So I posted twice in one day? Whaaaa! I thought to give you more since not much has been happening

Twelve: Lunch Date

Art class had been great! Cherry was so kind and funny. We got along surprisingly well though we only just met. We were laughing and smiling like a bunch of loons by the end of class. I found out that the boys name was Oscar but I was told to call him Oreo. The nicknames were funny so far and I gladly called them by their chosen names. The boy was so quiet and only joined in on the conversation once or twice when cherry addressed him, he was so sweet.

Cherry was in my math thank god! and for once I had a great time learning algebraic fractions, Cherry was as bad at math as I was and we just talked and laughed together the entire time. We had to even be told by the teacher to be quiet a few times. We giggled quietly together and continued anyways. We talked about where I came from back in the human walls and also where she lived. We soon figured our that she didn't live too far from Brian's house, so we organised to meet up, handing over each other's numbers so we could talk.

She told me how she had an older brother called Eric that was currently in college back in the human sector but was coming home in about a week to continue his apprenticeship in a more integrated college so had a more chance of finding a job near home.

I practically knew everything about her and she about me by the end of the class. We were walking together off to lunch, arms linked with Oreo trailing behind. She was taller than me by a lot, i had to look up to her when we stood side by side. I felt like a little kid.

I tried my best to talk to Oreo but he simply just nodded or shook his head in reply to everything I said. He was cute, in a scared kitten way.

"your sitting next to me, I don't care what Henryk says. He can deal with it. He can miss out on one lunch not sitting next to me" Cherry giggles and I smiled along with her, she had this way of just making me smile no matter what she said

"I haven't met him yet, let's hope he likes me" I smiled, I'd met nearly everyone that attended here and so far I'd made one friend. Slowly thoughts entered my mind, was Henryk the boy in my roll call class. Cherry laughed, a sweet bubbly sound, dragging me from my thoughts.

"Of course he will, your amazing! If he doesn't I'll break his nose" She smiled and gave me a squeeze against her side, making me smile and bite my lip, hoping she was joking. I began wondering if Jules was gonna be there too, she didn't seem like she'd be friends with cherry, they were very different personalities wise.

As we neared the cafeteria I began to feel that I was forgetting something. I looked to Oreo as we walked and saw he was on his phone playing a game on it, he didn't look uncomfortable or annoyed that I was stealing Cherry's attention. Cherry reminded me a lot of Jace, how excitable she became over little things and her large smile that lit up her face.

Jace!

"Shit~ Um sorry cherry but I can't sit with you today, I really want to! But I promised one of my friends I'd meet him for lunch. Uh, is there anyway I can get to the giant cafeteria? He told me about some meeting area?" I looked to Cherry who's eyes were wide as they locked on me, her normal happy bubbly stature dropped a little and she looked... scared? I looked to Oreo and he was.. paler than usual, eyes to the ground not being able to look in my direction.

"Uh, Yeah~ Okay" she murmured and her arm loosened around mine "I'll show you the way, Oreo I'll meet up with you at the table" she gave a small tight smile, Oreo/Oscar looked at us with wide eyes and nodded quickly and without hesitation he decided not to stick around and rushed away continuing down the hall

"Come on" cherry grabbed my hand and began guiding me the way we'd been going but instead going into the doors Oreo had disappeared into she pushed open a door next to the double doors.

"So who's you friend?" Cherry looked to me as we neared what looked like a elevator? What the hell. I followed her, pausing infront of the doors and waited once she pushed the button to go down

"Jace, I met him through Brian's son, Austin. He's super sweet, do you know him?" I couldn't help but bite at the inside of my a cheek as I mentioned Jace, a smile coming across my face. But when I looked to Cherry, she looked by far from happy

