Matters of the Hart

Chapter 13 - You look like someone who offered me free food.

"Now will you tell me where we're going?" I smiled sweetly at the hoodie-clad jerk driving right next to me. We had been driving for like an hour. Correction: he had been driving for an hour. Me? Well, I was admiring my surroundings. And that does not include his face.

"Maybe..." he smirked back at me, his eyes trained on the road still. Such a safe driver.

"Really?"

"No."

Of course, I rolled my eyes. The smirk on his silly lips got bigger and I slouched back, glaring at the side of his perfectly cut-out face before looking out of the window because I didn't like rock music and apparently: his truck, his choice of song. Because as it so happens, dear Nate thought that I was a cliché and he didn't particularly want to listen to Selena Gomez. How judgemental. Not that I'm saying I wouldn't play Selena Gomez. I mean, she is a decent artist…

Day seven of dealing with Nathaniel Knight is supposed to be the best day of this week. That's the thought I woke up with this morning. The reason being one word, four letters.

Food.

Nathaniel insisted that he pick me up at six thirty instead of seven, like we had previously decided (we all know who makes the tough decisions here - I do!). Guess who got late. The answer is not me. Your favourite bad boy did.

An hour ago,

I was very hungry (I still am) and very ready to leave so that I wouldn't have to see my annoying twin suggestively smirk at me for some reason only known to her while I touched up with some lip gloss. Admittedly, it looked like her facial muscles froze-up and now the smirk was stuck to her lips like stale chewing gum. But an hour later, I'm still here and still very stuck with this vermin.

"You are creeping me out, Lia." I stared back at her reflection in the mirror with slight fervour and more caution. She was my sister, no doubt. But her maturity was debateable.

"I'm not Teeeeee," she whined playfully, popping a yellow M&M in her mouth and chewing on it. With an open mouth. She knew it annoyed me. This girl...

"Yeah, you are." I grimaced. "And can you please chew with your mouth shut?"

Oh God, here it comes…

Melodramatic sister of mine immediately threw her leftover M&Ms next to her on the bed, mouth hung open as she wiped her colour-stained hands on my Tinkerbell pyjamas.

One, two, three...

I shouldn't have said anythi-

"You are so mean to me!"

Why in the name of chocolate fudge did I open my mouth? I sigh, shaking my head in deep regret.

"Am I not allowed to stare at my beautiful sister, who has put extra efforts into her appearance today and won't tell me the reason?" She shook her head in mock-offense. This girl, I sighed. She had more drama in her veins than our town has had in the last century. I mean it. If there was ever a sequel made to The Fault in our Stars, I'm telling you she would bag the female lead: Hazel Disgrace. The girl hasn't know any subtlety, leave alone girl-ism.

But she did have a question- an important one at that.

I was anything but dressed up. It was just my favourite pair of jeans paired with a basic white top and my obligatory bomber jacket. That basic. Who said anything about dressing up for that annoying ass-jerk. That jerk, who is going to put food in my stomach. But since we are not taking near-future events into consideration here, he shall remain 'the jerk', period.

"Well...I'm going out." I shrugged casually.

"By yourself?" She squints cutely, eagerly prodding me to continue or explain myself. Should I?

Nah, maybe another time.

"Maybe," I smirked back, not giving away much and knowing exactly how this would rile her up. We aim for excellence, after all.

After that, it just took one second. In one second, my little display of sass was rendered useless. Lia stomped up to me, yes, literally stomped up to where I was standing near the mirror and eyes me down like an intimidating eagle.

"You want me to believe that you're looking in the mirror every two minutes and fixing your hair and that stupid raspberry flavoured lip-balm because you're going out alone?" She c****d her head to one side and I swear it was like I suddenly had a Mother. Oh, wait. How would I know what having a real Mother around feels like, since I never did have one. Never mind. Let's just say that Lia was a close second to that word to me, though only when she got too possessive or too jealous of a third person taking her best-friend s***h twin sister away.

"Okay, fine," I gave in. I mean, have you ever had her breathe down your neck and stare you down like you could be her next meal if you didn't speak up? Well, it's not very...pleasant. "Maybe not alone…" I trailed off, walking over and settling down at the edge of the bed.

