Quiet and anxious Audrey Perrin is living her life the best way she knows how, with minimal communication and a set routine that never changes; just the way she likes it. Her only friends are bubbly and cute Sam Palacios and forthright and tough Loo...
Natalie and Adrian sat at the second floor east end tables after school. Her mind drifted into thoughts of Audrey and Jacob. It didn't take long for Adrian to notice she was not paying attention. "Hey Natalie, you okay?" "Yeah, I just can't stop thinking of something," she replied. "Oh yeah?" "Hey, Adrian, Can I ask you something?" "Of course." "What's your deal with Audrey?" "How do you mean?" "Like what's your guys' relationship?" "Well, we only met a week ago, but I would say she's a friend." "Do you know much about her?" she asked. "Just kind of some basic stuff, like her last name, her favorite genre to write, her favorite class and movies, hobbies. Etc." he continued, "she doesn't really make an effort to talk to me outside of school though, but then again neither do I." "Is she seeing anyone?" "umm, I don't think so? I'm almost positive she's single. The only other guy I've ever seen her talk to is Jacob. And they've known each other since middle school, I know that much." "I see," Natalie said. Retreating back to her thoughts. "Why the sudden interest in Audrey?" "I was just curious, I'd like to get to know her more." "Well I know your mind seems to be elsewhere, but I really gotta help you study. remember?" he said. Tapping on the book. "You're absolutely right!" She said. She shook her head as if to clear any unrelated thoughts. "Where were we?"
Oct. 9, 2015 Fri.
"So what are we gonna do today?" Emma asked Natalie. Natalie was putting books away in her locker. Fridays were usually their day to go to the mall, or do something fun at Natalie's house. "Today is going to be a bit different, Em," she said as she was closing her locker. "What do you mean?" "Today I'm going to be doing some personal studying," she said. "You're going to hang out with Nerdy Adrian today," Emma said scoffing at the idea, "Well I can hang out with him too." "Don't be so mean, he's our ticket to party city," she said, "and no, today I'm going to hang out with Audrey." "This again? Are you really worried that Jacob would choose someone like her over you?" she said. "Daddy always taught me to hope for the best and prepare for the worst." she said to Emma. She checked her reflection from her pocket mirror. "Ugh!" Emma retorted. "What a waste of a good Friday night, we could have baked some cookies and continued the KDrama we were watching." "There is always Saturday Em," Natalie said, rubbing her cheek. "Yeah yeah, I'll go hang out with the others then, good luck on your 'studying'" Emma said as she walked away. Natalie went on her way to find Audrey. She contemplated on what to say, what to do. She figured the best thing was to get her alone. She walked to the Cafeteria, where she had seen Jacob standing above the crowd again. Next to him was Looz and Sam. Audrey was sitting next to Adrian across from them. Natalie skipped on over. "Hey guys!" Natalie said enthusiastically. "Hey Nat! What's up?" Jacob said, excited to see her. He immediately stood up straight and puffed his chest out. "I just saw you guys and I thought I'd come hang out with you all." Nat said to them. "Where's mini you?" Looz asked with a squint in her eye. "Mini Me?" Nat questioned. She was unsure what to make of that comment. Sam slapped Looz's arm. "Ow, what!? I'm just asking a question." "Emma is hanging out with her friends right now," Natalie replied. She took a seat by Audrey but turned to Sam to make small talk. Sam was the one she felt most comfortable with. "Sam, I love your outfit today! Where do you get your clothes?" Natalie gawked at her outfit. "Oh thank you! You wouldn't believe it if I told you but you can find a lot of fantastic clothes thrift shopping," she replied. "You look amazing as always! I love that leather jacket of yours!" Sam complemented. "Thank you! So what do you guys have planned tonight?" "Nothing for me," Audrey said. "Well, I'm taking Sam and Audrey home, and I'm going home too," Looz said. "I've got nothing going on either," Jacob said. He sat down next to her. "Ditto," Adrian said. "Did you want to do something Nat?" Sam asked. "Oh I mean if you all want to." "I'd be down to hang out if-if you want," Jacob said. "Well, I was thinking of a girls night, sooo..." Natalie said, casually shutting him down gently. "It's fine, Adrian and I will have a guys night! Right buddy?" "Oh uh today?? Um right now? Yeah sure! It's so last minute, I'll have to ask my mom," Adrian said, "oh boy this is so exciting!" "Yeah we can watch movies or play games! Even better, we can look at sports to join!" Jacob said enthused. "Movies sound fun," Looz said. "We're having girls night Looz!" Sam said, slapping her arm again. "Hey quit it! I'm gonna bruise! Besides, I never agreed to that." "That's okay! I don't mind watching movies with everyone, I just thought a girls night would be fun, but another time is cool." Natalie said. "No way! We can do both! We can watch movies at Adrian's after we have our girls night!" Sam said, "what say you Audrey?" "Sure, I mean it sounds fun." "Maaaan, okay fine!" Looz said. "Yay! Spending time with