"Why must they be so loud?,"

"They're like six, let them live life before it kicks them in the ass,"

"I guess... but it's like a million degrees out there I hope they don't get sunburnt,"

"It's eighty five degrees actually and I thought that black people couldn't get sunburnt,"

"Don't be racist Addy, black people get get sunburnt just as well as whites can,"

"Alright ,alright I'm sorry I'm sorry,"

It was another babysitting day so Adil, Alex and I were at Adil's house watching Angie and Mira (Adil's younger sister) and by watching I mean upstairs in an air conditioned room peeking through the window every five minutes. Because of the whole fight the tension in the group rose to new heights which led to Alex feeling guilty about the whole thing. No one blamed her ... I guess she just blamed herself

"You know I feel like the fight was all my fault," Alex said looking at her feet

I reached over and patted her arm "Yeah because it was, "

"Ow!" I said glaring at Adil "You kicked me,"

"Don't mind her Alex it wasn't your fault," he reassured ignoring me

"Besides, why are we even talking about them, you've got to have known that it was going to happen," I said. I felt bad watching her blame herself, hopefully she would realise that it wasn't her fault

Adil and Alex shared a look "Ok, then" Alex started "Let's talk about the pact,"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head

"C'mon you haven't had a boyfriend since like the first grade! Can't I play matchmaker just this once?" she pouted

I shook my head again

"Please," she whined

I still remained adamant

"C'mon Erica just let her do it. It will be a good distraction , " Adil said as if he was hinting at something

I sighed, this would be a good distraction from all the Joey , Dani , Alex blaming herself drama...

"Fine, it's not like I have anything better to do," I admitted

Alex squealed and jumped up clapping her hands

"But before you do this I have a question to ask,"

"Ok what is it?"

"What is a relationship built on?" I asked, if I was going to allow her to match me she should know what I'm looking for

"Love?"

"Sex?"

"Trust. But good try Addy ..." I said looking at him "Seriously Alex?" I said looking at her

"Yeah, yeah love and trust, now can we go?" Alex whined

I rolled my eyes but we went anyway (with Angie and Mira of course) we started walking down the street with Alex, Mira and Angie playing tag in front of us while Addy and I hung in the back.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked looking at Adil

He raised an eyebrow and gave me a look

"I'm sorry, I'll try and care less next time I guess?" he said

"Not like that," I said nudging his shoulder "I mean why did you decide to come with us, why do you care so much about me getting an um well you know,"

He looked uncomfortable, before answering "Well, I don't know I uh guess that if you do get a boyfriend I would like to be there to uh well make sure he's y'know the right one for you,"

I smiled "Don't worry I get it,"

I looked back to where Alex was "Hey Alex where are we going anyway?"

"To Starbucks," she said absent mindedly "Lots of cute guys at Starbucks,"

I rolled my eyes but kept walking anyway and started thinking, I wonder what it would be like if I actually had a boyfriend. Would it be good? Bad? I had no idea, I was kind of put off of the whole relationship after my dad cheated on my mom.

"Erica we're here!" Alex exclaimed snapping me out of my thoughts

We all entered and got a seat while Alex scouted out boys or whatever the hell she was doing because so far I had been pointing at them and she kept saying was no.

"How about that one?" I would ask

"No," she would reply

And it was either they were too short or too tall or too annoying or terrible in bed (according to her,) and each time I asked for Addy's opinion he just shook his head and shrugged ... it was obvious that he wanted out

"What about him," I said pointing to a guy ordering at the counter

Alex looked at him and sat up nodding

"So the girl has taste," she said

I gave him another once over, I had never seen this guy before, although for some strange reason he looked pretty familiar ... Maybe he just had one of those faces. Either way he was certainly something to look at, his skin was tanned and his hair was messy but in a sort of good way. He was tall and held a smirk as he ordered from the barista . In short, he was hot.

"Ok now that you've finally chosen someone worthy let's draft out our plan..." Alex said

"I'm getting a boyfriend not finding the next Thor," I muttered

"No" someone said

"What?"

I looked back over to Adil to see that his position was tense and his fists were clenched

"You can't choose him," he said glaring at the guy

"And why the hell not?" Alex quipped before I could say anything

"Because, because he's Clearwater," he spat out

"Seriously? You won't let Erica date him because of that? C'mon Adil he can't be that bad," Alex said glaring at him

A little bit of backstory here, for as long as I had attended my school (Yorkspring) had always hated Clearwater. I wasn't really clear on the details but I did know that Clearwater and Yorkspring had the two best basketball teams in the state. I guess that probably explains a lot about the rivalry. Anyway since Adil is on the basketball team he holds a deep hatred for all things Clearwater.

"I'll go get us something to drink," I said interrupting the both of them

"I went to the counter and started ordering, could I get one caramel macchiato, one caramel Frappuccino and one salted caramel mocha coffee Frappuccino... all Grande please," I told her

"Sure thing... are you taking it here or to go"

"Here please"

"Ok that will be $13.55"

"Ok thanks," I said giving her the money

"What's your name please?" she asked

"Erica , " I answered "Is it cool if I stay here? Like until you're done, I don't really want to back to my table yet..." I asked

"Sure ,"she sighed "But if someone comes into the line you'll have to leave,"

I nodded and waited until she had finished before collecting two of the drinks that she had placed on the counter and turning around only to crash into someone and spill one of the Frappuccino's all over him. My eyes widened as I reached to get napkins when I accidently knocked over the other Frappuccino the barista had just put on the counter spilling it all over her. This is definitely a Starbucks I will never be visiting again ...

I apologised repeatedly as I took the macchiato and raced back to my table.

"So are we all going to share this or?" Adil asked sarcastically

"Uh yeah sorry I was in a sort of accident..." I said

"Yeah we saw! Hilarious, I swear we should come here more often,"

I glared at her as she grabbed the macchiato

"At least mine was saved," she said happily

I was about to retort when I noticed that Mira and Angie weren't there

"Oh shit guys we lost Mira and Angie, our moms are gonna be so mad and we'll probably never babysit again and-" I asked Adil

"Erica, relax" he said "They're over on that table"

"Okay," I breathed "Bring them over, we'd better get going," I said

Once we had collected them and started walking back to Adil's I noticed that Alex hadn't said a word about Dani or Joey ...

"That was a great distraction plan Addy," I said

"I only come up with the best ones," he replied

I looked forward to see Alex playing around with Angie and Mira

"Yeah, I guess you do."

A / N

Hi again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Make sure to leave a vote and comment if you did. Starting next week I'll be updating every Wednesday , Friday and Sunday starting next week. I also wanted to say thanks for reading it makes me happy to know that you tapped on this book and decided to read it. Anyway that's all for now, bye guys

xx Pillow