Chapter Six

"How was your summer, Mae?" asked Dex, Rosa's cousin who looked exactly nothing like her. He was in the same year as us at school and was the goalkeeper in the school football team. Rosa and Dex were close and we sometimes hung out with him and his friends, usually going to each other's parties or meeting up outside of school.

Today it was just Dex and Stacey–his girlfriend. They joined Rosa, Cody and me in our booth at our favourite pizza place along the river. The views here were really pretty. The whole of the walkway was lit up with strings of lights, making it look like a private runway when people strutted by.

"Joyous," I said picking up a slice of pizza and nibbling the melted cheese before it dripped back onto my plate. "I read four books and brought back Prince William from the brink of death."

Dex lifted a mozzarella stick to his mouth, stopping just before he took a bite. "Huh?"

"She's talking about her cacti," said Rosa, rolling her eyes at me. "You should really think about what you're saying before you say it."

I frowned. "Actually, Prince William is a succulent. Not all succulents are cacti."

"How many times are you going to say succulent?" asked Cody with a wry smile. "Try saying it three times fast."

What followed next was our whole table repeating the word succulent like it was our own personal mantra. From the outside, it probably looked like we were part of a cult getting in one of our five chants a day.

"Seriously though Mae," said Stacey, twisting her fingers in her long blonde hair. "How are you after your breakup?" She whispered the word breakup like saying it aloud would potentially curse the rest of them to my fate.

I took a bite of my pizza so that I'd have an excuse not to speak for a minute, chewing my bite as slowly as I possibly could.

"Did you really sprawl flat on your face at Alex and Carly's feet this morning?" asked Dex. "Shoot that must have been hella awkward."

"Wow guys, you're being real sensitive right now," said Rosa, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Can we give the girl a break already? People have literally been asking her these questions all day."

I swallowed my pizza and waved my hand at her. "It's fine. I'm fine. I also didn't fall on face, I landed on my butt. And I was nowhere near them when I fell. They just happened to see it all." I waved my hand again. "It's fine."

Cody let out a snort and then nodded. "You seem fine. Besides, you looked very cute today so screw them both."

I took another bite of pizza to show just how little I cared. Alex wasn't going to put me off my food.

"I saw them flaunting their relationship at school. They did a serious PDA in the canteen at lunch. He full on dipped her and kissed her right there in front of everyone," said Stacey, a disgusted look on her face. "It was way too much. Like, we get it. You're in love. I don't care how many people were clapping, nobody wants to see that."

Rosa scoffed. "I doubt they're in love. They literally just started dating."

To be fair. I wasn't one-hundred percent sure that was true, there very well could have been a crossover in our relationships.

Cody looked at me. "I thought Alex was completely against PDA's, didn't he refuse to hold your hand in school?"

He was right. Alex was fervently against any kind of obvious displays of affection. It didn't mean he wasn't the opposite in the privacy of our homes, but out in public we could have been brother and sister.

"I was never really into it either to be fair." I sighed. Though it would have been nice if he'd shown me the littlest bit of attention at school. I felt a bit like a puppy starved for attention, grateful for any small touches no matter how brief.

"We're supposed to be having fun, must we talk about Mae's shitty ex," exclaimed Rosa, thumping her fist on the table. She rolled her eyes again and peered over her shoulder toward the restaurant door. "How about we talk about how fine Elijah Walker looks in those muscle fit t-shirts instead."

We all turned to look as Elijah Walker strode into our favourite pizza place, following behind a few of the guys I recognised from his swim team. He was wearing a black t-shirt that fit tightly over the curves of his arm muscles, showing them off in a way that his school uniform just didn't do justice.

"Wow, I see what you mean," said Stacey, her eyes trailing over his form. "That guy is so hot, he's like movie-star level hot."

Dex shoved his girlfriend playfully in the shoulder. "Hey! I'm right here."

"You're beautiful too babe," said Stacey, smiling sweetly at him. "Elijah just has that unattainable hotness you admire from afar."

"Unattainable?" I repeated, confused.

"Yeah, he doesn't date," said Rosa, still admiring Elijah as his friends talked to the hostess. "At least not anybody from our school."

"What seriously?" I replied, mouth gaping. He could literally have his pick of the girls at school. "Not anyone at all?"

"It's weird right?" said Stacey, eyeing me uncertainly. "I thought everybody knew that."

I shrugged. "I was in a relationship. It was never important because I was seeing someone anyway." I realised immediately after I said it that I was basically calling Stacey out on her own relationship status. Then again, she'd only been dating Dex for like six months.

Stacey continued, ignoring my comment. "It's gotten so bad that the girls at our school are actively asking him out, rather than waiting for him to do the asking. Which he has never done by the way."

"That kind of unavailability really does make him prized property," said Cody. He took a sip of his cola and then ran his finger up and down the size of the glass. "Maybe he swings the other way."

"I swear you say that about everyone," replied Rosa, arching a perfectly shaped brow at him.

We hushed our conversation as the swim team passed our table, the hostess leading them across the restaurant. As Elijah followed behind, he glanced at our table. Locking eyes with me for a moment, his mouth turned up at the corners.

"Hey, it's my Locker Buddy," he said, his tone upbeat and friendly. "How are you doing Locker Buddy?"

I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. He must not have seen what I did on his Instagram. "I'm great," I said, returning his smile with my own.

"That's awesome." He chuckled to himself as he continued past our table after his friends, raising his hand in a bye gesture. "I'll see you at the lockers."

I nodded, but he wasn't looking at me anymore. When I turned back to my friends, I found them all staring at me with open mouths.

"Since when do you know Elijah Walker?" demanded Rosa, leaning in really close to me.

"And he's calling you by a nickname," said Stacey. "What's that about?"

I looked between them, somewhat surprised by the sudden change in conversation. Well, at least they weren't talking about Alex anymore.

Cody drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. "Come on sweetie. Don't keep us in suspense. Spill."

They seemed so excited, I didn't have the heart to tell them that I was pretty sure he was only calling me that, because he didn't actually know my name.

**Authors Note**

Sorry there was no post yesterday, I was feeling uninspired to write, instead I created a mini clip for the notes page at the start of this book. Why is it when I should be doing something, I come up with a million other things to do instead? 

Mae is fun to write, I like her personality, but man is it hard. I hope you enjoyed this Chapter, definitely let me know your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to Vote x