Chapter 17~ Cafeteria Talk~

"Keep your friends close and your snacks closer."

Iris's POV

I was very excited when the bell for lunch rang.

I love food. Sue me!

"I am so hungry, I could literally eat a whole cow." Treasure groaned as her stomach made a weird sound, making both Lizzy and I to burst into laughter.

We all walked into the cafeteria, and sat at our usual table with different dishes on our tray.

"Ooh my God!" I moaned in delight as I took a bite of the turkey and cheddar roll-ups.

"That is definitely not a sight I would love to see." Chris cringed as he took a seat beside Lizzy.

No surprise there.

I laughed. "Bibbs, you really have to taste this, its so good," I said making another moaning sound and he just stared at me in fake disgust making the girls laugh. Just at the sound of Lizzy's laugh, he turned towards her and gave a heart-melting smile.

They should get together already!

"What?" Lizzy asked Chris as soon as she noticed he was staring at her.

"Nothing." He shrugged and pecked her cheeks making Lizzy turn crimson. Both Treasure and I stared at them in awe smiling like maniacs.

"You guys are so cute." Treasure and I said in sync.

"Jinx!" We said in sync again and we both giggled.

"Children," Chris muttered and Lizzy blushed another shade of pink.

Gosh! She's as red as a freaking tomato.

"Wow! what's making my Grey eyed friend so happy?" Aspen questioned from nowhere, smiling with his friends beside him except James.

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing for you to know." He smiled again.

Why is he always smiling?

Without even asking they all sat at our table. Suddenly, the whole cafeteria was quiet and all the attention was focused on our table.

Henry stood on top of our table receiving questioning looks from us. "Okay people, there's nothing interesting to watch. So go back to whatever shit y'all were doing." He announced and everyone went back to what they were doing, except Charlotte and her minions who were glaring at us or should I say me.

Zander chuckled and playfully hit him on his arm as he sat down.

"Soooo!" I said.

"Soooo!" Lucas mimicked and I rolled my eyes for the thousandth times today.

"Why are you guys sitting with us?" Treasure finally asked the question I wanted to ask.

"Isn't it obvious?" Henry said and shrugged.

"No, its not." I deadpanned.

"Calm down woman, we just wanted to sit with you guys," Aspen said and took a bite out of Treasure's cheese quesadilla and she gave him a weird look, making him grin in return.

"Okay, let's get this straight. Don't ever tell a woman to calm down." I declared making but Lizzy and Chris snicker quietly.

"I don't see any woman here." Zander, for the first time, muttered and stared at me with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Ooh, burn!" Henry hyped patting him on his back and I gnashed my teeth.

"Oh wow! that's rich coming from you." I replied with gritted teeth as I faced Zander who didn't back down from my death glare but instead found it amusing.

"Oh God! not again," Lucas whispered making the whole table laugh except Zander and I.

I mentally calmed myself to prevent another argument with Mr. Asshole.

"Wait, where is James?" Treasure asked as she looked around the cafeteria.

"Why are you asking?" Aspen questioned with jealousy laced in his tone.

Ooh! this is gonna be interesting.

"What? I can't ask about another guy? Don't even act like you care." Treasure retorted.

Aspen gritted his teeth and you could see his knuckles turning white.

"I'm not in the mood to argue with anyone." He faked a smile and ran his hand through his hair.

Awkward!

The boys all stared at each other and it felt like they were having a mental conversation, it ended in a few seconds after Aspen nodded.

The tension was so thick that a knife could cut through it.

"So who's excited about the Halloween party?" Lizzy asked trying to ease the tension luckily everyone played along and in five minutes, everything was back to normal. Sort of.

James barged into the cafeteria and walked up to our table and glared at the boys. They all couldn't keep a straight face and they all burst into laughter. Their laughter was so contagious that everyone at our table joined them and laughed.

"I swear, I hate you guys," James said and took a seat beside Lucas.

"We love you too man!" Lucas patted his back and he smiled.

"Quick question, why are we sitting here? Not that I'm complaining. But why?" James asked as he tried to touch my food from across the table.

I slapped his hands and he pouted.

"No reason, we just wanted to ruin their peace and quiet," Henry answered and we laughed.