She stared at me as if I'd just produced a million dollars from my pocket. I could just imagine the sparks in her brain, desperately trying to connect the dots and instead just causing a short circuit. She looked like a pop-eyed toy from one of those claw machines at the fun fair "as in Jace Stevens... and~" she hesitated before continuing hesitantly, "and Austin Taylor?" She said his name as if it had left a bad taste in her mouth, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed tightly "you never said that you were living with Austin" she whispers lowly, "you poor thing "

I was slow to reply at first and began to nod "yeah~" I responded, confused, not understanding why she looked so shocked and why she said poor thin? Poor thing! Yeah it sucked I had to live with giants but I wouldn't go to the extreme of saying "poor thing"

She was staring at me, mouth slightly hanging open as if in shock. I didn't understand, did I do something wrong. Unconsciously I raised a hand to my face..

"What?" I said, looking into her wide eyes with confusion written in mine. She shakes her head slowly, taking a second she struggles to find the right words.

She didn't say anything at first, her eyes settling on the elevator doors as they opened with a ding "be careful around them, Tess.. they're trouble. They'll hurt you and won't give a shit about the consequences" she said, voice low and the most serious I'd heard her all day.

Brows furrowing, I could imagine that I looked as confused as I felt. Trouble? Hurt me? Yeah Austin was a tease and mildly annoying, kinda rude sometimes but he'd never hurt me. Not yet anyways. I couldn't imagine him doing anything on purpose

"I don't understand." Is all I managed and cherry shook her head, curls falling over her cheeks

"Just trust me on this one, Tess. I don't want you to get hurt, your a sweet girl.. but if you want to have lunch with.. Jace~ im not gonna stop you" she gave me a smile, not a happy one, one that had worry behind it.

"Okay~ I think I might since I did promise him.. sorry" I nodded, Cherry didn't look happy about my decision but she didn't say otherwise. I still didn't understand.. Jace would never hurt anyone he was so kind and gentle, kinda intense but he wouldn't hurt a fly. Austin was annoying yeah but also, I couldn't imagine him hurting me.

Slowly stepping into the elevator, I turned and looked back at Cherry. I gave a confident smile, one I didn't know I even had as the doors closed. The last I saw of Cherry being her curls and a small frown tight on her lips as i was sealed in.

It wasn't long before the doors were opening again, I was playing with a strand of hair when the doors dinged to notify my arrival and opened to reveal what looked to be a long stretch of a.. table top? To me it looked just like a wide stretch of the ground. It was huge! Stretching for miles til I couldn't even see the edge. I could walk for hours and never reach the end

Stepping out cautiously I glanced around at my surroundings. The room was gigantic, three huge tables like the one I was stood upon lined up across a room with only one windows and one blue door to enter and exit through to the right.

It wasn't long til I realised I wasn't alone, a shout that made my ears ache and a thud from a large body crashing down into a giant sized seat , made the table shake and I gasped as I look up to come face to an even larger face with no other but Jace Stevens. Of course

"Tessie! I thought you forgot about me! How are you? Are you liking your first day? The other humans better be being nice to you, are they being nice? If they aren't they have another thing coming!" Jace was like a kid on a sugar high, he didn't stop talking not even for a breath. And once he finished he was gasping for air, Smiling even when he had to cough to regain his voice.

His light brown hair had fallen into his eyes as he looked down to me, caused since he was leant over with his elbows propped up either side my body and his hands resting against his cheeks, smooshing them a bit as he looked down at me with his blueberry like eyes.

I was smiling so big that I could feel an ache in my jaw. How could Cherry ever say Jace was trouble, he was like a big ol teddy bear more than anything.

"You don't have to worry, bud. They're very nice, even managed to make a friend!." I mused as he pouted, leaning down to me til his chin rested on the table

"You better not be replacing me already, Tessie. I'm your best friend remember? Your my princess" He whispers, a smirk coming across his face as he looked to me, eyes a little crossed since he was so close.

