"I swear you are so whipped," Nate said, turning over one of the thin frames in his hands.
I sighed, looking over at him, "Am I not supposed to put thought into a gift?" I retorted tiredly, "A birthday present for that matter."
His response was a snicker. He shook his head, adding, "Just... calling it as it is." Before I could reply, he quickly said, "Come on, you really wanna undo the whole thing? It's perfect."
"But the frames would-"
"Dude," he cuts me off with a look, "I'm not helping you, because this is done." He gestures to the framed collage lying in the middle of the huge table, "She's gonna love it."
I frowned, eyeing the different size frames that I got. I got them because I thought framing the photos would make the whole thing more... presentable. I want it to be perfect. I've always been one to go above and beyond for my friends when a birthday comes around. I always start thinking beforehand about what they like and how I could get them something no one else would.
With Ari, I figured, since basically all her friends are gonna be off to college soon, she'd appreciate a collage of pictures of her with them. Some of them she didn't even know I took, and I knew she forgot I took most of them, so with that in mind, it'll be even better. She definitely won't be expecting this, and I'm counting on her thinking no one cares about her birthday to make this even more memorable.
"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah," he responded with a laugh, nodding.
Letting out a breath, I took a step back, eyeing the collage. "Fine," I waved, "I'll leave it."
Nate lets out a loud, exaggerated breath that made me roll my eyes. "The shit men do for love."
I made a face, turning my gaze to him, "What?"
"I don't mean it literally," he raises his hands defensively.
Scoffing, I started gathering the frames to put them away, "Thank God, the last thing I want to be peer pressured into next is being in love with her."
Thankfully, he changed the subject.
"This is my Saturday night," he voices loudly. He walked over to the couch and fell heavily on top of it, then maneuvered his body until he was lying on his back. He crossed his arms behind his head and kicked his legs over the arm of the couch.
"Actually, your Saturday night is us going back upstairs to make some chicken and fries." I turned to look at him with my arms held out, shrugging with my hands filled with frames.
I walked over to the shelf pushed against the back wall to put the frames away according to their size. Nate groaned loudly. I tilted my head back, "Fine! Chinese!" I called and shook my head when I heard him cheer lowly to himself.
"Would your mom be terribly put off by the idea of me inviting the squad?"
"Probably."
"Okay, I'll go ask her." He said excitedly, then I heard his feet on the stairs.
The lights went out, and I froze before shouting, "Nate!"
All I heard was his laugh before the basement door squeaked open then slammed shut. I shook my head and decided to fix the rest of the frames later so I can go talk my mom out of giving Nate his way.
With my arms partially outstretched, I tried maneuvering my way through the dark, blinking rapidly so my eyes could adjust. I remember the first couple of times he did this to me. I used to drop everything and hightail out of here, but I've gotten used to it over the years.
When I entered the living room, my mom was comfortably sitting in the plush burgundy-colored loveseat, sipping a glass of wine and peering at her phone in her hand while some slow jazz music played from the stereo. And Nate was on his phone.
My shoulders dropped and I stared at her blankly, "Please, tell me you didn't say yes."
Her eyes slowly moved up from her phone and she stared at me silently, and instead of answering, brought the glass to her lips again.
These days it seems like all she does is drink something. If it's not wine, it's coffee.
"Mom." I groaned loudly, throwing my head back.
"Christian." Her tone was uncaring.
So just to be petty, I made my way over to her and took the glass from her. I ignored her protest and set the glass on the coffee table. It was a couple feet away, so she'd have to get up to get it and that's what I was counting onâto sabotage her comfort. Like she just did me.
Smiling at her blank stare, my attention moved to Nate and I said, "Don't you dare invite acquaintances to my house."
A finger waved over his head, "Inner circle only!"
My gaze lands back on my mother and I shook my head at her, "Why would you do this to me?"
Her eyes rolled and she sat up, unfolding her legs from under her and pushing herself back into the seat. Now she had her left leg under her thigh and the other jutting outâhardly touching the floor.
"When was the last time you had friends over?" Is her irrelevant question.
"Why does it matter if I have friends over? I see them at school." I shrugged, "I'm not saying I don't wanna hang out, but-" I stretched my arms out, gesturing to everything around me, "Y'know, safe space and all?"
