Sam and Ally

“Sam. Ally. This is Scott,” Liam said as we took the seats across from them. Both girls smiled, eyes tracking me.

Sam said nothing as she looked me over. I was surprised when I found the lack of judgment and disappointment at the end. When her hazel eyes met mine again, she gave me a warm smile. There was a mature air about her. Straddling the line between cute and hot, Sam leaned towards the cute side. Long black hair fell below her shoulders and her skin was a light brown. I don't think she was up to par with any of Kaylee's circle of friends, but she was certainly above average.

Like Sam, Ally also straddled that line but leaned towards the hot side. Again, nothing that would place her in the pantheon of our former table but certainly someone that caused your gaze to linger. A curly brunette with dark brown eyes that hinted at mischief--something I recognized from Kaylee. Unlike Sam, she was pint sized, even shorter than Kaylee. Height wasn't the only thing smaller, but Ally still had plenty of other features to keep people's attention.

It was telling that I was expecting disappointment in her gaze and found it odd that there was none. I was already feeling better about separating myself from Kaylee’s circle of friends. The problem of hanging out with goddesses is they had low opinions of mere mortals like myself.

Ally was the same, though her examination was faster than her girlfriend. A quick up and down and she had her opinion of me. Whatever it was, she hid it well as her attention quickly turned to Liam. The smile she gave him was different than the one she gave me. “I thought you sat with Kaylee and her minions?”

“No. I sat with Scott who just so happened to sit by Kaylee and her minions.”

“Which brings us back to you,” Sam said, leaning forward to rest her chin atop her propped-up hands. “The legendary Scott Hoffman.”

“Legendary?” Liam and I asked at the same time.

“What? You don’t know?” she said with an amused smile. Liam and I shared a look and shrugged. “Rumor has it you are quite something to lock Kaylee down in a relationship. I mean, everyone was convinced you were just a pity relationship since she was hogging Sean so much. Along with a few other guys,” she said as her smile turned mischievous. “After break though? Cold turkey. Not just Sean, but all guys. For a cock-hungry girl like her, you must be something special.” At first, I was wondering why my initial reaction to Ally had been discomfort. Nothing major, only a feeling that something was off. Until now, I thought it was because she was a hard read considering how she dismissed me. Now I realized why. The way she looked at me was similar to the way Ellie did. Not nearly as intense, but there was a subtle interest there.

Chuckling nervously, I turned my attention to my food and bought myself time by taking a bite. Even if it was less intense than Ellie, I was a bit taken aback how I felt worse about it. Ellie wanted to jump my bones because I firmly believed her goal in life was to fuck every guy on the planet. Ally on the other hand was only interested because of some bullshit rumor. A rumor that was going to be nothing but trouble. I was still getting used to the recognition for being Kaylee’s boyfriend. The last thing I wanted was girls getting ideas too. I’d flown under the radar this long, but that seemed to be ending now.

“Don’t get any ideas, Ally,” Sam said with a disapproving look.

Ally rolled her eyes. “Come on. Aren’t you even a little curious?”

“No.” Ally sighed. Sam’s expression warmed as she looked at me. “Anyways. It’s nice to finally meet you. Liam talks a lot about you.”

“R-really?”

“Not that much,” Liam said with a grin.

“Said you two played a good bit of Warriors and Wizards. Ally and I used to play some too.”

“More you than me,” Ally said. “I sucked.”

Sam looked like a patient mother when she looked at her girlfriend. “Because you never tried to learn the rules.”

Ally’s eyes widened. “So. Many. Books. Turn it into a movie so I can enjoy it with a huge tub of popcorn.”

“They did,” I said with a smile. “What… six years ago?”

Both girls looked at me with dead eyes, grim expressions on their faces. Panic ran through me, wondering if I said something wrong.

“We do not speak of that,” Ally said in a flat tone.

“That movie doesn’t exist,” Sam said a half-second after her.

I relaxed slightly. “That was a pretty terrible movie, wasn’t it?”

“Terrible doesn’t even begin to describe it! It wasn’t even based on Warriors and Wizards!”

