Marvin Makes Dinner

(A/N I just want to write a fun random chapter to cheer myself up because I tortured myself by listening to What Would I Do for the millionth time so just go with it)

Marvin

I know that I've always said Mendel is extremely annoying and I've never wanted to spend any time with him under any circumstances whatsoever, but here we are, walking down the hallway and he's talking my ear off.

"That's why it's actually important that I'm a psychology major," he's saying, although I have no idea what he was talking about before but it was probably bullshit. Then I think I should probably start being nicer to him, so I nod.

"Interesting."

I don't even know where we're going, I just know this is around the same place where Trina and I had that conversation all those weeks ago. Oh, there's something to talk about.

"Have you asked Trina out yet?" I question suddenly. I've been trying not to feel bitter about him having feelings for her, especially since I basically left her for a guy and all. As soon as I say this, Mendel stops cold.

"No, not yet. How did you even know I wanted to?"

"Because you told me?"

He sighs. "Right. I always forget who I tell these things. Anyway, no, I haven't."

"She would say yes," I tell him. "I can tell. You two have chemistry. So much it's painful to watch. Seriously, just thinking about it now I can't tell whether I want to throw up or cry."

Mendel gives me a look. "Thanks," he replies.

"But I've said that enough times already. You can pick what you do, because we're still college freshmen and literally nothing we do right now is going to matter."

"That's reassuring," he says sarcastically. And I'm a little impressed, because I've never heard sarcasm from him before.

"Trust me," I laugh. "Four years can do a lot to a person. I thought I was straight at the beginning of high school."

Before either of us can further contribute to the conversation, we walk past the staircase and I see Whizzer going down. I wave him over.

"Hey, Whizzer! Come here! I'm talking to Mendel."

Upon seeing me, he smiles and nonchalantly slides over the railing. "Hi, Marvin. Mendel. You and Trina had sex yet?"

"No, we have not done that either," Mendel answers, trying to act cool over the question, but I can tell he's starting to get flustered.

"God, Whizzer, can you give it a break?" I ask. "Why are you so obsessed with them?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Why are you?"

Damn. He didn't have to call me out like that. Mendel clearly has no idea what's going on. Of course it never would have occurred to him that I resented him just a little for getting so close to my ex, would it?

"Do you guys want to grab some food?" he says, glancing from me to Whizzer. "No? Okay, well, I do, so I'll see myself out." Obviously uncomfortable, he leaves.

Whizzer watches him go. "Look at what you did. You created tension."

"You created the tension the minute you jumped over that railing."

"You called me over," he replies, putting me in a headlock and ruffling my hair.

"Oh, my God. How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that."

He grins. "You love it."

I absolutely do not love it (okay, I do, but at the same time it gets on my nerves). I fix my hair as we continue walking through the hall. "So, what's the plan for this evening? Are we going to your place?"

"I don't know," Whizzer muses. "We always go to my place."

"That's because I live in a literal box."

"True, true. How about a compromise? I go to my place and you go to your box and we FaceTime while Cordelia's watching TV or something?"

"I don't want to do that," I complain. "I want us to spend some time together. Face-to-face. We never do that anymore."

He glances at me with a smirk. "Funny. That's not what you said when it came to my parents," he remarks.

"Not this again. Anything but this again."

"I'm just joking, Marvin. But yeah, you have a point. Okay, you can come over tonight if you agree to make dinner, because Cordelia and I are both exhausted from taking turns all week long."

I blink. "It's Wednesday."

"Yeah, and we're exhausted. Is that a yes or a no?"

"Fine." I roll my eyes. "I'll make dinner for you."

-

So I come over that night and, as promised, I make dinner. Cordelia's extremely grateful, which is nice, but also, are they really that tired? I guess actually making your own food is different than just microwaving a frozen dinner in your dorm. I don't mind having to make it, though.

"Heyyy," Whizzer greets me, coming into the kitchen because evidently his favorite thing to do is to annoy me when I'm busy. "How's it going, my little chef?"

I stare straight ahead. "I'm not your little chef."

"Marvin! Whizzer!" Cordelia calls from the front hall. "Trina's here!"

