Elizabeth's P.O.V-
I stand in the mirror in my dorm room, trying to tie my curly hair into a tight bun. It's hard because some of the hairs keep falling out. Behind me, Jill sits on my bed painting her toenails black. I told her she could use any other color, but she picked black instead.
Mary is on her bed texting away on her phone. She hasn't looked up at us in over 20 minutes. Feeling defeated, I just let my hair cascade down my body in a wild mess. Now that I look at it, maybe this is how I should leave it, doesn't look half bad with my dress. My dress is a cream color that has spaghetti straps, a deep V-neck, and stops at my knees. Mervin's Mary is a pretty swanky and classy place, why not look the part.
I groan, "Mary, who are you texting? All I can hear is clacking in the air." Jill finishes up on her toes, putting the cap on it and sliding it into my nightstand drawer, giving us her undivided attention.
"It's no one." She said, distracted. Jill hops off the bed, walking on the heels of her feet and grabbing the phone out of Mary's hand. "Hey, give that back!" She yells, trying to come for Jill, but she slips and falls face-first on my bed. Jill runs behind me, using my body as a shield while she checks her phone.
"Who in the hell is Jody?" She asked. I turned around, looking at the phone. In the middle of the screen was the name Jody, but no picture of the unknown person.
Mary's cheeks flush, "Just some boy, it's not that important and probably won't lead anywhere, can I have my phone back please." She begs.
Jill holds her finger up, "Wait, this isn't just someone. Oh my God, it's the guy from the after-party that you made out with. I remember him asking for your name, and you asked for his, and I thought he said Toby or Coby, but now I know it to be Jody. How did you even get his number?"
"When I was leaving Chemistry yesterday, he spotted me down the hall, and when I tried to run, he caught up to me. We walked for a minute and gave me his number, ever since then we've been texting. He probably just wants to get into my pants."
I cross my arms, "If you thought that then you wouldn't be texting him, now would you Mrs. Mary Jody." Jill snickers behind me.
"Oh, let's sing the song," Jill suggests. I say ok.
"JODY AND MARY SITTING IN A TREE-"
"Guys, stop that!"
"-K-I-S-S-I-N-G. FIRST COMES LOVE-"
"This is very childish of you guys. I expected more-"
"-THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES-"
"No baby!" She yells.
"-THE BABY IN THE BABY CARRIAGE!" Jill and I finish up.
Mary pushes me out the way, grabs her phone from Jill, and goes back to her bed. Her dark pink dress fans out around her. "I hate you guys so much."
Jill and I both smile, "We know."
"Damn, I need to go. Daniel and I need time to set everything up and rehearse. See you two later." She waves bye to us, grabs her bag, and walks on her heels out the door. I prodded her on the way here to know what song they were singing, but she only gave me the same hint she did at the house: the song has my name in it. I don't know any songs that have the name Elizabeth in them. God, I hate surprises.
My head turns when I hear a knock at the door. "Jill, you better not have forgotten-", my voice halts when I realize that it isn't Jill, but Andreas. Scratch that- a very sexy Andreas. He has on a black button-up shirt that's tucked into some slick jeans. Some of the buttons are open at the top, showing off his tan chest. He leans an arm against the door, trying to come off as sexy. He could be wearing a teddy bear costume and I would still be turned on.
I laugh, "Are you trying to seduce me?"
"Is it working?" He asked, deepening his voice.
"Maybe." I shrug my shoulder.
He loops his arm that's not on the door and plants his lips on mine. I could taste the minty freshness in his mouth. I could feel his hand slipping down my back to my ass, giving it a firm squeeze. I swipe his hand away, ripping my lips from his, "Andreas, not right here."
"Why not?" His voice was gruff.
"Mary is right there," I whisper. He looks behind me, seeing a bashful Mary, tucking her hair behind her ear, waving awkwardly.
"Sorry about that Mary. You look pretty by the way."
"Thank you, and it's fine. No one should have to hide their love for someone. Are you guys ready to go or do you want to kiss some more?"
Andreas said, "I would like to kiss some more." While I say at the same time, "No, we're ready to go." I cut my eyes at him.
"Fine, let's go." Andreas waits for us to walk out of the room and shuts the door behind us.
✏️✏️✏️✏️
Andreas hands his keys to the valet and guides both I and Mary into the restaurant. When we walk inside, I see that nothing has changed. The only thing different is the number of people here. Tons of people are at the bar, couples dance on the floor and waiters are busting their asses going from table to table. In the corner, I see a large booth with all our friends in it. When Doug sees us, he waves a hand for us to come over. Andreas weaves his fingers through mine, guiding me towards the table. Mary follows.
I let Mary go into the booth first, while I follow through, and then Andreas. This booth is so big that all 9 of us can fit, and even more, there is room left.
"Hey, guys," I speak. "I'm glad that you all were able to come out tonight, I appreciate it."
"We honestly didn't have a choice, not that we didn't want to be here, Bridget said if we didn't come out, she would make us pay," said Doug, cutting his green eyes at Bridget.
"I'm sorry about that." I grit my teeth, glaring my eyes at my older sister. "You look handsome by the way. I don't think I've ever seen you in a fancy outfit before." He smiles, tucking his blonde hair behind his ear as Carlee pinches his cheek.
"I dressed him, so the credit should be going to me. He was going to wear a hoodie and jeans. What an animal." She said, smoothing out his jacket, and flicking some lint off. Carlee has on a black hijab with a sleeved black dress and black pumps. She looks beautiful. I watch how detailed she is with Doug, and how caring she is for him.
