The fact that there's actual seating in this pizza place in the middle of New York City tells you how popular it is. About six tables are spaced out around the dirty red-tiled room. The checkered tie-back curtains are frayed and faded, barely held back by a thread.

Turns out Peter had better luck making friends on his first day than I did. He's got six other guys with him and then there's Meg and I. His friends keep him up front and the center of every story or joke, almost like they're trying to impress him. Get in line boys!

"Okay, this is a literal sausage fest, how into this guy are you?" Meg leans closer and whispers.

My returning glare makes her lean back and put her hands up in surrender. The guys step up to order while Meg and I stay behind.

"Huh, what gentlemen," Meg comments with a deadpan tone, looking at her nails.

"Guys shut up!" Peter shouts at his friends from the front of the counter, making the noise in the room die down. He looks over his friends' heads, trying to catch my eye. "Clara, Meg, what would you like?"

Meg tilts her head, an impressed expression on her face. We walk up to the counter and I stand next to Peter, a small smile on my face. "Thanks." The pizza guy behind the counter impatiently taps his hand on the glass top. "Can I get three cheese Sicilians, please?"

Meg throws her hand up holding out two fingers, "I want two Sicilians but I'll have sausage on mine."

He nods his head, writing down the order. All the guys order their food and I start to pull out some cash but before I can hand it over to the cashier a hand stops me. "Don't worry, I got it," Peter says, gently moving my hand back to my side.

My defiant self holds my hand back up, "I can pay for mine then."

"Nope, my treat," he laughs, looking away from me so that he doesn't have to take the cash out of my hand.

"But it came to $25! I can at least pay for mine and Meg's share," I argue, watching all the guys leave the counter to find a table.

"Clara, it's okay, I promise," Peter pulls out a twenty dollar bill and a five dollar bill to hand to the cashier. Who the hell carries around twenty dollar bills? Jesus, I'm poor.

When the cashier hands over the receipt, I shuffle into Peter accidentally and slip a five-dollar bill into his back pocket. "Sorry, clumsy," I mumble sheepishly.

"I don't mind," he smiles, leading us over to the table his friends have taken over. His friends are loud and rowdy as they shove tables together, scraping them along the floor.

Peter sits down at one end of the table and his friends swarm him, leaving Meg and I to sit at the opposite end of the table. I don't let the smile fall from my face as I glance at Meg and sit down, leaving a space for Valentina.

I don't look at the other end of the table where the guys have started laughing and shoving each other around, causing one of them to keep accidentally bumping into me.

"So, what's your major?" I ask Meg, placing my elbow on the table and resting my chin on my hand.

Meg doesn't offer up more than a shrug, "Undecided, college wasn't really a necessity to me, but my parents on the other hand..." she sighs loudly as if parents forcing their children to attend an Ivy League college is more of a nuisance than a privilege. "You?"

"Medicine, I want to be a surgeon," I say proudly.

Meg's lips curl into a smile, "Badass. Cool."

The urge to flip my hair over my shoulder has never been so strong at her compliment but I keep myself together and fluff it casually. A light chuckle catches my attention from down the table and I subtly glance over to see Peter staring straight at me, a small smile on his face.

"Hey man, sorry I'm late I don't have a good excuse," a voice joins our table and I cringe at the recognition.

Peter stands up slapping hands with the guy who saw me faceplant just yesterday. "Hey John, glad you could make it, man."

The other guys greet him, some of them introducing themselves. Johnathan grabs an empty chair from another table and the guys all move over to fit him in next to Peter. Meg shoots me a look and I roll my eyes in agreement. If any more guys show up I am going to lose it.

Johnathan looks around the table the relaxed smile on his face charming when his eyes stop on me. "Hey," he says slowly, trying to place my face. "Clara, right?"

A few guys turn their attention to me as if they had only just realized that there were members of the opposite sex at the same table as them. Peter raises an eyebrow, his eyes darting between Johnathan and me. "Um, yeah, hi. You can call me Clary by the way," I offer him an awkward wave.

"You two met already?" The question comes from Meg and I scramble to come up with something, anything, better than the actual truth.

"Yeah. Yes, we met yesterday in front of our dorm building," I start, conscience of Peter's eyes on me. Johnathan has his head in his hand while his elbow rests on the table, a smirk on his face, waiting for me to continue. "Yup, that was it."

Meg raises a skeptical eyebrow, not buying it at all. Peter just looks at Johnathan. "She totally faceplanted in front of me."