"Trina??" I demand. I hand the pasta spoon I'm holding to Whizzer and head out into the living room to see what's going on. Cordelia is currently inviting my ex-girlfriend in and showing her where to put her coat. "What is she doing here?"

"She wanted to have a nice dinner with us, so shut up and comply," Cordelia whispers, passing me on her way to the kitchen.

Trina smiles, though it looks forced. "Hey, Marvin."

"Hi." What do I say to her? I know we agreed to get along, but does that mean we have to be best friends or some shit? I suddenly remember I'm supposed to be making dinner, so I go back into the kitchen. Whizzer is still standing there, holding the pasta spoon. I take it from him and go back to stirring my pot.

"So, Trina's here?" he says, leaning against the counter. "That's interesting."

"You should go say hi to her," I suggest, because I want him out of the room. I'm sure he knows what I'm thinking, but he shrugs and leaves anyway.

I finish making their stupid dinner, and then I feel like just going back to my dorm, but I remember earlier and deciding I should be nice to Mendel, so maybe I should do the same with a Trina. We did call a truce, didn't we? So I'm just going to suck it up. Besides, I made this dinner.

"Is it done?" Cordelia asks, coming into the kitchen. "Ooh, great! You know, since we have guests, let's eat in the dining room."

Whizzer elbows her. "There is no dining room."

"Oh, right. Well, then let's eat in the living room."

"That sounds good," Trina agrees, even though it's obviously the only place we all can eat. So we get our food and we have it in the stupid living room and everything goes fine. Whizzer starts asking Trina about a job interview, which I had no idea about before.

"Have you heard back yet?" he wants to know.

She smiles and puts her plate down. "Well, I was going to wait a while to tell you guys this, but... I got the job!" she exclaims.

"Trina! Congratulations!" cries Whizzer, wrapping her in a hug. And when I see how close the two of them already are, I realize how stupid this is. Maybe this whole situation isn't so bad after all. Could it be possible that having Trina and Whizzer meet wasn't such a terrible idea?

"What job was it?" I ask her.

"I'm working as a sales associate in a clothing store."

"Oh." My smile fades. "That sounds really boring."

Trina glares at me, but she can't keep a straight face for long. "Thanks, Marvin," she laughs after a moment.

"No, but seriously, that's great," Cordelia puts in. "I told you you could do it!"

All of a sudden, this dinner doesn't seem so awkward anymore. God, what kind of stuff had been happening lately? I'm becoming friends with people I thought I would never see again. Life is so twisted sometimes.

I think Whizzer can sense that I'm deep in thought. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," I respond. "I'm just trying to process all this that's happening."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

I pause. "It's good."

"So, wait, Marvin," says Trina, grasping my attention. "Are you and Mendel friends now? Be honest."

"Maybe. Are you and Mendel a couple yet or are you both still too scared to make a move?"

"Marvin, we just asked him that earlier," Whizzer reminds me.

Trina stares at us. "You asked him that?"

"I don't claim this conversation's negative energy," Cordelia mutters, picking up her plate and heading to her room. I watch her leave, but only briefly.

Whizzer leans back into the couch cushions like it's no big deal. "Come on. Your whole relationship is a will-they, won't-they trope."

"I don't know why you two can't accept that a straight man and a straight woman can be friends," she replies, turning pink.

"When they've literally both confessed to being attracted to each other?" I raise an eyebrow. "It's just sad at that point."

"And you're absolutely sure he confessed to having feelings for me?"

"Trina, would we lie to you?" Whizzer asks, then considers this. "Okay, probably. But not about this! Look at Marvin. He hates the idea of you two being together but he still can't deny the chemistry, right, Marvin?"

I shrug. "Yeah, maybe a little."

Trina peers at me. "Why do you hate the idea?" she demands.

"I don't know. I don't really. Well, not anymore. It's complicated."

She shakes her head. "I'm still not sure where Mendel and I stand. And I just want to get through the year without any distractions other than my job. Okay? It's easier for both of us if we stay friends for now," she snaps.

"That's fine," Whizzer agrees. "We'll stop bugging you."

"At least until we get off of school," I cut in. "Then we're going to start bugging you again."

"Trust me, I'll have dropped you two way before that."

Is she joking? I don't know. Does it matter? Probably not.