"Do you guys think we can lose them if we turn right here?" Bennett asked us.

"Bennett!" I scolded. 

"I'm kidding," Bennett assured me, then muttering to himself, "is what I would say if I wasn't actually serious."

"What was that Bennett?" I asked him.

"Nothing Naomi." He replied back.

My eyes checked the wing mirror at my side of the car since I called for shotgun. The pink Volkswagen Beetle was still tailing us, following us as we lead them to the cafe I was talking about. I know for a fact that Bennett really had tried to lose them a couple of times, taking sharp turns or sudden U-turns. But the car always stayed on our path, not wanting to lose us. I've passed the cafe many times when I take walks around the city. It opened a few months ago, I think over the summer. I've seen the of the daily menu that hung in front of the windows. It seemed like a nice place to eat, but I never had a chance to try it. I smiled at how smart I was telling them about the cafe for us to eat.

I actually can't wait for us to get there. I bet we'll all have a great time. The seven of us will talk, get to know each other, maybe even hang out at school. The girls will become friends with me. We'll hang out, shop at the mall, talk in the phone, have sleepovers. And the guys will be friends with them too. I can't wait to-

What was I thinking? Have I forgotten these are the same three that bully me constantly at school? The insults, the nicknames, the jokes began to flood into my mind. The bad memories of the words, the laughter, the pushing. My eyebrows furrowed at this. I know they were my bullies, and I shouldn't trust them, I shouldn't be agreeing to this, I shouldn't be so happy to eat with them, remembering the times they "accidentally" crashed into my, having my lunch covered all over myself. But that's the weakness of unpopular kids, their will, their dream to become popular. It happens with everyone actually unpopular or popular. The unpopular kids want the chance to be known, to have friends, and they'll do anything to have that chance. The same goes for popular kids, sure they're already popular. But they'll either want to stay popular or become even more popular, and will do anything to have that chance. It's funny how much unpopular and popular kids have in common.

So the same goes for me. I know I shouldn't be in league with these people. I know I shouldn't even be seen talking with them. But I can't pass this opportunity. The opportunity to be popular, the opportunity to not be bullied, or just the opportunity to be normal. I want that chance, anyone in my position would want that chance. If your popular enemies gave you the chance to be popular, would you take it? If not, I'll take it for you. 

"I still can't believe we're driving to some cafe when we just inches away from the food court," Jordan groaned.

"I know, something is wrong with those girls." Declan agreed, which is a first for him.

"There's nothing wrong with them," I told him. "They have their reasons. They must have been to the mall so many times, they don't want to eat anymore of that stuff."

"Well I wanted to eat some of that stuff," Jordan said. "From what you were talking about the food, I was ready to eat like there's no tomorrow."

"I wanted to eat that too," I admitted, "I heard there was this thing called stuffed pizza and-" I caught myself and shook my head "- But maybe it's good trying something new. You guys practically live off pizzas, it's better to try something different."

"I just hope your cafe has Jordan worthy food," Jordan said, patting his growling stomach.

"That's it over there," I told Bennett, pointing at the small cafe just at the side of the street.

Bennett parked the car with ease, right in front of the cafe at an empty lot. The pink beetle swerved to a stop and began to parallel park right behind us. Suddenly we felt a sudden bump, jerking us forward in the car. Bennett's eyes widened and he whipped his head around.

"Tell me she did not just-"

"Sorry Benny!" A shrilly voice called out.

Bennett sighed and began to repeatedly bang his head on the steering wheel. Everyone gave him a pat on the back and left the car. Bennett reluctantly got out too, to see the damages of his car. He slammed the car door and walked over to the rear end of his car. He took a deep breath and exhaled when he saw it. The was a pretty big on the dent of his white Subaru, with the registration plate hanging helplessly on one side. I bit my lip and looked at Bennett. His bangs covered his eyes so I couldn't see them. His fists were clenched, looking as if I want to hit something.

Suddenly Abby came out of nowhere and jumped him for a hug. The force surprised Bennett in Abby's death grip. He looked down at the blonde that was practically holding on to him for dear life. Her body was pressed dangerously close to him, one arm hung around his neck while the other touched his cheek that made Bennett shudder.

"I'm so sorry Benny," Abby cooed, "It was an accident, I swear. I promise I'll make it up to you. Just give me the word and I'll-"

Bennett slowly pried Abby off of him and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's Bennett, just Bennett. And you don't have to to do anything, please." He actually begged her to not do anything.

