After a short bus ride of more awkward silence, we arrived at our destination. It was a small, run-down looking building crammed between two apartment complexes with a tackily painted hanging on the window that said "Jake's Diner." I saw Luke raise his eyebrow and then look at me suspiciously.

"You've gotta be kidding me." He said. "Please tell me this is just a joke and the real place we're eating is a nicer place around the corner."

I shook my head with a sigh. "Appearances aren't always everything, Luke." I scolded. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to judge a book by it's cover?"

"She also told me not to follow strange girls into places that looked like they should be put up for foreclosure due to risk of salmonella."

I cocked my head. "Your mom told you that?"

"My mom gave me a lot of weird advice."

"Just come in." I said, opening the door and walking in.

The logical part of my brain was telling me that I shouldn't be doing this, but there was some part of me that was encouraging me to hang out with him. Tracy said I needed friends, right? And if this went wrong in any way, this would just give me a reason never to interact with anyone ever again.

The inside was a lot better than the outside; decorated with a nice, homey feel and the smell of great home cooking. There were carved wooden tables to sit down at with chairs to match. Inside there was a waitress delivering food to a group of men that were most likely on their break from construction work, judging by their outfits and greasy faces. I smiled in satisfaction when I saw the expression change on Luke's face.

"Whoa..."

"Told you so." I looked at him. "So, how much time do you have? Do you want the dine-in experience or do you have someplace you need to be?"

Luke looked at me. "Eh, whatever you think is best. I don't care."

"Dine in it is!" I announced, walking up to the hostess at the front of the restaurant. She had long, bleach blond hair and an overly perky grin. I looked down at her name tag, which read 'Tanya'. She spoke in a voice so high and cheery it seemed that every time she spoke, her sentences ended with an exclamation point.

"Hi! Welcome to Jake's Diner! It's great to have you here! Is this your first time?"

I frowned. "I come here every day, Tanya..."

And it was true. I did. I had come here to eat every day since I was a seventh grader. That was the last year I actually attended public school. I had stumbled upon Jake's Diner by accident, and ever since then, it's been part of my ritual to eat there everyday.

"Oh, right! Sorry, Sera!" She looked at Luke, and then back at me. "So I'm assuming a table for you and your friend?"

"Well, not necessarily friends, I would say we're more-"

I silenced him with a glare. "Do you want free food or not, boy?"

That seemed to do the trick."We're best friends. We're pals, chums, buddies!" Luke quickly said. Never underestimate what you can get a teenage boy to do when food is on the line.

"Okay! I'll get you seated right away!" Tanya picked up two menus and then motioned for us to follow her. "Right this way!" She led us to a smaller table in the back with just two seats. Once we settled in and took our seats, she laid down the menus and took out a notebook. "Is there any drinks you would like to start with?"

"I'll have my usual." I said, getting comfortable in my seat.

"Mountain Dew, please." Luke said.

I chuckled.

Luke looked at me with an odd glare. "What you laughing at, woman?"

"Nothing, it's just it's funny that I totally called you as a Mountain Dew kind of guy."

"And that would make you one-hundred percent correct. I can't get enough of the stuff!" Luke said, smiling at me.

Tanya left and a few seconds later came back with a Lime Coke and Luke's Mountain Dew. She then smiled even wider—which up until now I thought was impossible—and looked at the both of us. "Shelby will be with you in a moment to place your order! Just be careful, because she's a disgusting stain on this earth and assumes everything and anything about any and everyone!" She then walked off and rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Never thought someone that perky could hate someone so much." Luke noted.

"Shelby and Tanya hate each other. The only reason neither of them quit this job is because the pay is better than anything else they can get as a part time job." I explained.

"Jeez, you do spend a lot of time here." Luke picked up his menu and I immediately snatched it out of his hands and put it down. "What was that for?"

"Trust me, I've got you covered. I know the best thing here, and it's what's not on the menu." I told him.

Luke grinned. "Off-menu items? This place just keeps getting better and better."

Within a few minutes, a brunette waitress with bright red lipstick and eye-popping green eyeshadow came to our table. "So, have you had enough time to decide what you want to order?"

I nodded. "We'll have two of Jake's specials. Rare and medium."

Shelby smirked. "Who is this, Sera? Did you finally bring someone home from the night club?"

I felt a growl rise in the back of my throat. "You know, I don't just bring home the first guy I see—unlike you. I met him earlier today and he said he wanted food. I brought him here. End of story."

"Sure...that's what they all say."

"Shelby...do your job or I will talk to Blake about this and you will get fired." I threatened with a slight smile, mustering all the hate I had into that single sentence.

Shelby scoffed. "Whatever." She then walked off, leaving more awkward silence between Luke and I.

"Sorry about her."

Luke shrugged. "Don't apologize. You can't control what other people do or say. It's a simple fact of life. Trust me, if I could control what happened, I'd be a YouTube sensation and I'd be traveling the world."

I nodded. "You know, you're not that bad."

"Talia begs to differ." Luke said. "She won't shut up about how much of a lazy bum I am and how I need to get a job, hobby and a girlfriend."

"Same...except Tracy doesn't tell me to get a job anymore. She tells me I need to 'socialize' and 'fall in love' when I'm perfectly content just the way I am."

Luke smiled. "Looks like we're in the same boat, then."

