Our food arrives and we waste no time digging in. Kylen and Leo agree that this is one of the best pizzas they’ve ever had, but Jasper and Beck are on the fence. They claim they have a pizzeria back home that makes much more delicious pizza.
“Are you serious?” Kylen says to Beck. “Have you tasted their plain cheese? It has nothing on this.” He gestures to his plain cheese slice.
“But Barry’s crust is much better. You know how much I love the crust.”
And so begins a small argument between the two of them, with Jasper and Leo stepping in here and there to offer their opinion. It’s really fun and entertaining to watch because thisisn’t a real fight, just like some of the arguments my friends and I have. It’s obvious these guys have a really solid friendship.
“Are we as bad as them when we argue?” Carly asks with a laugh.
“Worse,” Ryder jokes, which has Caleb and Damian chuckling.
Carly playfully slaps his arm. “We’re not that bad.”
“Except when you and Sophie argue if the movie is better than the book,” he reminds her.
“The book is always better than the movie!” Sophie insists.
“Like I said a thousand times, it depends on how it’s done,” Carly says.
“Oh no,” Addie grumbles as she gently slams her face against the wooden table.
Caleb looks around the room. “If we don’t keep it down, they’ll ask us to leave.”
The arguing immediately comes to a halt.
Caleb laughs. “At least we can all agree that we don’t want to get banned from Lottie’s.”
“Definitely not,” Beck says, “even if Lottie’s isn’t as good as Barry’s,” he directs at Kylen and Leo.
As we continue eating our pizza, the eleven of us discuss many topics, ranging from favorite TV shows, movies, books, and music, to what their old school was like. The boyfriends are interested to know what attending an all-boys school was like, and we girls are curious about the many ways they tried to meet girls.
“It was definitely hard scoring some babes,” Beck says. “That’s why Leo and Jasper suck in the ladies department.”
“Babes?” all of us girls demand.
“And that’s why Beck sucks in the ladies department,” Jasper says.
“Is chicks better?” Beck says.
“No!” we all shout.
He holds up his hands. “Okay, okay. Geez.”
Ryder throws his arm around him. “Maybe I’ll give you some pointers. Girls loved me before that one stole my heart.” He nods to Carly with a loving smile.
“Sure, that would be great. Thanks, man.”
“He’s a lost cause,” Leo tells Ryder.
“Yeah, you should see his room,” Kylen adds.
Beck frowns. “My friends are so mean to me. Soon I’ll take back what I said about Raven’s song.”
We all laugh because we know he’s not serious.
We’re getting along much better than I thought we would. Even though I suspected we would hit it off, there was always a sliver of doubt that we wouldn’t. I don’t know why it’s important that my friends mesh well with Kylen’s. Maybe because I don’t want anything to jeopardize our friendship?
“Just so you know,” Carly tells the guys, “in case you guys ever make a music video and need some dancers, Ryder and I would love to join. You know we’re on the school’s dance team, right?”