"Why are you mad at me? He's the one calling them." She juts her thumb over her shoulder at Nate who was practically bouncing on the spot. I turned my gaze back to her, giving her a knowing look. It's her fault, because if she'd said no, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Sighing, she sat both her feet on the ground and slid them into her flip flops as she said, "Oh, I see," She walked over to the coffee table to get her glass. She stood to her full height next to me, and smiled, "You're a party pooper." Her hand came up to my cheek and she pats me twice before walking away.
I shook my head, muttering, "Am not."
"Yes, you are," she called from behind me and I rolled my eyes.
â¤â â¤
"You should invite your new neighbors," Jess said, chewing on a gummy worm, "They can have friends before they start school." She added with a shrug after seeing the look on my face.
"So true," Mariana hyped, leaning forward, "I really would like to meet them."
"I'll go get em." Nate pushed himself up from the floor.
I throw my hands up, "Dude."
"What?" He retorts, "I wanna meet em too and we ordered enough food."
Groaning loudly, I got up and started leaving the room, "Mom!"
Thankfully, she was just on her way in, so I threw my arms around her without missing a beat, ignoring her warning when her wine almost spilled.
"What is it?" She asked when I laid my head on her shoulder.
"Such a momma's boy," I heard Carlos mutter and the rest of them made amused sounds ranging from low laughs to snickers.
It wasn't anything new that I was very affectionate, especially when it came to my mom. While most kids would be embarrassed, I don't mind at all. If anything, I embarrass her a lot more than she does me. After the other half of my family left, I clung to her with everything I had. Even before, I was more inclined to my mom, while my older brother was fonder of our dad. She really had a hard time after their divorce, and I was the only one there, so I try to show her how much I appreciate her by being an annoying son.
"They're inviting the neighbors' kids," I complained, "Tell them no."
"That's a very nice gesture, would you stop being so ridiculous," she tried getting out of my hold, but I didn't let her go. She sighed and stood still as I poured out my negative emotions.
"He's just miserable because Ariana's not coming." Jess said knowingly.
I pulled away from my mom to narrow my eyes at them, the same time Thion and Nate slipped past us to go next door. My eyes zeroed in on my friend, "I'm not." I disagreed, "I'm miserable because you people are invading my home. I'm uncomfortable."
My mother had subtly slipped away from me before I could realize and went to take her seat where she was before everyone got here.
Jess rolled her eyes, but Mariana was the one who spoke up next, "He's like this every time we go somewhere, and she can't come. He turns into a grumpy troll. She ruined us for him." She added the last part playfully.
She really did, though.
"You guys are acting like I plan stuff at my house all the time. You know how uncomfortable I get when too many people are here." I reminded them.
I'd go to their houses without any problem. We have sleepovers and mini parties by ourselves all the time. But the second they come here I just feel... naked. They're my friends and I trust them, but I just can't get used to too many people at my place. It feels like I'm being invaded, like my walls are knocked down. I think it's because it's been me and my mom for so long that it messed with my head a little. When I'm home, I feel safe and secure and once there are people hereâespecially ones I don't know that wellâI feel the exact opposite.
My mom was shaking her head at me, but when she gestured me over, I was all too happy to go. I plopped down next to her and her arm went around my shoulders while I rest my head on her shoulder again.
"I think you need therapy." Sean said, nodding.
My eyebrows raised, "Are you gonna give it to me?"
He smirked, "If you want me to."
After that there were suggestive sounds that caused my ears to get hot. Carlos was grinning from ear to ear as Sean leaned into him.
I leaned away from my mom because of my embarrassment, "First of all, my mom's right here," I reminded all of them and they laughed as if something was funny. Then I turned to Carlos and pointed at Sean, "And you're just gonna let him talk to me like that?"
"Hey," Sean points back at me in good humor, "You started it."
Carlos shrugged, "You don't swing that way." But then he eyed me and asked, "Do you?"
I made a face, "What? No, I'm not attracted to guys, Carlos."
There was a teasing smile on his face, and he lifted a hand defensively, "Just making sure."
Turning back to my mom, I gave her a blank stare and she met my eyes, sipping from her glass in a way to be subtle. "You did this." I gestured to the two guys who were having too much fun at my expense.
She lowered her glass, saying "Those are your friends."
I smiled, suddenly feeling satisfied all of a sudden. She looked happy. At least I hope she is. If it wasn't so personal, I'd ask her right now.
"Are you gonna eat with us?" I asked instead.
An exaggerated sigh left her, "No. I think I rather make myself some beef lasagna." She smiled before getting up, "And none of you are getting any. Enjoy your takeout."
