"Alright, lets get started," Mrs. Marks says, clasping her hands in front of her. "I'm sure Brendan told you all why you're here." We all nod. "Yes, so I have the honor of writing an article. I have decided, since I am fortunate to have a son in this generation, that I would write it on an average teenage life."

The woman is tall and skinny and incredibly poised. She takes every step back and forth in the room without a sound, holding perfect posture. She wears a white knee length dress that has a black belt around the waist, with her hair up in a French twist behind her head. She is definitely the most sophisticated woman I have ever seen. I feel so out of place wearing my dark jeans and yellow floral tank top.

The other girls must have known to dress more formally than usual. Shelby is in a plum full length dress and black five inch heels. Missy is wearing a lacy black skirt and white blouse, her hair falling in curls. Karen is wearing a mint color sundress and her hair pulled half back.

"How this is going to work is you all will hang out as usual, being the immature teens you are. Lili will work the camera and take photos. You've got the camera right?" I nod, holding it up. "You'll record some of your conversations with this." She puts a black device that looks similar to an old iPod on the coffee table. "And at the end of the month, you'll send me the pictures and give me back the recorder and I will write the article."

"So our conversations and stuff aren't, like, scripted?" Danny asks, resting his elbows on his knees.

"If they were, I could just make this whole thing up," she says. "I may make some tweaks and adjustments, but I want to really know how teenagers act."

"Right," Danny nods.

"I suppose I'll leave you kids to it," Mrs. Marks says, then she walks off as shuts the door behind her.

"Now what?" Drew asks with a laugh.

"I feel suddenly awkward to hang out," Danny says.

"I know," Missy says.

Danny just stares at her blankly. He obviously hasn't forgotten the fact that he broke up with Missy. He also hasn't forgotten the fact that he's super annoyed with her.

"I'm hungry," Drew tells us, letting his head fall back.

"We could go over to Sammy's Diner," I suggest, shrugging.

"The place down by that boutique? With the gross greasy fries?" Shelby asks, looking disgusted.

"Yep. That's the one," I reply, watching her with a blank expression.

"You eat that stuff?" She asks in horror, her eyes inspecting my body in its entirety.

"Yeah," I say. "It's good."

"But salad and pineapple are better," Karen exclaims, raising her eyebrows. "Shel said that those make us skinnier and less ugly."

"I hate pineapple," I laugh.

"That explains it..." Missy smiles smugly.

"Ah, girls shut up," Drew says. "Lets go get some Sammy's fries and burgers."

"But-" Shelby starts.

"And you girls can bring your stupid salads," Drew rolls his eyes.

*•*•*

"Hello, welcome to Sammy's Diner. How may I help you?"

The girl looks to be about our age. She has bleach blonde hair and about a pound of makeup on her face. Her name tag tells us that her name is 'Grace.'

"Can we get a table for seven?" Drew asks, stepping forward.

"Sure thing," Grace says and winks at him before leading us to a table.

I end up sitting between Karen and Drew. Missy decides to sit beside Danny which is already proving to be a bad idea.

"Do you remember that day when you broke your lamp?" Missy asks, facing Danny.

"No," Danny says, not even looking up from his menu.

"No? I'm sure you do. We were eating sushi in your room and you were laughing so hard you fell into it," Missy says with a small laugh.

"Missy, please be quiet," Danny says, taking a deep breath.

"No, wait! Remember that day you first asked me to Junior prom and I accidentally said no? You were so confused," Missy smiles.

"Shh," Danny says. "I don't care."

"There was also that one-"

"Shut up!" Danny finally exclaims, looking up, eyes wide in annoyance.

We're all silent, watching and waiting. Several people from other tables have turned to witness as well.

"Karen, would you mind switching seats with me?" Danny asks.

"Sure," Karen replies and moves over to his old seat.

He sits down beside me and focuses back on his menu as if nothing happened at all.

"That was a fun time," Drew whispers with a laugh.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" I ask quietly.

"They used to go out and stuff, actually for about a year they did. Finally Danny got tired of her since she's a clingy and demanding puppy dog. She still claims to like him, but he's so done with her," Drew says in a whisper.

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, it's awkward listening to their conversations. Although I am more than glad they did end up breaking up because he was miserable, being dragged around by her," Drew shakes his head sadly.

"Why was he with her for so long?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"I guess it wasn't as bad at the beginning. Then they had just been together so long that it was hard to cut it off and be a loner again," Drew shrugs.

"Yeah, like you," I smirk.

"And you," he raises an eyebrow.

"How do you know that?" I ask with a grin.

