She walked the dimly-lit streets without a care, her beauty constantly being hidden beneath the smoke, for she did not want to be seen. Her whole life she had gone without the feeling of that sort, something most people wished for, though she would not place this curse upon anyone. She watches others who look happy--in love even and envy creeps its way in. She will never feel what they do.

"I love you." She simply rolls her eyes at the couple she passes by, not understanding how they could say that to one another without getting a funny taste in their mouth while their stomach swirls. She places the cigarette between her lips and takes a deep breath, as if it could've been her last one. She breathed out, walking through the smoke once again, it not bothering her as much as the one behind her.

She flicked her cigarette on the ground, stomping on it with her foot, flipping her hair around and doing a quick sweep of her clothes to try to quickly rid herself of the stench before walking into her favorite bar that oddly enough had a bright green sign--Blue Bell.

"Clara!" She smiled at the sound of the voice, "Over here!" She placed her coat on the hanger by the door, walking over to the small booth in the back, sitting next to her friend.

"Hey guys," she kept her smile, sipping a bit of his beer.

"Hey!" He snatched it back, glaring at her even though normally he didn't mind. "Stop drinking out of my bottle, Clare."

She rolled her eyes, now trying to hide the smile creeping on her lips, "C'mon T," she started, the others watching closely for their own amusement, "I don't even see what the big deal is. Unlike your last girlfriend, I don't give free head behind Taco Bell." Clara looked to the rest of the group, raising her eyebrows, only increasing their curiosity.

"That was one time." He said, looking down and rocking his bottle back and forth on the table. 

"Oh, it's okay Thomas," another girl smiled sweetly at him, "we've all been there." Anyone walking by the table would've thought that she was comforting him, but Thomas knew otherwise.

He rolled his eyes and lifted the bottle back to his mouth, downing it in one gulp, "Shut up El," he waved down the waiter, getting another beer, "at least I date. You haven't had a boyfriend since...", he paused to think of a decent metaphor, "dinosaurs went extinct."

"I am just waiting for the right guy, okay?" She shyly said, rolling her fingers around the top of the bottle, practically whispering the words to herself.

"You have been saying that for years, El." The one who had just casually strolled over decided to add, pulling over a chair to join his friends at the booth, stuffing a napkin that had numbers scribbled on it inside of his pocket. He leaned his elbows on the table, only for Clara to push them off. He suddenly scrunched his nose in disgust, "Ulch, does anyone smell that?" His complaint was drowned out by his twin, who was practically spitting in his face.

"Because it is true, Parker!" She screamed, sliding down into the seat when she realized half the bar was now staring her down.

"Why don't you just fool around with a guy for one night?" The girl who has been silently observing finally spoke, her tone casual for something that would be the biggest night of El's life. She looked around the table with a shrug, eating some of the walnuts in the middle.

Parker groaned, covering one of his ears, the other hand holding his beer, "Okay, as her brother, I would not like to hear that."

"Ten bucks says she won't," Clara commented while sipping more of Thomas' beer, seeing out of the corner of her eye that he was trying to ignore her.

"I could if I wanted to." She said defensively and she heard one of them scoff, "What? I could!" She turned to her friend, "Mar, I accept your challenge."

Mar smirked as she placed her vodka on the table, "I get to pick the guy," El nodded, crossing her arms and anxiously watching Mar's eyes scan the room. "Him." She pointed to a guy who just walked in, "We haven't seen him before, so that means he doesn't know you or us. It is good for you. Go."

"N-now?" El stuttered, looking around at the group, and they all nodded. She sighed, glancing over and letting out a breath before walking away. The group watched with anticipation, waiting for her to either make a fool of herself or get some action.

All eyes focused toward them, watching their body language. She held her hands together, playing with her thumbs, trying her best to maintain eye contact. He smiled, shaking his head a bit, and her friends at the table wondered if she said something funny. Did she tell him about the bet? He lifted his hand, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear before resting it on her cheek. He leans in and gently kisses her. He pulls away only to lean toward her ear, speaking for only her to hear. Her cheeks slowly turned red as she slowly nodded. El grabbed her coat, and he held the door for her as they walked into the cold. 

Clara groaned, taking ten bucks out and handing it to Thomas. He smiled, placing it in his back pocket, "I'll also be taking this," He grabbed back his drink, wiping it off with a napkin, and she forced herself to smile.

"You act like I won't take it again," Her words were not filled with bitterness, but simply innocent teasing--something they have been doing their entire friendship, though Thomas still decided to not acknowledge her existence.