I gaped at her as a couple of my friends made sounds of protest.
"That is so not fair!" I called as she's leaving.
It's nights like these I curse her degree in culinary arts.
I turn to point at my friends, "You did this." They all started coming at me, but I didn't care, "I'd be having lasagna tonight if it wasn't for you people." I said, raising my voice over theirs.
"What's he going on about now?"
We all looked over at the entrance as Nate and Thion strolled in with their plus three. Great.
"So, your parents just," I shrugged, "Handed you over to a bunch of strangers?" I retorted as they got closer.
Jeseah was the one who eyed me cautiously, probably catching on to my mood. It was Amie who replied though.
She was grinning, "No, they texted your mom first."
She didn't even finish the sentence all the way before I shouted, "Mom!"
Jeseah let out a dry laugh, "Do you not want us here?"
"Of course not," I scoffed without thinking. I froze, "Wait-" I rubbed my forehead, "Sorry, that was not nice to say."
"I'd worry, because he meant it," Carlos said, then he introduced himself.
I dropped my hand and sat back lazily, deciding to just let everything go at this point. I'll try to enjoy all these people sitting around my house.
Maybe I do need therapy.
Mariana got up as they got closer and outstretched her hand toward Amie, saying, "We apologize for him. He doesn't like crowds in his home. It's his weakness." She added the last part in a low whisper. She also introduced herself.
"If it makes you feel any better, he feels the same for the rest of us. And some of us he's known since middle school." That was Jess, and she said that with a large smile.
After that they busied themselves with introducing themselves and participated in meaningless conversation like, where they're from and why they moved here. I know I'm being an asshole and that's why I settled on just keeping my mouth shut. These are my friends, for the most part, and I should be welcoming and open my arms to them. This is much better than a bunch of strangers, or people who I hardly talk to, being in my living room.
So after letting out a long breath, I slid down on the couch and crossed my arms over my chest, getting comfortable. Instead of being a 'party pooper' I'm just gonna chill and remind myself that these aren't strangers. For the most part.
I frowned after my eyes went around the room and a familiar face was missing, "Is Jules coming?" I asked, turning to Nate.
He shrugged, "I dunno, she did say she was working overtime, so she might be here late even if she does show up."
I nodded, "Cool."
"I like how nobody's asking about Amanda," Mariana said, her voice getting louder, "You know? Our friend since sophomore year?" she emphasizes, leaning forward as she looked around. ***
"Anything after Fresh is trash." Thion waved. "I'm playin'!" He added after seeing the looks he was getting, "But come on, let's not act like we all don't know she doesn't like Ari." He gets up from his spot on the floor and sat next to Jess. He drapes an arm around her shoulder and pulled her back into the couch with him. My lips twitched when she groaned. "Which, if Ariana had said or done something to her would be understandable, buuuttt she didn't." He pointed with a nod.
It wasn't something that was hard to catch. It's more than obvious. Amanda would try to always one-up Ari on numerous occasions. Ariana would be saying something, and she'd just totally cut her off, ignore her, or start a whole other conversation. I caught her expressions a lot of times when Ari comes around our group or she starts talking, and it's not something that's pleasant. And like Thion said, it would make sense if Ari had done anything wrong to her or anyone else in our group but she's a total sweetheart. Everyone loves her.
"I mean, come on, we're all friends here and it's not like I'm comin' at her for no reason. She's just starting to piss me off with this childish shit she got goin' on," Thion added, "I'm not picking sides or replacing her, we can all be friends with no problem, but she's making it difficult. We all know Ariana hasn't done anything to her."
"I think it's cause she's black." Jess said and everyone turned to look at her.
"Oh, come on! That's ridiculous," Mariana responded as Thion laughed, "You're black." She gestures to Jess, "And they're half black." She gestured to Thion and Carlos next.
"Okay, and?" Jess replied with attitude, reminding me very much of Ari that it made me smile.
Jess sat forward quickly and said, "Tell me if this sounds familiar to you," she switched her attention to Thion who was grinning at her. I swear he has the tendency to make it look like he's in love with anyone when he looks at them like that. Believe me I've seen it.
Suddenly Jess rests a hand on his shoulder and when she spoke, her voice was low and smooth for dramatic effect, "You're different, Nathion."
"How am I different?" Thion went along with it.
