I Guess This Is Growing Up

I woke up the next morning groggy and annoyed about the previous night. Jack had no right to do that to me. I was happy with Paul. We had been together for over a year, and I was content with that.

Paul had sandy blonde hair, dark blue eyes and was a complete gentleman. He was what I had wanted as a little girl. The type of guy you envision marrying when you’re dreaming up your dream wedding and playing dress up.

I walked to the bathroom, and on my way; I noticed how Evangeline wasn’t in her bed, but it did look slept in. I shrugged, figuring that she was out getting some breakfast for us. And when I emerged from the bathroom in a robe twenty minutes later, my assumptions were correct. She was sitting on her bed, an English muffin with scrambled egg whites and turkey bacon sitting on a wax paper wrapper in front of her. There was a frappéchino on the nightstand next to her.

“Hey.” She said, giving me a smile. She gestured to the side table and there sat a venti cup from Starbucks and a muffin. I smiled and sat down, taking a sip of the coffee. “So Paul called while you were in the shower. Said he and Pierre are coming here.” She said nonchalantly.

I gulped the sip of coffee I had taken, “Here? As in, in New York?”

She nodded and I realized that she hadn’t really been reading the magazine in front of her. “They want to meet everyone, don’t they?”

“Yeah.” She said softly. “And they land later today.”

“Of course they do.” I said sarcastically.

“Anyway, let’s finish eating and then we have to go to the show. Get things set up and all.”

A few hours later, I was sitting out of the way, while models and other designers were bustling around the backstage area setting things up for tonight. I got a text,

From: Paul
Hey baby. Just landed. Pierre and I are going to walk around some. Catch you after her show. Love you.

I smirked. I knew he thought that I wasn’t going to reply, that’s why he said ‘love you’ at the end.

To: Paul
Okay. Did you have a good flight?

From: Paul
Yeah. It was long though. How have you been?

To: Paul
Good. Still getting used to the time change. I’ll call you after her show.

From: Paul
Okay. Love you. Talk to you soon.

I sighed, and put my phone back into my pants pocket. A few minutes later, Evangeline came out, “Hungry?” she asked, blowing her red bangs off of her forehead. I smiled, and nodded. “Sure. What are you craving?”

She bit her lip, “Subway.” I laughed and nodded. She walked to the back and then back out, her purse in her hands.

“Paul and Pierre landed.” I said as we walked out into the midday sun. We slipped our sunglasses over our eyes and she nodded.

“Pierre texted me. He asked if we could meet up before the show.”

“Well that’s cute. You can go see him and I’ll go see Paul.”

She shook her head, “No.” I bit my lip and nodded, “Okay.”

After walking for a little while she said softly, “Manda, they’re going to be here for Thanksgiving. They’re going to be here and the guys will be there and...” she trailed off and I nodded again.

“I’m not sure we should inform them that we dated Jack and Zack. It’ll only make the dinner more awkward.” I said looking at my feet. I thought I knew how Paul would react, and I would much rather him not know.

She nodded and we walked into the Subway. There standing in line in front of us was Zack. And we could’ve made an exit, if the door hadn’t ‘dinged’ and he hadn’t turned around. He gave us an awkward smile and I returned. Evangeline was looking down, her arms around her waist.

“Hey.” He said when we reached him.

“Hey.” I said back and Evangeline said a really weak, “Hi.”

We all ordered and then sat down at the same table. A few minutes later Matt Flyzik walked in and sat with us. When we were about halfway done eating Zack said suddenly, “V, can I talk to you outside?”

I gave her a look that told her to go, and she nodded and followed him out of the restaurant. “So how have you been, Amanda?” Matt asked as soon as they walked out.

“I’ve been good. What about you?” he smiled, “I’m pretty good. So it would’ve been nice to know that it really was you the other day in the park.”

I felt a flush cover my cheeks. “Sorry. It’s just...”

“I know.” He said a smile on his face. “Anyway, how is Cambridge?”

I shook my head, “I don’t go there anymore. I go to East London.” He raised an eyebrow. “Cambridge just wasn’t for me. Anyway, other than that, I really like it.”

“Would you ever come back here to live?” I bit my lip, “Probably. I don’t know. It would all depend.”

He sighed, “Jack still cares about you.” I didn’t say anything and just looked at my sandwich. “Sorry.” Matt said after a few beats, “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” I shrugged, “If it hadn’t been you, it would’ve been my parents.”

I didn’t know what to say next so I took a bite of my sandwich. Zack and Evangeline had been gone longer than I had thought they would be for a talk, although I didn’t know the last time they saw each other, so I figured they just wanted to catch up private. It made sense for them, considering they were ‘to themselves’ people.

