Fighting to go on

Chapter 23

            On Tuesday at school, we were all sitting at our table for lunch when it was decided that going out for dinner as a group tonight would be fun. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but it was eventually agreed on. Ryan and his five friends would be there, as well as Sarah and I. Mark had to work and Charlie wanted to go out with just Anna, so they wouldn’t be joining us.

            Ryan turned to look at me. “I’ll pick you up at six, okay?”

            I was about to agree, but Sarah cut in. “No way, she’s coming to my place after school. We’ll just meet you there.”

            I had forgotten that Sarah wanted to show me the dress she’d picked up for the dance that was coming up in a few weeks. “That’ll work,” I told her. The bell rang and we all got up and moved off to our classes.

            After school, Sarah’s mom picked us up and took us to her place. Sarah brought me up to her room immediately and went right to her closet. She pulled out a dark green dress that was mid length and had short sleeves. I walked up to her and examined the dress closely. “It’s perfect!” I told her. “The color will look really good on you and it’s not too revealing, but still sexy.”

            “I know, I couldn’t resist buying it,” she replied. “The dress you got over the weekend is perfect for you as well. Ryan is going to love it on you.”

            I grinned wickedly. “He’ll like it better when it’s off of me.” She laughed, but I faked being serious. “Did you know that one of those lingerie outfits is now in tatters? Waste of money if you ask me. It lasted about two minutes and then he literally tore it off of me.”

            Sarah was laughing so hard by now that she could barely breathe. Her mirth was contagious and I found myself joining in on the laughter. We eventually calmed down and went downstairs to watch TV before we had to be at the restaurant.

            Sarah’s mom drove us there and I told her that Ryan would give Sarah a ride back. We got out of the car and waved as her mom drove off. We went through the front door of the restaurant and we were immediately met by loud voices. I recognized the voices and Sarah and I exchanged looks before going to the doorway to the dining area.

            The six guys we were meeting, including Ryan, had taken up the largest table in the middle of the restaurant. The sight alone of six big guys would have caused some people to look at them, but it was the loud voices coming from them that had everyone staring at them warily.

            Chase and Shawn were arguing about something, and while I knew they were just goofing around, to anyone else it would look serious. The other four guys were egging them on, creating an unholy amount of noise.

            A waitress came up to Sarah and I with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about the noise. Would you like to have a seat?”

            I looked at her. She was tiny, smaller then even me and had raven black hair and green eyes. “How long have those guys been doing that?”

            She sighed. “About ten minutes. Everyone is kind of afraid to go up to them and ask them to keep it down though. I mean, they’re all pretty big guys.”

            I nodded. “That they are. Don’t worry about seating us. We’ll deal with the guys.”

            “Oh, but you don’t have to do that! They look like they could chew you up and spit you out,” she said hurriedly. “No offense meant, of course.”