Jess shook her head, "You're not like other black p-"
"Stop," Mariana cut the whole act short, "Saying she's racist or prejudice or whatever is really serious, when she could just not like her. I'm not saying it's justifiable and I know it's stupid, but it happens. A lot of people don't like people who they don't even know and hasn't done anything to them. How about we jump to that conclusion if she ever does or says something against black people."
She is right, I nodded to myself. Doesn't mean it doesn't piss me off though. Ariana had me promise not to approach Amanda about it, but my patience gets thinner with every negative encounter.
"Okay." Jess held her hands up, "You're right. She's never done anything racist or prejudice toward me and it's wrong for me to insinuate that." She leaned back against Thion again, adding, "But what's the problem though? Ariana's nicer than everyone in this group combined! It makes no sense!"
Slowly, everyone's gaze drew to me.
I looked over my shoulder briefly, becoming confused when there's no one standing behind me, "What?"
They all muttered, "Nothing," collectively and looked away, their eyes going every-which-way.
I was still confused with their reactions and trying to figure it out when the doorbell rang. Nate didn't spare a second before he jumped up, got the cash from the coffee table, and went to answer the door.
"Finally." Thion muttered, untangling his arm from around Jess and got up to go to the door with Nate.
"Oh yeah," I started, pointing at the three siblings, "I don't know if you guys like Chinese, but we ordered enough if you'd like."
They all agreed that they don't mind, and Mariana got up, promising to get plates. Fifteen minutes later, we were all scattered around with full plates of our respective choices and some Netflix movie was on that we really weren't paying attention to. I knew shutting up would do me well because I eventually started enjoying this.
In thirty minutes, the twins and Amie looked like they were more comfortable and were getting along with my friends, so they'll have people to look forward to seeing on Monday morning. And I swear every time Jess said anything to Amie she blushed. It's probably just me and the dim lighting from the TV.
"So," Jeseah started and I looked up from my plate along with everyone else, "I know this is pretty late, but who's..." She glanced around in curiosity, "Who's Ariana, and Amanda?"
It was Carlos who responded, "Well, Amanda, like you've heard, is one of our friends. We've all known her since sophomore year. We all kinda do everything together. Ariana, also one of our friends, was a new recruit. She joined our group in the beginning of this year thanks to this one," he pointed at me and I gave a two-finger salute when they looked my way.
"You're all very welcome," I said teasingly with a grin, enjoying their amused responses.
"She's pretty great, so you guys have a lot to live up to." Thion added with a playful grin.
"My people."
My head snapped up and my heart practically started sprinting in my chest.
There in the entrance was Julia with a plate held up to her face and her fork scraping against it as she stuffed a fork filled, no doubt, with my mother's lasagna, into her mouth. And next to her, also with a plate in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, was Ariana. They were both coming over.
I let my eyes rake down her body because I couldn't help it. She was wearing leggings and another one of her favorite thingsâa dark knitted sweater that slipped down her left shoulder, exposing her skin. My tongue ran over my bottom lip and my eyes dropped to her feet that were covered by black wool socks that stopped almost halfway up her calves. Then I caught sight of her hair and my jaw dropped.
It was something fancy that I've never seen her do. They were still braids, but they were bigger and the front had different sized cornrows that went up into two pigtails. It was cute, but... sexy at the same time. I couldn't see the back very well, but by the swishing, I could tell the braids fell to her waist.
There was a large smile on her face that lit up the dim room and I couldn't stop myself from smiling too. My phone vibrated on the arm of the couch next to me, but I ignored it.
I didn't pay much attention to all the greetings going around because I couldn't. She's just...
"Like, ten minutes ago," Ariana replied to a question I didn't hear.
"You guys left the door open by the way," Julia added, taking a seat on the floor next to Sean and setting her plate on the coffee table.
"Yeah, so when we came in, we smelled the good stuff from the kitchen and..." Ariana said, looking sheepish, "Yeah, we couldn't resist." She shrugged and sat her plate and water down on the coffee table on the opposite side of Julia, "And I needed to go say hi to Charlotte. She said we're not supposed to give you guys any, so..." she pointed at her plate, looking around, "Don't ask."
Her eyes caught mine and she smiled, mouthing, "Hi," dramatically, then grinned in a way that made my insides warm.
My lips rolled into my mouth briefly and I jerked my head to the spot next to me. She made a face but sighed and took her stuff back up. She made her way around the small table, until she was standing in front of me. I sat up, looking up at her as her eyes moved from the space and back to me.
She finally said, "I can hardly fit there."
