"Yaaawn," Claire said, walking and stretching. They all walked out of the school, and it was already dark outside. Bianca, Ruby, and Lily were walking behind Claire, still looking weak and messy and rubbing their eyes. Dean, who was walking in the back, looked at his phone, put it in his pocket, and then looked at everyone.
"Hey, how about we grab something to eat before we go home? That way we don't have to cook later," Dean said.
"Hmm... that's not a bad idea. No dishes to wash either," Bianca said.
"Okay, I'm in," Lily replied telepathically.
"Alright, where should we eat?" Ruby asked, turning around and pushing up her glasses.
"Let's get pizza. There's a place up ahead, right?" Claire asked, pointing toward the shops.
"Hmm, okay. I'm paying this time," Dean said.
Claire, Bianca, Ruby, and Lily immediately turned to look at Dean, who was walking behind them, and stopped in their tracks.
"Are you serious?" Claire asked, her voice full of surprise.
"We always pay for ourselves. What are we celebrating?" Bianca asked.
"How about we just split the bill?" Ruby asked, holding the arms of her glasses.
"I'm broke... I have no money," Lily said in their heads.
"Well... I just feel bad for wearing you guys out like that, so I'll treat everyone to dinner tonight. Let's head to that pizza place across the street," Dean said, pointing to the shops up ahead.
"Hmm... okay," Claire said, immediately walking up to Dean and linking her arm through his.
"Hehe, you're so sweet," Bianca said, also linking her arm through his other one.
"Ahem... thanks," Ruby said, her face red and looking down while holding the arms of her glasses.
"Yay! I've been wanting to try pizza again for so long," Lily said, immediately jumping and hugging Dean from the front, wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Ugh... okay, okay, let go... let's just go," Dean said, feeling awkward.
They all walked across the street to a pizza and pasta restaurant that looked pretty big and maybe a little more expensive than a fast-food place. Once they got inside, they were immediately shown to a table that fit all five of them. The waiter handed them menus, and they all immediately started looking them over. After they ordered and handed back their menus, the waiter left.
Ding...ding...ding, suddenly Dean, Claire, and Bianca's phones buzzed. They looked down and saw their class group chat blowing up. When they opened it, all three of their eyes went wide. They saw a photo of themselves sitting at the table and ordering food. Dean immediately looked back and saw Ethan sitting in the last booth with his friends, who were also looking at their table.
"Him again," Dean mumbled.
"Huh... what a jerk, taking our picture and posting it in the group chat," Claire grumbled.
"That guy is so annoying," Bianca mumbled.
"The one with the blonde hair and a headband, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, that's him. He acts like he's so hot, but he's really just a regular guy," Claire answered.
"Wait, where's Lily?" Dean asked, noticing her empty seat.
Claire, Bianca, and Ruby, who were supposed to be sitting next to her, immediately turned to see Lily's empty chair. CRASH! A loud noise suddenly rang out. They all turned toward the sound and saw Lily standing right next to Ethan's table, yanking on his shirt collar with her hand raised as if she was about to punch him. Ethan's friends stood up, and a waiter nearby looked terrified. Without another thought, Dean, Claire, Bianca, and Ruby immediately stood up and rushed over to Lily.
"Hey! Keep your girl in line, Dean!" Ethan yelled as he saw Dean getting closer.
"Yeah, don't think we won't hit her just because she's a girl!" yelled one of Ethan's friends.
Dean quickly reached Lily, pried her hand off of Ethan, and pulled her back. "Sorry about that. Please go back to your meal," Dean said while holding Lily from behind.
But suddenly, CRASH! Claire slammed her hand on Ethan's table and gave him a sharp glare. Then she showed him the picture he'd taken of them on her phone.
"Delete it," Claire said in a low voice.
"Huh, why? It's no big deal, is it? We're not breaking any laws, it's a public place, and besides, we only posted it in the class group chat, not on social media. Am I right?" Ethan said with a smirk, shrugging and looking at his friends.
"Yeah, that's right. (He turns to look at Claire.) What's your name, beautiful? I'm John," said John, one of Ethan's friends. He looked about 20, with a buzz cut, and was tall and muscular, seeming to be a basketball player too.
"I don't care, just delete it," Claire said, her eyes still locked on Ethan.
"Alright, alright, I'll delete it, but only if you give me and Bianca your contact info, not the one from the group chat, okay?" Ethan said, holding up his hands.
"Haha, good call, bro. Don't let a good chance slip away," another one of Ethan's friends said.
"Besides," Ethan said, glancing at Dean, who was still holding Lily, and at Bianca and Ruby, who were standing next to him, "why would you want to hang out with a guy like that? He's just a handsome face, an introvert, and probably poor. You'd have more fun with us, right?"
"That's right," John said, leaning in to look at Claire. "Listen, the four of us have money. We can take care of all your futures. Just dump a guy like that. There are four of us here, and four of you, right?" he said, glancing at Bianca, Ruby, and Lily.
"Look at our clothes, they're all designer brands. Now look at his wrinkled, dirty clothes—oh, my bad, it's a school uniform, hahaha," said one of Ethan's friends.
"Excuse me, but could you please leave the restaurant? You're disturbing the other customers." Claire, Dean, Lily, Bianca, and Ruby turned to see a man in his 30s with a "Manager" name tag on his white shirt, scolding Ethan and his friends.
"Huh? Why do we have to leave? Do you have any idea who my dad is?" Ethan protested.
"I saw you taking a picture without permission, which is against our restaurant policy. Then, when they asked you to delete the photo, you started causing a disturbance. So please pay your bill and leave because you're disrupting other customers. We will call the police if you continue to make a scene," the manager replied politely.
"Ugh... come on, let's go," Ethan said, throwing some money on the table and standing up.
BANG! The four of them immediately stood up and tried to leave, but the manager was still blocking their way.
"Excuse me, but could you please delete the photo you just took? You violated our policy, and if you don't, we'll have to take legal action," the manager said with a smile.
"Ugh... fine," Ethan said, his face red with anger.
He immediately grabbed his phone and deleted the photo from his gallery and the class group chat, all while the manager watched. With their faces red from embarrassment, they quickly left the restaurant. Once the door was closed, the manager turned back to Dean, Claire, Bianca, Ruby, and Lily.
"My apologies for the disturbance. Please, have a seat. As a token of our apology, we'd like to bring you a few appetizers on the house," the manager said politely.
"Yeah, thank you so much," Dean replied.
They followed the manager back to their table. Soon after, a waiter brought out some complimentary appetizers.
"Hmm, this is free, right?" Ruby asked, looking at the food and then up at the waiter.
"Yes, ma'am, it's on the house. Those guys come in here a lot and cause trouble, even if they don't mean to. But this time they went too far, so we have the right to ban them from eating here again," the waiter explained.
"Good," Claire, Bianca, and Ruby all said at once.
After the waiter left, Claire, Bianca, Ruby, and Lily looked over at Dean, who was quiet.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning in to see his face.
"I'm fine... just chilling," Dean replied briefly, forcing a smile.
Seeing his forced smile, no one else dared to ask. They just started talking like normal. They had no idea that the whole time, Dean's hands were clenched into fists, fighting the urge to summon his giant scythe and behead Ethan and his friends.