☞ Chance's Pov ☜

When I flagged Clara down outside the cafeteria amongst the sea of hungry students a confused but happy look flashed across her face. When I told her that the star quarterback of Midtown High asked us to join him and his friends for lunch, she was close to ecstatic.

To be honest I kinda was as well. I was just better at hiding it than her.

When Sam, and by association Jai, invited Clara and I to lunch I imagined a scene similar to those of cliche highschool coming-of-age films. In my mind I visualized a circular lunch table filled with football players and cheerleaders set in the middle of the cafeteria. I visualized the envious stares we would get from the unlucky kids that got stuck at the table next to the trash cans and wishful looks from girls wanting to be included amongst the school's Queen Bees.

It's what I was used to back in California. It's what I had thrived on. The status, the envy, the hierarchy of which I was at the top. My popularity was my life and I did anything to upkeep it. But not anymore. I promised myself and Clara that I'd never again be the Chance I left back in SoCal.

Fortunately for my promise, but not for my ego, what I'm seeing as I walk with my arm slung around Clara is an entirely different scene than the one I had been visualizing since the middle of fourth period.

A beat up truck rests in the middle of an almost vacant parking lot. It's tailgate is popped down and trays of food rest on top of it. Sam's standing in front of the truck bed waving me down so of course I wave back. A boy with black hair sits on the truck bed floor facing me with a breadstick in his mouth and another in his hand. He makes no acknowledgement of me as we make eye contact, but when his eyes travel to my sister they grow wide and then quickly dart away.

That was odd, I think to myself and make a mental note to ask Clara about that later.

My gaze travels to the boy next to him who I recognize as Jai. I nod my head at him and he returns the action before shoving what looks like lasagna into his mouth.

Finally my eyes land upon the sole female of the group, and I can't help but smile. Her rich hickory hair blows slightly with the hot summer breeze. The sun's rays have caused her cheeks and the top of her nose to appear slightly pink which make her freckles stand out against her caramel skin. Thick lashes curve above her bright grey-blue eyes and a slight sweat has caused a tiny bit of mascara to be smudged under her bottom lash line. Her mauve lips are kept in a straight line, not a smile, but not a frown either. She's wearing a thin white tank top that's tucked into black dress slacks. An odd choice for an outfit but who am I to judge, my fashion sense was anything but the best. If I didn't have Clara my aesthetic would be homeless.

As Clara and I reach our destination, Sam reaches his hand out for mine and then brings me in for a bro hug.

"Hey Achers," he repeats for a third time as we step away from each other.

"Hey," I chuckle before adding, "You do know I have a first name right."

"Yeah of course," Sam assures me before turning towards his friends and throwing his arms open wide. Clara has to jump out of the way to avoid a swift backhand to the face.

"Chance meet the gang, gang meet Chance. The boy with the breadstick cigar is Atticus, you've met Jai so I hope you remember him, and the angel of a woman is Luci."

Instead of acknowledging me Luci points to Clara and simply states, "I think you forgot to introduce someone."

"Huh," Sam questions and then seems to suddenly remember the other half of the Achers siblings. "Oh yeah and this is..." Sam trails off snapping his fingers trying to remember.

"Clara," Atticus speaks up. "Her name's Clara."

"Oh you two have met," Luci inquires the resemblance of a smile forming on her lips.

"Yeah, we sit next to each other in art," Clara states with a smile on her face as her eyes focus onto Luci. Then she tilts her head to the side before her eyes light up with recognition. "You're her!"

"I'm her," Luci asks, confusion written all over her face.

"The girl from Atticus's sketch! You're her."

"Awe Atti," Luci teasingly gushes, "you drew a picture of me?" She pretends to clutch her heart and flutters her eyelashes.

Atticus' cheeks turn a dark shade of pink and without looking at Luci he simply nods.

"It was beautiful, especially for such a quick sketch, but I could tell he put a lot of love into it. Are you two a couple?"

Atticus starts to shake his head, "Oh no. No. No. No. We're not dating."

"Well geez, I didn't know the thought of dating me could bring up such a negative reaction." Although Luci's tone is one of hurt she smiles as she says the words. She's amused more than she's offended.

"Dating you would be like dating my sister. I don't support incest. It's nasty and illegal." Atticus states matter-of-factly before biting into his second breadstick.

"Damn," Jai speaks up now, "I guess this wouldn't be a good time to mention Luci and are going out then?"

Sam chokes on his lemonade and Atticus' jaw freezes mid-chew. I turn to give Clara a perplexed look but she's already looking up at me with a face that says what the heck is happening?

Just as I'm about to politely suggest that Clara and I catch up with "the gang" another time Luci and Jai burst into laughter. Jai leans over and lazily high-fives Luci who's clutching her side.

"You're faces," Jai wheezes, "were priceless!"

Sam clears his throat and turns to me now with a disappointed look on his face. "My sincerest apologies for their behavior. They're usually not this vulgar."

