The Other Guys

Chapter 12

“Okay, is it just me, or are Rob and Lola acting very weird?”

Weirder than usual, that is.

I whisper at Brady, who takes a gulp from his water bottle, before he glances discreetly at our friends. For once, they’re not fighting, glaring at each other, Lola isn’t insulting anyone’s manhood, Rob isn’t antagonizing her, and they’re actually being civil, which is not only weirding me out because I’m not used to those robots, who have replaced my best friends, but also, this change in atmosphere is spooky. So spooky, in fact, I’m beginning to wonder what kind of drugs they’re on because such a sudden change is not natural.

Instead they’re sitting side by side, chatting amiably and smiling at each other like old friends. And they might be friends by all means, but they’ve never been friendly.

“Oh, didn’t Lola tell you?” Brady responds airily, blinking at me before placing his water bottle down on the table. When he notices me shake my head negatively, he clears his throat and explains, “They’re trying and I quote “the mature thing” now by taking the high road.” At the end Brady rolls his eyes at the idea, finding it as ludicrous as I do because our friends are so different, they’re on the opposite sides of the spectrum, but they do share one thing in common regardless – their immaturity level.

“This is going to be bad,” I sigh tiredly, having a bad feeling about all this.

“Very bad,” CeCe agrees, bobbing her head up and down and looking like she’s about to start biting her nails due to an anxiety attack.

“I think you’re overdramatizing,” Brady remarks, fighting an eye roll I know is coming. He takes a bite out of his pizza as CeCe gives him a disapproving look.

“How can you eat that?” she asks, scrunching up her nose and nodding her head towards Brayden’s pizza. “Meat is murder,” she states, scowling up at him and folding her arms across her chest petulantly, not even letting him defend himself. Ever since CeCe adopted the vegetarian lifestyle, she’s been trying to get us to give up meat, but it’s not like the guys are very thrilled about the idea.

“CeCe” Brayden sighs exhaustedly, “can we not having this conversation again for a change, so that I can eat my lunch in peace?” Brady practically begs her, but CeCe turns her nose up at him pointedly and looks away, so it appears like she’s not going to be moved by Brady’s charm today since she’d rather snub him.

“No,” she replies curtly, leaving no wiggle room for argument, or excuses, “where’s Noah? He’s going to back me up,” CeCe pouts, frantically looking around, like Noah’s going to jump from under the table and yell “surprise”.

Noah’s the only one of us CeCe’s proud to say she’s managed to “convert” and turn vegetarian, or so she thinks. In all honesty, after all her pestering we came up with the idea that at least one of us should go vegetarian for her sake, so that she can sit down on her ass, pipe down, and stop badgering us all. Noah drew the short straw and now as far as CeCe’s concerned, he’s vegetarian, too. But really, it could’ve been anyone of us.

At the mention of his name though, my blood starts running cold and my smile freezes on my face.

I’ve managed to avoid thinking about him so far and it seems to be working until now. I guess it’s true when they say that you can run, but you can’t hide. You can delay the inevitable, but you can’t prevent it from happening. Eventually, you have to come to terms with reality.

“Looking for me?” someone chuckles behind me and I instantly recognize the voice, sweat breaking out on my forehead and my lips parting in surprise.