The Exchange Dare

Chapter Four: Operation 'Rebound' Has Commenced

A/N: A bit short but I just needed to introduce what's coming up next. I hope you'll like it. *fingers crossed*

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The 'date' actually didn't go half bad. Miranda, the owner and hostess of One Twenty Two, was out grocery shopping and Susan was on her weekend shift. Susan went to our school as well, and she regularly worked here after school hours.

Chloe strode confidently and plopped herself next to Nate. Jake stood up, giving up his spot next to me to Lewis, and walked towards Susan at the cash counter. 

He turned around and gave me a small wink. I made a quick mental note to buy my best friend his favorite Reese's cups!

Sadly, he was completely ignored as Susan walked over to our booth.

"Hi guys! How's it going?" she asked, cheerily.

"Hey Suse! This is Chloe, an exchange student from London. She goes to South West now," I replied chastely.

"Hey, I'm Susan McLaughlin," she introduced herself politely.

"Hello. Chloe Turner," she shook her hand, "and this is my twin, Lewis. He goes to SWH too." He smiled at Susan.

So they were twins! That explained the strikingly similar features.

"Is this what I think it is?" Susan asked, amping up the excitement in her voice.

"If you think it's a bunch of people getting to know each other, then this is exactly what you think it is," Lewis answered, coolly.

"Yeah, we have a term for that in America. It's called 'double dating'," she replied smugly. 

I was a little in awe of how Susan carried herself. She didn't seem affected at all by Lewis or his stunning looks or his panty-drop accent.

Nate scoffed, making his presence noticed for the first time. "This is hardly a date."

"Ouch!" he yelped as I grit my teeth and kicked his shin, hard from underneath the table.

He shot me a glare but I just gave him a bleak smile. I wasn't going to let him ruin the one good thing that was happening to him in a long time. 

Be nice, I mouthed.

He straightened himself up and turned to Chloe. "Hi, I'm Nathaniel Smith. My friends call me Nate."

"I prefer Nathan. Hi. Chloe," she said sweetly. He just shrugged. 

Lewis and I glanced at each other and exchanged awkward looks.

We gave our order, and watched the lovebirds chat about stuff from football to food. She made him laugh, and he made her blush. She was an outdoorsy girl, or so she said, which was definitely Nate's type. 

Not to mention they both came from wealthy families — and even though we like to delude ourselves that it isn't a factor, especially in high school, classism generally had a way of sneaking into the conversation.

Our meal was served and we eagerly munched on our hamburgers. All that swimming left me with a huge appetite. 

Lewis remained silent and occasionally fiddled with his phone. I was struggling to find things to talk about with him.

I looked around and spotted Jake, staring at Susan. Was he giving her the wounded whimper? I chuckled inwardly. She probably turned him down again.