Chapter 9

                                    

                                          
Everything was back to normal once again, at least my kind of normal. I don't wake up crying anymore, Darren and I are finally talking again, and he returned to his original spot, which was right in front of me in class. We were almost inseparable, except during lunch time. Now that I thought about it, Darren and my squad never really got the chance to get to know each other, so I thought of something that would probably be a chance to spend more time with him even more.
"Have lunch with your friends?" Darren's eyes widened. "That sounds great, but won't it be a little too imposing on them?"
"Of course not!" I said as my eyes sparkled. "I think you would just fit right in."
"I don't know, Fred." Darren shook his head as he closed his locker shut. "I have this feeling that they're not really a big fan of me."
"If that's the case, then I guess I'll just have to cut them off." I said jokingly as Darren looked at me with disbelief. "That was a joke. Come on, it'll be fun! Please?"
I gave him my best puppy-dog eyes and pleaded as hard as I can until Darren finally gave in.
"Okay, okay..." He took a deep breath. "...But just because you asked nicely."
"Awesome!" I almost gave him a hug, but I contained myself and beamed at him instead. "It'll be fine, I promise!"
"I'm still a little nervous, but I guess it'll be fine as long as you're around." He replied, and the two of us walk to class together.
And before I knew it, it was lunch time already. I quickly stashed the stuff I have in my desk and approached Darren before he could even chicken out at the last minute.
"Whoa, whoa!" He chuckled lightly. "Do you think I'm trying to escape or something?"
"Just making sure," I smiled. "Ready to go?"
He answered with a nod as we left the room together. After getting lunch from the cafeteria and walking for a minute or so, we arrived at the courtyard where my friends were gathered and was waiting for us to arrive. I already kept them up to speed told them everything that happened between the two of us, except for the reason why I left Elaine's party. They all stared the two of us down as we approached.
"Look who it is," Cody sat up and grinned impishly at us. "It's Bonnie and Clyde."
"Give it a rest, Cody." I said as me and Darren joined them on the grass "Where's Lucas by the way?"
"Practice." Don answered as he downed a spoonful of rice. "He said they have to make up for lost time, I think."
"Is that so?" I said, then I put my hand in Darren's back. "Oh, I hope you guys don't mind, but I invited Darren with me today."
Darren gave them a small wave as a greeting, and my friends welcomed him with warm smiles, even Cody, who seemed to be in a really good mood today.
"This is new." I pointed at Cody, who was smiling like an idiot. "What's up with him?"
"The idiot just got himself a girlfriend." Don said, patting Cody in the back. "Who knew Cody even had the mental capacity to handle commitment?"
"Well, Cody's not a horrible person." Jim defended as he took a sip from his milk box. "Everyone deserves to be loved."
"Right." Devin looked at me, then at Darren. "Wait, weren't you and Rebecca a thing?"
"Oh," Darren tensed up, then he looked at me. "Well, I caught making out with another guy, so... Yeah."
"Damn." Cody shook his head as he gave Darren a light pat on the back. "Tough luck, dude."
"It wasn't serious or anything." Darren said, shrugging. "Well, for her at least."