I stand up in surprised shock at his words and point a finger at him accusingly, "You were the one that opened the door as I tried to open it!" Meg snorts loudly. A few guys who were paying attention laugh.

Peter just grins, "I was wondering where the bruise on your forehead came from."

Gasping loudly, I place a hand on my forehead, prodding around for a bruise. "I do not have a bruise!" I pick up the napkin dispenser with my free hand and try to stare at my reflection, looking for a bruise.

"I know." His cheeky smile makes me want to smack him but before I have the chance to get up I get interrupted.

"Incoming!" A rough voice sounds from behind us and suddenly a bunch of pizzas are placed along the table.

I forget everything that had just happened around the table because now my attention is paced on much more important things, my food. I watch the steam waft off of the pizza and make sure that I'm not drooling as I will it to cool down quickly.

Peter's friends don't even stop to think as they dig into the food around them, sharing it amongst themselves.

"Just in time!" I spin in my seat and squeal at the sight of my best friend walking into the pizza place.

She's wearing a black pencil mini skirt with off-the-shoulder black long sleeves paired with her black thigh-high boots and her signature red lipstick. She holds her arms open for a hug and I don't hesitate to squeeze her to me. "Thank fuck," I whisper, knowing she can hear me.

She kisses my cheek loudly. Hopefully, there isn't a stain but knowing Valentina, her mission is to leave a mark. "That bad, huh?" Her gaze is apologetic when she pulls away.

"He's surrounded by his friends, we've had all of one interaction since sitting down," I inform her, moving closer to the table. "Meg, this is Valentina."

Valentina grins at Meg and leans over the table to hug her, "Hi Meg, call me Val."

Meg is a little less enthusiastic with the hug but I can tell it's only because she doesn't know Valentina but she smiles nonetheless.

"Val, good to see you again," Peter stands, moving over to come closer to where we're standing.

Valentina throws her cross-body purse onto her chair, "Peter, lovely to see you without that wonderful sister of yours." She hugs him lightly and if he picks up on her sarcasm about his sister he doesn't say anything.

"Valentina Rosa." Valentina pauses at her full name and looks around Peter's shoulder finding herself staring at Johnathan Grace, who is gazing at her with that same dazed smile he had on his face yesterday.

"Hello. Johnathan, was it?" Valentina holds out a hand to shake his and even he can't deny the deflated look on his face is obvious to all of us.

"Yes, you can call me John, if you want," he shrugs, her hand still in his.

She scrunches her nose at the nickname, "I'm not a fan of John; Johnny is more my speed." He nods his head in understanding, his lips pursing at the new nickname but he doesn't say anything else. She eventually is the one to separate their hands but still stands in front of him.

Peter nudges me gently in the side and I look up at him. He looks at Valentina and Johnathan and wriggles his eyebrows making me laugh. Yeah sure, look at them as a cute couple.

Valentina grabs my arm and sits us down at our seats, leaving the boys standing there.

"Val," I hiss, her dark brown hair whips over her shoulder casually when she turns to me, "Don't be rude." I glance at the boys indicating that they're still standing there, not really knowing what they should do since their seats are at the other end of the table. Meg leans back in her chair, curious to see how this plays out.

Val leans in slightly gaining our attention, "If they want to sit by us they will, don't force them, that makes you look desperate."

The awkwardness is obvious so we pick up our pizzas and start eating them. Valentina being the most comfortable one out of all of us strikes up a conversation to hide the tension. "Marie Vega."

I raise an eyebrow at the familiar name from high school but I can't picture her face. "Cheerleader?"

Valentina shakes her head, "Dancer."

"Dead?"

"Pregnant," she says and I gasp loudly in response. She smacks the table with full force, "That's what I said!"

Meg's eyes flicker back and forth between us, completely clueless but entertained. Movement behind me sounds from behind us and suddenly Peter's head is between me and the guy next to me. He says something quietly to him and his friend automatically moves over, leaving an empty chair between us. Peter jerks his head to the guy across from us and he nods his head in understanding and moves himself over, leaving a space between that guy and Meg. Meg just stares at the empty seat next to her, debating if she should shift over or not.

Before she can decide Johnathan comes around the table and sits next to her, a polite smile on his face. Peter sits down next to me. Fuck yes, baby!

"So how exactly did you two meet?" I ask Peter and point at Johnathan.

Peter scratches the back of his neck, "We're on the same floor, we met when he was moving in."

"How do you know Pete?" Johnathan asks with a smirk, gesturing with a finger between Peter and myself.

"Oh," I turn to Peter, at a loss for words but he just watches me, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Um, well," I chuckle, trying to diffuse my awkwardness. "I...stole his goat."