Abby was about to say something but Bennett beat her to it. Before she could say anything, he took his phone out of his pocket, dialed a number and put it up to his ear.

"Hey Roy? Yeah, it's Bennett," he said to the phone. "Yeah, I got a little accident here-" he said accident with a low growl "- Uh huh, yup. Can you pick it up and switch with another? Nothing too fancy, I don't want anymore accidents on my favorite cars. Get me the Altima. No, not the blue one, the red. Yeah, that one. Okay, I'm at Sunset Avenue and 21st street. The keys will be in the car, thanks." He hung up and looked back at us.

All seven of us awkwardly stood there on the street. Bennett cleared his throat and asked us.

"So, are we going to just stand here or head into the place?"

In unison, we all looked up to the cafe. It was called The Mad Hatter, with the logo of a top hat next to it. Honestly, it looks like a simple cafe, but a nice one. I glanced at the guys who wore small smiles, probably liking just the sound of the cafe. I then looked at the girls who were the exact opposite, wearing doubtful frowns with furrowed well-trimmed eyebrows. One by one we entered the cafe, with hungry stomachs and curious eyes.

Abby made a face. "It's so... bland."

I didn't have the courage to disagree with her. To me, the cafe is nothing but bland. It had bright red and white walls, with black and white ceramic tiles in a checkerboard pattern. There were wooden tables for four, some for only two. Paintings hung on the walls, all with the illustrations I've recognize in the book, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. There were floor to ceiling windows with red curtain open to shed in the light. There were a few people in the cafe, some couples, one group of friends, and a few people by themselves who were eating on the counter. But even with the few customers, the cafe seemed lively. The customers were talking with one another with the other staff. The place was both simple and great, I was absolutely in love with this cafe.

"Hello!" Someone piped up.

We turned and saw a guy, an employee here. He looks around our age, maybe even older. He had bright green eyes behind his black framed glasses, curly brown hair and wore a cheery grin. He had a skinny frame, but pretty tall, probably as tall as Bennett. He wore a uniform of a burgundy button down, with the sleeves rolled up, he had black pants on and a black apron over it with the cafe logo at the front.

"The name's Cameron, but people call me Cam for short," he introduce himself. "I'll be your waiter today, may I lead you to your table?"

"Sure," Abby said with a shrug.

"If you could follow me," Cameron said, before leading us to a table near the windows.

He pushed two tables together, having one big table with eight seats. The guys took the booth seats, with Bennett, Declan and Jordan. The girls sat across from them, Abby, Hannah and then Candice. I moved one chair to the end of the table so it wouldn't seem so uneven. Cameron handed out menus to us one by one and waited patiently as we studied the menu.

"The cafe is both for breakfast and lunch dishes, you can order anything despite the time." He explained to us as we read the menu. "Our specialty is coffee and sandwiches. For breakfast, we have omelets, pancakes, waffles, the works. For lunch dishes we have some wraps, burgers, and pizza, with side dishes like fries, soup, and salad. At the last page is desserts and drinks."

"I'm going to have the Tuscan chicken sandwich, a side of onion rings, with some lemonade," I told Cameron as he wrote it down in his notepad.

"I'll get the barbecue onion burger, and some fries," Jordan said, before adding, "with a vanilla milkshake."

"Well, I'll be getting a strawberry milkshake," Declan said, glaring Jordan when he said strawberry. "With a club sandwich, extra bacon."

"I'm going to have the chicken wrap, with a chocolate milkshake," Bennett said, closing the menu.

"I'm going to have a salad with water," Abby said.

"Me two," Hannah said.

"Me three," Candice said.

In unison, the three of them closed their menus and placed it on the table.

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Are you sure you'll be satisfied with just a salad and water?"

Abby frowned. "Do you know how many calories there are with just a sandwich? I need to watch my weight or else I can't stay like this."

"No thank you," Hannah said with a laugh. "I'll be fine with just a salad." 

Jordan mumbled something incoherently under his breath. Only the boys could hear it since all three of them snorted when they heard it. Cameron finished writing it all down and gave us a smile.

"Thanks. I'll be back with your drinks." He told us and walked away towards the counter.

A few minutes passed with an awkward silence.

Suddenly Abby yawned. "This cafe is so empty and totally nothing compared to the places I go to. Nice going Naomi."

"Yeah Naomi, nice going," Hannah and Candice agreed. I couldn't help but feel ashamed and looked down at my lap.

