The GHC

Chap 2: "Name Your Price"

When Buffy and Marty arrived, they found everyone but Luke was already there.

"Hey, Marty," Jonah called, "Where've you been?"

"Sick," Buffy replied for him dryly. Jonah sensed there was more to the story, but didn't ask.

"So Jonah, how are you and Libby?" Marty asked curiously.

"Still going strong," he replied happily. "What about you and Cathy?"

"Fantastic," he said drawing out every syllable for Buffy's benefit. It seemed to have the desired effect because Buffy visibly grimaced. A second later, Marty's phone beeped. He looked at it and grabbed his jacket. "Sorry guys, but I have to go home early." He turned to Buffy. "Meet up tomorrow?" He asked hopefully. Buffy nodded, and with that he left.

"Any progress with Marty?" Andi asked grinning. The question seemed to take Buffy by surprise.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Buffy responded coolly.

"M'kay," Andi decided to drop it. Dylan, who had been covertly playing with Leah's hand under the table since they got there, spoke up, "Alright Andi, what about you and that one girl from from school? What was her name? Amy?"

"Amber," Andi corrected immediately, "and things are good. It's not serious yet, but I don't know...I think we're going in that direction." She shrugged. "Is anyone on your mind these days, Dylan?"

"Not a soul," he lied. "This bird flies free." The others nodded, believing him. They turned their questions to Grey.

"Are you interested in someone?" One of them asked.

"What? No, this is only my first day," he told them, trying not to think about Luke's perfect smile. The others nodded and finally turned to Cyrus.

"Hey, I'm as boring as Grey. No crushes for you to exploit here," he explained. The only one left at the table who hadn't been asked about their relationships was Leah, but they refrained. Leah could be shy when asked about personal questions like that, and they didn't want to make her uncomfortable by asking her in front of a whole group of people. 

After Jonah left for a date with Libby, TJ and Luke walked in and sat at a booth in the corner.

"Are they not going to sit with us?" Grey asked the group. He had been hoping to talk to Luke there.

"We invited him, but he already had plans with TJ," Dylan explained.

"Isn't TJ supposed to be popular?"

"Well yeah, but so is Luke. Luke basically hangs out with everyone." Grey's mouth made an o.

"Hey, Luke!" Dylan waved him over. Luke stood up and walked over to them.

"Greetings Compatriots," Luke joked grabbing a chair. "What's up?"

"Do you and TJ want to join us?" Dylan asked.

"Sorry dude, but we kind of have to talk about something really important," Luke explained. "But see you tonight?" Luke checked.

"Obviously." Luke started to walk away. "No goodbye kiss?" Dylan called after him.

"I guess you'll have to wait till tonight," he winked. Luke reclaimed his seat with TJ, and they entered a serious conversation. "Are you sure he really did that to her?" Luke asked TJ quietly.

"That's what she told me, and I wouldn't put it past him"

Luke sighed, "And now he's moving to our school."

"Yeah, and when I get my hands on him-"

"Don't!" Luke interrupted him. "You already have two suspensions. You could get expelled."