"Sure, you can," I scooted over.
Sighing, she leaned down and sat her bottle by the corner of the loveseat on the floor, then squeezed in next to me. Her scent wafted up to me and I sighed like a creep. She smells too good.
I leaned forward again, resting my elbows on my knees with my plate held up like a platter to my face, just like I was before. When she sat down, she had to readjust the cushions, so she wasn't squished up against me. She crossed her legs and my eyes went straight for them before I looked at her plate when she took her fork up.
"No," she said suddenly, knowing what's coming next.
"Not even half a fork?" I bargained.
She shook her head, "Uh-uh." Her moved her fork all around her lasagna, and my mouth watered at the steam that rose from it. "You're pathetic." She said with a snicker, getting a full fork of her meal and lifting it. She moved it around for a couple of seconds then brought it to my lips. I didn't question or hesitate to take it.
"Thank you," I chewed out, with a smile and she hummed.
"You're Ariana?"
I looked up along with Ari, and Amie was staring at her.
"Hello," Ari replied with a smile.
I sat up, "Yeah, this is Ari," I introduced, "Those are my new neighbors," I told her and let them tell her their names.
"And you're not Amanda, right?" Amie pointed at Julia who scoffed.
"As if," she retorted and I smirked along with the low laughs that came from around the room, "No, I'm Julia. Great to meet you."
"You're the girl," I heard Jeseah say and I stiffened. I gave her a look, but she wouldn't glance my way, "You were in the news. You got shot."
It was amazing how I could be relieved and pissed at the same time. I should kick her out. Who the hell brings up something like that?
But Ari handled it better than I thought she would. "Yes, I was," she was smiling, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Yes, I was," she repeated, looking down at her plate, "Good times."
It wasn't something she spoke about. None of us brought it up because it's kind of a traumatic thingâbeing the victim of a shooting. She hasn't talked about it since it happened and she refused to go to therapy, court, give a statement- all of it. It's like she's trying to cut the whole thing out of her life altogether, but I knew it affected her a great deal. To be honest I'm really worried about her, but I don't wanna push her to talk about it.
Which is why I found myself saying, "Let's not start conversation with that, yeah?" I gave Jeseah a look and she returned a sheepish one, muttering a small apology. "How about, why do you think you should come in my house and go into the kitchen before you come see me?" I'd already twisted my body to give her my full attention.
She raised her eyes to meet my own and I fought not to drop the serious front I'm putting up, "You?" She retorted. I gave her a 'duh' look. "First of all, you're not the only one here, and seeing as you're not paying bills, seeing your mom first seemed like the more appropriate thing to do since I knew she was here."
I drew back, "So you're saying," I paused, "That seeing my mom before me when you come here is the right thing to do?"
She opened her mouth to say something then closed it hesitantly, her eyes averting to a spot over my head. "I know that's not a trick question," she said lowly, more to herself, "So why does it feel like it is..."
"Next time you see me first."
Her lips pursed and she eyed me, "And who the hell are you?" she retorted.
"Chris Rich."
A grin spread across her face and she nodded, "I really love your name."
I didn't think before I replied, "It's yours if you want it."
Then I had to force the heat in my cheeks away when I heard all the suggestive, teasing sounds coming from my group of friends. I forgot they were even here. I tried my best to not acknowledge Mariana muttering, "I think he just proposed for real."
"It's an inside joke." I gritted out to play off my embarrassment.
"You still haven't gotten that thing under control, huh?" Ari said pitifully, referring to my tendency of not thinking before I speak.
"No," I mutter, shaking my head and reached for the small box container I had at my foot that my food came in.
I stopped when I noticed my mom standing in the open doorway of the living room. I could feel my heart beating in my throat as I replayed all of what just happened in the last minute and wondered how long she's been standing there and how much she heard or could hear.
She was leaning against the wall casually, slowly circling her glass and making the dark red liquid swirl around in it. The simple action with her blank stare was enough for me to be intimidated. Her lips twitched which made me confused. But before it could fully turn into what I thought could be a smile, she brought the glass to her lips. I did not know what to make of that.
Her attention moved from me when Thion said something.
"Ouuu, you're in trouble," Ari sang teasingly with a snicker.
"Shut up." I mumbled, sharing more food on my plate. I'm a stress eater.
When I looked up my mom was standing behind the couch and holding her glass in front of Thion's face. He took it all too eagerly.
"I know you lyin," he hyped.