"Hey, it's not her fault," Jordan defended me. "She said she only heard of this place and you guys agreed to go here. If you don't like this place, then just go. I'm staying."

Candice pouted. "We're not saying that Jordie-" Jordan grimaced at the sound of that nickname "-We're just saying um..." She looked at Abby. "What are we saying?"

"What we're saying is that it's a pretty boring cafe." Abby stated. "If we went to one of the restaurants I choose, our food would already be here by now."

"But we just ordered a few minutes ago," Declan pointed out. "There's seven of us, the cook isn't Superman."

"Well it's because it's a crappy place, with low staff and even lower food quality. In a five star restaurant, the food would be here by now, and our drinks aren't even-"

"Here you go," Cameron said, popping out of no where. He handed out our drinks quickly, told us our food will arrive shortly and walked away once more. 

"You were saying something about our drinks?" Jordan asked Abby with a smile.

Abby rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She began to stir his water with a straw in boredom.

"So were you guys in the mall the whole day, or did you just arrived when we saw you?" Candice asked.

"We watched a movie-" Jordan said.

"Really?" Candice asked.

"-before getting kicked out," he fiished.

"You guys got kicked out?" Hannah asked, with keen interest.

"Yeah, we started a popcorn war and the usher kicked us out." Declan said, grinning at the memory that just happen a few hours ago.

Abby frowned. "What a waste of popcorn and tickets. You must have bothered those poor people who were trying to watch the movie."

"Yeah, we must have bothered them, but it was still fun." Jordan said, frowning slightly at this.

"Anyway, let's change the subject." Abby said brightly. "You three just started school here, have you always lived in the city or changed schools or something?"

"Or something," Bennett said with a slight shrug.

"How mysterious," Abby said with a sigh.

"No, just a refusal to answer your question." Bennett replied.

"Bennett!" I scolded, then turned to Abby. "He didn't mean that," I assured her.

"Every word," Bennett said, before muttering to himself, "is what I would say if I wasn't actually serious." That got another snort from the other guys. I glared at him then went back to the girls. 

"What about you? Did you spend the whole day in the mall?" I asked them, wanting to quickly change the subject.

"Yeah, my daddy just gave me another credit card after my last one maxed out. "Abby sighed and took out a credit card. "I think this one is almost maxed too. What a joke." She put the card back into her purse.

"The whole day the three of us were shopping, hitting the stores one by one," Hannah told us. "I got these adorable shoes that were on sale."

Candice smiled. "Yeah, after having a cat fight with that other witch-" well she didn't really say witch, but it rhymed with the word"- There was this sale on designer shoes with half off the price, and everyone was fighting over them."

Jordan shook his head. "Sorry, I heard catfight and blanked out."

Candice giggled, a bit louder than it should be. "You're so funny Jordan." She said before whispering, "I like that."

"Thanks?" Jordan said unsurely before taking a small sip of his milkshake.

"So do you like the school so far?" Abby asked hopefully.

"Nope," the boys said in unison.

All three of the girls's faces fell. 

"Why not?"

"How come?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, there's something wrong with it," Declan growled, before catching himself.

"A huge thing that would make us transfer to another school." Jordan said.

"What is it?" Hannah asked.

"The bullying." Bennett said, staring at the three.

The girls were silent for a moment before bursting into laughter. It was a combination of snorts, giggling, and a slight hyena-like laugh.

"Bullying?" Abby asked incredulously. "That's not so bad."

"What do you mean?" Bennett asked, his eyes narrowing at them. "Bullying is a pretty bad thing."

"Well I mean, there's always bullying." Hannah pointed out. "It's always in those movies or books. Like that movie Mean Girls-" Jordan coughed and said something like, 'Look who's talking.'

Hannah either didn't hear it or ignored it because she continued. "You can't just expect a place to have no bullying. Bullying is like everywhere, if you see people you see bullying." 

"Yeah, I know," Declan said. "But the bullying in this school is a bit outrageous."

"But it's not something to actually transfer to different school," Candice told them. "Honestly that's a bit stupid. So what if this school has bullying? It's not like you guys would or even should care about something so mediocre as bullying."

"And why would you think of that?" Jordan asked her.

"You guys are the Three Musketeers, duh," Hannah said. "With your reputation and looks-" she purred the word as she looked at Declan "-You shouldn't be caring about something like bullying. There's other things to worry about."

"Like your popularity," Abby said.

Bennett frowned at this.

