"Pizza is here!" Allison barges through the door with a large pizza in her hands. She dashes into the kitchen.
"Ooh!" The group murmurs, approving. We've been waiting for that pizza for a long time. The place where we normally get our pizza was extremely backed-up tonight, so we're two hours behind our dinner schedule.
Oh, well.
I get off my seat. "Lola, continue with your story. I'm going to go help Allison."
Lola pouts at the thought of me leaving, but immediately goes back to telling her story. I feel a pair of eyes on me as I leave, and chills zing up and down my spine.
Must be Erik.
I open the kitchen door. "Want help?"
"Sure." Allison is bringing out a small pile of plates.
I wash my hands, then open up the pizza box.
Allison hands me a plate. "Sorry for the wait."
I wave it off. "It's fine. We're just glad it got here."
She grins. "What have they talked about so far?" She takes a slice and puts it on a plate.
I copy her. "Lola has been telling them of her adventures at the Day-Care Center," I smirk. She is so cute! Whenever she brings up a fun moment or mentions a new friend, she would clap her hands and jump up and down.
"Is that it?" Allison laughs. "That's as far as we got?"
"She has a lot to share," I exclaim. "But that's why we started early, right? So everyone has a chance to have their say?"
"We got to fit the rest of them in somehow," she mutters to herself.
I pat her on the back. "Don't worry. When I left she was talking about today's events, so she's almost done." I take two of the plates and start to head back into the living room.
The door suddenly opens, nearly slamming me in the nose.
"Whoa!" I skitter back, trying not to drop the food.
"Oops!" Erik leans his hands forward and grabs hold of the plates, helping me steady them. Erik looks at me, slowly removing his hands.
No. Keep them there.
"Sorry," he says.
"That's fine." I smile a little too widely.
Thump, thump, thump goes my heart.
Good Lord.
Erik places his hands by his sides. "Is there anything I can help with?"
Allison speaks up. "Thanks for the offer, but we're already done."
I acknowledge the plates.
"Oh," Erik combs through his hair and smiles sheepishly, "well, um..." He pushes the door open gently. "At least, I can open the door for you."
"Why, thank you, good sir." I do a small curtsy while giving him a cheeky smile.
He lets out a small snort. Allison follows me out before Erik closes the door. Lola is sitting on her chair, swinging her legs. She's relaxed now that her story is done. Allison delivers her plates to Desiree and Nick before getting her own food. Erik and I are still full of tiny sandwiches, so no worries about our hunger. I give Lola her plate first, then I go to Jake.
I hand him his plate. Jake looks at me and takes it.
I lean down toward his ear. "Jake, can I talk to you for a second?"
Jake looks up, looks at his pizza, then back at me. He nods, setting the plate down.
I chuckle. "You can bring the pizza with you," I whisper.
He perks up, eagerly taking the plate with him. I pull him away from the group.
"Amy, we're going to start talking," Allison warns me.
"We'll be quick." I wink at her. Her face pales a shade-she now knows I'm going to go forth with my "Rebecca and Jake" plan.
"So, what's this about?" Jake asks, taking a bite of pizza.
"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with me tomorrow."
Jake nearly spits out his pizza. "You!? Me!? Hang out!? But...um...why?"
I shrug, playing casual, when actually in my head I'm going: hehehehehehehehehehe!
"So we can talk. Chat," I explain. Jake still looks hesitant. I need to encourage him. Oh, here's an idea, "We can talk about gardening!" I offer.
"Um, uh..." Jake's flustered. I can't see his face, but I can tell by the way he clenches and unclenches his hands.
I place a hand on his arm. "It's up to you."
"Oh, no; I don't mind. I-I'd like to," Jake interjects.
"Great! Can you come here at maybe three? Three-thirty?" I give him a hopeful look.
He nods. "Sure. I can try."
"Awesome." I nod towards the group. "Let's return, shall we?"
We go back to our seats.
Now that Lola's done, everyone else has a chance to speak. All in all, Desiree is still having trouble sleeping, Nick is frustrated about life, and Jake is lonely. There are also other problems, of course, but those are the main ones that were mentioned. Erik said nothing, as usual.
"Well," Allison grabs the group's attention again. "We've been here for over four hours. I think this has been a very enlightening chat. I also heard that you all wanted to have another group meeting on Thursday?"
Everyone nods.
"We can do that." Allison gives a thumbs-up. "On Thursday, we will be going back to our usual time. For now, you guys can hang out for a few minutes, get crazy, whatever. Amy and I have nothing to do."
Except homework, I think to myself. But I'll do that later.
Everyone starts talking again. Lola is chatting with Erik; Desiree, Jake, and Nick formed their own little group. Just then Erik looks up and meets my gaze, he smiles. Soon we are smiling at each other.
Then it gets ruined by the doorbell.
Everyone looks at it.
I volunteer to get it. "You all keep talking."
Lazy butts...
I open the door and gasp. "Jack!"
Jack is breathing hard, so hard I can smell the alcohol on his lips.
Oh no!
I sturdy my stance, ready to slam the door shut at any moment. I have guests here, good guests, and a young girl. I will not have Jack's alcoholic state taint them.
"Jack, what do you want?" My voice is harsh.
"We need to talk..."
"We don't need to talk about anything," I hiss. "I don't have anything to say to you!"
"Amy-"
"So go. Shoo! Be gone! Stop calling me, stop bugging me! No one needs to know you're here or anywhere. Why are you here?"
Idiot.
I look back into the apartment. No one has noticed me or Jack. In fact, they're really loud and all busy talking.
Jack chuckles. "Lately, you've been ignoring my calls and I have some-"
"Never mind! Stop explaining and get lost!" I whisper-yell.
He whispers back, "Amy-!"
"Go!"
"Amy, I know your pregnant!"
Closing my mouth in a thin line, I step outside into the hall and shut the door.