"Because you only hang out with us, you nerd," he smiles and winks.

"I have other friends," I roll my eyes.

He just laughs and shakes his head.

"How long have you been single?" I ask. I regret it immediately. "Oh, sorry you don't have to answer that."

He laughs. "It's fine. It's been around seven months now... Aria Lewis was my last girlfriend. She moved to Arkansas."

"I'm sorry," I reply with a frown.

"It's okay," he says. "It's pretty great to be single, I'll say."

"Sure is."

"How long have you been single?" He asks with a smirk.

"Ah, about four years... I dated Sam Darwin as a freshman," I say, turning bright red. "It only lasted about two weeks..."

"Hey, Lili!" Brendan calls from across the table.

It's now that I notice Grace is back and ready for my order. I smile, embarrassed and Brendan is laughing at me.

"Sorry," I say. "Uh, I'll have an Original Sammy Burger, no pickles... Oh, and waffle fries!"

"Right," Grace says, jotting that down.

"And I'll have a house salad," Shelby says, pursing her lips.

"And for you?" Grace looks at Drew.

"Same as Lili here got," he says with a wink. I roll my eyes.

"Drew, you're such a flirt," Brendan says, looking annoyed.

"Yeah," Shelby says. "And if you're going to flirt, why don't you talk to some girl that's actually in your league?"

"If you've got a problem with me, say it to my face," I challenge, eyes narrowed.

"Okay, if you insist," Shelby smirks. "You have a horrid sense of style, your hair is too greasy, you eat fat foods, and you're a loner girl with no life."

"And you're too full of yourself, super annoying, irritatingly talkative, and you think too highly of yourself."

"You're too low to date any guy," Shelby frowns. "I heard you earlier. Your last boyfriend was in freshman year and he broke it off after only two weeks. Maybe if you stopped acting like you're cooler than you really are, you could get some nerdy guys."

I raise my eyebrows and laugh. "And you're the one that needs a chair for her purse. I think we can all agree that you're too stuck up to let any guy meet your standards."

"Oooh," Drew says, laughing.

"You know what? I'm sick of you and these guys and everyone," Shelby says, standing up from her chair. "Have fun with your new best friend. Come talk to me again when you realize she's a faking loser."

She starts to walk away, and Karen and Missy follow, looking annoyed.

"That was entertaining," Danny says.

"You know, Lili, you're really cool. Don't let those snobby girls get to you. Even though I'm pretty sure you've got yourself covered," Drew tells me, smiling.

"Yeah, I'd actually hang out with you over any of those three girls any day," Danny says.

"Well, Missy is one of those three and so is Shelby... So that's an obvious statement," Drew smirks.

"You know, I didn't really expect you to be able to defend yourself like that," Brendan says. I just give him a blank look.

"Are you serious, Brendan? This chick always has her own back," Danny laughs. "It's great."

"Thanks for all the compliments, guys, but I didn't think being jerky to your friend was that awesome," I say, feeling quite confused.

"It is," Drew and Danny say at the same time.

"Your food is ready," Grace says, and she is holding a tray before us. She seems confused to see that the girls are no longer here.

"Half our members decided to ditch us," Danny explains.

"Oh, I see," Grace smiles.

We now each have our plates of food placed in front of us. Grace smiles and winks at Drew before she leaves the table with the food meant for the others.

He's looking at his plate of food and shaking his head. He holds up a little sheet of paper.

"She gave me her number."

"That's flattering," Danny laughs.

"No, that's super weird," Drew replies, folding the paper up and throwing it onto the ground.

I start to eat the burger and glorious waffle fries. As I do, I wonder how on earth anyone could possibly get a salad instead of this. It's ridiculous.

"Those are good, huh?" Drew asks with a laugh.

I nod, gladly taking another bite.

"I guess I'll give it a try," he says, lifting a fry into his mouth. Right away, his eyes widen. "Whoa."

"I know, right? They're so good," I smirk.

"Let me try one!" Danny reaches onto my plate and grabs one off. I frown.

"Hey! Not cool." But it's already in his mouth.

I notice Brendan sitting across from me, not saying anything, just repeatedly dipping his French fry in ketchup, looking away.

"Yo, Brendan," Drew says.

Brendan looks up.

"What's up with you?" He asks. "You're never this quiet."

Brendan shrugs. "I don't know, I'm kind of tired. I think I'm gonna head home."

We all watch as he leaves his seat and walks off towards the exit. Before he leaves, he takes one last glance back at us. The other two boys are already talking and don't notice, but I do.