"What is going on?" I asked loudly, my hand held out in disbelief.
I ignored all the laughing as Thion sipped the alcoholic beverage noisily, peaking at me over the top of the glass with a taunting look.
"Mom, what are you-"
"He's eighteen," she cut me off, "You can have some too if you'd like..." she tilts her head toward the kitchen.
I'm sure my response was written on my face, but I said it anyway, "No."
She mouthed, "Party pooper."
My stare was blank, and I heard Ariana laughing lowly next to me.
My mother must be drunk right now.
She was never one to act like a 'fun mom'. She just did weird stuff sometimes, like now, as she's giving my teenage friend alcohol. Otherwise from that she's never acted out of character or tried to befriend the people I hang around. Her aura alone told them she wasn't their friend, but she was never mean about it. It's times like these I'm convinced I'm the parent here.
"Dude," Ariana said, slapping her hand on my arm heavily.
I flinched away, turning to stare at her wide eyed, "Ow?"
She made a face, "That didn't even hurt."
"And how would you know?" I retorted, turning as much as I could to face her, my leg pressed against hers.
She held up a finger, "Stop talking over my food."
That caused me to look down at the steaming plate on her lap. I have no clue how that's not burning her, and I was about to question it when she spoke again.
"I think I left my hair tie here. I need it."
"The blue one?" An image of the huge, fluffy, hair accessory popped up in my head. It was her favorite one for that sole reason. It's been sitting on my desk in my room for like a week now. I was just waiting to see how long she could go without noticing.
She nodded with a hum, shoveling a fork full of lasagna into her mouth.
"It's on my desk," I told her, setting the empty takeout container of shrimp fried rice down on the floor. When I turned back to my plate, her fork was all over my rice and she's lucky she put me in a better mood, or I would've lost my shit. Instead I ignored it, saying, "You can go it get when you're ready."
"Uh-uuuuhh," she drawled with her mouthful, stopping when she remembered it wasn't just the two of us in the room like most times when we eat. I chuckled, using my fork to even out the rest of my food on my plate.
She waited until she swallowed the rest of her food to speak again, "I'm not going all the way up there. It's like going to heaven and Jesus gonna kick me out. You brought it up there, you go get it."
I finished chewing before looking over at her, "You're the one who needs it, right?"
"But..." she lets out a whiny sound, pouting at me, "You know I'm fat now. I'm not gonna make it."
I rolled my eyes at that, turning back to my plate as I shook my head. She calls herself fat, day in and day out, I'm getting used to it at this point. I used to tell her she isn't, because she isn't, but she just tells me to shut up. But seeing as she doesn't have an actual problem with it, I just overlook it now. At least I try to. Have to say, it bothers me more than it does her.
There was a loud sound and I looked up. Mariana had her hands held up and a disbelieving look on her face, "You've been in his lair?" She drawled. I gave her a blank look.
The rest of my friends laughed and I'm getting tired of them having fun at my expense. They're in my house.
Ari lets out a laugh that sounded forced and nervous, "Come on, you guys have been in his room." She said and it sounded more hopeful than a statement of fact.
"I think the only person here we all know have been in there more than thrice," Mariana paused for dramatic effect and I sighed, "is Nate."
Ariana turned to me, confusion written on her face, "Why?"
The back of my neck was getting hot again, "It's... private space." I sputtered, keeping my gaze away from them.
"I tell you he needs therapy." Sean said.
"I just don't like humans in my room."
Ariana muttered, "So I'm not human?" She said it so low I doubt anyone else heard. Nate wondered something similar a second later.
"I thought he lived in the basement or something," Iseah said, eliciting more amused sounds from my friends.
"Yeah, he gave us a tour of the house and showed us every room except his." His twin backed him up.
"Okay, fine!" I exclaimed, "I have issues, are we done?"
"I didn't get a tour."
I gave Ariana an exasperated look, "Not the time." I murmured. She fought to hold back a smile.
"Guys, let's ease up on sweet Christel," she said teasingly as I looked down at my plate again, my cheeks beat red, no doubt, "He doesn't like all the teasing." Her arm came around my shoulders and she swayed us a little, making me smile and shake my head. "We all just love you that's all." She muttered sweetly, her chin resting on my shoulder innocently.
I didn't look at her. "Stop flirting with me. My mom's in the room. We can't do married people things right now."
She laughed in that way that lit up everything the same way her smile did, then leaned away. I grinned.