"Or the next party to go to." Hannah said.

Declan gritted his teeth.

"And even your new girlfriend who can be sitting right in front of you," Candice said.

Jordan snorted but said nothing.

"I have a friend that's actually bullied by her whole school," Bennett said, and it didn't take a genius to know who he was talking about. "She can't survive one day of school without getting new bruises and new names to make her more insecure. She's been verbally abuse all her life, and even though she's a girl, she's even been physically abused. Can you believe that?"

Hannah shrugged. "Well it's pretty believable. And besides, why should we care? It's her fault that she's bullied."

"What do you mean it's her fault?" Jordan asked her.

Candice explained. "If she's so unpopular, she should have tried harder to fit in. Buy better clothes, designer clothes in top stores. Maybe trade glasses for contacts if she's that desperate, which she would be. She shouldn't try to work so hard in school, it's sad watching kids like that, studying, reading, pitiful. And if she really needs it, have some plastic surgery. But then again, if she's been bullied her whole life, something must be really wrong with her for no one to even like her."

Declan shook his head. "That's probably the most stupidest thing I have ever-"

"But it's true," Hannah said, interrupting him. "And Bennett, you said her being your friend? I mean, I don't think all the money in the world or even all the designer clothes in the world would get me to even talk to someone as sad as her. Did someone like dare you to be her friend or did you just feel bad for her?"

"Neither," Bennett spat. "She's one of my best friends."

"All we're saying is that you guys don't have to worry about bullying. You guys should be doing the bullying since you guys could and can get away with it. There are so many to choose from, so many commoners that have the guts to actually share our school like..." Abby trailed off and looked at me. "some people."

I was quiet the whole conversation. I didn't know what to say to any of this. And now everyone's eyes were on me, making me fidget in my seat. I took an awkward sip of my lemonade, wishing we could change the subject. And who knew that it was food that saved me.

Cameron burst out of the kitchen doors carrying the food we ordered. I sighed in relief, thankful for the save and the food. He served the guys first, handing out the food and placing it in front of them one by one. The guys instantly dug in as if they haven't eaten in years. They told how delicious it was and Bennett told Cameron to give his compliments to the chef, mentioning his name. Cameron said he would before then giving me my sandwich and onion rings with a brilliant smile.

"Thanks." I told him, not thanking him about just the food.

"You're welcome," he replied back, hopefully getting what I meant.

He apologize to the girls that he'll be right back with their salads and left to the kitchen. Abby muttered something about the poor service and how ladies should be first.

Abby then called out to the kitchen. "Hey Carmen or Carson whatever, hurry up with our food already!" She turned back to us. "I can't believe how long it takes just to make a salad. It's literally just lettuce and ranch dressing."

"Actually it's more complicated than that," Bennett said. "There's several types of lettuce that bring out different types of flavors. You need to chop them up with other vegetables like tomatoes and carrots. Plus they probably make their own dressing-"

"Wow, you're a bit of a cook, aren't you?" Abby said, with a flirty smile. "That's kind of hot."

Bennett frowned. "It's common sense really, I don't know how that can seem hot."

"Me neither," Jordan said. "I mean really? Why him when you can have this?" Jordan gestured to himself, ignoring Bennett who shot a glare at him.

"Yeah," Candice agreed. "Why Bennett when you can have a Jordan?" Jordan stopped short and awkwardly looked at his food.

Abby sighed and stood up from her seat, saying she was going to go use the ladies room. Hannah simultaneously and began to head to the restrooms in perfect unison. 

"Why is it that girls go the bathroom together?" Jordan asked before taking another bite of his burger.

"Well it's common sense really," I told him. "Hermione Granger from Harry Potter went to the bathroom alone and got attacked by a troll."

The four of us burst out laughing, but it was cut off when we heard a loud crash and an even louder shriek. We all looked up and saw what had happened. Probably because of Abby's demand of Cameron to deliver the girl's food faster, Cameron must have felt timed and pressured. So he must have burst out the door, not looking where he was going, and crashing into the girls with their food. I looked at the back of the guys who were doing their best trying not to burst out laughing. Either they were holding their breath or looking away, taking deep breaths to control themselves.

The scene was something you can never forget. All three of the girls, Charlie's Angels also known as the Fearsome Threesome were all on the ground. They were covered from head to toe with lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes with- I paused to take a whiff of the air -some Caesar salad dressing. Their clothes were covered with the dressing, their hair had bits of vegetables in it, and the best part, they couldn't seem to get up off the floor.

