A Pleasant Surprise Pt. 06

Ellie and Jess, almost in unison crossed their arms before Ellie answered, "Some misunderstanding, he-" but Tom cut in.

"He broke up with Saskia, because of the terrible things she said about you" Tom interrupted.

"He... you, wait really?" Ellie asked. Fairly well taken aback, she looked up at Carl for confirmation.

Carl nodded, looking distinctly uncomfortable, "I um- didn't realise she had such... backward opinions, I mean... yeah, so we're done" Carl replied awkwardly.

"Well, I can't exactly say I'm pleased, seeing as you beat up my boyfriend yesterday..." Ellie began, "But... I mean, thank you for sticking up for me- kinda..." she finished less confidently.

"Of course..." Carl replied, feeling the awkwardness of the situation. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys around?" he asked, slowly backing away from the group and making his way inside.

Jess shook her head, "You'd never have guessed would you? I guess Carl's a bit of an ally" she said.

"I'm not complaining, it's better than having to watch my back around him," Tom added, watching him retreat into the distance.

"True that, anyway, I gotta go too," Jess replied, "I have to remind the others about lunch." With that, she too made her way towards the school.

Snaking an arm around Tom's waist and pulling him close to her, Ellie spoke up, "We are still on for lunch right?" she asked, looking down at him grinning.

"So long as your friends still want to meet me" Tom replied, scratching the back of his head.

Ellie nodded reassuringly, slowly leaning down towards him, "They'll love you, just be yourself" she whispered before kissing him full on the kips.

"With encouragement like that, I'm sure I'll be okay" Tom murmured as Ellie took his hand and led him towards the school.

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Lunch time found Tom and Josh making their way back from their class at the far end of the school. "I'm not ready for this" Tom muttered quietly to himself as he walked with Josh towards the cafeteria for lunch.

Josh looked pityingly across at him, "I mean, I know usually it's just us two at lunch, but surely you're not worried about talking to a group of people... You're not totally socially inept" he offered.

Tom shot him a glare, "Gee thanks. What a comfort," he said shortly, "It's not a group of people I'm worried about, it's THE group of people. I'm basically about to eat lunch with one of the most popular cliques in the school."

Josh shrugged, "That I can't help you with, good luck though!" he said half jokingly, half seriously as they entered the cafeteria and he made his way to go sit with some of his friends from basketball.

Tom took a deep breath and was preparing himself to go seek out Ellie and her friends when he felt a sharp tug on his backpack and was pulled bodily back out into the hall and off to the side.

Jess smiled at him as he whirled around, "Howdy stranger" she greeted, steadying him by the arm, "I know we're not terribly close... and this might come off as a bit rude, but- would I be completely wrong to say that you're currently a bit terrified?" she asked bluntly.

Tom cocked his head to the side, gave a half hearted nod and shrugged, "That's more or less accurate" he admitted, blushing slightly.

Jess smiled sympathetically, "I'd say, get a hold of yourself, but you're Ellie's shy new boyfriend and Ellie has some intimidating friends... so I see where you're coming from." Jess gripped his arm gently by the elbow and started to lead him into the cafeteria, "Act confident, I know that's easy for me to say, but it'll make the world of difference. Also, it might sound counter-intuitive, but the easiest way to bond with a group is to make fun of the person whose introducing you, so feel free to throw Ellie under the bus" she explained with a sideways grin, "I'll try and throw you a bone when I can, you got this" she finished in a whisper.

"Thanks Jess" Tom mumbled, as they neared the table, "I owe you one."

Jess grinned as they arrived at the long table where everyone was already seated, "Hey, what are friends for?" she asked quietly before continuing in a louder voice, "Everyone, this is Tom, Ellie's boyfriend. Tom, this is everyone." Jess gave them all a solid glare, "Be nice."

Tom spotted Ellie waving from one end of the table and she gestured for her friends to make room, but a voice Tom vaguely recognised interrupted, "Oh no no, you know the rules, new boyfriends have to sit at the other end from their girl." The girl who'd spoken was none other than Lexi Leiker, known around school as "The Wild One," the rumour was that there was nothing Lexi would not do if dared. Lexi was of average build with long red hair and personified the crazy red hair stereotype, almost proudly. "Hear, you can sit here at the fun end of the table Tom" Lexi said, making room for him. With gentle push from Jess, an encouraging smile from Ellie and much exasperated gesturing from Lexi, Tom took his place at the table.

Putting an arm around Tom's shoulders, Lexi began pointing out the rest of the group and making introductions, starting on Tom's left. "This here is Ashley, she's your type-" A pointed cough from Ellie interrupted Lexi and she amended her statement, "I mean she's a nerd-"

"Excuse me?" Ashley broke in, crossing her arms offendedly and Lexi made placating gestures.