"Aha! Knew it!" There was an elaborate victory dance involved and let me tell you, she can't dance to save her life. I didn't know why she even bothered but whatever. I wasn't clapping.

"Spill the deets, li'l sis." She jumped next to me on the bed. Pssh, it's not scary. Not at all. I'm good. And what was with the whole little sister thing? It wasn't even my fault that I came seven minutes later.

"I'm not little, and it's just...two friends catching up." I smiled brightly, getting up and walking towards my bed but...I fell. Well, technically I was pulled back and I fell on the soft mattress laid out on her bunk. Guess I shouldn't have said anything at all. When will I learn?

"Friend as in a boy sort-of friend?" She wiggled her eyebrows and if I wasn't so passionate on skipping this weird, invasive questionnaire, I would have definitely laughed at her antics. How were we twins? Just, how?

"What's a boy-sort-of-friend, Amelia?" I rolled my eyes. They might as well get stuck up there, so I wouldn't have to make conscious efforts every time I have to perform the action. Which is a lot of times in one day.

"Fishy," she whispers, pouting like an aimless child. "A boy-sort-of-friend but not a boy-friend is a suspect…"

"You mean potential..."

"No, I mean suspect. He is a fishy human being," she sneered playfully. I snorted, knowing full well that she would figure this one out anyway and then she would hit me on the head to even accept this invitation. You think she'd be less angry if I told her that he offered me food?

Let's try.

"He offered free food. And it's just Nate, Lia." I throw in casually, at the same time that my phone buzzed. Thank God, I praised Jesus in my head.

N: Meet me at my truck in 5?

"Oh? Oh. Oohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." The exaggerated sound of her 'oh' was clear indication of that stupid little smirk. Is there any moment in time when she doesn't exercise her 'drama club' skills? What was I saying, Lia wasn't even a part of the school drama club! She did audition, they said she needed to take some method acting classes and guess who got offended?

Moral of the story: she never took part in club meetings again, ever.

Superimposed moral: Amelia was so extra it wasn't even legal yet.

"Now, I get it," she smirked, and smirked and smirked till I got off the bed, muttering a quick 'shut up'.

"I'm leaving now, okay?" I take one last look in the mirror before heading to the door.

"Listen," I heard Lia sigh and I turn around, watching a small smile on her lips along with the twenty thousand worries in the creases on her forehead.

"I love that you're happy and I don't want to rain on your parade but be careful, Tee. You're all I have."

Wait. Did you hear that? That was exactly how my heart just went aww. Yours too? Well, double aww.

"You're all I have too, Lia," I smile back in assurance. There wasn't a hint of lie in it. Just love. For family. For a sister I cared about more than anyone in the world and for a sister who I knew would do anything for me.

"Sure, because that's why you're leaving me for that ass-hole, right?" When I said anything, I meant she could do anything for me. Anything, including breaking his face if this date-non-date turned into a bad night for me. The chances of which are pretty high, so who knows.

"Although, he is yum too."

No blushing.

No blushing.

No blushi—

Oh, who was I kidding.

"Okay, we're done. Bye now," I left, closing the door behind me before she could notice the faint pink that was covering my pale cheeks.

————

"You look...comfortable," Nate commented as we settle down in our seats across the table. Yes, he pulled my chair back. Yes, he was chivalrous. And that's exactly why - Yes, we were at our table for two. Because two people who just seem to be catching up do not share a booth. I mean, what if our knees accidentally brushed and there just so happened to be a spark? That would just give out all the wrong signals. And we wouldn't want that, right? Right. I wouldn't want that. Nope. Casual is the new friend-zone.

"You look....like someone who offered me free food." I smirked back, leaning into my seat and hugging my jacket tighter. We were twinning. He had his signature leather and I had mine- Not leather because that s**t is expensive.

"Excuse me? Free food?" he c****d his head to the side.

"I mean you did invite me so I assume it's on you," I shrugged back. He wouldn't leave me to do the dishes, right? He wasn't that cruel, right? I wasn't this insecure always. But, his full smirking was giving me another vibe altogether. A 'I hope you know how to use a dishwasher' vibe. I furrowed my eyebrows, narrowing my eyes for special effects. And then…

He laughed. Loudly.

