Turns out, Noah's friends aren't as stupid or obnoxious as he is.

After spending some time with them at the school's cafeteria while they waited for their friend - Noah, who was returning to high school from the hospital today -, I got to know the three of them better and I was pleasantly surprised to find out they are quite nice, fun and easy going.

My return to classes after being in the hospital for a while was very smooth and mostly because of those three stooges who were nicer to me than I'd ever expected. But to be fair, I never truly expected anything from them. They talked to me whenever we ran into each other in the hall, they offered me a ride home one time when it was pouring rain and today, they even asked me to join them in the cafeteria while they shared a large bag of chips.

Ben Jones is Noah's best friend and they're the real life proof that opposites attract and that you don't have to share the same interests or the same life motivations to stay friends, or in their case, best friends. Not that they're not similar, they are in a few aspects, but the biggest difference I've come to find is that Ben is extremely fun and easy to talk to while Noah... Well, he's Noah. He's just a difficult guy overall.

"And then I asked her," Ben explained, referring to Chloé, as he told me the story of how he met his girlfriend, the brunette sitting next to him with a cheeky smile on her face. "How you doin? And the rest is history."

She laughed at his shit eating grin and expression and I found myself chuckling to myself too after taking a bite of a chip.

"So you decided to go out with him after he quoted Joey Tribianni from Friends?" I asked Chloé Stone.

"I decided I'd just give him a chance!" She defended. "Poor guy's been after me for so long! Then, he conquered me with his smooth talking and his looks."

"She's ain't wrong!" Ben, unable to wipe off the wide grin of his face, bent down to capture Chloé's lips with his own.

From what I could gather, Chloé was very different from Ben. Opposites attract, evidence B.

Unlike Ben or anyone else in their little group, she was wealthy. And I mean really wealthy. Her parents were filthy rich and although they did try to give her the lifestyle they had and wanted for their precious daughter, she was much more interested in making friends and having fun with them, and that didn't include fancy trips to the Bahamas with their parents' friends' kids, that were just as wealthy as she was.

She also didn't dream of a job at her parents' hotel company. Instead, she dreamt of walking the runways around the world, envisioning a promising modeling career for herself. She seemed to like fashion, which was probably the only thing that her parents' had passed down to her that she fully embraced. Plus, she had the long legs and the looks to be a successful model, so nothing would stop her.

Their third friend, the more shy and quiet one was Carter. Whenever he was around me he didn't say much, unlike when the four of them were all together, but I could tell that was just his personality, to just be shy and quiet around the ones he doesn't know yet.

I didn't know him very well apart from his little introduction of himself at the ice cream parlor the other day, but from what Ben explained to me, his parents are both from Mexico and moved to the US, settling here in California after he turned five years old, which explains his accent. He was just as nice as the other two were, and never failed an opportunity to join in on the jokes they always had on the tip of their tongues.

"Barbie doll." Noah's dark, hoarse voice, with a slight tone of surprise in it, interrupted my conversation with Ben, Chloé and Carter. "Fancy seeing you here."

I turned my head around to find two brown orbits eyeing me intently with a matching glowing grin. I rolled my eyes instantly at the mention of the name he insisted on calling me.

"And that's my cue to leave." Noah's friends started to protest at my words but I shut them down gently while I put my hands up in the air. "I got a doctor's appointment anyway." I got up from my seat and picked up my jacket to put it on.

"Send Doctor King my love, will you?" Noah walked right past me, without bothering to look at me while he spoke, to put his black and white duffel bag on the empty seat next to mine, across from where his best friend was seated, where he was headed.

"What's with the nickname?" Chloé asked me as she made her way to the new empty seat, allowing Noah to sit next to his best friend.

"Oh, it's just... silly." I rolled my eyes again while I adjusted my denim jacket. "It's because of my looks." I explained as I put my bag's strap over my shoulder.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I always loved how my Barbies looked and how they dressed."

"I think most young girls did. Thank you, though." I showed her a smile and waved them all goodbye before leaving Davidson High.

With my hands shoved in my pockets, I made my way to my house, which was only a few twenty minutes away from my high school. I was halfway towards my destination when the ringing of a bike bell interrupted my wavering thoughts.

Knowing exactly who it could be, as I recognized the sound of the bell, I stopped on my tracks and turned my head in the direction of the sound, facing the white, slim bike with huge slim tires.

"Hey you." I lifted my hand towards my face to shield my eyes from the setting sunlight.

"Where are you going?" Kyle stopped riding the bike when he reached me and stood by its side while he held it by the handlers with one hand and unclipped his helmet open with the other.

Kyle loved riding the bike and since he lived near our high school, he always rode it every morning and every afternoon. He even convinced me to ride my own bike to school so we could ride it side by side but a couple of years ago I fell down, had a massive wound on my knee, got infected and that led to another week in the hospital. I personally didn't care much about it but I could tell my parents were worried sick every time I sat on the saddle and despite them not saying anything to me about it, I couldn't bear to see that look on their faces so I started walking. Which was fine too and it turned out to be quite therapeutic for me since I had my own time to just be alone with my thoughts.

"Home. I got an appointment later but my dads are taking me."

"Hm." He hummed before looking ahead and starting to walk side by side with me, with his hands still on the wheel.

"What?" I asked, knowing all too well that that soft "Hm" came bearing its own dose of disappointment.

"I was hoping you could come over and we could watch a movie or play Scrabble."

"Oh, sorry. But that does sound fun. Rain check?"

"Definitely." He shot me a smile before locking the helmet in and jumping back on the saddle. "Let me know what the doctor said. I might go catch some waves, still catch the sun setting, so text me."

He put his feet on the pedals and slowly took off, making his way to his house, probably to get his surfboard and grab some surf gear.

"Will do!" I said loudly as I waved him goodbye.

Once Kyle was out of sight, him and his bike now a dot, slowly fading, I went back to walking to my house by myself, going back to my own thoughts when, after turning right at the interception, a loud car honk interrupted them.

What the hell?

I turned my head towards the sound to find the boy with the shaggy brown hair. That honk was followed by the sound of rock music playing loudly from inside the black jeep.

My brain tangled in knots at the sight. At least that's how I pictured it in my head, judging by how confused I was.

"Hey, Barbie doll. You need a ride?"

What the hell indeed.

* * * 

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