One Step Closer (Sequel to OSAAT)

Chapter Thirty

I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM ALREADY ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

Lauren's POV

"Oh, crap. Luke called me like five times." I said looking at my phone.

"Is he okay?" Ali asked me and I shrugged. I quickly called him and turned on the speaker phone. I laid my phone in my lap and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" I heard Luke's voice. "Shh..." I heard him say, quieter.

"Um... hey. Sorry I didn't answer your calls. I didn't have any service. You need anything?" I asked and I looked at Ali.

"Oh, no, I'm good. I just wanted to figure out why all my friends randomly died." he said and I sighed.

"Sorry... I tried to go on a date and then I ended up stuck on some road in a car with Ricky, so we had to get Jack and Ali to come get us."

"Are you and Ricky a thing now?" Luke asked and I looked back at the road.

"No," I said, a little harsher than I should've. "I don't know if he's the kind of person I want to be with..." Ali slapped my arm and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh... alright." he said and I sighed.

"We'll be back soon."

"Okay, just call me when you get back. Oh, and by the way, a certain Quinn and certain Briley are waiting for you, too." Luke said and ended the call. I looked at Ali.

"Call Briley."

"Already on it." she said and we waited for her to answer.

"Hello! You've reached Briley's voicemail. Sorry we couldn't talk, just leave me a message and I'll get back to you! Talk to you later!" Briley's peppy voicemail played. My phone started ringing and I handed it to Ali. She answered it.

"Hello? Oh. Hey." she said and I could tell she was trying her hardest not to sound rude. I looked at her and she was nodding. "Yeah... I'll turn it on speaker."

"Who is it?" I asked as she turned speakerphone on.

"It's Ricky." Ricky said and I looked at my phone.

"Oh, hey." I said and all I could think about was what Ali had recently told me. "What's up?"

"Since our 'date' failed... tremendously... do you just want to go get some pizza later? I would've asked you in person, but it's already getting late, so I just figured I'd ask you now and then we could go straight to wherever we would eat."

"That's a great idea! How about we all go? Luke can come, too... it will be a little get together. Talk to you soon." I said.

"No, Lauren, I meant-"

"Bye." I said and ended the call.

"Lauren!" Ali yelled, irritated.

"What?!" I asked. "I don't want to eat pizza with him... alone."

"You can't make things between you two awkward! I wish I hadn't told you." Ali sighed.

"Well, I wish you would've told me sooner, so suck it up." I said and Ali stared at me. "You keep ruining things for me."

"Whatever, Lauren. I haven't ruined anything for you." Ali said and looked out the window.

"You ruined my relationship with Louis and now you're ruining my relationship with Ricky. I mean, I'm glad you ruined my relationship with Dalton, but you still ruined it."

"Oh, shut up! I haven't ruined anything! It's not my fault you can't decide who you like."

"It's your fault that you left Niall heartbroken, that caused Louis to get paranoid and annoying. It's your fault that you had sex with Ricky because you slept with anyone in high school." I said and my eyes widened. Ali's face screwed up and she looked down.