"So, do you want to go out to eat or something?" Elijah wrapped his arm around me again and pulled me close.

Rather than displaying his usual blithe charm, he seemed closed off and troubled. I could tell his intentions in asking were aimed more at trying to leave here as soon as possible, as opposed to one of his well-planned dates.

His voice was laced with something that I was all too familiar with, and his body language was making it increasingly obvious. Something, rather someone, was making him feel alienated, and he wanted distance. He was trying to detach himself from the situation.

That situation being Natalie, whose eyes were moving back and forth from me to Elijah the entire time, appraising us. Her expression was formidable and calculating, but her intentions were unreadable.

"Um, sure. I'm sure you're starving after that crazy match." I was trying to relieve the tension by keeping the conversation light and sweet.

"Oh, yeah! We should all go to this amazing pizza place. It's seriously the best." Elijah's head jerked as he looked up at Braxton, who seemed to have just picked up on his strange behavior once their eyes met.

They made eye contact and, for a brief moment, it was as if they were holding a silent conversation. Then, Elijah nodded his head slightly in agreement.

Everyone else was just talking to each other casually at that point. No one even noticed the brief instance of mind reading but me and someone else.

I cleared my throat to try and get rid of the lump that had formed from seeing Elijah so uncomfortable.

"Really? Then I guess you've never had New York pizza. If you have, then surely you don't know what you're talking about." I forced a smile as I challenged Braxton's assertion.

His eyes widened. He obviously wasn't expecting my gibe. I could tell this guy liked a challenge, so what better way to ease the tension than by inducing some friendly competition? A grin slowly spread across his lips.

"I'll tell you what. First off, don't call me Shirley." I scoffed. Oh, so he's one of those. "Secondly, you're going to try a slice of pizza from Pepe's Pizzeria and admit that it's better than any other sad excuse for a pizza that you've had before." He had his arms crossed as he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. He's a cocky one.

His challenge grasped everyone's attention.

"Oh yeah? And what if it doesn't even compare?" I glanced over at Elijah and he was slightly smirking, giving me a look like I didn't know what I was getting myself into. This is exactly what I'd hoped for. A distraction. But I'll definitely get back to whatever just happened with Elijah later.

"That won't happen. But, if by some stretch of the imagination you think it's not as good, I'll award you the title of being a better pizza expert than me. If I win, you have to do the same."

Of course, this is all about ego. But, after all, it is a silly competition in the first place.

"I can think of a better consequence." My eyes darted to Natalie, who was wearing a smirk of her own, yet it was far more menacing than the playful ones plastered on everyone else's faces.

"No, I like my terms, Babe." His eyes were glued to mine and there was a fire behind them. "I already know I'm the pizza expert, but it would be nice to win the title fair and square." What is this guy, five?

Natalie just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms before resuming her glare session aimed at Elijah and me.

The girls, along with Will and Bree, were snickering to my left. Elijah's friend, Sean, was also trying to suppress his laughter on our right.

"Wait. Sara can just say New York pizza is better. How will we know she's telling the truth?" Sean looked at Braxton as everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement.

"That's how confident I am in my knowledge of pizza, Dude. Trust me, I'm the expert." He squinted his eyes, never taking them off mine, as my face reflected my amusement.

Braxton is obviously the child of the group, and I just started something with him.

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"So, what's the verdict?"

We ordered four different pies: classic, margherita, veggie special, and four cheese.

I decided that, in order for everything to be on an even playing field, I should use the classic tomato pie as my control.

All eyes were on me as I took my first bite. Natalie, on the other hand, was completely disinterested. She was sitting next to Braxton on her phone the whole time.

"Come on, Sara. We're dyin' here!" Braxton's attempt at a Brooklyn Italian accent made me snort, which was embarrassing, yet it fit the lighthearted mood of the table, so I hardly noticed. I caught Natalie's grimace, though. I tried to ignore it.

"You have to give me a minute so I can come up with an honest review."

I took a few more bites, then put the slice down on my plate. My non-greasy hand went to my chin in mock contemplation.

"Come on! Out with it!"

Now everyone was complaining.

"Well... it's good. I can't deny that. But..." Braxton made a "keep going" motion with his hand.

"Just spit it out already!" Elizabeth jumped up from her chair across from me.

"It doesn't beat the best." I gave my evaluation in all seriousness.

"What? This is the best!" Braxton was shocked.

"You need to go to New York, my friend. You don't know what you're missing out on."

At this point, everyone was digging in enthusiastically. I have to admit, it was great pizza.

"Well, don't you have something to say, Braxton?" Elizabeth stuck her nose in the air and gave a defeated Braxton a sly and suggestive grin.

He got up and bowed down to me in a mocking show of respect. That got Natalie's attention and earned me a glare.

"Hmm. I didn't think you'd give in that easily." I was a little surprised. I expected a guy like Braxton to be more stubborn when it came to a bruised ego.

"A deal's a deal." He looked up at me and squinted his eyes again. "But how about we make this more interesting."

