chapter nine

e m i l y s t a n d s f o r c l u e l e s s

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Character Picture: Tyler (beware your eyes may be tainted of uber hotness)

Dedicated to @Bubblewrap_ for helping me with my Spanish mistakes, and @fake_smiles10!

I'll be dedicating the next chapter to the person with the best comment :)

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(not edited)

Detention was a drag. I mean, when is it ever fun? Tyler and I took separate seats on either side of the room, not even murmuring hello or anything. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it's not like there was many people in detention which we had to prove anything to – so he practically ignored me.

Oh, well.

I do admit, it was kind of weird not talking to him. I'd gotten accustomed to it these few days, but god help me; it kind of turned into a routine to talk to him. I guess it was kind of a requirement since we are in a relationship – fake or not – because we still have to prove to the other guys that I, Nova Lockheart, am bangable.

Yeah, okay, that's a little weird. But, Nate suggested it so I'm just going along with it. I guess it's kind of true in a way. I am only doing this to prove to the guys that I am desirable. But heck, Tyler is my boyfriend. Yeah, he doesn't date, and the fact that we are arch enemies may also add to it – but still, it's not him that we are convincing.

I know for a fact that Nate calls me a guy sometimes. But, it's not Nate that I have to convince. Nate is as much as a brother to me than Austin is, so why bother?

The football team on the other hand. Yeah, that's another story. Being friends with them means that I usually spend time over at their houses – with Nate and Emily, of course. I don't go anywhere without them – and one thing leads to another and we're watching reruns of football games on the couch of their living rooms.

Mind you, I'm not a true supporter of football, I just like playing it. I go to every game – unless I have work and can't come – to support Nate and the rest of the guys, but I don't exactly enjoy watching it. The guys, however, think that I'm football crazed. That may as well add to the fact that they think I'm a guy.

They interpret me in a way of a sister. I'm like their little sister who they constantly tease, bicker with and make fun of, all playfully though. The one that you have the Bro/Sister Code with so that they don't date your best friend? Yeah, that's the kind of boys my friends are.

Tyler's never really been like that before, though. He doesn't treat me like a little sister – heck, if he was saying those things to his little sister, gosh help me – and he sure as hell never used to see me as anything other than Nate's annoying best friend. I can't really talk, because I despised him equally as much as he did.

Which brings me to where I am now.

I have work in just under an hour with Emily (we work together at a Diner just in the middle of town), but I'm too busy scoffing my face with food.

Emily had been going on for the last hour about how 'cute' Tyler and I are. On the contrary, I'm just sitting with my food, shooting Emily a pointed look of 'are you serious' every now and again. Gosh, this girl just doesn't stop.

"Are you sure you still want to change?" Emily questions with her fork raised to her mouth.

I choke on my Easy Mac, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she waves it off nonchalantly. But, being her best friend of many years, know something is fishy.

I don't push on it any further though, because I know that sooner or later Emily will tell me a piece of her mind. That's what I love about her. She's down to earth and definitely not afraid to voice her opinion.

I know something is up when Emily goes into a round of silence. Emily is always talking, no matter what. You can tell she's the outgoing and talkative type just by looking at her. Her naturally honey blonde hair is cropped at her shoulders, the tips a bright shade of blue. It was a spontaneous decision to dye her hair. At the time, Emily was going through an I-need-change phase, and she demanded I dye her hair. I'm no hairdresser, but I still think it looked absolutely amazing with her vibrant dark blue eyes and pale skin.

"Okay," I sigh, dropping my fork on my plate with a clatter. "What's wrong? I know you Emily, so I know that there is something going up in that pretty little head of yours that you're not telling me about."

She glances down at the stool she is sitting on, then back up to me. "I think," she stops, obviously mulling it over in her head. I raise an eyebrow at her to continue. "I think I like Nate."

I burst out laughing, snorts and all. What? Like it wasn't expected at all. Nate and Emily are perfect for each other – in my opinion. I've tried playing matchmaker on them so many times, but they're so stubborn and ignorant that it rarely ever works.

"Why are you laughing," she frowns but then looks at me with a horrified glance, "Does he hate me?"