my besties!" Sam exclaimed. "Great! This is going to be fun!" Natalie said. "Shit!" Natalie thought to herself. Things were getting out of hand. Quickly, she was thinking of a way to get her and Audrey alone. "Well, while we decide, I've been meaning to talk with you Audrey." Natalie said. "Me?" Audrey said confused. "Yeah you. Want to get boba with me?" "Oh, yeah sure. I like boba!" "WOAH! Boba sounds great!" Jacob said excitedly. "Actually I wanted to talk to Audrey in private..." Looz quickly darted her eyes to Natalie. Silently, the whole group found it a little sudden but didn't think much of it. "Ahh man... okay," Jacob said, "see you tonight then." "Great! We'll catch up with you guys later!" Nat said. Natalie gathered her things and motioned Audrey to follow. Audrey grabbed her bag and followed along. "I don't see why we couldn't go, '' Jacob said. "It's okay! Let's just decide on what to do tonight, I'm excited to hang out!" Sam said. Looz stared at Audrey and Nat walking away. Suspicion rose in her gut. Natalie and Audrey arrived at the boba shop. They got their drinks and sat at one of the small tables inside the shop. Natalie scooted in closer and leaned in with interest. "So Audrey! This is our first time actually talking to each other. We have physics together don't we?" "Yeah," Audrey said. She paused to drink some of her boba, "we sit far apart from each other, I guess that's why we've never really talked before." "Oh! Well let's change that!" She jammed the straw in her drink. "Why don't you tell me about yourself," Natalie said. She then proceeded to drink her boba, not taking her eyes off of Audrey. "Well, there's nothing I can think of at the moment," Audrey said nervously. "What are things you like?" Natalie said. Audrey paused a moment to think, whisking her cup in a circular motion. "um, well, writing and books and stuff," she paused a moment to take a drink of her boba. "I don't know what else to say. What about you?" "Oh my god, I'll have to carry this conversation." Natalie thought to herself. "I don't really read many books outside of the ones for class." "But I mean, what are things that you like?" Audrey elaborated. "A lot of things! I mentioned most of it on Wednesday, but a quick recap, I love fashion. I love partying and hanging out with friends. I like the feeling of just being alive, surrounded by people." "I can tell about fashion. I've always liked the outfits you wear," Audrey said. "Thank you! I think you wear just the most adorable outfits too." "Thanks, I think it's all pretty plain." "No kidding." "No way, I bet you catch a lot of eyes from the boys," Natalie suggested with a wink. "I don't know about that," Audrey said, turning red. "Oh but what about Jacob? You two always seem to be so close, I'm sure he must have noticed how cute you are," Natalie mused. "We're just friends," Audrey clarified, she nervously drank her boba. "Ooh?" Natalie said, a slight grin grew on her face, "to be honest, I thought that there might have been a thing going on between you two." "No I just- we just- well we were really good friends, not just us, Sam and Looz too." Audrey said, fumbling her words. Natalie drank her boba, amused at Audrey's awkwardness. "Well, would you like to go out with him?" Audrey's eyes widened, her grip on her cup grew tighter. "J-Jacob and me?.." she kept her gaze down, staring at her drink. Her face felt hot and her heartbeat soared. Natalie eyed her reaction, but chose not to pursue the topic any further. She giggled. "Relax! I'm only teasing."
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Audrey calmed down a little, she took a hesitant sip of her drink. "You've been to the Ridgewell Mall before right?" Natalie asked, "There's this really cute boutique that has a sale going on for the next couple days." "Yeah I've been there, although I don't think I'm familiar with the shop you're talking about." "Great! That's where I was thinking of going for our girls night. Would you want to go there? We could try on new clothes!" "Yeah I guess," Audrey sounded unsure. Natalie could tell she didn't want to be rude. "You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm just thinking out loud." Audrey shook her head. "No, no...I want to. But there's a small bookstore I love to go to. Would you be willing to go there too?" Natalie lit up with an idea. "Tell ya what. How about we take each other to our favorite spots? That way we can get to know each other better." Audrey liked the idea. She wasn't entirely sure what spurred Natalie's sudden interest in her but she was excited to get to know her. "That sounds fun. Let's do it." Audrey said. "Let's take our drinks to go then." "I'll ask Looz and Sam to come get us," Audrey said. "Perfect! This is going to be a fun Girls night!" Natalie said. She wiggled with excitement. "I'm a bit nervous though, I've never really hung out with anyone else but Emma and her normal group of friends," Natalie said. "You're nervous? I'm the one that's nervous, I never thought in a million years that you and I would ever be doing anything together." "Why not? I'm no different from anyone else," Natalie reassured, "besides, you seem like a really cool person so far, I can't wait to try on new dresses with you!" "Dresses?" Audrey questioned. She chuckled nervously.