I couldn't help but laugh at him and gently poke at his large nose, making him scrunch it up at my touch. he has this way like Cherry to just make me smile "of course not! your my number one, Jace Stevens" I giggled, not expecting it I felt my cheeks warm a little as he smiled at me

"Good." He grins, his amazing smile. I felt myself staring a little longer than I should before looking away, trying to pull myself together I only realise now as I look away that It wasn't just the two of us here.

Standing behind Jace looking rather nervous was another boy, he had hair like gold that curled against his sun kissed cheeks. He had a spray of freckles on his nose and cheeks that gave him a beach boy/surfer dude look. Oh boy.. I felt my heart flutter then and my cheeks light up rosy. To say he wasn't pretty for a boy would have been a lie... he was really pretty.

Jace seemed to notice that my attention was elsewhere and he raised his head slowly from the table to look at the other boy. He smiled at who looked to be his friend and gently patted the seat beside him "don't worry, she won't bite"

The other boy scoffed lowly and took a seat, "Austin would say otherwise to that~" he smirked and I saw they shared a look, making me blush more realising Austin must have told them of our car ride back when we first met.. back when I bit him.

I went quiet as I looked up at this blond headed pretty boy as he sat, his lips were drawn into a tight smile and his eyes scanned over me, as if he were thinking as he looked at me, analysing. I shifted under his gaze, feeling as if he were looking into my soul.

"So!" Jace broke the silence, "Tess I want you to meet Cole Bradford, one of my best friends and junkie" Jace broke out into a cheeky smile, only receiving a hard nudge in the side by Cole

"Don't tell her that!" Cole hissed under his breath, looking to me with apologetic eyes "he's only kidding, I'm not a junkie"

"Yeah you are, don't lie, junkie!" Jace was taking the piss, laughing as Cole shoved him a little. I was smiling also now, seeing how they were together, even though Cole seemed annoyed he was still smiling as Jace wriggled in his seat happily

"Well it's nice to meet you, Cole. Junkie or not, it's a pleasure to meet you" I laughed as Cole rolled his eyes as I said junkie.

"Not a junkie but anyways.. it's nice to meet you too finally- Jace hasn't shut up about you all day" we both looked to Jace who just shrugged in response with a small blush creeping onto his cheeks

"Stop looking at me like that.. " Jace muttered with a whine and hid his face quickly in his hands, making Cole and I laugh.

"Aww did you really miss me that much, Jacey poo? Naw, your so cute!" I smirked as Jace grunted into his palms at Jacey poo, looking at me between his fingers with a small glare.

Cole on the other hand must have thought that was hilarious cause he burst into laughter making me jump a little in surprise . "Jacey poo! Aww! I love it!" He laughed, making me chuckle a little at how contagious his laughter was, he snorted and wheezed, hiccuped and coughed. It was like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. Jace only blushed harder and hid his face more into his arms

"It's not that funny! Jeez Cole!" Jace grunted and glared a little as Cole and I both laughed,

"Its pretty funny!" Cole laughed louder and soon we were hysterics, we were laughing at nothing but Jace blushing . Jace was glaring while I was crying and Cole was howling. Jace couldn't stop his smile every now and then, his strong facade slowly breaking.

We eventually calmed down, panting and clutching and bellies, I looked to Cole and he to me. We were smiling like crazy and everything hurt. Jace was looking at us like we're a bunch of psychopaths.. I thought wed finished, only to ball into laughter again when Jace tried to talk.

Eventually all three of us were laughing at nothing apart at all, bellies hurting and eyes watering. Cole was a mess half on the ground while Jace was wheezing for air, I was clutching at my side hoping To not burst a lung. Eventually we calmed, by eventually I meant a solid five minutes of us calming then laughing again. Calming to a soft chuckle every now and then we panted to catch our breaths.

"I haven't laughed.. that hard since my tenth birthday when Austin tripped into a pile of mud" Jace snorted, wiping at his watery eyes and taking slow breaths to calm himself. Cole have a chuckle at the memory and nodded, having climbed back onto his seat and was massaging his side.

