Ohio Is for Lovers

Lena, Carson and Eve strutted into the bowling alley and stopped in front of the desk, waiting to be assisted.

"Who did you say we were supposed to be meeting here, again?" Lena asked Eve as they waited.

"Oh, just a guy I met at the store the other day. He's bringing some friends along, too." Eve informed. "I didn't want you guys to feel like you were intervening on a date or something."

Lena chewed on the inside of her cheek as they anxiously awaited Eve's new love interest. She had a bad feeling growing in her gut about this. She could already tell something was about to happen, and she wasn't going to be happy about it.

After a few minutes of waiting, Lena heard a familiar voice shout from behind her. A ball of shock hit her stomach. It wasn't bad shock, just confused shock.

"Eve!" CC called out.

Eve turned around and smiled widely as she hurried over to CC, letting him wrap his arms around her in a generous hug, lifting her tiny frame off the ground. Compared to Eve, CC was a giant. He had to be at least half a foot taller than she was.

Lena looked over her shoulder and saw CC and Eve embracing. But when she caught a glimpse of Andy and Jake walking in behind them with Jinxx and Ashley trailing behind, she whipped her head around and stared straight ahead at the lanes on the other side of the desk.

"What the fuck are they doing here...?" She half whispered to Carson.

Carson slowly turned her head to peek over her own shoulder and then looked back at Lena. "I thought you said they had no idea where you were."

"The only person who knew where I went was CC. I don't know how the rest of them found out." Lena could feel that ball of shock turn into a knife of panic.

Carson snuck another look behind them. "Jake is staring at you." She said.

Jake bore his eyes into Lena's back, gazing at her blonde locks of curly hair tumbling down her backside. He refrained from saying anything to her, because he was afraid of the backlash he would receive.

And fell into step next to Jake and watched Lena stand there uncomfortably. He glanced at Jake, who never took his eyes off Lena. Andy couldn't bear to look at Lena after what he had done to her. He knew she hated his guts and there was no chance of ever getting her back. He didn't see the point in trying.

"Andy is looking at us now." Carson said, keeping Lena up to date on what was happening behind her back.

Lena scoffed. "Fuck Andy..." She muttered. "He's a douche bag. I never want to talk to him again."

"He's still being a douche to you?" Carson's voice had a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Andy's always going to be a dick. You need to just cut yourself off from him."

An employee finally stepped behind the desk. "Sorry for keeping you girls waiting." He said.

Lena looked up when she recognized the voice. "Derek?" She asked, staring into his eyes.

"Oh, um, hey Lena." He said shyly. It was apparent he hadn't wanted her to know he worked at a bowling alley. "So, what can I do for you?" He attempted to get the subject back on track.

"We have eight." Carson said, knowing Lena was already uncomfortable as it is having Jake and Andy in the same room with her. Adding Derek to the mix made it three times as bad.

Derek tore two pieces of receipt paper out and gave it to them. "I can only fit six on a lane, so if you want to split the group up, I can put you guys on two lanes."

Carson took the pen that was resting on the counter and started jotting down names. Lena glanced over to see what she was writing.

"Whatever you do, do not put me on the same team as Andy and Jake." Lena said.

Carson rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Carson's list went as follows:

Carson
Jake
Andy
Ashley

Carson had always had her eye on Ashley ever since the band had started to get bigger. She liked his outlaw tattoo that arched across his toned abs. His lips looked like they were to die for and she absolutely melted into his chocolate brown eyes.

Lena's list went as follows:

Lena
Eve
CC
Jinxx

Carson and Lena had both decided it was only fair to Eve that they keep her and CC together. Carson and Lena had rarely ever seen Eve smile that big around a guy. In high school, Eve had always been the friend that never had any luck with boys. Lena had Jake but was being torn between him and Andy. Carson was always a flirt, but was never mature enough to settle down in a real relationship. Eve just sat by and watched all the drama unveil before her eyes.

She had asked Jon Clearey in Junior year to the Sadie Hawkins Winter Formal but he turned her down because he said he wasn't going. The next day, Jess Vandermint asked him and he said yes before she could even finish her sentence.

"I'll get those right up for you." Derek said with a charming smile.

Carson took Lena over to the group, keeping a firm grip on her friend's arm. "Alright, guys." Carson announced. "We're in lanes three and four."

The group made their way over to the two lanes and all scanned the TV screens to see who was on what team. Eve and CC, holding hands, sat down together in lane three. Lena and Jinxx sat down next to them.

Carson took her team over to lane four. They all sat down, and Jake looked over at Lena, talking to Jinxx. He watched a smile form on her face. Her smile was always his favorite part of her.

"Lena, you're up!" Eve leaned over to look at Lena on the other side of CC.

"Oh," Lena stood up and walked over to the machine that held the bowling balls. She picked up a bright yellow one and fixed her fingers in the holes.

On the other side of the machine, Jake was getting ready himself. He picked up a dull green ball and fixed his fingers in the holes. Lena stood at the end of the lane and watched from the corner of her eye as Jake approached his end of the lane.

Jake looked down at the ball and then slightly over at Lena. "Hey." He said. "You look great."

Lena looked down at her own ball and then over to him. "Yeah..." She said, slowly looking back down. "Thanks..."

Jake sighed, and swung his ball down the lane, knocking down 4 pins. He walked back and picked up another, throwing it, and knocking down one.

He went to sit back down and watched Lena finish up her turn. She got a strike and the smile on her face as she jumped up and down in excitement was a look he had never seen on her face before. His breath was taken away at how beautiful she looked when she was truly happy. She never looked like that around him. And in all honesty, she had never looked that way around Andy either.