I leaned forward with my forearms resting on the table. "I'm listening." This might have started out as a joke, but I had too much fun beating Braxton at his own game and winning over his self-given title.

"You might've won with pizza, but that's only one food group."

"Um...You're in Yale. You should know that pizza's not a food group." Everyone laughed at Maddy's comment.

"I know. But it deserves to have it's own food group. I have my own taxonomic classification system for food similar to that which biologists use to organize the animal kingdom." Then, he turned to Maddy, who was in awe of his response and said, "You wish you were on my level," with a cocky smirk and a wink.

"I see where you're going with this. Whenever we have different foods that we think are the best, we'll compare to see whose is actually the best of the best, going by the honor system, of course." He nodded his head in agreement and stuck his hand out for a shake to solidify our verbal contract.

"I think we have ourselves a deal."

  ↞↠  

"So anyway, I just don't think it's right for prestigious schools like Yale to give out so much financial aid when there are cheaper options. It just doesn't seem fair to me." I don't know how this conversation started, but Natalie was on a rampage. She did a good job of completely changing the course of the evening.

As Elijah paid for the pies, Natalie continued to rant about social class and the "flaws" of the financial aid program.

"Like, there are community colleges where people can go for super cheap and even for free. I don't see how they're just allowed to occupy expensive spots at top schools." Braxton was trying to get her to stop, but she just kept going. It was making me feel horrible for the girls, who I knew were all here on some form of financial aid, with the exception of Charlotte. Even Sean's face and ears turned red, which led me to assume he was also personally affected by the subject of her rant.

Elijah just remained quiet and rubbed my back as he gave Natalie a death glare. He knew the basics of my financial situation, and I could feel him buzzing with anger.

Natalie shifted her gaze slightly left to look me directly in the eye from across the table.

"Some people just don't deserve to be here. They eat for free, lodge for free, learn for free, et cetera. Just because people have lowlife low-income parents who can't afford to take good care of them doesn't mean they should be granted more advantages than people who can afford do go wherever they want. They're just a waste of space-"

"My God, just stop it, Nat!" Elijah lunged forward slamming his fist, causing the whole table to shift as he pushed his chair back and stormed out. I hurriedly gathered my things and stood up to follow him out, but not before apologizing to everyone at the table, as well as everyone seated around us who were now looking in our direction.

Everyone seemed to be just as shocked at his outburst as I was, but I was the only one shaking.

When I saw him outside, trying to shake himself off, I realized he was too. I walked up behind him and gently placed my hand on his bicep. He was trembling.

"Elijah, please tell me what's going on." I spoke softly, trying to soothe him. I didn't want to pry, but there is obviously something very wrong.

"It's Natalie. She just won't stop. She never stops. She was making everyone uncomfortable. She's being so rude to your friends and especially, to you." He got quieter at that last part. He finally looked into my eyes and pulled me in for a tight hug.

It felt like he was trying to squeeze every last drop of our pain and anger out so it could drift away into the crisp evening breeze.

After a few moments, he stopped shaking. All of the tense energy that coiled his body released. I felt his heartbeat slow and his breathing steady.

"I'm so sorry, Sara." He sounded ashamed.

"Why are you apologizing?" I pulled back from his embrace, which was very difficult to convince my body to do, and looked into his eyes that were filled with regret.

"I knew she was going to be at the meet. I knew we were all going to come together afterward. I knew this would happen, and I let it happen."

"Hey, stop right there. You had no control over this. That girl-" I scoffed and shook my head. "That girl has nothing to do with you. This is not your fault."

He laughed to himself, almost in disgust. "'That girl' has everything to do with me, Sara."

I opened my mouth to respond, but I was so confused, I wasn't quite sure what to say.

I whispered, and for a minute, I wasn't sure if he even heard me.

"Were you...with her?"

His gaze darted right back at me. "What? Gross! No! Sara, I told you, you're the only one." He looked down at his shoes. "Its actually a lot more complicated than that."

"Elijah, please just tell me. I want to help."

"Sadly, there's no helping when it comes to her." He laughed frustratedly again. "I didn't exactly introduce you before, at the meet. I was hoping I'd be able to get her to sit down and have a real conversation with me before I made a proper introduction, but of course, nothing goes according to plan with Nat. I did tell you, well, indirectly, on our first date, but I didn't exactly know how to go about it."

Elijah was dancing around the issue but I think I figured it out, and it's safe to say, I was flabbergasted. "Wait-"

"I did tell you I have a sister."

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I don't even know what to say after dropping that bomb. I just want to know what you guys think! So, what's your shock level? I bet its real high!

Also, what do you think of Braxton and Sara's deal? They seem to have meshed really well right from the start!

Does anyone know the movie referenced by Braxton in this chapter? There's a hint below. When I wrote the preceding quote, the joke popped into my head and I just had to include it because I thought it would fit Braxton's personality perfectly!

Please remember to VOTE and COMMENT if you enjoyed reading! It means so much to me to be able to interact with all of you and have your love and support!

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Well...