“Right? How can you have a Warriors and Wizards movie without wizards! Zero magic in the whole movie!” Ally was about as passionate about this as Kaylee was about grades. The floodgates were open now. The girls fired off rapid back and forth sentences I could barely follow as they jumped from movie to movie. I’d seen all of them but couldn’t get a word in. Still, listening to them talk was oddly entertaining. Even if I wasn’t talking, it still felt like I was a part of this conversation. At the other table, the girls were always like this, but all they talked about were boys and sex.

“Aren’t they the best?” Liam whispered, leaning towards me.

“We should have switched tables months ago,” I whispered back. Glancing over at Liam, I found him smiling as he watched the girls talk. They both looked to him, asking him to weigh in on a better character in a movie. Chuckling, he avoided taking sides, which only seemed to anger the girls as they launched into a dueling explanation on why their character was superior.

Was that what I looked like when I was with Kaylee? No wonder it had been super obvious I liked her. It was written on his face as he joked with the girls, teasing them by pretending he was being swayed by an argument to have the other girl redouble her efforts. Even if I was the accessory here, I didn’t feel bad at all as I ate and watched the three talk. Ally and Sam seemed to have similar taste in entertainment as Liam and I did. The longer they talked, the more comfortable I felt. Best of all, not once did I feel insulted or looked down upon. Sam even tried bringing me into the conversation a few times.

Fun. Something I hadn’t experienced in a long time sitting with Kaylee and the others. One lunch period and it was as obvious as night and day. It wasn’t until the final moments of lunch when it hit me. Putting my tray with the others, I froze up as the realization hit me like a slap in the face. Did Kaylee and I have any interests that overlapped? I tried to think, but that nothing came up immediately frightened me. Sure, we liked hanging out with each other and we had our feelings for one another, but I was at a loss for what we did together. Before we started dating most of our time together was spent with her talking about things. Her friends, who was being a bitch and who was awesome, the guy she was currently sleeping with. It didn’t stop there.

Like a tape on rewind, I found that I really was following her around like a puppy. Everywhere she went, there I was. Basketball? I enjoyed it, but I’d never go to a game or practice if Kaylee wasn’t involved. We went shopping together with only the two of us sometimes, which she went around to all the places she wanted to go to. The more I ran through old memories, the more I realized how my entire social life until now revolved around Kaylee. No wonder people thought Kaylee was giving me pity fucks on the side.

The past didn’t bother me. I wasn’t the same guy I was back then so while it was cringey to think of how I’d acted over the years, it didn’t affect me much. The problem was when I thought about my relationship with Kaylee, it seemed built entirely on attraction, our long friendship, and lots of sex. Maybe that was fine, but after seeing Liam with Sam and Ally, it made me see what a relationship could be. Maybe it wasn’t on the level of Kaylee and me yet in terms of intimacy and commitment, but it was clear something was there. When they eventually did get there—which I sincerely believed was coming—that would be in addition to what was already there.

This struck on something that had been lurking in the back of my mind for some time now. It was there, but I’d never been able to put my finger on what exactly it was. Kaylee was a tome infinitely thick. No matter how much I wanted, I’d never know everything there was to her. That never stopped me from trying though. It’s what made this all so exciting. Every page was something new. Not all of it was good, but you had to take the bad with the good to make a great story.

Yet as I thought about it, it made me wonder how much she actually knew about me, really knew about me. This was beyond the surface-level things she’d picked up over the years. We’d been friends for years and dating for months now, but the only thing that seemed to change was us having sex.

She hadn’t even tried to come over or say hello during lunch or after. She’d spent the entire time with her friends, and even if I understood why, I couldn’t help but feel she was picking Zoe over me. I wasn’t expecting her to stay or move to the new table, but at least saying hi?

Fuck. Now I was going to be worrying about this all day. Mr. Webb hadn’t been lying when he said a relationship took constant work, but this seemed a little ****. It always felt like I was putting out fires. Putting one out would only cause another one to start. It was exhausting.