“Does Oliver have short term memory loss?”

Melissa gave me a questioning look. “No?”

I pursed my lips, setting down my container of Chinese food. “Huh.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “No reason.”

Melissa gave me another curious look, but dropped it. I stabbed my fork into my lunch again, bringing up a boneless rib.

Oliver had said he wanted to ask questions about my family last night, and he never did. As soon as we entered the bar, he went back to being his cool and un-talkative self. Well, after he snapped at Anthony for giving me an enthusiastic greeting hug. But Anthony seemed like the type of person who liked giving hugs, so I didn’t see what the big deal was.

“You and my brother get along well, huh?”

My eyes shot to Melissa’s face. “What?”

She gave me a knowing smile. “The way he talks about you makes me think you guys—”

“He talks about me?” I repeated in shock.

Melissa nodded. “When we have our rare sibling-bonding moments, yep. It’s mostly him making fun of you— oh! But not in a bad way,” Melissa corrected quickly when she saw my annoyed expression.

“How then?”

“Umm,” Melissa hesitated, furrowing his eyebrows. “Like the way you might talk about something cute your pet did?”

I frowned. “So he thinks I’m some kind of… dog?” Well, he had called me a dog before.

“No!” Melissa responded quickly. “It wasn’t in a derogatory way.”

“You’re confusing me…”

Melissa sighed lightly. “Forget I said anything. I just meant to say I didn’t know you guys were friends.”

I ducked my head. “Well, we’re more like acquaintances,” I murmured bashfully.

“Uh-huh,” Melissa responded with a smug smile. “Still, it’s nice seeing Oliver at least being civil to someone.”

I kept my head down, staring at my Chinese food. Oliver was civil to plenty of people. Melissa, Zak, and Joey, and he even talked to Luke, Jake, Tyler, and Jeff. It wasn’t like I was getting special treatment. It wasn’t like I wanted special treatment.

“I just wish Oliver could be civil to my mom,” Melissa sighed wistfully. “She’s really nice.”

“I’ve met her,” I told Melissa, remembering the time with a grimace.

Melissa looked surprised. “Really? At the bar?”

I nodded. “Yep. She was… interesting.”

“Oliver doesn’t even try to get along with her,” Melissa told me, a frown appearing on her face. “I know my mom is a little… to the point and brusque, but Oliver seems to go out of his way to be rude to her. And his own dad. Anthony is the nicest person ever, and yet Oliver acts as if he’s the scum of the Earth.”

My lips pursed, and I stirred my boneless ribs in their container. Did Melissa know about Oliver’s little sister? Oliver’s actions weren’t that unjust. If someone adopted me, and said Elliot couldn’t come, I’d hate those people. That’s one of the reasons I decided I’d live by myself with Elliot.

“Do you know Oliver has a little sister?” Melissa asked suddenly.

Well, that answers my question. “Yeah, he told me last night.”

“So he told you his mom died?”

“Yeah,” I responded in a quiet voice.

Melissa played with the cap of her milk bottle. “I can understand why Oliver is angry about why my mom didn’t take Lily when his mom died… but that was two years ago. He should get over it. Lily lives with my cousin, who’s a good person. It’s not like Oliver can’t go see Lily.”

“How come your mom didn’t take her?” I asked. It was a lot easier to ask Melissa questions than Oliver.

Melissa looked embarrassed. “I wish I could make excuses for my mom, but I can’t. It sounds horrible, but she didn’t want Lily because Lily wasn’t related to her in any way, therefore Lily wasn’t her responsibility.”

“But Lily is Oliver’s sister!”

“I know.”

“And Lily is so young! Why would your mom want to separate them?”

“I don’t know,” Melissa responded, a little irritated. “That’s why I can understand why Oliver is angry. I tried to convince my mom to adopt Lily, but she wouldn’t. However, she did ask my cousin to adopt her, and she did. My cousin has a great family,” she told me. “Lily really likes them too. Oliver just is sour.”

I didn’t respond at first, popping another piece of rib into my mouth, and chewing slowly. I couldn’t blame Oliver for not liking his step-mom. Melissa couldn’t understand because she didn’t have any siblings. But it sounded like Lily had a good life. Wasn’t Oliver happy about that?

I shook my head. “Well, it doesn’t seem like Oliver is going to change his mind about your step-mom.”

