~CHAPTER ONE~

“Are…are you going to eat that?”

Andrea shoved her tray towards her friend, who had been eyeing her sandwich hungrily for the past seven minutes, despite having just wolfed down his own twelve inch sub.

As he took a bite of her sandwich, Ryan watched Andrea thoughtfully. “Come on, Dre,” he said, mouth full. “At least crack a smile. I feel like I’m attending a funeral here. And a Subway in LA is not my ideal place to hold a funeral, oddly enough.”

Andrea shot her friend the fakest smile she could muster, letting it fall immediately.

“Normally, I’d laugh at your attempt to be patronizing, but I feel like you might snap my neck if I show any positive emotion right now.”

“Ryan…” Andrea sighed, rolling her eyes. “Just let me be angry right now, okay?”

Ryan shook his head, a few crumbs falling from his mouth. “I did not bring you out to Subway just for you to sulk!” he cried, mocking annoyance. “Besides, you aren’t angry, you’re pissed off, and for the safety of the innocent citizens around us, it is my duty to attempt to keep you sane.”

Andrea almost laughed.

But didn’t.

Ryan had always been the comedy relief. In fact, the reason she and him had even become friends in the first place was because he had spent the first semester in their freshman Geometry class in high school trying to get her to laugh. And once he had, they had become inseparable. Andrea was now Ryan’s guinea pig for his jokes. He was an up-and-coming comedian, and he knew that if he could get Andrea to laugh at the jokes, then almost anyone else would.

“I’m not going to kill anyone…I’m only sulking,” Andrea said, defending herself.

Ryan scoffed and looked at her disbelievingly. “Just like you were ‘only sulking’ when Keith dumped you for Emily our junior year?”

“Hey!” I didn’t kill her or anything!”

Again, Ryan scoffed. “While she was in gym class, you snuck into her gym locker and cut out several holes in her jeans, all in very inconvenient places, if I remember right. Oh, and you also had her car towed during school hours, so everyone would see.”

“I never admitted to any of that!” Andrea cried. “Besides, her car was parked illegally, anyway.” Andrea smiled lightly, recalling the memory of a certain blonde running out of their math class, screaming about her car.

Ryan chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.

“Seriously, though,” Andrea sighed, back to being serious. “Do I not have a reason to be angry?”

Ryan thought for a second, and then nodded. “You do, in a way….”

“In a way?!” Andrea cried, making those also in the Subway restaurant at eleven o’clock at night look at her in shock. “They left! All of them!”

Shifting uncomfortably, Ryan asked quietly, “Did you—now don’t take this the wrong way—but did you really not see this coming?”

Andrea slumped back in her chair, hurt, and stared at her friend.

“You’re taking it the wrong way, aren’t you?” Ryan sighed, watching her.

Andrea ignored him. “Are you saying that I did something wrong as a leader? That I should have seen this coming?” she asked quietly.

Ryan groaned. “You are taking it the wrong way!”

Andrea scoffed. “What way am I supposed to take that sort of question?!” she cried.

“Just calmly tell me: were there any signs of them not being happy? Looking back at it?” Ryan asked slowly, trying to emphasize the necessity to not get angry.

Andrea, unable to argue with calmness, forced herself to think about the last few weeks.

After a few seconds—long enough for Ryan to shove the remains of Andrea’s  sandwich in his mouth, Andrea said, “I can’t think of anything. I really can’t. I didn’t even suspect anything when they kept cancelling practice. I just thought that there was some sort of sickness going around.”

“Hmm…” Ryan said thoughtfully, trying to swallow.

Andrea didn’t say anything; not because she was waiting for her friend to finish the sandwich, but because the wheels in her head had started to turn. She had an idea.

“Uh oh,” Ryan said once his mouth was clear. “I know that look.”

“What?” Andrea asked, taking a sip of soda innocently.

“I know that look,” Ryan repeated, shaking an accusatory finger in her face. “And my answer is no.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask!” Andrea cried.

“Doesn’t matter!” Ryan exclaimed. “The last time I saw you looking at me like that, I ended up dressed up like Chucky at a kid’s birthday party!”

“It was Ronald McDonald!”

“Same thing,” Ryan scoffed.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please…” Andrea whined, pouting a little.

“Don’t,” Ryan said, covering his eyes to avoid looking at Andrea’s face.

“Please…?” Andrea continued, whining and pouting a little harder. “For me? You know I’d only ever ask my best friend in the entire world to help me out…”

Ryan slumped in his chair. No matter how many times Andrea pulled this act or how many times Ryan had convinced himself that this time, she wouldn’t get to him, Andrea always won. He just hated seeing her act so pathetic.

“Does it involve me wearing any kind of make up?” he asked.

“Not unless you want it to.”

“What about a dress?”

“Again, only if you want, and though I’d be a little surprised if you chose it, you know I’d love you regardless of your lifestyle.”

Ryan didn’t say anything after that; he just eyed her smiling face. She knew she had won.

Andrea’s smile got wider for a brief second, giving Ryan the smile he had asked for at the beginning of the conversation.

Ryan sighed. “Fine. What are we going to be doing then? Will I have to do a lot of work?”

Andrea clapped happily and stood up. She grabbed Ryan’s hands and pulled him out of his seat, yanking him out of the restaurant, and into the relatively cool Los Angeles air.

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