"Hey!" I threw my napkin at his face as he banged his head on the table, tears rolling at the side of his face. "You should have seen your face." That silly laughter went on and on.

"Ha ha. You're so funny." I realised that it was time to turn the sass-switch on. But that cute waiter butted in. What? Am I not allowed to call waiters cute? This wasn't a date. Pshh, no. Two friends casually hanging out with each other while only one pays was not a date. Noppity nope. Revised rules of friendship. That's all.

"Hi, my name's Connor."

All A-grade jerks share a common name. At least in the movies they do. And that name is always Connor. Weird, right?

I scan through the menu, and there were a lot of things that piques my interest. A lot of thing I had never tried before. It took my three minutes to decide, and when I finally looked up, said Connor was already looking back at me, a flirty smile gracing his lips.

"Are you ready to order yet?" He asked sweetly standing there patiently with a paper-pad and a pen.

"I'll have a plate of French fries, a quinoa salad- no dressing, a mixed Fexican burger and a risotto. A large strawberry milkshake and a Nutella waffle with vanilla ice-cream and pineapples, if you have," I breathe out. "That's it."

What? I aren't built but a girl's got to eat what a girl's got to eat, right?

Connor just stood there for a moment, eyeing me like I was a three-eyed leader of the Russian Mafia. I asked if he wanted me to go slower and repeat the order another time so that he could jot everything down. I wouldn't compromise with food. Not at all with free food.

While Connor was baffled to the T, Nathaniel, like the chill guy with 'dollar bills in his pockets' that he was, seemed unfazed by my rambling and my meal which was the size of the ration he consumed in an entire day. He just needed to eat more. His problem.

"I'll take a quinoa salad, no dressing. And maybe, a waiter that stops checking out my g-, friend here." His eyes point at me, his subtle glare casual but sturdy, as he leans back, waiting for him to finish throwing us his fake smile and finally bring me my food.

"Oh, and a bottle of sparkling water, too," Nate threw in as Connor-the-waiter was about to turn around and leave, completely disregarding Nate's hard look.

"Will that be all?" he sickly-sweetly smiled at me.

I smirked, before looking back at my living-wallet for the night. "For now."

—————-

Eduardo's Gard Manger.

It's a small, cozy diner on the outskirts of our town, considering it took a little over an hour to get here. It's not too big, but it's perfect. At one time, not a lot of people occupy the place, but that's what makes this place so enchanting. It is situated along the shore, sort of a sea-side café/diner.

"This place is really nice." I commented, looking at the fairy lights that hung from the ceiling, and that was the only lighting inside the diner, if we don't count the dim moonlight that entered through the windows and the gentle breeze that hit your face every time someone entered or left from the back door.

"You're welcome," Nate smirks at me and I rolled my eyes. Why do I try being nice to him? All he ever did was smirk, laugh a little at my expense, and then smirk some more.

"How did you find this place?" I enquire, taking a sip of the sparkling water that Connor-the-waiter had oh-so-nicely banged on our table on his way to the other tables he was catering to. Such a gentleman.

"Eduardo, the man who owns this place is a close friend of my mom's. Him and his wife - nice people. In fact, I told him I was going to be here tonight. And that I was bringing a pregnant cow with me."

The smirk never falters. Never.

And who was he calling a pregnant cow, huh? I was anything but a pregnant cow. Because I wasn't pregnant. Yes, that's my explanation. I was a growing girl.

But two can play a game, Nathaniel.

"And what did Eduardo say?" I prodded, crossing my arms.

"You want me to tell you what Eduardo said?" he mimics my action, raising his eyebrows, confirming with me and I nod slightly, waiting for him to continue.

"Eduardo said, that if this pregnant cow loves to eat and does not shy away from eating in front of a guy, no matter who he is. Then…"

He licked his lips, the smirk transforming into a light flash of a smile that, had I blinked, I would have missed by a milli-second. It came and it was gone. He leaned forward, kind of towards me.

"Then?" I leaned forward too. Towards him.

"Then, she is a keeper."