"So, Ari, your birthday's in a week or two."
She stopped eating and paused for a second, "How'd you-" she cut herself short and turned to me, "Keep talking to my mom, Chris." She said daringly.
A sound of protest left me, but I didn't deny it because that's exactly how I found out. It's her fault anyway. She wouldn't tell me what date it was, just kept saying, "sometime in April", so I had to go to extreme measures to find out.
"You wouldn't fess up," I replied defensively.
"Cause it's none of your business, Christen." She said slowly, her voice rising to emphasize what she was saying.
My eyes narrowed in mock confusion, "I don't follow."
Her face went blank and I pursed my lips to stop myself from laughing when everyone else did.
"How old are you turning?" That was Jeseah.
Ari turned back to the plate on her knee, taking up her fork again, "Thirty." She muttered, taking up a good amount of lasagna on her fork and stuffing it in her mouth. She stuffs herself like a turkey when she's pissed sometimes.
I grinned, placing my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into my side. I ignored the sound she made as she balanced her plate, and said, "She's turning a proud 17. Such a baby."
"Get off me."
My grin widened and I hugged her tighter, "See how childish she is?"
"I take it back. Go ahead and rip him one, guys. Throw all his insecurities out there."
Everyone started laughing and I chuckled, patting her arm before pulling away so we can both go back to eating.
"Well, I was thinking we all do something for your-"
"I don't wanna." Ari chewed out, cutting off Mariana, who pouted.
I looked over at Ari and finished chewing before I spoke, "Don't be stubborn."
A smirk pulled at my lips when her eyes went to the ceiling in irritation, "I will stab you with this fork."
"I'm counting on it." Was my unthinking reply.
"Okay, Chris, we get it, you like it rough. Now back to Ari," Carlos said.
My eyes closed and I breathed deeply at all the suggestive sounds they all started making. It was something that wouldn't have bothered me more than usual if my mother wasn't in the room. And I could feel her stare on me. She's probably tying a rope around my neck in her head right now.
"I hate you people." I muttered lowly. It was too low for them to hear but I'm sure they read my lips and that's why they started laughing.
"But, like, it's on a Saturday, right? Can't we just go out and eat and see a movie or something? Please?" Mariana had her hands clasped under her chin and her bottom lip poked out.
Just hearing Ari's voice next told me she had a look of distaste on her face, "But it's cold." There were sounds of protest. Ariana did not care. She went on to say, "I was planning on staying home. And watching- dude!" She'd turned to me and slapped my arm again. Harder than the first time and I knew I was gonna have a swollen handprint there by the end of the night.
"What is with you and assaulting me!?" I looked at her incredulously.
She smiled all weird, like when she was gonna say something flirty, but stopped herself. We stared at each other until we started snickering.
"Okay, okay," she giggled, "So the second part of Sabrina came out, right." She grinned, nodding slowly.
I couldn't hold back my own smile, "I know."
Ever since we stayed up that one night watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina last year, it became our thing. We finished it up over here when she'd come over, and we've been waiting for the second part to come out for a couple months now.
"We need to set a movie night because if I sit down to watch it, I'm not getting up," she shook her head, "I haven't even been on Netflix since I knew it came out."
"Tempting isn't it?" I retorted, nodding. I felt the exact same way, but we agreed a while back that we were gonna watch it together when it finally came out.
"I know," she groaned, tilting her head back and did a weird jerk. I bit back a snort.
"Well..." Thion started, catching our attention again, "Since that's settled, I guess we're all caught up." He said sarcastically.
His deadpanned stare was enough to break the awkward silence that had settled over the group when Ari and I started talking 'show'. None of them have ever watched the show even though we've told them numerous times to check it out. So, when Ari and I start talking about it, they have no clue what we're saying. It's like a whole other language to them. Especially a couple months ago when the trailer came out for the second part...
Perfection is all I can say for it.
I totally fangirled over it, but I threatened everyone that was in the vicinity to never speak of it again. On the other hand, it's nice we have something together though. Call me crazy or possessive, but I kinda like that this is just a 'us' thing and no one else is involved. At least not yet. If we keep talking about, everyone's gonna start watching it at some point. And until then, it will remain our thing.
So, with that, Ariana went and made them all feel stupid and told them it's none of their business because we've been pushing them to watch it and get in the loop, but they refused to because they're all lame. And for the first time tonight, I finally felt like we were all sitting in my house again.
Regardless, it was a good night.