Johnathan looks at me as if I've spoken in a different language, "His...goat?"

I nod my head, lips pinched together, "Mhm."

"I helped!" Valentina chimes in, taking a bite out of her Sicilian slice.

"I'm lost," Meg raises her hand.

Johnathan nods at Meg, "I agree with Goth Girl over here." Meg glares at him, making her look scarier than usual.

Peter leans back in his seat, a sly smile on his face as he crosses his arms across his chest, "She stole my goat, what can I say?"

I give Peter a flat look for being useless. He just grins in response. "His school's mascot. It's a tradition that our school steals his school's mascot every year. It's been going on for over twenty years."

"You'd think we'd have found a better way to hide her but the school refused to fund her security team." Peter sits up straight in his seat and places his hands on the table, right next to mine. "How did you get stuck with kidnapping Nana?"

"Are you kidding me, we volunteered," Valentina laughs, dabbing her red-stained lips with a napkin. "Clara was the only person in that entire school that was brave enough to pull it off." She looks at Meg with a proud grin, "I was the navigator."

I place my hand in the middle of the table catching Meg's attention, "She sat in the car the entire time. My sister was the getaway driver," I turn to Peter at the last sentence a proud smile on my face. He tilts his head and grins in response.

I pick up my slice of pizza and hold it up to my mouth. I'm about to take a bite when I notice that Peter can't eat because he ditched his plate of food to sit with me and hasn't asked one of his friends to slide it down the lines. I take a bite and then find myself offering a bite to Peter with a closed-mouth smile while I chew.

He furrows his eyebrows with a cute smile on his face but accepts my offer and takes a big bite. My eyes widen as I stare at the shark bite chunk missing from my pizza and look up at a sheepish Peter. I swallow my piece and take another bite, again offering it to Peter for another bite. He slides his metal chair across the floor and brings it closer to mine so he can be within closer reach of the pizza. That's right, come on down. We don't say a word as we continue to take turns eating until my slice is finished.

"Well aren't you two adorable," Meg drawls, picking the sausage off of her pizza.

I blush and turn my head away from Peter so he can't see the stupid smile on my face. Valentina pouts her lips at me, teasingly before looking at Meg. "If you don't like sausage, then why order it on the pizza?"

Meg looks up, a piece of sausage in between her fingers. "Oh I love sausage but I like eating it separately and it's cheaper doing this than ordering sausage on the side," she shrugs as if this makes all the sense in the world.

Valentina nods her head, pulling apart the third slice of pizza I had gotten us to share. She hands me the bigger half and digs into her own.

"Okay but big question, how do you two know each other?" Johnathan asks, pointing between Valentina and me.

I pull my half of the pizza into another half and wordlessly hand it to Peter without even looking at him. "Sixth grade."

"Kenny Reid," Valentina sighs, resting her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. "That gorgeous son of a bitch."

"We both dated him," I explain to the others.

"Simultaneously," Valentina adds, throwing a hand in the air.

I laugh loudly, leaning my head on her shoulder, and giving a dreamlike sigh. "Valentina saw us at the movies with our parents and saw us holding hands," Peter gives me a scandalous gasp and I shove him lightly. "She found me at school the next day and we decided to dump him in front of everyone in the cafeteria, but someone took it too far and got us a joint suspension."

Valentina's jaw drops and she points an accusing finger at me, "You were the one that threw the apple at him!"

I lean back putting a hand on my chest, "Yes but when I missed you weren't supposed to pick it up and throw it at his dick!" Peter and Johnathan both groan, their faces contorting in phantom pain.

"Anyway we both got suspended but in-school suspension so we had to sit in the detention room for three days, writing essays of no importance, including an apology to Kenny Reid for giving him blue balls...literally," Valentina loses her cool and snorts at her joke.

"'Dear Kenny Reid, sorry that you're such a dick, you deserved it. Kindest regards, Valentina Rosa.'" I recite Valentina's perfect form of apology that earned her an added lunch detention.

"A masterpiece really, we've been best friends ever since," Valentina says, looking over her shoulder at me and blowing a kiss. I pretend to catch it and place the hand on my chest, where my heart is.

Peter leans closer to me, pressing our legs against each other. He bends his head to talk softly. "Wow, you two were quite the tag team, huh?" His chest touches the back of my shoulder and I find myself tempted to press against him.

Oh to hell with it. I subtly lean back into his warmth, a shy smile on my face. I keep my head forward, watching Meg, Johnathan, and Valentina start a new conversation. "I was the brains, she was the muscle."

