STORM

-seventeen-

Storm was gathered with all her friends at her and Joey's apartment. Eiji, Thalia, Echo, and of course Joey were all there. There was some tension between Eiji and Joey and Storm couldn't decipher whether it was good or bad tension, but she was leaning towards bad. Every time Joey touched Eiji in the slightest, he tensed and glanced around uncomfortably. Storm didn't know what that was all about. She considered confronting them, but she sensed that would make it worse, so she shut her mouth.

"How are things going with Ziv?" Joey asked Thalia, crossing his legs and munching on a chip.

Smiling gently, Thalia responded, "really well, actually. I like him a lot."

"I still have no idea how the hell it happened but I'm happy for you two," Echo, who was sitting next to Storm on the couch, said.

Thalia blushed. "You know that party we went to a few weeks ago now?"

"Wes' party?" Storm asked for clarification.

"Yeah, that one. We kind of hit it off there and then he asked me out and here we are. He's so sweet to me. Most of my relationships have been shit so it's a nice change to have him treat me like I deserve to be treated. Also, he's cute and hot at the same time, but that's just an added bonus."

"Isn't he your sister's best friend?" It was Eiji who spoke, addressing Joey for practically the first time that night.

At the mention of Gabriella, Storm shifted in her seat. It had been two weeks since their amusement park date, well, she wasn't sure if it was classified as a date or not. Regardless, they'd not had many opportunities since to spend time together. They'd both been busy. Instead, they'd been texting, face timing, and meeting briefly here and there.

The past two weeks, Gabriella had caught Storm up on Isla and their growing friendship, she also told her how she'd been getting more and more orders. That made Storm happy. She was talented and Storm was glad more people were recognizing it. As for her blossoming friendship, Storm thought it was great too. Especially since she only really had Ziv. Which wasn't a bad thing, but it was always nice to make more friends.

Truthfully, Storm found herself missing Gabriella. She'd been occupying her mind a lot lately and Storm couldn't seem to get her out of it. However, Storm was still filled with guilty whenever she thought of her. The fear that Joey would find out and hate her for pursuing his sister lingered. There was the slightest possibility that he wouldn't react badly, but Storm wasn't willing to take that risk. For now, it would have to remain a secret.

Yet, she knew it could only remain that for so long. Eventually, he would find out. She just hoped it wouldn't be soon. That she could hold onto this a little longer. That she could somehow make it work. Because Storm didn't want to let go of Gabriella. Neither did she want to lose her best friend.

"Mhm, he is."

"That guy has been into you for a while now," Eiji said, chuckling.

"What?" Thalia spluttered. "No, he hasn't."

"You didn't notice? He's had this dreamy look on his face every time he sees you for like two years. You were too blind to see it, that's all."

Though Storm liked to think she wasn't oblivious, she had never noticed Ziv's crush on Thalia. Perhaps she just hadn't been paying enough attention to notice.

"I think you were the only one who noticed that," Echo said. The others hummed in agreement.

He shrugged. "Maybe I'm observant. But really, it wasn't hard to miss. He wasn't exactly good at hiding it. You're together now, though. So I guess things worked out."