three

                                    

                                          
I met Liza outside of my classroom, and she walked me to the lunchroom, carefully listening to my story of harassment. Once I was done, she simply replied, "This is not good. I hate to say it, but you're gonna have to start being nice to him."
                          
"What? Why?" I laughed, once again pulling down my skirt so I wasn't flashing the people behind me. "He doesn't deserve someone being nice to him."
                          
"You'll understand when I tell you about Talulah," she told me, opening the cafeteria doors and leading me to the line to buy food. "Wait until we're sitting down so no one can hear us. I don't want to look like a stalker." 
                          
I giggled and nodded. We bought some chicken fingers (which looked too delicious to be school food), and Liza led me to a table where Kristen and Zane were already sitting. "Zane, where's Heath?"
                          
"Just because we're both gay doesn't mean I know where he is at all times," Zane sassed back to Liza, who dramatically rolled her eyes.
                          
"He's your boyfriend, Zane. Thought you could tell me where he—oh, hey, Heath," Liza smiled. "We have some news for you guys." 
                          
"What happened now?" Kristen sighed, placing her head on her hand to face me. It was like she knew it was me who got into trouble. Not my fault I had a big mouth and little to no self control!
                          
"Well, Mona was telling me how they were bothering her all of fourth period, and that David kept looking around at them every time she said something rude to him, and—"
                          
"Oh my god," Heath interrupted.
                          
"I know," Liza responded, wide eyed. "Not good."
                          
"Not good at all," Zane repeated, and I was more than confused. It seemed like they were all in on a secret that I wasn't. "Can't believe I'm looking at Talulah with my own two eyes right now." 
                          
"Uhhhh," I laughed awkwardly, crossing my arms over my chest. "Could someone please explain why that's not good? And who the fuck is Talulah?"
                          
"You're in for a real treat, Mona," Kristen grinned, waving at Liza to continue. "I'll let Liza take this one. She's got first hand experience."
                          
"Okay, so," she smiled, almost as if she was excited by the little bit of drama in her life now. "David's dad is named John. He went to Abernathy too, and as you'd expect from someone who gave birth to Satan reincarnated, he ran the school just like David did. The way I've heard it, girls fell left and right for him, and he was over it. I guess one day, he met Talulah, who was really kind of sarcastic and rude and I don't know, I guess John saw something in her. Maybe a challenge, I don't know. They started dating somehow—still not too clear on how it went from hatred to love, but—it was like a fairytale romance kind of thing. They won prom king and queen as juniors, which, like, never happens."
                          
"I think I see where this is going," I sighed, rubbing my temples to ease my growing headache. I tried eating a chicken finger to calm myself down, but the steaming piece of meat burned the roof of my mouth, and I was officially done with lunch and the day in general. 
                          
"Yeah," Liza nodded with a laugh. "They got married and had two kids, David and his older brother Samuel. John always wanted them to find their Talulah and take them to junior prom, and Sam did. Sam found one that John approved of, and they were prom king and queen, and now, they're married. David basically feels like he has to find one now, and that's the reason he dates around so much. A lot of people know about it, too, so girls try to be offputting just to get him to like them! So now it's like he has to wade through a ton of girls pretending to be Talulah to find Talulah. Everyone's kind of waiting to see who it ends up being. The truth is, no matter who David brings to prom, they're going to be made king and queen because everyone knows about it and wants to create magic, I guess."
                          
"Wait, was it not you?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion. "You're nice and not obsessed with him."
                          
"This year." 
                          
"...so?"
                          
"So last year, I totally was fucking in love with him," she told me. "I went to the bathroom at their monthly lake house weekend, and I heard his dad saying does she seem like a Talulah to you? I pretty much knew then it was over. That's where he introduces them, by the way. His family goes to their lake house a couple hours a way for a weekend a month. It's coming up. He might invite you."
                          
"And I'll say no," I shrugged. "Obviously, Talulah was just pretending to dislike John so she wouldn't look desperate. I'm not; I actually dislike David. I'm not his Talulah."
                          
The four glanced around at each other in a telepathic language I didn't understand. Zane was the first to speak up.
                          
"Okay, but what if she actually is? Who are we to stop fate from taking its course?"
                          
"I'm not!" I groaned, banging my already aching head against the table. "There is not one type of girl out there for every guy in a family; that's wishful thinking."
                          
"I don't know," Heath said, raising his eyebrows like he didn't quite believe me. "I can kind of see her and David. Not that we want you to date David, but..."
                          
"It's not as bad when you're dating," Liza finished his sentence.
                          
"If he's only nice to the girl he's dating, then he has some serious mental issues he needs to figure out," I told them, sighing in relief when the end of lunch bell rang. "Anyways, is this anyone else's last class? I sure as hell don't know how to get back to the parking lot from here." 
                          
"It's mine," Kristen smiled. "I'll take you. We can have a chat on the way there about your next steps." 
                          
"My next steps?" I chuckled at the thought. "Sounds like I'm in rehab."
                          
She led me out of the cafeteria and we moseyed through the halls, no longer under a time restraint to get to a class.
                          
"I know you don't think you're Talulah, and I don't really either, but it's clear David does," she explained to me, practically dumbing it down so I'd listen. If I had to hear the word Talulah one more time, I might just slam my head into a locker until I can't hear anymore. "If I were you, I'd start being nice and kind of flirty with him. He'll think you're interested, and that will make him uninterested. In theory, of course. Not like we've actually tested this stuff."
                          
"Hey! Kris!" someone yelled from behind us, and Kristen stopped in her tracks, eyes bulging. It didn't take a genius to know who was talking to us. I whipped around and stared at Scott, Kristen's ex-boyfriend, who was jogging towards us in the now fairly empty hallway. "Hey."
                          
Kristen seemed stunned, too much to speak, so I raised my eyebrows expectantly and said, "Yes?" 
                          
"Uh," Scott looked from me to Kristen, like he didn't quite plan for me to respond. "We're having a party on Friday at Alex's house. You guys are invited." 
                          
Kristen still didn't want to take the lead. I did.
                          
"Did David send you to talk to Kristen for a reason?" I asked, and Scott awkwardly blushed. I rolled my eyes, knowing that Scott was sent to throw Kristen off her game and convince her that Scott wanted her at the party. I wasn't an evil person, but I did know all their tricks. "We'll think about it. Have the day you deserve. Goodbye!" 







                          
hiiii ITS FRIDAY BITCHESSS so i wrote another chapter. this is a backstory for u!!! funnily enough the plot of this book is a combination of the plots of two books ive never posted (a YA book and a luke hemmings one lol) 
                          
please vote and comment it really motivates me!!! xoxo abby