"You," Abby growled.

"Me?" Cameron asked innocently.

"You did this!" Abby shrieked. "My clothes! My hair! Your manager will be hearing from this!"

Cameron frowned. "Sorry, but my manager is out sick today, I'm in her place for the time being. So may I be of any assistance, ma'am?"

"You'll be hearing from my daddy!" She cried, as she tried to stand up from the floor. But her too high high heels slipped on a some dressing and she fell back on the floor.

Hannah screeched. "I can't believe this is actually happening. At least no one's taking a-"

All three of them looked up and saw a few kids our age taking video of the whole thing. They were snickering and giggling, watching the girls struggle the whole time. All three of their turned crimson, and they began to try to get off the floor. Hannah gripped a table and tried to pull herself up, but she slipped and then there was a loud rip. The kids howled in amusement as they took a shot of Hannah's ripped designer jeans from behind.

"I don't even like Caesar dressing," Candice whined as she crawled on all fours on the ground.

Finally the three of them managed to escape out the door, leaving a trail of vegetables and salad dressing, having the smell hung in the air. But it was already too late for their reputations because the kids must have posted the video on the internet from the sounds of their giggles. 

Cameron came back to our table and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he stared at the mess. "Man, my manager's going to kill me." He then looked back at us. "Sorry for chasing your friends away, but they're a bunch of witches-" Once again, the word rhymes with it.

Jordan shrugged. "They're not our friends."

"They followed us." Declan told him.

"Thanks for saving us." Bennett said.

Cameron grinned. "No problem. I always do this."

"You always do this?" I asked in disbelief.

He gave a pathetic shrug. "Whenever there's a bad customer, I always find a way to chase them away. There's no way I'm going to serve them more than once. But it's still a mystery why I'm still working here, the manager's pretty nice, best job I ever had. But it's my fault why the cafe isn't that well known. We have a bad reputation because of me, but the food is still delicious because of the cook."

"Well to thank you for saving us from those three," Bennett said, "Let me spread the word how good this place is. I know a few people."

"Really? You'd do that?" Cameron asked. "Thanks man."

"It's no problem. This place has good food."

"Hey, how about free dessert for you guys?" Cameron offered. "It'll be on the house." 

"Now you're talking," Jordan said, then taking a last bite of his fries.

He grinned. "Cool, I'll be right back with the desserts." Then Cameron walked away towards the kitchen.

"That Cameron guy is pretty nice," Jordan said.

Declan snorted. "Yeah, only because he's giving us free dessert."

"Yeah, that too." Jordan said. "But man, I don't know what that Abby chick was talking about. I like this cafe."

"Me too," I said, before glancing out the window. 

The pink Volkswagen beetle was long gone. They're probably home by now, in the shower in tears for their reputation and clothes. I felt horrible for them, having actually sympathy for them from the many times the same thing happen to me. I mean, I'm a bit happy that they got what they deserved, karma finally gave them what it felt like to be in my shoes. I kept thinking how my chance for popularity is gone. But then I glanced back at the guys who were now eating the desserts Cameron served to us on the house. Jordan with apple pie and a side of vanilla ice cream. Bennett with his chocolate cake. And Declan with his strawberry cheesecake. A Neapolitan cupcake was placed in front of me, waiting to be eaten.

I couldn't help but smile a bit, not at the cupcake though, but at them. They're the friends I need, want, and already have. I don't need nothing more or nothing less than the three of them. I picked up my cupcake and took a bite of it. I looked out the window, watching as the cars drove by and then noticing the Help Wanted sign that hung on the window of the cafe. I looked back at them, knowing that my help wanted sign is long gone and tossed into the trash. I don't need any help, the jobs have already been taken and they won't be fired anytime soon.

This chapter is dedicated to AsianToaster, another brilliant friend I made on Wattpad. She's super nice, so if you ever want to chat with anyone, just message her. And if you're into werewolf stories, give her's a try.

And yes, I just double chaptered you guys. I posted not one, not three, but two chapters. I bet you guys will be satisfied for a while and give me a chance to catch my breath before starting the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you soon.

Oh and I read this great book called, This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales. It's a brilliant book about a girl just like Naomi who's bullied and just wants to fit in. Then she finds an underground dance club and becomes a DJ there. After reading this, I vowed to work harder writing this story, for it to be as good as the story. Give the book a try when you have the chance, you won't regret it.

RubixCube89201