Matt laughed and nodded, “How long are you two in town for?”

“Probably until the middle of December. Evan has a lot of things she needs to do. For her clothing line and whatnot.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she has a runway show tonight.”

Matt nodded, and pulled his lip ring into his mouth. “That’s awesome.”

I nodded and then the bell dinged. I looked up and was surprised to see Paul and Pierre. I prayed that wherever V and Zack were that Pierre didn’t see them. “Amanda!” Paul said a smile on his face. He walked over to where we were and kissed me, sliding in beside me as he did so.

Matt raised his eyebrow, and I bit my lip. “Matt, this is Paul my boyfriend and Pierre...Evangeline’s.”

Pierre smiled at Matt, “I’m not French, my mum just really liked the name.” Matt chuckled and nodded. Pierre pulled up a chair and sat down. “Where is my girlfriend? I thought that you two were inseparable.”

I rolled my eyes. “She’s out walking.” But I was becoming worried. She had been gone for a while. Just as I was debating getting up and looking for her she walked in.

She walked up and seemed shocked that Pierre was sitting there. “Oh, hey.” She said and he smiled at her, getting up. He pulled her in for a kiss and she didn’t seem to react. Matt looked over and Zack walked in.

Zack walked over and there was an awkward tension between all of us. “Pierre, this is Zack. I knew him from when I lived here. Zack, this is Pierre, my boyfriend that I was telling you about.” Zack nodded and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Evan here doesn’t really talk about her year here that much.” Zack nodded, and I could tell that meeting Pierre sort of upset him.

There was another ding, and I looked over.

I absolutely hated my luck.

Alex, Jack and Rian walked over and stood by the table. “Hey guys. What’s up?”

“Just catching some lunch before my show. What about you guys?” Evangeline replied seamlessly.

“Looking for our bassist and tour manager.”

I could feel Jack’s eyes on Paul and myself. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Paul asked and I nodded.

“Alex, Jack, Rian, Zack, this is Paul; my boyfriend. Paul, this is Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack. I went to school with all but Zack. But we were all friends.”

“Nice to meet you.” He replied and shook all of their hands. “A British boy?” Alex said, a smirk on his lips. “Why I never knew you liked them.” He said with a slight accent.

I laughed nervously and Paul shot me a confused look, “Oh I grew up in Essex.” Alex said, and Paul nodded, “Oh. See I knew that Amanda grew up in France, so I was confused for a second.”

“Oh mon Seigneur. C'est complètement uncomfortable.” Evangeline muttered and I laughed softly and I saw a slight smirk appear on Zack’s lips. Apparently he still remembered some French.

All of the other guys looked at her strange and Alex laughed, “I’ve actually missed your random bouts of French.” She smiled and he walked over and wrapped her in a hug, whispering something in her ear. It made her cheeks flush and she pulled away, looking down.

“Well as much as I’ve loved this completely awkward meeting, I’ve got to get going. A designer never rests, you know.” She said hurriedly and wrapped up her barely touched sandwich. She put it in the plastic bag, got a refill of tea and the four of us walked out, after our boyfriends made plans to hang out with Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack.

As we walked Paul’s hand slipped into my own, and I smiled leaning against him some. “So why did you leave awesome friends like that behind?” he asked as we walked.

I laughed and looked up at him, “Well see, if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.” He grinned, “Touché.”

After they dropped us off, promising that they’d see us after the show, we walked inside. Evangeline sat down in her designated style room and took out her sandwich. I sat down on the counter next to her and looked at her. “Okay, so what happened between you and Zack? Spill.”

She finished chewing and shrugged, “We just talked. He told me about him and his girlfriend Emily, and showed me a picture. And then I told him about Pierre, and then he told me about touring, how he did move out to California and that he’s working out more. Although I’m sure you noticed too.” I nodded, “Yeah.”

“And then I told him about my two different lines, and he said that he wanted to check out my shirts. And I told him that I’d save a few in his and the guys sizes in case they wanted any.”

“Did you inform him about the shirt with him on it?” she shook her head, “No. How was I supposed to say that? ‘Hey Zack, I have a shirt with you on it.’”

I sighed, “Well not when you say it like that.” I thought a second, “Do you think that he still can understand French?”

She nodded, “Yeah. We had a good deal of our conversation in French. He’s not perfect, but he knows more than when we... Anyway, I think it’s because he didn’t want someone to know it was him. That’s not something that his fans know.”

“That he speaks French?”

She nodded and then shrugged, taking a final bite of the first half of her sandwich. “Okay, work time. No more talking about boys.”

I nodded and she walked out, and then walked back in. “I love you, Manny. And you know that I’ll always be here for you.” I smiled and nodded, “I know. I’ll always be here for you too.”