Mary walked back to Charlotte who was still busy with the kitchen. "Ready to tell me why you dissapeared?"Charlotte asked. Mary looked around to make sure no-one was listnening. "We're throwing a welcome-to-the-building dinner in the restaurant. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are helping too, Lucy is getting the table ready and we can use the kitchen." Mary explained. Charlotte's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea! Wait, do they know?" She nudged her head towards Riker, Rocky and Ratliff who were discussing how to install the T.V. "Not yet, it's a surprise. So if you get wind of someone ordering take out, you stop it okay." Mary instructed. "Got it."
An good hour later the T.V. was up and running, the kitchen was organized and most of the personal things were put away. "So are there any dinner plans yet? Because I'm starving." Ryland said. Riker looked at Mary, who had told him not to order in. Mary looked at Charlotte, but then pulled out her phone. "There are. One second." She said, then walked off to call Lucy.
*Hey Lu, are you almost ready?*
*Yeah, table is ready and Mr. and Mrs Johnson have actually started prepping for us.*
*Great, Charlie and I will be right down.*
Mary had been walking back to the others so they heard the last sentence. "Is your boyfriend coming?" Riker asked nervously. Charlotte and Mary looked at each other and started giggling. "Charlie isn't a guy." Mary said, watching the confusion grow on the boy's and Rydel's faces. "I'm Charlie." Charlotte said, giggling still. The boys eyes shot open, Rydel seemed to get it though. "Wait, so you two are..." Rocky asked confused, yet hopeful. Charlotte and Mary decided to torture their new friends a little bit more. Mary walked ove to Charlotte and put her arm around her. "We are, what? Rocky?" His head was a bright red now, the other boys were shifting a bit uncomfortable. "You know, a couple?" Rocky managed to get out. Mary and Charlotte burst into laughter. "No Rocky, I'm sorry to disappoint you but we are not a couple, or lesbian for that matter." Charlotte explained. "And for the record, none of us girls upstairs got a boyfriend. But we should get going, Riker remember what I told you." Mary added while she and Charlotte walked out of the apartment. As on cue the boys all turned around to face Riker. "What did you and Mary talk about?" Ratliff asked. "She told me not to order in because she had a surprise planned." He just shrugged it off. "So should none of us order in? Or just you?" Rydel asked. "I think she meant all of us." Riker said quickly, then turned away. Some of his siblings and Ratliff kept their eyes on him, but Ross had different things on his mind. "So what ARE we doing for dinner?"
"Do they know?" Lucy asked when her two roommates came down to the restaurant. "I don't think so, but the boys did think that me and Mary were gay for a second." Charlotte said laughing. "What!" Lucy laughed. "Long story." Mary said. But we should get cooking before they decide to ignore my advise to not order in."
After that they started cooking, simple dishes that were easy and quick to make, but still pretty tasty. It was lucky that we all pitched in in the kitchen every once in a while. It was mostly thanks to the amazing prepping Mr. and Mrs Johnson had done that they were pretty much done fifteen minutes later. Just in time Mary's phone started ringing, Riker's name popped up on the screen.
*Hey Riker. I guess you and your family are getting hungry huh?*
*Yup, care to tell me what that surprise is supposed to be?*
*Why don't you come downstairs and check it out, bring the others.*
*Now that sounded sexy, right up until the 'bring the others' part.*
*Cheeky one eh, just come down here and you'll see what that surprise is.*
Soon enough steps were heard in the staircase and the last finishing touches were added to the table. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had chosen not to attend, letting the young kids have their moment together. "They're coming." Lucy squealed. Mary and Charlotte just shook their heads in response.
The rest walked into the restaurant, and their mouths just dropped. "Wow! Is this, is this for us?" Riker asked shyly. His siblings and friends uttering versions of the same sentence. "Yup. It's a welcome-to-the-building dinner. Oh have you guys met Lucy yet?" Mary said, introducing a suddenly shy Lucy. Lucy just waved, but the youngest two boys gave her some very nice smiles.
When everyone was sitting down and eating, conversation picked up. "So you are the third neighbor, but there is a fourth right?" Ratliff asked Lucy. "Yeah, Lydia. She is interning to become a nurse. Sadly she is working now but she'll be here tomorrow. You can meet her then, she is really nice." Lucy said. "Charlotte told us you're an artist?" Rocky said. "Yeah, see that painting over there, the one of the beach, I made that one. Just like pretty much every painting down here." Lucy explained, uncharacteristically calm. "Wow, it's really beautiful. You're really good." Rydel praised. Lucy started blushing but kept her cool, she was always selfconcious about her work. "So who cooked all this?" Riker asked in general. Lucy, Charlotte and Mary just looked at each other. "We cooked together, but Mr. and Mrs. Johnson prepped for us. We invited them, but they wanted this to be just us. Lucy did the greens and veggies, Charlotte the meats and I did the potatoes." Mary explained. Riker who had been sitting next to her, leaned in closer to whisper something in Mary's ear. "They taste amazing." Making Mary smile in a way she didn't usually smile, she was truly flattered and a bit giddy. She giggled a bit before uttering. "Thank you." Usually she was calm and collected, kind but rational, always polite and clever. But just talking to this boy made blood rush to her cheeks, tied her tongue, and clouded her rationalism. It was that he was new, she didn't know him yet, it was exciting. It was his flirting charm that she wasn't used to. It were his kind eyes that she always fell for without any reason. That was it, it would pass, she was sure. Just a fase, just a fase.