I can't tell you exactly what happened after that, just the fact that the both of us were extremely lost in conversation. Many moments passed, and suddenly, we had our food. I felt myself drool as two bacon burgers and two medium rare steaks were laid down in front of us. Luckily, the waitress left after handing us our drinks as well. I didn't want to waste my time talking. I wanted to spend it stuffing my face.

Soon, the talking was replaced by the blissful sound of two teens gorging themselves on greasy food, slobbering and all. I only stopped when I was done, looking up at Luke to see that he was content with his meal. I leaned back and groaned in delight.

"I am happy." I sighed. "I could die right now and not have any regrets."

"Same." Luke agreed with a smile.

I looked at Luke and crossed my arms. "Do you have anywhere you have to be, or...?"

"Nope."

I felt myself smile. "Then do you wanna just waste time then?"

"You mean my favorite thing in the entire world? How can I resist?"

The both of us stood up, left the restaurant and then walked out into the street, where we just aimlessly wandered for about fifteen minutes. It was a little bit before Luke finally said anything.

"So...I know it's none of my business, but who's Tracy?"

I felt myself frown.

Luke coughed. "Sorry, forget I-"

"No, it's fine." I took a deep breath. "Tracy is my foster mom."

He looked at me with curiosity. "So you're adopted?"

"Yeah." I put my hands in my pockets and sighed. "The records say my mother died and my father put me up for adoption. I don't know their names and I don't care. Whoever they are, they aren't me, so why should I know who they were?"

Luke threw up his hands. "Ouch."

I laughed nervously. "Sorry. Did I give a little too much information?"

"No. It's fine." He looked at me, and I saw a glint of sadness in his golden eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know my dad, and my mom had to give me up when I was about six years old...No one can control these things, they just happen."

I uncontrollably sighed. "Yeah, I know, but all I want to know is just why wasn't I enough for my dad? I couldn't care less about all that other stuff, but just why?"

"Don't think of it like that." Luke said, dismissively waving his hand. "Maybe your dad really did want to keep you, but he realized it wasn't the best decision. Maybe he knew you'd be happier and more content with someone who could give you all the things he couldn't. I may not know much, but I am pretty sure your dad didn't just abandon you. And if he did, that would truly be rare, and frankly depressing."

I looked up at him, furrowing my eyebrows. "How can you be so sure? I mean, it's not like you can see everything."

He looked back at me. "I'm not; I never said I did know everything, so I may be wrong. But hey, I've found it's easier to look at things in a positive light. If you get caught up in the negativity and the darkness, soon it starts to take you over and you'll become the very thing you're scared of."

I chuckled softly and then looked at the ground. We walked in silence for a little longer before I heard a rustling in a nearby alley. My head popped up and I stood completely still. Hearing it again, I slowly turned my head in the direction of the noise.

"Sera, what's wrong?" Luke asked.

I walked over to the alley. "I hear something." Soon, I was able to dictate that the sound came from a dumpster. Placing my hands on the lid, I debated whether or not I should open it.

"So, you're going dumpster diving?" He asked, smirking.

I looked back at him. "Why not? It is very fun, after all."

"Well...what if there's a wild, rabid druggie in there?" Luke chuckled. "He may bite you, and then you'd get infected with..." He leaned in close. "The Blunt."

I laughed and pushed him back. "As if! I'm opening it."

And just as I said, I opened the lid. I looked around to see if I could find anything in there, but there was nothing but a small, furry thing eating some trash. It looked up at me and hissed, grabbing the trash it was eating and jumping over my shoulder. I shrieked and fell backwards, luckily being caught by Luke. He looked at me with a smug smile painted on his face.

"Well...maybe not a rabid druggie, but a rabid rodent is close enough."

"Oh, shut up!" It took me a few moments to realize that I was being held bridal style. Once I was fully aware of this, I felt my entire face flush red.

"What's wrong?"

I looked away and bit my lip. "C-Can you put me down, please?"

Luke stayed silent for a little bit and then did so, making sure I was fully capable of standing on my own two feet before completely letting go of me. He pat my back and pushed on my forehead, so I looked him in the eyes. "Hey, let's get you home."

I nodded. "That-that sounds great."

"Wait..." Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Can you give me your number first? If you don't mind, I need some friends other than Keighlyn and Talia to talk to."

I nodded and quickly added the number into his phone. I handed back the phone to him and felt my eyes nervously flit between the ground and his face.

"So...I can count on you to be at the club tonight...right?"

Luke smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

After that, nothing else mattered. I rode the bus home, took my online class, crashed face-first into the couch and sighed hopelessly. What had I done? Why was I feeling like this? I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and just laid amongst the mountain of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals that were piled around me.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

I laughed and snuggled deeper into my mountain. Tonight, somebody would be doing something just for me. Maybe this friends thing wasn't as overrated as I had previously thought.

Hello! Chapter Two is out! As promised in the previous chapter, I'm going to give the results of the poll...50% voted for Luke and 50% for Sera/Scarlett. Considering there were only two actual votes...Oh well. How'd you like this chapter? I see some people already ship Luke with Sera/Scarlett...not giving any spoilers. You may or may not be right. It all depends on you.

Anywho, I'm going to try to update as often as I can, but I've got a lot of work as a high schooler...and a lot of it sucks. Writing is my passion, and know that even though the updates are slow, I am almost always working on writing my stories in my free time. With your support, I hope this book makes it big. So, if you could do me a favor, my goal is to get ten votes on this chapter before my next update! Can you help me with that? Please? If so, thank you! Now, don't forget to vote, comment, share etc.

Signing off, Kiera Savage