I'd like to dedicate these next two chapters to @kaythewritter and @radiantbubble 

@kaythewritter, thank you so much for taking a chance on my book, and for your amazing comments and support. I appreciate the love you have for Jared.😂 To quote Big Sean, you "a real one"❤😋

Go check out her amazing YA romance book called The Island - it's about ten teenagers who are stuck on an island, basically, against their will. It's so good; it reminds me of shows like Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars, and Gossip Girl mixed with MTV reality shows -- I just can't get enough!

Kay has an extreme talent when it comes to writing drama and young romance. I'm literally in love with her book. My emotions are all over the place when I read it. Totally recommend it!

----

"Why is he coming?" Lucas questioned as I drove us to Roccos. Lucas was originally supposed to pick me up from my house, but his car broke down thirty-minutes before he left so I was driving us there tonighg. I didn't mind driving him, but I did mind driving in heels. It was beginning to slowly kill me.

"I didn't even invite him. He just kind of tagged along," I answered, honestly. That was true; Jared invited himself on my date, and then left before I could object. 

"Why?" Lucas snarked, clearly annoyed. Something really bad must have gone down between Jared and Lucas because they both have the same disgusted attitude towards one another whenever I bring them up.

"I don't know, he's my friend. And, I guess, he just wanted to hang out with us," I added.

"Why are you friends with that kid?" Lucas remarked, rudely.

"He's a good person, when you get to know him." I affirmed. Jared was a good person; you just needed some time getting used to him.

"Doubtful," Lucas said as he rolled his eyes. 

"I don't know," I whispered.

"Okay babe, I'm sorry. He just annoys me a lot." Lucas smiled as he placed his hand on my knee. I quickly looked over at Lucas and nodded. I didn't know what else to say. This wasn't my mess to clean up, and I wasn't about to choose between my friend and my maybe-possible-potential-boyfriend. 

Soon enough, we arrived at Roccos. Roccos was this amazing modern building. It was weird because it had these older elements, like a tiki exterior, but the building itself was new, and the inside had a fantastic design. I was kind of starting to like this restaurant, even though Benos was still my all-time favorite, for personal reasons, of course. I couldn't bring myself to invite Lucas there, though; he made the decisions on where we went, so far. 

I parked the car, and Lucas insisted on opening the front door for me. So I waited patiently until he made his way around the corner and propped the door open for me. What a gentleman. 

"Ready?" Lucas asked as he gestured his arm out for me to hold.

"Of course," I answered, taking a hold of his arm. He placed a quick kiss on my cheek, and I smiled. He was so cute. 

We walked towards the back, since we were planning to eat outside. I loved this idea: restaurants that have an inside and outside. We walked passed the gate and were greeted by a waiter.

"Table for two?" The young waiter asked; he was sweet. He had luscious blonde hair and an adorable smile. But he must have been 16 or so; he looked so young.

"Four. We have guests coming," I stated.

"Of course, ma'am. Right this way." The young waiter directed Lucas and I to the middle of the restaurant, where there was a table for four available.

"Would you guys like to order now or wait for your guests?" he asked.

"We'll wait, thank you." Lucas dismissed, clearly ready for the waiter to leave us alone.

"You look lovely tonight," Lucas smirked. I had ignored Jared's comment about the black dress and, instead, decided to wear the pink dress I wore to Theodore's party.

"Thank you. You look dashing tonight as well," I added, placing a kiss on his lips. He placed his hand on my cheek and caressed it. I stared into his beautiful blue eyes as they sparkled in the night. You could get lost in those eyes; they were so alluring. 

Lucas had moved himself closer to me, in hopes of kissing me, but we were quickly interuppted by our guests.

"Oh, hello there." I heard a very recognizable voice say behind me. I looked over to find Jared. Along side him was a girl. My stomach turned when I saw her next to Jared; she was beautiful. Her brown gorgeous hair shinned in the midnight sky, almost as though the twinkly stars were approving her beauty.

I stood up to greet Jared and his...girl.

"Hi," I said, trying to sound as cheerful as I could, but something inside of me made me feel sick.

Jared moved in to hug me and whispered in my ear, "I see you didn't take my recommendation. Either way, though, you look amazing."

"Thanks," I uttered, feeling my cheeks begin to blush. Why did he have such an effect on me? Lucas has said countless amounts of comments to me and not once did I blush. But, for some reason, when Jared complimented me, my face couldn't help but turn red.

"This is Meredith." Jared added, as he moved away from me and back alongside the date he brought.

"Hi!" She squeaked. "It's so lovely to finally meet you," Meredith came up to hug me. I stood there, shocked. I didn't know her like that, so why was she hugging me? She, then, went on to hug Lucas, who was just as startled as me by Meredith's action.