"That was pretty funny~" Cole nodded and smiled as he looked down at me, I smiled back, still recovering slowly from a laughing fit

Then I thought , "where is Austin? I thought he said he was going to have lunch with us?" I smiled up at the two, still on a high from earlier. But their smiles dropped from their faces and I watched as Jace looked to Cole with wide eyes, making it pretty obvious

"He~" Jace said slowly, looking to me with pursed lips and furrowed brows. I raised a brow, already knowing something was up

"He has Backnott training-" Cole spoke quickly and I raised my brow at the two, something was up. Jace seemed to catch on a second after and he began nodding, his hair bouncing about his forehead

"yeah! I forgot. Silly me" Jace chuckles and I crossed my arms, "he wanted to come but just got busy, tomorrow maybe?" Jace gave a large smile, one full of confidence. I didn't believe him for a second.

I hesitated, I knew that they were lying. What was it that they had to lie for Austin, did he not want to see me? Thinking back to this morning, he was acting a little strange, even on the bus he was weird. When he dropped me off, it was as if he couldn't get away fast enough. Was he embarrassed of me?

"Oh~" is all I managed and frowned a little. I knew they knew that I'd figured they were lying but they didn't say anything. "Whatever, I'm sure backshot or whatever it's called is more important anyways~"

"Backnott"

"Whatever it's called! It seems important to him" I chuckle at both their deadpanned faces, rolling my eyes and slowly taking a seat upon the top of the table, letting my legs stretch out infront of me and roll my ankles

"Do you even know what the rules are, or even how the game is played?" Jace asked and leant down close to me, Cole staying seated up straight still but he was looking at me closely.

"No-" I said slowly and they both gasped simultaneously, loudly too as if offended.

"How could you not! It's the best game ever!" Cole spoke now, leaning in alongside Jace and shaking his head. They shared the same look, wide eyes and mouths slightly open, gaping at me. They were so close I could feel their breaths against my bare skin, their heads resting on the table to look at me

"It's not a human game, i think it's like a mix or football and baseball combined?" I chuckle at their confused looks, they didn't know what baseball or football was.. I gasped and Jace shakes his head quickly

"No no Backnott is different from that!" Jace looked at Cole who still seemed confused "it's that game Lenny watches sometimes" they both snort with amusement and Cole rolls his eyes

"Of course he watches that shit, it's such a pussy game" they both chuckle and I raise a brow, Cole looking to me and biting his lip "no offence.."

I roll my eyes and shrug "I don't watch sports so I don't really care" I smile and the boys begin to smile like a bunch of loons. I only groaned as they thought that was their chance to explain

"Then you've never watched Backnott! It's the best game in the whole universe! If you don't play it, you watch it. Literally you've just gotta get the ball to the other end of the field without being knocked down. The opposing team can do anything they want to try and get you down. Can't hit anyone in the ankles though, that's an immediate penalty" Cole explained and I nodded as if I cared, I zoned out a little and looked toward the ceiling. That didn't stop them

"The defenders get bats and can hit only the person that's holding the ball to get them down, or tackle them"

"Or just be like Austin and punch them" Jace snorts and Cole joins in with a laugh, not noticing the horror clear on my face as I finally join the conversation. The game they explained sounded so violent, I hadn't realised it was that dangerous until now! Cole noticed after a bit and gave a small smile

"Don't worry Tessie. No ones ever died" he grins playfully, but that didn't seem to comfort me much. I knew giants were tougher than humans, stronger bones and thicker skin. They were built to survive hard hits, so it made sense why there games were much rougher then humans. They could withstand hard hits without injuries, or atleast serious injuries.. they healed quicker then humans too, with humans a cute would take a few weeks to heal. For giants, a few days. Jace and Cole explained the game some more, the scoring and some memorable moments when Austin, Lenny and Darrick played, only adding to my horror.

