“Well, well, well. Look what we have here.”

Oh for the love of God.

Not him.

Not now. Because you see, I had always had a sort of…thing…for him. And I probably looked a mess at the moment.

“Oh get up, you lazy sod. You look horrible.” I could hear the grin in his voice.

My eyes slowly opened and I grinned.

“Parker!” I squealed, jumping to my feet. He broke into a grin as well, giving me a bear hug (I had to go on my tippy toes to reach him). I dusted my self off and asked;

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m afraid if I told you that, I’d have to kill you.” He tapped the side of his nose, and suddenly frowned in mock disappointment.

“But really. You look exhausted. What happened?” I sighed.

“Em made me go shopping with her,”

“Back to imaginary friends again, I see.” I playfully punched him in the arm, at that one, and, once explaining who Em was, told him that she had temporarily abandoned me to go find luggage.

“Well, you seemed pretty comfortable down there, and it looks as if you might collapse at any moment.” I sat back down, with Parker leaning up against me.

“How’s things back home?” I asked, a wave of homesickness suddenly washing over me.

“Bleh. So-so. Steph has another boyfriend. Justin got expelled. That was partly my fault, actually. But I only got suspended…not that much has happened, really. What about you? Oh God. Don’t tell me. You have a boyfriend, don’t you? A really nice one that I’ll hate, but won’t really have an excuse to? You’re probably engaged. I KNOW! You’re PREGGERS!” I laughed, ignoring the pregnancy joke. I really hoped he didn’t think I was fat…Parker had always made jokes about my “boyfriends” because, my whole life, I’ve had a very nice talent for dating weirdos. I was still laughing when Em came around the corner and gasped. I looked up and saw her, a slightly dazed look on her face as if she were a little girl who had just been told Christmas had come early, only she couldn’t quite believe it.

“C!” she squealed, clapping her hands together. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Er…tell you what? Oh and Parker, this is Em. Y’know, the one I was telling you about? I’m not really sure what’s wrong with her, but the doctors will figure it out soon, I’m sure.”

“Oh shush,” Em said, hitting my arm as she abandoned her suitcase and sat down beside me.

“So…how long have you two been…?” Em trailed off, a slight suggestion in her voice. Not that I noticed it until it was too late.

“You mean friends?” I asked rather stupidly.

“No silly! Going out!”

“Wha-what?” I managed to splutter out, just as Em said “But what about Connor? I was sure you two had something…” she trailed off. I think my mouth dropped open at that point, but all I really remember was Parker’s nervous chuckle as he told Em that we were only friends.

“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry! I just assumed-I mean you look so-“Em blushed furiously as I patted her hand.

“Anyway. I’m quite hungry. Would you ladies care to join me at the food court?” Parker asked, his fake English accent making me laugh.

“Good egg!” I replied, leaping to my feet, pulling Em up beside me.

“But I need my suitcase!” She whined.

“We’ll come back,” I said rather impatiently. My stomach was starting to grumble.

0_0

“So, what’ll it be?” Parker asked. “My treat,”

“Large fries, a double cheeseburger and a coke for me thanks.” I tried to ignore the incredulous look that Em gave me-heck she gave me that look every time we went out-as I placed my order.

“Same here,” Parker said. Em sniffed indignantly and ordered a salad.

We all collected our food and plonked ourselves down at a table.

“So how long have you known my dear Constance?” Em asked Parker.

“Since we were in diapers. Not a pretty sight, by the way.”

“Oh real-Hey! Hey look! It’s Connor!”

“What?” My head shot up and I scanned the immediate vicinity.

“Connor! Come over here. Sit with us” Em cried out. I stopped looking for him and buried my face in my hands.

“Who’s Connor?” Parker asked. I lifted my head to answer him but Em cut in.

“Oh wouldn’t you like to know?” she replied, an evil glint in her eye.

“What are you doing?” I hissed between clenched teeth. Relax; he’s probably not even going to come over. He hates you, remember? But I was wrong. Because as I turned my head to the right, I did see Connor coming towards us, with almost the exact evil glint as Em.

“Helping you,” Em replied. Helping me? What the HELL? How was she helping me? I groaned, just as Connor sat down opposite me. Fine then…I’d just ignore him. And talk to dear ol’…Parker. Who was sending me and Connor death glares.

“Parker, meet Connor, Connor, meet…Parker…” Okay. That sounded way too weird. The two guys nodded at each other, and then turned to look at me. There was an awkward silence before I realised that everyone expected me to start up a conversation. Gulping, I racked my brain, but the only thing that I could think of saying was “so…how about those ‘niners?” Thankfully, Em came to the rescue.

“So Parker, what brings you down here?” This got a confused look from Connor and a grin-this time not so evil- from Parker.

“It’s a surprise, but I promise you’ll find out soon.” I tried to distract myself by eating and not paying the least but of attention to anyone. Em cleared her throat and kicked my shin under the table.

“What?” I asked. Jesus that hurt. I still hadn’t realised what was wrong when Connor started chuckling.

“What?” I asked again, starting to get a little peeved.

“I just-didn’t know that you ate like such a…guy.” Well that was nice. Great conversation starter. So basically all I have to do to avoid awkward silence is to insult someone? Fantastic.

“She doesn’t eat like a guy. She just eats the same food. I think it’s cute.” Parker said loyally. Well shucks. Remind me to give him a big hug sometime soon.

Connor blushed and managed to stutter out that he didn’t mean it as an insult. This was getting way too weird. I stood up.

“Em, shouldn’t we go back to the store we were in and buy that suitcase?” She perked up at the mention of shopping and, jumping to her feet, hurriedly explained to Connor and Parker that she needed luggage.

“Parker,” I started. “When are you heading back home?”

“Oh, not for a while. I’ll see you soon. Go ahead. Shop.” I groaned, hugging him and then awkwardly said goodbye to Connor.

As soon as we were a safe distance away, I asked Em why the hell she had invited Connor to join us. At least she had the decency to look a little guilty.

“Well, I thought it would be a good chance for you two to…get to know each other so maybe you wouldn’t be at each others throats all the time.”

“But we’re not at each other’s throats all the time. I mean, last time I spoke to him, I didn’t swear once.” I actually felt pretty pleased with myself about that one.

“Er, I know. I was just there with you.” I rolled my eyes.

“Not back there, idiot. A few days ago. And besides, I didn’t really talk to him properly just then, anyway.”

Em muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like “Trust me, you’ll be talking a lot more…”

I ignored her, turning around when I though I heard someone call my name. Only to find Connor staring at me.