"Finally?" I questioned suspiciously, but still keeping a smile on my face to not seem too suspicious.

"Yeah, Jared's told me so much about you two. You guys make such a cute couple." Meredith confessed. She shifted herself back to Jared and took a hold of his hand; I don't know why, but this move made my stomach ache more.

"Shall we sit?" Jared asked, gesturing towards the table. I nodded as we all sat down. Not long after, the young waiter came up to us, eagerly awaiting our order.

"What would you guys like to order?" I looked at the young waiters tag and saw that his name was Henry. Hmm, he looked like a Henry.

"I'll have a salad, please." Meredith requested. Ew, who comes to a restaurant and eats salad? Why is she trying to seem so perfect?

"I'll have seven tacos." Jared added, nonchalantly. Seven tacos? He's ridiculously crazy.

"What would you like on them?" The waiter asked.

"Everything."

"Everything?" The waiter questioned.

"Everything," Jared emphasized.

"You know, you might be interested in our ten tacos deal of the night. If you can eat ten tacos, with everything, in an hour, all your meals will be free." The waiter exclaimed.

"Hell yeah, I'll take that challenge!" Jared boasted. A smile appeared on his face as he looked around the table in hopes of praise for his upcoming challenge. What a dork -- an adorable dork.

"And for you two?" The waiter turned towards Lucas and I.

"I'll just have four tacos with some tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce." I ordered.

"I'll have the same," Lucas stated. I saw Jared do an eye roll as Lucas requested his meal. I wanted to kick his foot under the table and tell him to behave, but I didn't want to cause a scene.

As the night went on, and after we got our food, their was an awkward aroma at our table. Jared and Lucas were clearly avoiding each other, as they hadn't spoken to one another once. They didn't even glance in their directions. Both of them chose to ignore the other, almost as if they didn't exist. So, Meredith and I had to keep up the conversation; and by Meredith and I, I mean Meredith. This girl would not stop talking.

For instance, she had two dogs. She was an honors student. She had volunteered her time to help the elders. God, I wish she would shut up. We get it, you're perfect. Whatever.

I don't know why, but she was seriously getting on my nerves.

Twenty minutes into our night, and ten minutes into Meredith's story about her 'saving an older woman on the street,' Meredith randomly stopped talking. I glanced up to see why she had stopped, and it was because she was looking at Jared intently. Moments later, Meredith grabbed hold of Jared's face, disrupting him from his challenge, and kissed him.

My heart felt like it had dropped off the top of a ten story building. I didn't understand what was happening.

As Meredith and Jared indulged in their kiss, my life felt like it was shattering before me.

I looked away and smiled at Lucas, who hadn't even sensed my pain.

After what felt like forever, Meredith pulled away from Jared and went back to eating.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick," I excused myself.

As I stepped into the bathroom, I paused in front of the mirror, scanning myself. My face looked fine, everything about me looked fine, but my heart felt broken. What the hell was going on? Why did that kiss hurt me so much?

Moments later, the bathroom door opened and in walked Meredith. Great.

"Hey!" She squealed.

"Hey," I answered, significantly less enthusiastically. 

"Girl, I love your shoes, so much." She added, giving me a sincere smile. Instead of appreciating her sincerity, though, I just felt more annoyed at her. Like, could she go away?

"Thanks," I added, as I began to wash my hands in hopes of escaping the bathroom soon.

"Hey, so, I'm sorry about that kiss at the table."

"What?" I questioned. Oh shit, did she know how I felt? Was this girl psychic? 

"Well, Jared told me what's up with you guys. But he was just here to help me make my boyfriend, Daniel, jealous -- well, technically ex-boyfriend. But not for long," she winked towards me. "Did you see him? He's like half-way across the restaurant. Brown hair, gorgeous brown eyes, flawless really."

"What do you mean?" Good God, what did Jared say now? 

"Oh, well. Jealousy does make the heart fonder or whatever the phrase is. It'll totally work on Daniel. He's a sucker when it comes to me. I don't know why he even left me. Like, serious-"

"No, I mean, what did Jared say to you about me and him?" I interrupted her. I didn't have time to hear her whole life story right now; it would probably take ten years for her to finish. Meredith clearly had no problem talking about herself for hours. 

"Oh! Well, he said that you were secretly in love with him, or something like that, and you're using Lucas to make him jealous." Meredith stated.

What?! What the hell is this kid doing? I'm not in love with him or something. 