Melissa smiled wryly. “I know. I kind of just wanted to get what I was feeling off my chest… Thanks for listening. I don’t have many friends I can talk to about this.”

I stared at Melissa in surprise. “You’re thanking me? You don’t need to! We’re friends, this is what friends are for!”

Melissa laughed. “Okay, then I take back my thanks. Do you have anything you need to talk about?”

“No,” I said quickly, making Melissa raise an eyebrow. I laughed nervously. “Nothing important right now, anyway.”

Melissa looked like she was about to say more, but the door suddenly opened, making Melissa and me jump. I twisted around in my seat to see Tucker standing at the door, staring at Melissa in surprise. Melissa noticed Tucker and blushed, quickly turning the other way.

“Tucker!” I cried, jumping up from my desk. “I thought you weren’t coming. I ordered Chinese, you want some?”

“What’s she doing here?” Tucker asked in a stiff voice.

I glanced back at Melissa, who was still looking the other way. Tucker looked angry and embarrassed, and I realized why. He didn’t want anyone to know that I made him lunch every day. “Tucker—”

“Ms. Allen! I told you not to tell anyone!”

“I didn’t tell her anything, Tucker!”

Tucker pursed his lips, entering the room, and closing the door behind him. “Well, obviously she’s going to think something’s going on now.”

Melissa finally looked up, glancing at Tucker. She blushed a deeper red and look away again. “S-sorry,” she stuttered.

“Whatever,” Tucker snapped.

“Tucker!”

Tucker let out a small sigh, shooting me a dirty look. “ Sorry, Melissa. It’s not your fault.”

I blinked in surprise. Tucker knew Melissa? Melissa looked at Tucker again, and nodded her head. Tucker padded by me, going into the supply room.

“Where’s the food?” he called.

“In the counter,” I responded, turning towards the door.

Melissa stared at me curiously. “So, what’s going on between you and Tucker?” Either it was my imagination, or she looked jealous.

“Nothing,” I assured her, biting back a smile.

She pouted at me. “Something is going on!”

“She just makes me lunch,” Tucker interjected, coming towards us with a small, white container in his hand. “It’s a secret, so keep it this way.”

Melissa looked surprise. She glanced between Tucker and me before slowly nodding her head. “I’ll keep it a secret!” she promised.

“Good,” Tucker grunted, pulling up a chair and plopping in a seat next to her. “You’re Oliver’s step-sister, right?”

“Yeah,” Melissa responded, looking pleased.

I raised my eyebrow at her. She caught my look and blushed again, clearing her throat and turning her attention to her food. A smirk was starting to form on my face, but I quickly twisted it into a regular smile. Melissa liked Tucker, huh?

“So when did this start?”

Tucker shrugged. “A few days ago.”

Melissa nodded. “I see.”

“There’s nothing weird going on her,” I assured her. “Just lunch-making.”

Melissa looked relieved as she nodded again. I couldn’t help but grin at her reaction. She definitely liked Tucker. It was so cute! Tucker seemed oblivious though.

Tucker reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. After staring at it for a minute, he thrust it at me. “Here’s the list you wanted.”

I took it from him quickly. “Ooh, thanks!”

Tucker’s face heated up and he quickly looked away. “Don’t thank me…”

“Um, I like cooking too,” Melissa interjected, turning to Tucker. “Maybe I could help to.”

“Listen, I don’t want pity,” Tucker snapped, immediately getting defensive.

Melissa didn’t look fazed. I raised my eyebrows at her. Even I had gotten a little offended by Tucker’s rude tone when he acted like that to me. Melissa seemed oblivious to his tone.

“I’m not pitying you,” she told him with a small laugh. “I like to cook… I’d like to cook for you, too.”

Tucker stared at Melissa for a moment before turning to me, a confused expression on his face. I almost laughed. Yes, Melissa definitely liked Tucker and Tucker didn’t know it.

“Girls are weird,” Tucker eventually mumbled, looking embarrassed.

Melissa and I exchanged a quick glance before laughing. Tucker grew redder and kept his head down, stuffing his mouth with pork fried rice.

“Whoa, is there a party in here?”

Tucker, Melissa, and I all jumped violently. We twisted towards the door to see Zak standing there with a grin. Tucker let out a growl of annoyance, shoving himself away from the desk.

“I’m going,” he announced.

As Tucker tried to brush by Zak, Zak shot out his arm to stop him. “By no means do I want you to go, Tucker.”

