(1) Talk Me Down: An All Time Low Fanfiction Romance

Chapter 1: Lunch

        "Hello, earth to Kara," Veronica's voice pierced my ears. I jumped slightly; chin falling from its lean on my palm. I shook my head, fluttering my eyelids as I glanced over at her. She pursed her glossed lips, arching her perfectly plucked eyebrows in my direction. I raised my eyebrows back at her, trying to show interest in whatever story she was telling.

        She wasn't convinced by my sudden attention, and rolled her bright blue eyes. She stabbed her fork into her salad, taking a bite and looking away from me. I shrugged to myself, looking down at the burger in front of me. I wasn't even sure why I agreed to go out with the girls today, I wasn't hungry and I knew my mom would be completely pissed at me when I got home because I still hadn't cleaned my room.

        "Tired?" Sophia asked from my right side. I looked up towards her brown eyes and gave her a small, shy smile while nodding once. I tucked a piece of my light brown hair behind my ear and picked a fry off of my plate to nibble on. The restaurant was too warm in the July heat, and I wished that their air conditioning was actually working, but, I guess most of Baltimore was losing power today because of the heat. I still wasn't sure how that even happened.

        "Where were you last night?" Ava questioned from across the table. The terrible lightening in this place left her skin looking slightly yellow. Her lightly freckled soulders were covered her bleach blonde hair, eyeing me and taking a bite of her chicken.

        "Yeah, I tried getting ahold of you. And Nolan kept texting me to see where you went," Veronica seemed annoyed that my absense messed up her night. I felt bad, mostly because I told her that I would call if I got the chance.

        "My sister was home for the day, so I went to the movies with her."

        "And you couldn't answer a text?" She seemed baffled at the idea that I didn't answer her. In all honesty, my phone was dead for the day. I forgot to charge it the night before, so I left it at home. I get why it would bother her, though, it would bug me too.

        "Sorry," I let out my breath, taking a bite of my burger just so I wouldn't have to.

        "It's whatever, but Nolan was super cute. He wanted to take you to dinner or something." She was enjoying my face flush at the small embarrassment and a tiny grin spread across my face. "I so should work for like, match.com or something." She was truely impressed with herself.

        Three months ago, I was at my locker when Veronica walked up to me with a boy on her tail. For most of the time she was talking to me, I was cnvinced that he was one of the boys that followed her around for weeks until she got sick of them. This was the one time she introduced us, and I was amazed that the light haired, tan junior in high school with bright white teeth and green eyes would ever be interested in me. Apparently, he had wanted my number for weeks.

        "So cute," Charlotte finally piped in, her deep ruby hair bouncing on her shoulders. Her hazel eyes fixed on my reddening profile. I decided to stay quiet, and instead, ignore the slight sensation of butterflies in my gut.

        "Did you and Kevin break up, Ronnie?" Jay's voice broke into the conversation as her nearly black hair fell into her face. Veronica's nose scrunched up at the thought, while sticking her tongue out in disgust.

        "Yes! He was so annoying. It's like, he never left me alone. I would walk to class; he was there. I would get out of school, he'd want to hang out. Seriously, get off my dick," she joked, and I cringed at that awful expression. I didn't understand why she insisted on using it. I hated it. "And he won't stop texting me. He doesn't get that I'm like, over it."

        "Sex not good?" Ava teased from her seat, picking at her nails. We all thought it was a joke, and laughed softly. But Veronica stayed quiet, biting the inside of her cheek and looking at her lap. Soon after, our snickers fell into a long silence.

        "Wait -- you slept with him?" Sophia whispered, shocked and smiling. Veronica's mouth turned up on the corner, obviously pleased by the response she was gettting. I felt my heart drop at the thoght. She shrugged casually, taking a bite of her salad as Jay, Sophia, Charlotte and Ava gasped at her. They leaned into the table, asking for dirty details. I couldn't help the way my head moved with theirs, too curious to not listen too.

        "Since when?" I muttered with annoyance. Veronica, even though she was the most popular girl in school, was my best friend. We've been close ever since second grade when she offered to be my buddy by lending me her Barbie to play with during recess. Even if some people thought she was a bitch, ditzy, or fake, she wasn't to me. She's changed a lot, on't get me wrong. She is still the same Ronnie that I've known my entire life. Even if others don't see it, I do. I was slightly insulted that she never told me.

        "I went to a college party with im before we broke up. I don't know, I was drunk and he was hot," she played it off so smoothly, and the other girls giggled. She was the first to lose it between the six of us. I swore to myself that I wasn't going to give it up to some stupid guy in high school. It wasn't worth the time, or heartache.

        "What was it like?" Ava questioned, way too interested.

        "We'll talk abotu it when we get back to my house," Veronica made the statement like we had planned to go over to her house beforehand. No doubt that each of us would ask our parents immediately. You don't turn down a sleepover with Veronica; it's not in your best interest. "But, what about you, Kara? When will Nolan get lucky?"

        I almost choked on my water. My ears turned hot as I glanced around the table, obviously not enjoying the conversation that we were having. I would be annoyed, too; it must be really hard to keep your food down when the girls behind you can't keep their mouths shut about sex.

        "We've been dating for two months," I said incredulously as she shrugged.

        "I dated Kevin for seven weeks," she was challenging me for an argument. She knew how I felt about the idea of sex, and what it entails. She just wanted to make me look to be the bad person if I started to say that she was an idiot for sleeping with a senior in high school, or the face that in his eyes, it meant less than nothing. I never said she was perfect, but she could be a bitch sometimes.

        "Maybe, maybe not," I answered vaguely, sipping my water once agains as a distinction. Not soon after, they were talking about something else. I let out a deep sign after swallowing, happy that I was no longer the center of Veroncia's cross fire.

[AUTHORS NOTE: I know this chapter seems a bit slow, and nothing exciting has happened yet, but please, give this story a chance! If you read past chapter one, things really start to pick up! The chapters are pretty short, so I'd grealty appreciate it if you'd give it a chance! ThanksI ]