"Emily," I try to stop the laughter but it has other ideas. I'm running out of breath from laughing so much. "Nate is practically in love with you, just like you are with him."

"What? You better not be joking or I'll shove your fork up your ass and twist it," she warns, a devilish look gleaming in her dark blue eyes.

"I'm not sure if that was a threat or a statement," I eyed her sceptically. I know that Emily wouldn't do that – but she is my crazy best friend after all, the one who made Clark cry by hiding is lucky teddy bear he has for football. "You're changing the subject, Emily, stop it. Nate likes you, you like Nate. Got it?"

As much as I love Emily, she is very much an over thinker. Behind that cool calm exterior are a million thoughts and suggestions flying around that are mostly incorrect.

"I'm overreacting aren't I?"

"Yup," I popped the 'p'. Hey, I'm not one to lie. "But you have nothing to be worried about. It's so damn obvious that you two like each other; I don't know how you can't see it? Like at that party, you went straight to Nate and boy was Nate glad to see you more than him. You keep forgetting I'm matchmaker," I winked playfully, "I'm the best at this game, and I ship Namily."

"You gave us a ship name," Emily cries out, "That is crossing the line."

"No way," a grin broke out onto my face, "The ship has already sailed."

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Working at Delilah's Diner has been a part of my life ever since the summer of freshman year. Mom was begging me to get out of the house and get some money – mind you, this was before my father was having play dates with Laura and we were all a happy family – and Emily was in the same boat as me.

We both got hired at the same time as they were short on staff. Emily does the waitressing while I man the register. On some occasions, we shift. I also work in the kitchen once a week and to make my personal special, the Hawaiian Hamburger, whenever I'm on shift.

Delilah Devereaux is the owner of Delilah's Diner. She's a vibrant, bouncy and generous woman who first made the diner ten or so years ago when she was mid-twenties. Emily and I have always been on good terms with Delilah, but that doesn't mean we haven't seen her wrath with other people. She may be generous and kind, but boy is she a firecracker when she's angry.

Tonight is discount night, where our special is cheaper than normal. So, as per usual, the diner is packed to the eyeballs with people. Emily and I are rushing around with food, orders and money while the chefs in the back are working on overdrive. I love Delilah's, but not when it is this packed. Every other night than Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night are nice and quiet.

"Hi, welcome to Delilah's Diner, may I take your order," I smiled and read out what Delilah had instructed all waitresses to say. I was assigned to wait a table with a couple on a 'romantic' date. Yeah, Delilah's is a great place for a date when it isn't packed.

The guy shoots me a weary smile while the girl starts reading off from the menu what she wants. I've seen them both around – I think they're sophomores. I finish taking their order and place it on the counter of the kitchen so that the chefs could start cooking. Usually, I would be in there cooking my Hawaiian Hamburgers, but I don't have time to do that when I'm waitressing.

Emily and my shift ends at ten which is pretty early, but customers don't stay long so there's no need to stay any longer. It was around eight when I saw the familiar faces of Nate, Tyler, Clark, Brandon and James. I should've remembered that they always come to the Diner late on a Wednesday so they beat the huge rush hour at seven.

On Wednesday, it's just the guys who come here, but every Saturday (Emily and I don't work Saturdays) we usually come and join the guys for lunch.

"I refuse to wait their table," Emily shudders, remembering all too well about what happened last time she took their orders. I think it was two or so weeks ago, Emily was too busy ogling at Nate that she forgot to write down that Brandon is allergic to pepper, so he had an allergic reaction and had to be taken to the hospital.

Oh yes, I remember that night. Emily was distraught and felt so bad that she nearly killed Brandon and vowed to never wait their tables ever again.

Ah, good times.

I sauntered over to their table, taking my good old time because I am never in a rush to wait their table. They like to play games with me and piss me off by changing their orders every thirty seconds. I pulled down the short waitress dress that Delilah forces Emily and me to wear. I hate wearing it because I reckon it looks like we are ready to go start stripping on our invisible pole. The dress reaches mid-thigh and it's a heavy cloth material. It has short sleeves and a zipper that refuses to go over our boobs – of course – so we wear a tank top underneath. The dress, itself, is black with a red band around our waist and a white collar.