Tucker glared at Zak. “Who said I wanted to stay now that you’re here?”

Zak feigned a hurt look. “Ouch.”

“Tucker,” I interjected, getting up from my desk and heading towards the pair. “Not everyone is out to get you.”

Tucker shot me a glare. “I never said they were.”

“Look,” I said flatly. “Zak is being nice to you. Whatever problems you guys have had in the past, are in the past. You and Zak are now partners. Isn’t it best to get along with each other?”

“We can’t get along!” Tucker shot back. “We’re part of different school gangs.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t get along,” Zak pointed out. “I’d rather get along with you than fight every day, Tuck.”

Tucker pursed his lips at Zak. “Tuck?”

“A friendly nick name?” Zak responded with a grin. “Come on, I’d like to join in on this lunch party. You don’t have to leave.”

Tucker still looked upset. “I…”

I quickly threw an arm over Tucker and Zak’s shoulder, dragging them towards my desk. “Oh, come on you guys. Maybe if you two get along, Arden and Oliver will learn from you. Let’s drop all pretenses, I know you to want to be friends.”

“How would you know?” Tucker snapped at the same time Zak said, “Sounds cool to me.”

Tucker and Zak shared a look for a second. Then Tucker dropped his scowl and Zak grinned.

“We can at least try to be friends, right?” Zak offered, holding out his hand. “If it doesn’t work out, that’s that.”

Tucker stared at his hand for a moment, debating. Finally he let out a small sigh, taking it in his. “Fine. We’ll try.”

“Yay!”

Tucker and Zak sent me curious looks. Blushing, I quickly looked away. “Sorry… I got a little excited.”

Zak laughed, clapping me on the back. “That’s alright, Ms. Allen. If I were you, I’d be excited too. We’ll try not to fight in class anymore.”

“Try,” Tucker repeated, taking a seat next to Melissa again.

“So what’s for lunch?” Zak asked, dragging a chair to my desk, sitting on my side. “Chinese?”

“Want some?” I asked, offering him some of my ribs.

Zak nodded enthusiastically. “Those are my favorite! Hey Tucker, remember the time you, me, Arden, and Oliver went to that run-down Chinese place at the end of our street a few years ago?”

“Yeah.”

“An you got that fortune cookies that had the fortune that said, I bet you could think of a better fortune than this?”

Tucker cracked a grin. “Yeah, and then the rest of the night we kept thinking of fortunes we’d put in fortune cookies?”

“Yeah! Oliver said something like… Look out! A crazy homicidal maniac is standing behind you!”

I burst out laughing, choking on the rib I had just eaten. “Are you serious?”

Tucker grinned at me. “Everything Oliver said he’d put in a fortune cookie had a crazy person in it somehow.”

Melissa snickered as well. “Oliver thought my mom was a murderer when my dad and her first started dating. He even did an online search and showed me the results.”

“That’s funny,” I commented, grinning. “I can’t imagine Oliver being like that.”

“Oliver was a lot friendlier before his mom died,” Zak told me, his grin slipping off his face. “Now Oliver is… well to put it nicely, a jerk.”

Tucker snorted his agreement.

“He’s not that bad,” I protested in his defense.

“To you,” Zak pointed out. “You don’t see him in all his other classes.”

“Or at home,” Melissa added quietly.

Tucker stayed silent, picking at his lunch. “No comment. I hate that guy.”

I frowned at him. “Hate’s a strong word…”

“So?”

I cringed at his aloof response. “Just… never mind.” A sigh escaped my lips. I already knew Oliver was a jerk. Why was I trying to stick up for him?

Tucker suddenly stood up. “Class is starting in five minutes,” he announced, glancing at the clock. “I should go.”

“Holy crap,” Zak gasped, jumping up from his seat. “I need to print out my personal finance essay before lunch is over! See you guys later!” Without another word, he fled from the room.

Melissa set down her container with a frown. “I still need to go to my locker. Guess I have to leave too. Can we do this again tomorrow?”

“Of course,” I told her with a smile. “If it’s alright with Tucker…”

Tucker stared at me in surprise. “What? Why are you asking me? Of course it’s fine!” he snapped, growing red.

I held in a chuckle. Tucker was so cute. “Just checking.”

Melissa giggled, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. “Alright, see you tomorrow then. Bye Ms. Allen, bye Tucker.”