Doug smirks, "But I'm your animal, baby." He kisses the side of her head, she waves him off and starts looking at the window, but we can all see the blush creep up on her face.
Next to them are Bridget and Teddy. Teddy is talking to Jace, whose arguing with him about something with football. Bridget leans her head on Teddy's shoulder, just watching as he rants. I could tell she didn't know what the actual hell they were talking about with the clueless look in her eyes, but I knew she didn't care, it gave her more time to focus on him besides the conversation. Teddy has his hand on hers that sits on the table, caressing it.
It was almost months ago that she was still with that skumbag Kam, I'm glad she left him for Teddy. I also didn't mind punching him at Parker's party in the valley. He deserved it, asshole. Monica's playing some game on her phone, not bothered by anyone.
"Hey, Monica," I said, tapping her hand.
She looks up at me, "Yeah."
"Thank you for everything. All the talks about Andreas, and keeping our secret when you found out about us. I needed that." She smiles a genuine smile.
"I'm glad I could be of service, just make sure you keep him."
"I don't think I'll have a hard time with that." I squeeze his hand, but he doesn't notice since he joined in the conversation with Teddy and Jace.
I find Mary looking around at all the couples, alone. I told her she should bring a date, but she said there wasn't anyone she truly liked to bring. I feel bad for her.
My thoughts are on lock when the waiter comes to our table. He's tall, has long black hair and dark skin. "Hello, my name is-"
"Jody." We all turn our heads to Mary whose mouth is now hanging open.
"Mary, um- hi." His voice comes out high-pitched. He clears his voice.
"I didn't know that you worked here."
"Only been here for a couple of months now, I like the job a lot." I could tell she was nervous, not just from seeing Jody, but all of us looking at them, wondering how they know each other.
"When do you get off of work?" I asked Jody, trying to get somewhere with the conversation.
"In 10 minutes. This is my last table." He said but was looking at Mary's red face.
"Maybe you guys can hang out then, wouldn't that be good Mary?" I look at her.
She nods her head eagerly; I try not to laugh at her facial expression. Bright smile and flushed cheeks.
Jody smiles, "Sure, uh, meet me at the bar in 10. Is that, ok?"
"Perfect."
Jody spends a few minutes at our table taking drink and food orders. It's so much he writes it all down on three papers. It was mostly for Doug; he ordered half the menu.
"Doug, you can't eat all that food," said Jace.
"I bet you I can. After all, I am a state champion, if anyone can win a food contest it's me. I need protein for my muscles." He takes off his jacket, showing us his huge muscles. Next to Carlee's head, they're massive. "Kiss them, Carlee." She just looks at him like he told her to jump in front of traffic. "Do it, please." She sighs, rolls her eyes, and kisses his muscles, under all that I could see her amused smile.
"You might be stronger, but I'm faster." challenged Andreas. "Remember when we went jogging and I left you in the dust."
He scoffs, "The only reason you won is because I had a leg injury that slowed me down. You'll never beat me, Andreas Chen, in anything."
I look to see Andreas with a devil grin on his face, "On the menu, there are hot wings, Arooga's Ghost Faced Killa wings, I'll order us some, and whoever wins is the strongest. Deal?" He reaches his hand across the table. Doug thinks on it, then shakes his hand.
"You're both dead men," said Teddy. "My cousins ate those wings and had to go to the hospital, he had skin peeling from his mouth." Everyone at the table groans.
Carlee looks worried, "Maybe you shouldn't do it, Doug. I don't want your skin to peel off, then we won't be able to kiss."
"I'll be fine, Carlee. It should be Andreas you're worried about."
Monica waves her hand, "Let them do it, Carlee! I need some excitement in my life right now. Yo waiter, we need to add something else to order."
"Forget about the wings! Isn't anyone going to mention the fact that Daniel is a lounge singer?" My sister asked, making the table change topics.
"Did anyone know about that?" asked Teddy.
Everyone shakes their heads, except for Andreas and me. I speak up, "They told us not to say anything, we had to respect their decision."
My sister clutches her invisible pearls, "First you lie about fucking Andreas and now you don't tell us how our roommate is a lounge singer. I can't with you." I shake my head, turning to Andreas to see if he's seeing all of this craziness.
"You don't have to say it like that, Bridget," Andreas said. "He didn't want us saying anything, you know how private he can be."
"So, can he sing well? I heard him do karaoke, but it was so bad," whispered Carlee, as if he could hear her.
"Ohmigod! I didn't even think about it, what if he faked being bad so we wouldn't know he could sing. That liar!" said Bridget. Teddy rubs her back, calming her down.
I speak up, "Whatever he did it for, it doesn't matter because in a few minutes we will hear him sing tonight with Jill and they will be amazing."
They all nod along, going back to their own individual conversations.
Andreas leans into my ear, "Where's Cross and Connie?" He asked.
"Connie's dress ripped and he had to take her to the store to get a new one. They'll be here in a few." I tell him, and he nods his head. "Wait, do you want Cross here?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" He asked, drinking his water. They brought the drinks out to us only a few minutes ago.
"Well, when you picked me up for our date, I heard you asking him if he slept with me when we weren't on talking terms." I widen my brown eyes to look at him. "Did you think I would sleep with another man? After you?"
He looks ashamed, "People do crazy things when they're mad, I just thought he may have slept with you."
"And if I did?" I posed the question.
"I- I don't know. I would have still taken you back, I loved you at that point and nothing was changing my mind. It would have made things awkward when he was around, but I would have gotten over it. You dealt with all my drama."
I lean my head on his shoulder, kissing it. "That's why you're the greatest guy ever."
I can feel him smiling, "I know, E."
189Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMg2or0L1f
