Would I go from hating Penny to wanting to be buds who kissed?

        "Riley you're gonna think I'm crazy," I began with a look of disbelief, "But I think the person I'm seeing right now kinda has me whipped."

        Violet shook her head confused. "Wait, you're seeing somebody?"

        Riley got a surprisingly gleeful look on her face at the news and she grabbed one of our hands. "Ladies, let's join hands."

        I gave her a strange look, but Violet decided to go with it and offered her hand to me. I took it before Riley snapped at me in the same way her mother would to her when she wasn't doing something she wanted. Riley closed her eyes, and took in a deep calming breath that she then exhaled through her mouth.

        "It is time. After many years of yearning and sulking in the shadows, Blake has finally come to terms about her feelings..for Lucas Kingston."

        I yanked my hands back and held them to my chest with a gasp. "Why would you say that to me?"

        "My dear, life has no favorites. We suffer and then we die. You've wasted enough time lying to yourself so I took it into my own hands. Tell the world, dear child, tell the world you've fallen for the man you once hated most." Riley's emotional look on her face was cleanly wiped off and replaced with panic when her mom appeared at the door to the kitchen and began screaming at her.

        "I was just giving them their food! I wasn't even—ugh fine!" She had turned around to argue with her mother over the booth but she lost that fight before it started and was dragging herself to the kitchen again. "Later, guys."

        Violet waved her goodbye then turned back to me, still thinking about what Riley had announced in her horribly fake-deep fashion. She bounced her head contemplatively. "So..Lucas."

        I withered like a flower and hid my face in my knees. I opened my mouth to speak but only embarrassed strangled noises came out. Violet giggled, her eyes soft when I peeked up at her to see if she was still laughing at me.

        "I was the same way with Jude," she recalled with a gentle smile. "I didn't want any of my friends to know I was dating a white boy."

        She laughed while she said it, playing with the gold beads in her hair. "I remember he was this short lanky kid in middle school. And the girls I rode the bus with would tease the hell out of me for thinking he was cute. But when I got my period in eighth grade, he gave me his sweatshirt to tie around my waist so nobody would say anything to me."