"You should come watch a game sometime. We're versing Rutherford high soon, theyre tough to beat" Cole said and I couldn't help but smile a little knowing I was actually being invited to a game. Even if I knew I wouldn't enjoy it, i was happy to know they wanted me to come. I gave a slow nod, looking at Cole and Jace

"Yeah of course I'll come, as long as they have hotdogs I'll come" I smirked and Jace snorts loudly, nodding to himself as he looked at me

"Oh I'll make sure i buy you all the hotdogs you want!" Jace grins and gave a playful wink down in my direction. I couldn't help but roll my eyes

"Oh boy," Cole laughed and reached down and grabbed his bag, gently setting it on the table near me, obviously careful to not hit me by accident "I thought we came here to have lunch, not talk. Im starving!" Cole smiled and pulled out a sandwich and what looked like a weird fruit I'd never seen before. It had a purple coloured skin, smooth not hairy, it looked kind of like a orange as he cut it into slices. I was curious, never having seen this fruit before I inched closer to get a better look.

What I hadn't been expecting was the colour, it was green inside! My eyes widened curiously as he cut himself a slice and then Jace, handing him some of the fruit and then offering me a smaller piece of flesh, that was dripping between my fingers

"Have you ever tried giant fruit before?" Cole spoke as he placed the strange fruit thing into his mouth and chewed the flesh off the skin. I stared at the slither of flesh between my hands as if it were the strangest thing I'd ever seen, the more I thought about it. it was!

"Clearly not" Jace laughed gently, eating the fruit with clear enjoyment on his face, sucking at its inner flesh like it were a lollipop before eating the skin of the fruit also. I scrunched my nose, clearly it was nothing like an orange

I stared at the fruit in my hands still, the green juices were rolling down my hands and forearm, coating it in a sticky layer of green. I didn't trust it even though the two boys were clearly loving it infront of me.

"It's good, just try it. If you don't like it I'll eat it for you" Cole smirks and licked his lips "It's super sweet, it's great" he said, cutting himself another slice and eating it

I glanced at him and then the fruit in my hands again. Biting my lip I slowly bring the green flesh to my face, smelling it, it had a very sweet smell. Lowering it to my mouth, I hesitate before taking a small bite, the texture was soft in my mouth and my teeth sunk into it easily. Juice seeped from between my fingers and more rolled down my arms and into my lap as I pulled away. I laughed and rest a hand quickly to my mouth, eyes wide and laughing.

It was incredibly sweet like Cole said and I let out a surprised hum "wow!" My eyes widen, surprised by the delicious taste that filled my mouth. "This is amazing! Why don't they have this back for humans, I would be so healthy if they did. Eat this everyday!"

Both the boys laughed to each other as I quickly dove in and ate the cube of fruit I was given, not even realising I was hungry til I started. It wasn't long til it vanished from in my hands and I raised my eyes up to look to Cole, hands raising reaching for more.

Cole gently took another slither of fruit and handed it to me, he was smiling as he watched me eat. I ate slowly this time, taking me time to savour the deliciousness that seeped onto my tongue with each bite. It was like heaven, nothing I'd ever had before so there was no way of explaining it. I hummed and sunk down comfortably, chewing and licking my lips happily

"Humans have some pretty good food, like pizza.. but none of their fruit can compare to ours!" Jace sucked on his slice of fruit, biting into the skin and moaning gently from the flavour

"I couldn't agree more" I hummed and licked my lips, finishing my slither and relaxing back enjoying the full feeling I had in my belly.

"And, it's healthier too" Cole smirked as we finished the fruit, i was satisfied but they were still hungry. They shared a sandwich and a bag of chips, they offered me some but I had to decline. I was way too full for anything else, I swear I'd be sick if I had anymore

And we sat like this til lunch ended, we talked and laughed and I got to know more about Cole and Jace. They were very close that was for sure, pushing and poking at each other whenever they could. We eventually said our goodbyes, the boys waiting til I was inside the elevator again and disappeared. Off to history I went, Smiling to myself thinking about my time with Jace and Cole.