Third Wheel | EDITING

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Looks like you beat me to it before I could say anything, princess" Grayson grinned, "He probably made you pretty uncomfortable, what a creep."

I laughed, "One of my favorite skills is being able to repel guys." 

Evan came back with the drinks, red-faced as he muttered his question of what we had wanted to eat.

I choose first; deciding on a simple salad and the Seafood Alfredo.

Grayson couldn't even keep a straight face as he maintained a crooked smile and ordered the same except minus the salad. He chooses to add the Chicken & Gnocchi Soup instead.

Hurriedly, Evan typed our orders into the tablet before excusing himself from his awkwardness.

"So—" Grayson started.

"So—" I continued.

We both paused before stifling a laugh.

"Hmm, tell me about yourself." He said, sipping on his root beer that was brought out earlier by another man.

"What's there to know?" I asked, "I tend to be blunt so, what you see if what you get." 

There wasn't much you could really know about me, cept that my personality to those closest to me was more borderline crazy and mentally unstable than my usual self but that wasn't something you'd tell someone for a first impression. 

"Hmm, what's your full name?" He questioned.

It weirded me out to say the least, him asking something that I've surprisingly rarely been asked.

"Elana Maeabelle Dunns." I replied, "—but most of my friends call me Lana if they aren't just saying Elana." I continued, not wishing for no one to go all full name basis on me.

My name was modern, old-ish, traditional, and hard to spell. 

"That's a beautiful name." He replied before turning to me, "Do you mind if I just call you Mae princess? It'd be nice to have something that only I call you by but I realized I never ran it by you." 

I laughed at the interesting comment, "Sure, I guess. It doesn't really bother me surprisingly." 

It could feel myself treading into dangerous territory as I let him call me 'princess' and hung out with him. Yet, the way he interacted with me was much different than what I had assumed. 

This was one of my less smart decisions for sure. 

"Grayson Cooper Christensen." He told me before he looked me in the eye, meeting the curious look plastered over my face. "—that's my full name."

"Can I call you Gray?" I asked out of nowhere, even surprising myself, " — I don't know, you don't act like what I've always thought you would be like and Gray would be like different, if not though, it's fine." 

"I've never heard someone use that as a reason to not say my name, but I like it. " His eyes twinkled with an amused expression, before he nodded, "Surprisingly, no one ever calls me Gray, so it's all yours."

I smiled, feeling an odd comfort in knowing we had nicknames for each other. Weird wasn't it?

"Simple, it rhymes." He pointed out, "Mae and Gray." 

The revelation brought silence to the table before we both ended up bursting out laughing. 

"That's so cringy but let's just go with it." I replied, "Gray and Mae." 

"You know, I should've known you were going to be different when you actually changed in 5 minutes." He smiled, "Took me off guard not gonna lie, I didn't know girls could actually keep that promise." 

"We had plans and it was my fault for forgetting." I reminded him, "It would've just been ruder to keep you waiting and though I may be a bitch, I'm not a bitch that wasn't raised right." 

"Much appreciated, I'll say that. You really never fail to surprise me with your words." He told me before nodding to Evan who was waddling over with our food.