Trying to live

Chapter 7 (Edited)

"You should try the Couple Cake. I call it the CC, and it's only for couples. You both just go downstairs, tell Dean or Caesar that you want a CC. Oh, and you can also take a Polaroid picture and put it on the wall over there," I gestured to the far wall, noticing that Juliette looked at me weirdly.

I think I have a problem with gazes because everyone who looks at me looks at me weirdly. Or that's just my imagination. I felt Henry's gaze on me but didn't dare to look at him. Not that I was afraid or anything—I just thought it wouldn't look good if someone caught me watching my ex. I wasn't interested in him, but you know, looks do attract (yes, even I fall for good-looking humans), and Henry had that aura that pulls you to the dark side—meaning you always end up staring at him.

"Why would I eat a cake? Do you know how many calories a cake has? A cake is like Darth Vader, trying to lure you to the dark side and make you fat. Besides, who knows how it tastes?" Juliette said briskly.

I ignored her tone and also the fact that we both made a Darth Vader reference. Also, what's with every girl and her calories? I understand it if a girl really wants to be skinny—although everyone is beautiful as they are—but Juliette had the perfect body.

"You're not going to die if you eat one piece of cake," I said, rolling my eyes at her, which she noticed. "And the CC is a mix of vanilla cream and chocolate—I call it choconilla. It's really good, you should try it."

"How would you know that? I thought it's only for couples," Juliette said, narrowing her eyes at me.

Huh? What did I do to her that she looked at me with hostility? I nodded. "It is for couples, but Lorenzo always gives me a free piece. But when his brother Matteo covers for him, I don't get anything." I was glad he wasn't here today. He had something against me. "But if he's here, I always ask Helga and Earl to order one for me."

"And she has me too," Wyatt quipped in and grinned like an idiot.

I smiled at him and nodded. "Mhm, Wyatt is my boyfriend when Matteo works. I asked Dean to do it, but he didn't want to be part of my games. So Wyatt volunteered, and he loves the CC like I do." I looked at Wyatt, glad to call him a friend. "But you really need to keep the girls out if you still want it to work."

He laughed but stopped when he realized how serious I was. "Fine, fine. I'll do everything as long as you want to eat the CC."

Juliette looked between us, something in her eyes shining, but I couldn't register what. "Fine. I think I'm going to try one because of my brother, not you." She glanced at me like I was the dirt she tried so hard to avoid. "Let's go downstairs, Henry."

She stood up and tugged at his arm. "Henry?"

I looked at him because Juliette's voice was laced with uncertainty. He was staring at me with an unreadable look—a look I always got but couldn't figure out. Maybe it meant we were strangers and had to be together for the sake of my brother. I knew Henry didn't want anything to do with me, and I felt the same, but we wouldn't do anything stupid for Scott's sake. Well, the only stupid thing I did was telling Henry to suck his girlfriend's tongue, which I said out of anger. I think he was still mad at me, but what could I do? I was right.

Anyway, we both didn't want to be seen together, but Scott kept us together—without him, we would never sit together at lunch or anything else. I always hid when Henry came over to us because I was always tired and didn't want to be linked with my former friends. That was my choice. I decided to let them go. I chose to be alone because it was better to be alone than to be somewhere where you always had to be careful and think about what you could say.

"I can't move or she'll topple over," he said in an immensely bored voice. Why was he here if he was so bored with us? With his life? Who used such a tone? It was as if he was always bored but also had his good days, when he decided 'Oh, now I want to be happy and lively, so I'll use my cheerful voice'.