"That's a lie," Atticus pipes up, which causes Sam to facepalm and then run his hand down his face in defeat. Luci and Jai start a second round of laughter.

"I'm sorry Sam, truly," Luci says genuinely with a small smile still on her lips. She turns to address Clara and I, "Just to clear the air, Atticus and I are definitely not dating and neither are me and Jai. We are siblings though." Luci motions between her and Jai.

"Good to know," I chuckle. "You all seem-"

"Great," Clara cuts in. "You all are great!"

"Yeah what she said," I follow up.

A short awkward silence follows that's only broken when Jai burps and mutters a quick "my bad" before digging into his food again.

Then Clara's stomach rumbles.

"Oh my gosh," Sam exclaims. "I invited you for lunch and I haven't even offered you any food yet!"

He slings his arm over my shoulders as he guides me to the first dish and motions for Luci to hand me my plate, which she does before handing Clara her's as well. When I take it from her grasp I notice Luci's plate is empty as well which seems odd since she's been sitting with the food longer than I have. But instead of getting in line after Clara she sits back down and watches as Sam names and explains every dish to me like I've never seen Italian food before.

Once Clara and I have filled our plates we follow Sam's lead and climb up into the truck bed. I sit slightly above but next to Atticus on the wheel tub that directly faces Luci. Clara sits next to Luci but on the floor of the truck bed. Sam plops down next to Jai and extends his legs out in front of him.

I watch Luci for a moment as her eyes scan over everyone's plates. Once she sees that we've all gotten food and have begun to eat, she finally gets up to fill her plate. I wonder how often she does that: wait for everyone else to get their fill before getting hers.

"So," Jai says breaking the silence once more, "where are you two from?"

"California," Clara answers, covering her mouth with her hand so as to not expose the food she's chewing.

"You guys left The Golden State for The Sooner State? Bad choice," Sam shakes his head pointing his fork at me. "I'd never leave Cali if I lived there. Why'd you move?"

"Our dad got a better job offer down here than he had up there," I reply simply with a shrug.

"What's your dad do?" Luci asks, addressing me directly for the first time since I walked to the lot. Her eyes have an intensity I can't quite explain, and they captivate me like none other have before. I could look into their peaceful sea of crystal hues forever.

"He's a police officer. The new sheriff actually."

Suddenly the orbs of peaceful seas become stormy, but Luci tries to cover this up by moving her gaze away from me and onto Sam as she quips, "Oh that's great, real great." She tries to hide the edge in her sweet tone.

Sam only smiles innocently with his cheeks full of ricotta and noodles.

"You sure know how to pick 'em don't ya Sam," Jai grumbles under his breath and although the comment was meant for only Sam's ears, mine pick them up as well.

I glance over to Clara to see if she's heard them as well but she's too busy watching Atticus absent-mindedly twirl his pencil around his fingers.

"Yup," I say, trying to change the subject. "What do you all do for fun around here?"

The gang takes a moment to think about their response. The pause seems odd, I mean who has to think about what they do on a regular basis for so long, but I brush the feeling off.

I tap Atticus' foot with mine to speed the process up. "What do you do for fun Atticus?"

He responds but doesn't turn his head to meet my gaze. "I usually draw, paint, sculpt, lots of art stuff. I listen to music a ton. Oh and I-" he trails off and even from his profile I can tell he's struggling with whether he should continue or not. "That's it that's all I do." He wraps up his input quickly, his mood changing just as fast.

"Sounds fun," Clara responds with a smile before she sticks a fork full of salad in her mouth. "Do you guys do anything all together?"

There's another thoughtful pause before Sam snaps his fingers in realization. "We go fishing," he exclaims.

I see a smirk spread across Jai's lips.

"That's right, how did I not think of that," Jai adds. "We love to fish don't we Luci?"

"Oh yeah," she responds with a mischievous smile. "We go finishing all the time. In the morning, in the evening, in the summer, in the winter."

"Fishin' Fridays," Atticus cuts in now happy to be a part of the fun.

"Fishin' Fridays," the gang exclaims almost in unison.

"If you're ever in need of a real adrenaline rush, just shoot me a call," Sam offers with a giant grin. "And I'll take you out sometime on a Friday."

The friend group holds in their laughter.

"I think I'm missing something," I say as the feeling of being out of the loop settles into me. Like they're all part of an inside joke that I'm not in on.

"You're missing out. That's what you're missing," Luci says as she chuckles down at her lemonade before taking a swig of the drink. "Sweet innocent sheriff's son," she adds before shooting me a smirk that nearly stops my heart.

===========================
===========================

A/N:

Hey y'all!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

So fishing...
What do y'all think? Is the gang reeling in fish on Fridays or something else?
Any new favorite characters or someone/something you want to learn more about?

As always, thanks for every read, vote, and comment!

<3 Anne