Clark, Nate, Tyler, Brandon and James had picked the booth at the back of the Diner. The people who were previously there had left in a flurry after one of their four daughters said that she was pregnant – shit went down.

I notice that Tyler's little sister is also at the booth, sitting with the menu in her hands. She's the cutest little five year old I've ever met. She's not brattish or a pain in the ass – quite the opposite, which is kind of surprising because her brother is the spawn of Satan.

"Nova!" Elsa squeals as she sees me coming towards her and the guys' tables. I grin in response, picking her up off the ground when she runs at me for a hug. Elsa's name is actually Elissa, but after watching Frozen, she opted for the name change. "I've missed you so much," her hold tightens and she plants a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

Nothing makes me happier than little kids. They're just so cute, especially Elsa.

"Me too," I giggled. Elsa's curly brown hair has grown even longer, now touching the middle of her back, while her green eyes watched my every movement. She and Tyler look very much alike, despite the fact that he's a guy and she's a girl. Kind of like Austin and I, but with a huge height difference. "How has big girl school been going?" I ask as I set her down on the ground. I kneel down so that I can look her in the eyes.

Elsa just started going to kindergarten this week. I remember her fawning over it a few months ago, when I saw her last. I used to babysit Elsa but now that her parents have a steady job that doesn't require as much travel, I don't need to anymore. This kind of bummed me, because I loved spending time with Elsa. I would brush her hair and she would attempt to paint my nails – the polish just went everywhere but I convinced her it was perfect.

"It's sooo good," she stares at me with her big green eyes. "Ebony is my best friend, and Harry and Hollie, they're twins. I like Harry," she whispered in my ear, "But don't tell Tyler. He said that I'm not allowed to be friends with boys because they're naughty and have cooties."

We fall into a fit of giggles. The guys are moaning and groaning about how they're hungry, but I ignore them, because they can wait.

Tyler is a sucker for his sister. She has him wrapped around his little finger – as much as he doesn't like to admit it – and he does everything he can with Elsa.

I zipped my lips with my hand, "I promise not to tell anyone, especially Tyler." I said it loud enough so that Tyler could hear. He frowns and rolls his eyes at my childishness. I'm definitely still a child at heart, no matter what anyone else says. "I'll have to come over one time, hey?"

Elsa nods frantically and jumps back into the booth so that I can take their orders. "Welcome to –"

"Cut the bullshit, I'm hungry," Tyler rolls his eyes yet again. Elsa gasps at his swearing, smacking his bicep. Oh, I love Elsa, I taught her well to abuse her brother.

"Roll your eyes one more time and they're going to get stuck there," I retort. "What do you want to eat?"

Nate speaks up first, "I want ... the Hawaiian special."

"Mhm," I hum. People only ever buy the special on special night.

"Minus the salad," Nate wrinkles his nose up, "I'm not in the mood for salad." I write that down and wait for everyone else to finish ordering, making sure to say NO pepper for Brandon. Elsa ordered a chicken nugget kiddy meal with extra sauce while Tyler ordered the other Steak special.

"How's my favourite guy going," James ruffles my hair. James is Nate's older brother who is in the community college nearby. I don't like James all that much. He's pushy, arrogant and rude and thinks the world of himself.

"I'm a girl," I spat, ready to walk off. It makes me feel like absolute crap when people call me a guy or boy. I hate it.

"Bullshit," he snorts. Brandon and him high five each other.

"Excuse me?" Tyler threatens in a low voice. It surprises me, and I turn around to watch the ordeal. "Nova is a girl," Nate and Elsa holler in agreement. I love my friends. "I think I would know after all, she is my girlfriend."

I gape at Tyler, same as James. Clark and Brandon know that I'm 'dating' him, but I don't think Tyler told James.

Nobody says anything; they all fall into a tension filled silence.

I was the first to speak up, "I'm just going to finish your order ... and I'm putting pepper on your chips now Brandon."

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Sorry this is short. It had to to be finished there because ... this is the calm before the storm. That's all I'm going to say ;)

THANKYOU so much for 22k reads and reachin #201 in Teen Fiction! We hit 600 votes, which I am super proud of. Thanks so much for your support!