"You know, it's funny," she laughed. "Me and Jared were originally coming here tonight anyway, since I knew Daniel would be here tonight. My best friend, Caroline, told me that her boyfriend, Eric, knew Daniel was going on a date here with Christina; my ex best friend -- god, she is such a whore. Anyway, Jared ended up changing our fake date to a double date, which was great cause it is such a pleasure to get to meet you! He's told me so much about you. But I guess Jared thought he could use this opportunity to make you jealous or whatever," she casually said as she placed some lip gloss on her lips. 

"If you'll excuse me for a moment," I said as I dismissed myself from the bathroom. I rushed through the restaurant, eager to find Jared and confront him. I walked up to our table; both Jared and Lucas were silently eating and clearly avoiding one another. 

"Jared, if you could come with me for a moment," I tried to say calmly.

"But I'm eating. I only have ten minutes lef-"

"Now!" I demanded. Lucas looked up at me, startled. I smiled at him to reassure him everything was fine. And it would be, once I figured out what the hell Jared was up to. As Jared stood up, I took hold of his shirt and practically dragged him to the other end of the restaurant, making sure no one would be able to hear us.

"Ow," Jared said as I let go of his shirt.

"What is going on with you?!" I asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific." Jared laughed.

"I mean, why are you telling Meredith that 'I'm in love with you or something,' and I'm using Lucas to make you jealous," I demanded. 

"Oh," Jared whispered. "Damn it, that girl can't keep a secret for her life." He muttered.

"What game are you playing, Jared?" I accused.

"Look, it's not a game. I just...I just needed some sort of distraction tonight."

"From what?" I asked. From me? 

"From Lucas. I hate that kid. So. Much. I needed something else to focus on so I wouldn't punched him in the face." Jared admitted.

"But it's a lie!"

"Is it though?" Jared questioned, quickly. His face curious for my reply. 

What is that suppose to mean?

"What are you implying?" I asked, surprised at his response but eager to know what he meant.

Jared took a deep breath and answered, "Nothing."

"You're the one who invited yourself and Meredith on my date. Why did you come if you hate Lucas so much?"

"Because I missed you." He answered, directly and bluntly. My heart felt like it had dropped, again, but this time, not from a ten story building, but into his hands. My heart felt like it had fallen into Jared's hands and only he could care for it. What could I even say to that?

Even though his lie pissed me off, I understood his motive. I missed him, too. But maybe this was just the way Jared worked: in complicated, unexplainable, and non - understandable ways.

"Let's head back," I said, beginning to walk back. But before I could get far, Jared took hold of my hand and pulled me back to him. 

I swiftly turned around and asked, "What are you doing?"

"You're not mad, right?" He asked, worry was visible in his eyes.

"No," I smiled. How could I be?

We both headed back to the table and continued to eat our dinner. Jared had lost his challenge, big time; mostly because I had pulled him aside to talk. It was, actually, hilarious, though. He had to pay so much for the ten tacos. Although, I did have to give him props; he managed to eat all of ten tacos with no problem.  

Around 11:00PM, we all decided to disband and go home. And I drove Lucas home. As we arrived to his house, he moved in to kiss me: a sweet and quick peck on the lips. As he opened the door, I felt compelled to ask him whether or not we were a couple.

"Lucas?" 

"What's up?"

"Are we...a thing? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah, of course we are, babe." Lucas said as he smiled and left my car.

I rode up to my house to find the lights on inside, again. Great. That better not be Jared, because I've had enough of his crazy ass for one day. Quickly, however, I remembered that Cleo was suppose to be home around this time. What time was it anyway? I looked at the radio to see that it was: 11:34PM.

"Cleo?" I yelled as I walked through the front door. "Cleo? Hello? Hello? Where you at, chicka?"

I couldn't find her in the living room or kitchen so I went down the hall to her room. But I quickly halted when I saw Cleo's figure sitting on the bathroom floor, her head over the toilet.

"Cleo?" I questioned her. Cleo turned around and looked at me. Tears were running down her face as she hung onto the toilet seat, her back hunched over.

"Hey," I whispered going down next to her. "Cleo, whats wrong?" I asked, placing my hand on her back in hopes of comforting her.

"I think I messed up, Val." Cleo cried. It was so painful to see Cleo like this; she never cried, like ever. I've known her for over a year now, and this was the first time I saw her cry.

"How? Tell me what's wrong," I pleaded. Maybe I could help her. That's what best friends are for, right?

"I'm late," she revealed.

"What do you mean you're late? Late for what?" Late for work? Late for school? Late for a date? Late for anything else? Please, tell me it's not what I think it is.

"I think I'm pregnant."

--------------------------------------------------------------
Sooooo! Sorry for the length of this chapter, but damn talk about drama😂

What do you guys think of this chapter?

Were you guys expecting Cleo to be pregnant?

Were you surprised that Val was jealous?

The next chapter is going to be this double date from the perspective of Jared!

Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter❤