Mar smiled at the two of them, chuckling a bit when Parker slid out of the chair and next to her in the booth. "I can't believe my baby sister is getting some." He shuddered and Mar laughed, ignoring the fact that he called El a baby when they are twins. He takes those two minutes that he was in the world without her to heart. She placed her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Oh honey, it isn't that bad." She lifted her head, yet her arms were loosely wrapped around him now, "If it helps, they are probably just doing hand stuff."

Parker stood up quicker than lightning, causing Mar to laugh and sit up straight. He ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head a bit while mumbling, "I need another beer." And he headed to the bar for, yet another, drink.

"You're going to hell," Clara smirked, sneakily sliding Thomas' beer back to her side, and up to her lips.

"So are you." He sounded a little too serious as he snatched it back, some of it getting on her.

She wiped her mouth, shaking her head, "Y'know T," she chuckled, yet it was acidic, causing everyone to become stiff. She did not notice the effect a silly little chuckle had on them, nor did she notice that Parker had already come back, "sharing a drink isn't that bad. You never finish one on your own anyway."

Mar leaned to Parker, whispering, "How much you wanna bet they get together?"

"How much you wanna bet they don't?" He whispered back, seeing as she was right near his face, popping the cap off the beer and taking a sip.

"What? Why do you think they won't?" Mar said a little louder, but they didn't hear because they were too indulged in their own conversation.

"Thomas hates bickering with her, and Clara thinks of it like a game she can't lose. They would kill each other." He stated like it was something so obvious you could see it with a blind eye.

"Wanna bet?" She questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"Depends on what the bet is?" He turned fully toward her now, being more intrigued than anything.

"If they do, you have to stop calling me in the middle of the night for condoms and buy your own for once." His eyes widened at her words and she nodded, trying to hide the sly smirk on her lips.

"Well, if they don't then I get to take condoms from you whenever I want and I get to touch your boobs." He pointed at her with the same hand that was holding the beer, raising his eyebrows, and she scoffed in disgust.

"What? No, you don't get two things. One or the other, buddy."

He paused, hesitating to what he was going to say before he just spit it out, "Fine, I get to touch your boobs for ten minutes."

She scoffed again, but this time in disbelief, "You wish. More like ten seconds."

"Nine minutes." He blurted out without a second thought and she gave a half-smile, knowing very well that she would come out the victor.

"Nine seconds." She said without missing a beat, and it was like neither one was planning on backing down anytime soon.

"Eight minutes."

"Eight seconds."

"Fifteen seconds."

"Ten seconds, take it or leave it."

"Ugh, fine." Parker extended his hand and they shook under the table, smiling when they saw that both Clara and Thomas haven't bothered to stop arguing to hear what they talked about. Parker turned to Mar and mouthed, "I'm gonna win."

"We'll see." She mouthed back, "So, Clara," Clara didn't budge, "Thomas," He continued to glare at the girl in front of him as she spoke.

"T, you aren't even listening." Clara practically whined and he rolled his eyes.

"How long did it take you to figure out that one?" He wasn't looking at her. He kept his eyes on Mar now, who looked utterly disappointed in him. If she was going to win, he had to learn to not be such a jerk.

"Whatever, I'm going to go smoke." She slid out of the booth, slowly walking away as if she was waiting for one of them to stop her.

Thomas raised his beer to her, "Hope you have fun with your cancer stick, Clare"

"At least I won't have to sit next to someone who is suddenly a germaphobe." Clara held her arms out, shrugging a bit before walking faster to grab her coat and walk out the door.

Thomas shook his head with a scoff, "Can you believe--" Mar snatched it, not letting him get what he wanted, "What the hell, Mar?" He reached his arm out, letting her know that he wanted her to give it back to him, but she just stood out of the booth, pointing at him.

"No way. You aren't going to get what you want when Clara is clearly upset out there. You know she only smokes when she is upset."

"Or when she is bored." He muttered under his breath and she crumbled up a napkin off the table to throw at him.

"Just go talk to her," Mar said this as if she was exhausted, adding a sigh for extra effect. "If you don't, God knows some other guy will, and then you will have to live with that guy being apart of our group for another five months."

"Well, let that other guy talk to her. I am fed up with whatever trick she is pulling this time. With her, I can never win, and for once, I want to win at a game that isn't my own." Thomas sounded irritated, his hands ripping the napkin she threw into tiny pieces without realizing it.

"That's right. Why do exactly what she wants?" Parker asked, shrugging a bit and Mar glared at him, while he just smirked up at her, knowing that he is getting under her skin.

"I am not saying you have to apologize or even go out with her, but I am saying that Clara usually doesn't back down from a fight like this. She is obviously upset about something else, so will you please just go and figure it out?" He looked between Parker and Mar, sighing before scooting out of the booth and grabbing his coat. He gave them both one last glance and then walked out. "Hah, I win."

"We'll see."