“Bye,” Tucker mumbled as Melissa left the room.

I glanced at him while trashing Melissa and Zak’s lunch. “Don’t you have somewhere to go?”

Tucker shrugged. “Yeah, but I kind of want to finish my chicken…” He shook his container at me.

“You can take it with you,” I pointed out. “I highly doubt you’ll finish that within three minutes.”

Tucker looked blank for a moment, his mouth open and ready to protest. His look set me off and I started laughing. I face-planted on my desk, pounding my fist on it, unable to get his face out of my mind. It was too funny!

I heard the door open and I assumed Tucker had gotten embarrassed and left, so I tried to sober myself up to apologize. When I pulled my head off my desk I noticed Tucker was still standing across from me, a grin slowly fading from his face. I followed his gaze and my eyes fell upon Arden, who was watching us with a confused expression.

“Arden!” I cried in surprise. “What are you doing here?” He wasn’t in first period.

“I gotta go,” Tucker muttered, dropping his lunch on the desk. “See you later, Ms. Allen.”

Arden watched Tucker with narrowed eyes as Tucker brushed by him. Tucker closed the door behind him, leaving Arden and myself alone. Instead of standing around and staring at each other, I decided to clean up the Chinese food.

“So,” Arden started, snatching one of the containers from me. “Since when have you and Tucker been getting along so well? I thought he hated the world.”

“He doesn’t hate the world,” I told Arden with a frown. “Tucker’s a nice person.”

Arden frowned slightly. “I didn’t know you too became close friends. I didn’t realize a teacher was supposed to become so close to their students.”

“Is it wrong to become friends with my students?” I demanded. “A lot of teachers become friends with their students.”

Arden held up his hands. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I’m just curious. We’re friends, right?”

“Right,” I agreed, relaxing my stance. “So where were you this morning?”

“Do you have a class next period?” Arden asked suddenly, his eyes looking everywhere but at me.

I shook my head. “No, why?”

“Since I missed this morning, I’ll help you now,” he told me.

I gave him a questioning look. “Okay…? But where were you this morning?”

“You had Chinese for lunch?”

“Stop avoiding the question, Arden.”

Arden looked at me, a frown on his face. When I looked in his eyes, I almost gasped. He looked like he was about to cry. For a moment I panicked, wondering if my question could have offended him.

“I… I had to attend my grandma’s funeral,” he told me in a quiet voice.

My eyes shot open in surprise. “Oh! Um, Arden… Wow. I feel like the biggest jerk in the world.”

Arden shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, still feeling awful. “I shouldn’t have pried. I’m sorry about your grandma… Were you close?”

“Yeah,” Arden responded with a small smile. “Really close.”

If there was one thing I hadn’t been planning on seeing in my life, it was seeing Arden about to cry. He seemed like the least vulnerable person in the world— well, besides Oliver. Before I realized what I was doing, I was already across the room, throwing my arms around Arden. He froze up, staying stock-still.

“Arden, you can cry if you want to,” I said quietly. “Death is a hard thing.”

“I don’t want to cry,” Arden responded, sounding amused, and now wrapping his arms around me. “I think I’m just in shock.”

I smiled slightly. “I was in shock for awhile too. But trust me, no matter what anyone says, crying helps.”

Arden pulled me away from him, a frown on his face. “What do you mean, you were in shock too?”

I blinked at him. “Uh…”

“Did your grandma die too?”

My mouth suddenly felt dry, and I shook my head. “No, um—”

“Your uncle?” Arden asked, frowning slightly.

I shook my head again. “No. No one, forget it.”

“You can tell me,” Arden said, his grey eyes piercing into my blue ones.

“I… Well, this is in no comparison to your grandma, but my cat died,” I lied quickly.

I wanted to punch myself in the face. I was lying to Arden. Again. Why couldn’t I just say it? It wasn’t that hard! It wasn’t like saying it would kill my parents again. I suddenly felt sick.

“A death is still a death,” Arden pointed out, breaking me out of my trance.

I smiled tightly. “Right.”

And a lie was still a lie.

___________________________

Last night I wrote out the end to this. Well, not the whole end, but the main thing. It's awesome. I bet you guys won't expect it... Well, when you read the chapter before the chapter where everything... I'm not going to spoil it. But it's pretty awesome... lol. That's it.

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[Today's Song: Death To Your Heart by Blood on the Dance Floor]