stupid 4 u, w.s

Chapter 2

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I sit on my bed, staring at my book. My best friend, Taylor, told me I should read The Summer I Turned Pretty, and so far, it's not that bad. I get a text notification and pick up my phone.

{iMessages}

Taylor

heyyyyy
wanna come over
???

sure

OK
Kenzie is here 2

i thought u didn't like her lmfao

WHAT NO
JUST COME OVER

omw

{Noah's POV}

I jump off my bed and pick out an outfit; A black crop top and gray sweatpants. I change and run downstairs. It's only like 12:00. It feels way later, though. "I'm going to Taylor's house!" I announce. "Okay!" My mom says. I shut the door behind me and sprint down the street.

Taylor has been my best friend for like 12 years. She has been acting a little weird lately, but I think it's probably just hormones or something. I step onto her front porch and ring the doorbell.

"Do you have any chips?" I hear Kenzie ask as Taylor opens the door. "Uh, yea...just look around," Taylor tells her. "K."

I stand in front of her awkwardly, waiting for her to invite me in. "We're gonna go eat at the dragonfly cafe. Wanna come?" "Uh, yeah...But why didn't you just text me that instead of making me walk all the way over here?" I ask. "Oh, stop complaining! It's not that far of a walk." Kenzie says, walking over to us. "It took 15 minutes to get here!" I complain. She opens a bag of Doritos and rolls her eyes.

I sigh as I walk back inside my house and close the door. They are literally ridiculous. Maybe it will be better at the cafe?

"You're back already?" My mom questions, holding my little sister, Ellie. "Uh, yeah...Can you drop me off at the dragonfly cafe, please?" I beg. "Sure." She smiles, grabbing her keys.

TIME SKIP

Mom parks in front of the cafe, and I hop out of the car. She said she'd pick me up in like an hour. I walk into the building and immediately spot Kenzie and Taylor. I guess they changed their clothes. Kenzie is wearing a white tennis skirt with a flowy sage green top, and Taylor is wearing a purple mini-dress.

I hesitantly start walking toward them until I notice Walker. He smiles, waving at me, and I return the gesture. I was not expecting him to be here.

He walks over to me. "Hi!" He says. "Hi" I smile. "I'm really-" I cut him off, "Stop! How many times do I have to tell you that it's fine!?" I laugh. "Sorry," He says. I sigh and roll my eyes. He smiles sheepishly and glances at the ground.

"Noah!" Taylor calls as the two girls run up to me. "Who's this?" She asks. "Oh, this is Walker," I tell them. "I just ordered," Kenzie says, crossing her arms. "Hi, I'm Kenzie." She tells Walker. He smiles shyly.

"Why didn't you change?" Kenzie asks, staring at me. "Cause you didn't tell me to?" I say. She scoffs dramatically. Here we go. "How was I supposed to know that you'd show up looking like that?! You're gonna look ridiculous sitting next to us."

I mentally facepalm. Everyone in the cafe is looking at us now. The only people looking ridiculous here are them. I don't understand why they've gotta be looking like they're going to a 5-star restaurant to sit in a musty ass corner eating bagels.

"You sit over there." She demands, pointing to an empty table behind theirs. "Bro, what??" She glares at me, "Sorry. It's not my fault you came looking like that." "At least I don't look like I came out of a freaking dollhouse." She rolls her eyes and dramatically walks over to her table. Taylor follows her, of course. I can't believe she didn't even try to defend me.

I turn to Walker, whos fidgeting with his hands. "You can sit with me if you want." He says, glancing back at his table. His mom smiles at me, and I give her a little wave. "Are you sure? I don't want to interrupt anything." "No, it's fine." He insists. I smile, "Okay, thanks."

We walk over to his table and sit across from each other. "Can you remind me of your name, please?" Walker's mom asks. "Uh, Noah." I smile. She nods, "Those girls seem kind of mean. Are you friends with them?" "Yeah...The one in the purple dress, Taylor, she's my best friend. She's just going through something right now." I explain. I don't even know if I believe that anymore.

"I'm gonna go order a smoothie. Do you guys want anything?" Walker's mom says. "No thanks," I say. Walker shakes his head, taking a bite of his fries.

"What about the other one?" He questions. "What?" "The girl in the green shirt." "Oh...That's Kenzie. She's not really...we're not really friends. She's kinda mean to me." I tell him. "Kinda?" He laughs. "Okay, she's very mean to me." Walker eats another fry, and I grab one too.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting to know each other. It was actually really fun. I think I like hanging out with him more than my best friend.