A hand grazes my side before pulling away quickly. I cannot even pretend to hide the smile on my face anymore. "Not just the brains."

"I swear to God if you say I was the looks too, I will shove you off your seat," I threaten him with a chuckle. He laughs and leans away, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Guilty," he gives me a sheepish grin.

"That is so cheesy," I tell him, reaching out to grab his hand and pull him back towards me. He doesn't say anything for a second before he gets comfortable, resting an arm around the back of my chair, his fingers grazing my bare shoulder.

Valentina slaps my thigh with a cheeky smile and I pinch her in return officially giddy.

****

We're all congregating outside the restaurant as the crowd inside the pizzeria surges. It's after eight and the sun has already set, the hot air slowly dissipating, leaving a cooler breeze behind.

Meg had ditched us a while ago, claiming she had to get up early to meet her parents for breakfast and the other guys, whose names I did not bother to learn, left a few minutes ago.

Peter has his arm still around my shoulder. He placed it there as soon as we walked outside, claiming the chill would get to me if he didn't. Safe to say I laughed in his face but that didn't stop him.

"I'll walk you home," Johnathan offers to Valentina who just stares at him.

"I'm like one hundred blocks away, I have to take two different subway lines...you're like six blocks from your dorm, where's the logic behind that?" She asks, slipping her cross-body bag over her shoulder.

"It's getting late, the city isn't safe when you're alone," he tries to reason with her.

She pouts, placing her hand on his chin, grabbing his cheeks, and smooshing them together, "Don't worry, I'm a big girl, Johnny," she winks, squeezing his cheeks once before letting go, fixing her skirt. "Babe," she addresses me, holding her arms out for a hug, "Love you, miss you. Good luck for your first day I want to hear all about it," she kisses my cheek and I return it. "Yours this weekend?"

I nod my head, holding her hands in both of mine, "Mine this weekend. Love you, miss you."

She nods her head, and leans towards Peter, giving him a quick one-armed hug. He hugs her, moving his arm from my shoulder but just grabs my hand instead, keeping it there even after they've pulled away.

Damn, that was smooth. Point one for Peter.

Valentina starts walking down the street, pausing for a second to look over her shoulder at us. She sighs loudly, throwing a hand in the air. "Okay Johnny-boy, walk me home." Johnathan beams, saluting Peter and me as he rushes to catch up with her.

Peter and I walk back to my dorm slowly, taking our time to bask in the feeling of freedom at not having a curfew anymore or anyone telling you where you can and can't go when you're in the city with your friends.

We walk into the building and take the stairs to the third floor where my room is located. Peter starts swinging our entwined hands making me giggle loudly which leads him to shushing me before I wake up the entire floor. We stop at my door and just look at each other.

Subconsciously I'm praying to God that his sister is sound asleep on the other side of that door and won't bug us.

"So what are you planning this weekend?" He asks casually, grabbing my free hand in his, now holding both hands.

I rack my brain for any plans other than getting myself and my room organized before classes officially start on Monday. Friday we're supposed to be doing introductory activities in each class before having one last free weekend before school starts.

"Nothing, Val is coming over but you knew that," I tell him with a shrug.

"I think it's great how you two are so close," he smiles, "I wish I had a friend like that."

I shot of pain stabs in my chest at the thought of not having someone like Valentina in my life forever. Hell, we've already planned to have our kids either be best friends or married, depending on preferences.

"I'll be your friend," I tell him honestly, squeezing his hands gently. They're smooth with the slightest feel of callous', probably from his football days.

He quirks an eyebrow, "Just a friend?"

I free one hand and flick his arm. "We'll see what happens but for now, I'm offering you my friendship. You can take it or leave it, I don't mind."

He lowers his head to look me in the eye, "I'll take whatever you give me, Clary. Goodnight," he says softly, kissing my cheek softly.

I return the cheek kiss with one of my own and lean back, turning away to unlock my door and twist the knob, opening it as quietly as I can. "Goodnight."

He doesn't move until I've started closing the door, a bright, genuine smile on his face the whole time. Once the door clicks shut I lean against it, and a breath releases from where it was stuck in my throat. Something crinkles in my back pocket pressed against the door and I pull out the five-dollar bill I'd slipped in Peter's pocket earlier in the night.

"I am so screwed."

|| 📚 ||

Hi hello!

When I first started writing this years and years ago, I thought for a moment that maybe Peter and Clara were moving too fast, but then I realized that to me their love was instant. They just gravitated towards each other.

Until next time,

Sammipott xx