"Ooh, I see," James said eyeing both Aspen and Treasure.

"So why are you mad at them?" Chris inquired from across the table.

"Apparently, these idiots thought it was funny to mock me about biology, just when I was about to hit on Jane.'' He sighed.

Chris chuckled. "I don't think you are that bad in biology as I am." He said and I nodded in agreement.

"Clearly, you haven't met James," Henry said making the boys laugh again.

"There was one time, we were learning about the circulatory system and we were told to draw the human heart. Guess what lover boy did?" Lucas asked and James avoided making eye contact.

"He drew the normal heart sign, I mean the one you would see on Valentine's day," Lucas said and we literally all started laughing.

"Dude, it was a long time ago!" James declared.

"No, it wasn't. It was just early this year." Aspen chuckled.

"Whatever! Sometimes I wished I was like Zander, who is literally in all AP classes, and he doesn't put much of an effort and still manages to be at the top." James said and dramatically stifled a sigh.

"But you know what they say, all work and no play makes James a party pooper, so I think I'm good being me," James said and beamed.

"It is what it is." Zander shrugged.

"Guys, I need you-" James said but was cut off by a loud feminine voice.

"James freaking Hendrix!"

"Ooh! she's cussing. This is gonna be interesting." Zander whispered and the boys nodded in agreement while James looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Guys, please hide me," James begged.

"Dude, you are on your own and she has probably seen you," Henry replied.

"James, don't you dare hide from me." The voice said threateningly.

"Shit!" James muttered.

"Who is she?" I asked before she could approach our table.

"That's James's responsible twin sister, Joan," Lucas said and smiled.

"And she's also part of our cheerleading quad. She's definitely not a bitch like Charlotte and her minion." Lizzy said and scowled making us laugh.

"Here, she comes," Henry said.

I stared at her and I realized she looks exactly like James with both their chestnut brown hair and green eyes.

"James, what the heck is wrong with you?" She questioned as she placed her hands on her hips in an intimidating manner.

"Noth- sorry," James muttered and I tried not to laugh at his face.

"Because of your stupid scheme, Dad is punishing both of us for what you did. I can't even use the car and he's gonna know if we got a ride from our friends. Guess what?" She questioned again and we all watched the scene trying hard not to laugh.

I guess he's the trouble maker amongst them.

"I either have to use the bus or walk." She glared.

"Calm down woman, we will find a way," James said.

"Don't you ever and I mean ever tell a woman to calm down!" Joan declared and spanked James.

"Told you so," I said and Zander just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Jeez! why are you so violent?" James asked and she just smiled wickedly.

"Ooh hey, guys! Sorry about my stupid brother." She said sweetly like we didn't just watch her unleash her inner demons on her twin brother.

"No problem princess, we are used to it by now," Lucas smirked and winked at her. James gagged and we laughed at his reaction.

"Don't flirt with her," James said staring at them with disgust.

"You don't get to talk." She said and flicked him on his forehead.

"Ugh! lunch is gonna be over in five minutes," Lizzy said as she stared at her wrist watch making all of us groan.

"Shit! I totally forgot that we have a meeting." Joan said and slapped her forehead.

"Meeting for what?" Lucas asked.

"It's for the Halloween party". Lizzy replied.

"Isn't it like three weeks from now? Why the rush?" James said and Joan looked like she would drown him.

He needs to learn when to shut up!

"We have a lot of things to plan, but being the stupid twin you won't understand," Joan said and James just rolled his eyes at her.

I chuckled silently at their bickering.

"Girls! let's go. We have business." Joan said and both Treasure and Lizzy stood up packing their stuff.

"Where are you guys going to?" I inquired.

"We are part of the committee." Treasure answered as Aspen watched her every move.

"Aww! I am gonna be alone for hours again." I groaned as the girls laughed and walked out of the cafeteria.

Chris chuckled. "She has AP calculus."

"Don't worry, Zander and I will keep you company, we both have AP calculus." Aspen winked and I rolled my eyes.

I guess today won't be that bad right?

***

Hey, it's Ibby again! Well, this is kind of a filler chapter, the next chapter will be so much better.

Remember to vote, comment, share and follow. It encourages me as a writer.

Quick question: What's your worst meal and who likes Joan?

Love ibby.