"What do you prefer? Recovering video game addict?" Lexi asked exasperatedly, "It's not a bad thing, no one at that convention will soon forget seeing your busty ass figure stuffed into a spider-gwen jumpsuit." Ashley blushed crimson as Lexi went on talking, but smiled all the same.

Lexi pressed on, "Next we have Lucy, she's our resident downer" Lexi said with a barely contained smile.

"Oh you just best watch yourself Leiker or you'll be walking home" Lucy replied dryly, "It's a pleasure to meet you Tom."

"What'd I say?" Lexi said, gesturing accusingly at Lucy. "Now I understand that you know Ellie here," Lexi continued, as Ellie gave a small wave, "and you've met Jess, Miss Addison's BFF." Jess just shook her head at Lexi's antics

"Try to ignore Lexi's theatrics if you can, she'll have you believe she's in charge around here if you let talk for too long" Jess answered.

Lexi put her nose up, "I am in charge, I'm doing the introductions aren't I?" she asked and quickly moved on to the last member of the group before anyone could correct her, "and finally we have the one and only Melissa De Gennaro, our very own fitness junkie and future instagram model."

Melissa rolled her eyes at Lexi's introduction and smiled at Tom, "Call me Liss, all these idiots do" she said with a glance round at the group.

"Hi everyone" Tom said with a smile, "Pleasure to meet you."

Liss fixed him with a look, "So you've heard a little about us, what about you?" she asked. Tom felt a tightening in his chest as he felt like he was being tested.

"Well, I'm Tom," he began, "miserably unsuccessful socialite and luckiest guy there is" with a pointed look at Ellie.

There was a universal groan at the cheesy line and Lucy piped up with, "I'm gonna be sick, where'd you find the hopeless romantic Ellie?"

Jess gave Tom a look and remembering her advice, Tom amended his earlier statement, "Well I should say, luckiest and most sleep deprived guy there is... Ellie well..." Tom leaned in theatrically and mouthed the word 'snores' to Lexi. The table erupted in laughter and Ellie's mouth opened wide in surprise.

"I don't snore!" she protested as her friends laughed around her, "I don't!"

Ashley spoke up, gesturing lazily with her fork, "You remember that time we all slept over at yours after Michael's party that one time?" Ellie nodded with a puzzled expression on her face, "You know how you and I were in a room together and the next day I kept complaining about how tired I was?" Ellie nodded again, this time with realisation slowly dawning on her face. Ashley grinned, "Ya snore."

Ellie put her hands up to her mouth as another round of laughter rolled across the table, "I can't believe I snore" she mumbled embarrassedly through her hands. "I can't believe you told them I snore," she said, pointing accusingly at Tom. The smile she couldn't stop from sneaking across her features robbed her accusation of any real punch through.

Tom shrugged with a grin, "It just slipped out."

The rest of lunch passed in much the same fashion, and Tom found himself being quickly accepted by Ellie's friends. Several times the group had to stop Tom and Ashely from devolving into conversation about the comics they were reading and Jess, true to her word, backed Tom up whenever he stumbled. Eventually, the warning bell went and everyone started to pack up their things and head to class.

Lexi interrupted everyone's goodbyes just as Tom was getting up to go "Oh! Before you go, Tom - congratulations you made the cut! Anyone object to him coming to the party next weekend?" There was a general shrugging and shaking of heads before Lexi continued, "Great! Ellie's got the details, it's just a lowkey thing, but it's my birthday so you have to buy me a super expensive present." she finished with a grin like a cheshire cat.

Almost in unison, everyone one else broke in "Ignore her!" and Lexi gave them a mock hurt look.

"Buy her a candle, it's the most she deserves" Jess called over her shoulder as she drifted off to class.

"More like a tealight" Jess muttered with a smirk as she too wandered off to class.

"Some friends," Lexi muttered, struggling to contain a smile.

Ellie slid her arm neatly through Tom's and led him away before they could get drawn into the argument.

"That, Thomas Edwards, went really well" she whispered in his ear as they walked off. "I think they liked you," she added as they made their way down the hall.

"Really? Not just being polite?" Tom asked.

Ellie shook her head, "They're not like that, you won them over with the joke about me snoring. I gotta know though, how'd you get Ashley in on it, do you guys know each other?" Tom blushed slightly and gave Ellie a pained look. "Because I don't snore" she said, a little forcefully this time.

"Of course not TBB" Tom said looking away, trying to smother a grin, "Of course not."

To be continued...