School is the reason for the lateness of this chapter.
Blame that, not me.

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Chapter Four : Restaurant Humor

Max POV

I trudged over to the stairs and climbed the flights, stomping my feet on the weak aluminum so the echos bounced off the walls, making my mood lighten a bit. I would get back to Fang later on, I just needed to think. I reached the third floor and found Angel standing outside a fancy looking restaurant. A restaurant? In this? Weird.

Angel gave me an innocent smile and led me inside. "We wanted to sit down somewhere without a bunch of little kids jumping around and making us claustrophobic, so Iggy suggested making some reservations at this place. We got a reallybig booth in the way back, not too far from the buffet, and we've only been here for ten minutes. Are you mad?"

"No, Ange, 'course not," I said, smiling at her. "It was actually a good idea."

"Thanks Max!" Nudge said, coming up behind her. "And by the way, the grilled chicken is fabulous! And the asparagus really adds a good combination! Add some of that light gravy sauce and you have a well cooked meal that is even better than Dr. Martinez's! Even if it's possible! But the cookies aren't as good, but they're still fantastic. Mmm... They also have hot dogs and french fries too! It smells sooooo good in here right now... I think I'm gonna go eat some more."

I raised my eyebrows before following her, picking up a plate to load up with food. Anything that looked appetizing was good for me. I was too tired for combinations that Nudge had tried, I just piled it up. When I was done, it looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa that was about to tip at any second. I carefully made my way to our booth, which was secluded all the way to the right of the dining area.

"Can I have some of that?!" Nudge asked me eagerly, her fork flying through the air.

"No!" I said, pushing her arm away. "Go get your own!" She looked at me sourly before going back up again to reload her plate. I smirked and dug into the mountain of noodles, chicken, steak... all the delicious stuff I had shoved onto the twelve by twelve ceramic circle.

"Oh my God there's cake!" Nudge screeched, dropping her plate she was filling up and running over to get a slice. I winced at the clatter the plate made against the buffet's marble tile (thank God it didn't break), and Iggy rolled his eyes. The waitress who was carrying the gigantic thing onto it's place holder looked startled when the eleven year-old started blabbing about how cake was so good and how birthday parties wouldn't be complete without it.

"... And it's just amazing, I mean, c'mon, you have to agree with me! It's so fluffy and sweet and frosty... plus, when they add coconut, mmm, mmm, mmm! Yum. And you know what the best part is? Ice cream! Chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, cookies 'n' cream, superman, mint, cookie dough... do you know any other flavors? I like mine with lots of chocolate chip and m&m's and maybe even some crushed Oreos. Although... it would be pretty pointless if I was eating cookies 'n' cream ice cream. But still, the more the merrier, right?" She paused for a large breath of air. "So does this cake have ice cream in it... Charlah?" Nudge pointed to the name tag on the worker's uniform. The employee nodded, freaked out. "THERE IS? YES!" She backed up a few steps so Charlah could place the cake down, and then dug in, taking the cake knife out of the waitress' hands and cutting the huge cake into equally big slices. "Thanks Charlah!" Nudge called, face full of the delicious substance. "We'll be sure to give you a huh-uge tip!"

Iggy had his head in his hands, cursing himself under his breath. There was no way we could chow down here ever again. "And the food was so good!" the Gasman wailed, looking upset. He used the impersonation of a very dramatic woman who most likely worked for a soap opera. "Oh Charles, please let us come back here again! Oh please, please, I'll die without it!" The eight year-old put his hands on Iggy's shoulder, pleading look in his eyes.

"Get off me man," Iggy muttered, pushing Gazzy away. I tried to hide my laughter, but it didn't work. I burst into hysterics when Gaz faked tears.

"Are you breaking up with me, Charles?" he continued, fake tears still working. "Are you ending our relationship?! After so many long, cold years, you're going to just end it? This way?"

"DUDE!" Iggy exclaimed, pushing him away for the second time. "It's just a restaurant!"

I was laughing so hard, I was crying. All the kitchen staff were coming out now, to see why a girl-who-looked-like-she-was-sixteen was rolling on the booth cushion was nearly suffocating. Nudge was standing at least five feet away from the table, in mid chew, watching in horror as the two boys went at it, and started to cringe.

"For Pete's sake, guys, is there a day when you aren't so embarrassing?" she exclaimed, looking upset. I caught my breath and sat upright, giving an apologetic smile to both the Nudge and the kitchen staff.

"Yeah, is there?" Fang's voice filtered through the air. I snapped my head up to see Angel standing there, hand-in-hand with him. The little bugger. I didn't notice that I was glaring at her until her shoulders sagged. I turned my head away, ignoring Fang's remark.

"Sorry 'bout that everybody!" Iggy called, jabbing the Gasman's ribs.

"Yeah, I rented this voice box thing... and I just wanted to test it out!" Gaz added. I rolled my eyes and Nudge huffed in anger. She set her plate down, and began to eat the semi-melted ice cream cake... thing.

"I still can't believe you did that!" Nudge exclaimed, stabbing her fork into the food and shoving it into her mouth. The staff had gone back to work, but I knew they were still peaking around corners to see what we were up to. "I mean, come on, this was a good place, right? And now we can't come back ever again because of you."

"Nudge," I interrupted.

"And plus, I really liked this place! Now whenever we step five feet into it they'll slam a closed sign over the window, not letting us in! Is there a time where we can, you know, be normal for once? God guys, you're so... so... horrible!"

"NUDGE!"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Relax. It's just food."

She rolled her eyes and dipped her fork in for another bite.

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:)
(The smile is there in advance for your review... hint, hint)