Chapter Eight: Dinner Plans & Secret Meeting
Once back at the Vanders' apartment building home, Irma and Hay Lin headed to their apartment to get pick an outfit to wear for their day out with their boyfriends tomorrow as well as get go online to search for a new place to stay while Taranee went to her apartment to work on some homework and relax. As for Will, she went to the apartment she shared with Angelo hoping to unwind from her encounter with Matt. So once inside the apartment, she headed for her room when...
"Hey, Will.", Cornelia said as she walked past her with a bowl of grapes.
"Hey, Corne...", Will began to say when she stopped and turned to see Cornelia walking towards Angelo's bedroom. "Ummmmmm... Cornelia?"
"Yeah, Will?", Cornelia asked as she turned to look at Will who was looking at her with a confused look.
"Why are you walking around the apartment naked?", Will asked as Cornelia stood before her bare butt naked.
"Well, my clothes are in Angelo bedroom.", Cornelia explained.
"Okay.", Will said. "So why couldn't you of at least put on your bra and underwear before going into the kitchen?"
"Oh, that!", Cornelia said with a grin. "Well I was about to put something on when Angelo said that I could just go and get something to drink from the fridge."
"Of course he did.", Will said figuring that Angelo was the reason.
"Now I sort of wished I had put something on. The cold air from the fridge, made my nipples hard.", she said with a grin which made Will laugh a bit. "You're not mad are you?"
"No. No.", Will said. "Just a bit surprised. It's not everyday you see one of your friends walking around your place in the nude."
"Like you haven't thought about doing the same thing.", Cornelia said with a smirk.
"Who says I haven't.", Will said with a smirk of her own. "I do sleep in the nude sometimes. And there are times that I have to wake up to go to the bathroom."
"You naughty girl you.", Cornelia said smirking.
"So how did you and Angelo's little plan work out?", Will asked her friend.
"Believe it or not, it worked out way better that we hoped.", Cornelia said smiling. "Elyon apologized for what she did to us, as well as admitted a few personal things about her and Caleb's relationship. And the best part about it all is that Elyon and I are friends again!"
"That's great!", Will said as the two friends hugged. "I'm happy for you!"
"Thanks.", Cornelia said. "So how did things go with the guys?", to which scowled a bit. "That bad, huh?"
"Well, Irma and Hay Lin are back with Joel and Eric.", Will said. "And just as Angelo figured, they don't want them anywhere near him."
"No surprise there.", Cornelia said. "What about you and Taranee?"
"We're still single. But after Taranee's talk with Nigel, they've made up and are at least friends.", Will said with a smile.
"Good for them.", Cornelia said. "Now what about you and Matt?"
"Hmph!", Will said with a pout. "When I told him that I didn't want to be in a long-distance relationship, he then said that maybe I like the idea of being friends with benefits with Angelo"
"Well do you?", Cornelia asked.
"So far it's pretty good.", Will said. "But then I told him that maybe I'll meet someone here. Then I told him that I know that he wouldn't want me to be friends with Angelo if we were to get back together."
"Please don't tell me he admitted he wouldn't.", Cornelia said.
"Yeah! He did.", Will said. "So in the end we just went our separate ways."
"Sorry you two couldn't at least work things out like Taranee and Nigel.", Cornelia said as she placed a comforting hand on Will's shoulder.
"Thanks.", Will said. "But if I were you, I'd stay away from Eric and Joel when they come to pick up Hay Lin and Irma tomorrow."
"Why?", Cornelia asked.
"Well, they think that you're a bad influence on their girlfriends.", Will said with a grin.
"Say what!?", Cornelia questioned as Angelo came out of his bedroom dressed in a pair of sleeping pants.
"I was wondering what was going on out here.", Angelo said as he walked up to the girls. "What's going on?"
"Joel and Eric think I'm a bad influence on Irma and Hay Lin!", Cornelia said.
"Okay. Where did that come from?", Angelo asked.
"Well it seems they think that one day Cornelia will talk us into doing something that'll get us in major trouble.", Will said while rolling her eyes.
"Please! If anyone is going to do that, it'll be Irma.", Angelo said.
"Well, seeing as Cornelia was the one who talked their girlfriends into wearing sexy costumes to your party, Eric and Joel think our Corny is a bad girl.", Will said with a smirk.
"I didn't hold a gun to their heads and make them dress in those costumes.", Cornelia said. "Wait a minute! How did they know it was me who suggested that anyway?"
"Well Eric accused you of suggesting it and Hay Lin admitted it.", Will said.
"Of course she did.", Cornelia said while rolling her eyes. "So I'm suddenly the bad girl."
"Don't sweat it.", Will said. "They're only here for two more days. All you have to do is avoid them until then."
"Here's hoping.", Cornelia said as Angelo wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"If they screw with you, then they'll have to deal with me.", Angelo said as he kissed the side of Cornelia's neck bringing a smile to the blonde's lips. "So did things work out for you and Matt?", he asked Will.
"Don't ask.", Will and Cornelia said in an annoyed tone.
"That bad?", he said getting a nod from Will. "Sorry to hear that. I was hoping that you two could at least be friends after all that happened."
"Maybe another time.", Will said. "Taranee was the lucky one. Nigel and her are friends."
"Good for her.", Angelo said as he still had his arms wrapped around Cornelia. "Maybe you should try and talk to Matt again before he leaves."
"That or write him a letter and hope he replies.", Cornelia suggested.
"I think I'll go with the letter.", Will said. "I'm afraid of what might happen if I see him again."
"Go with your gut.", Angelo said. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Hit the gym on the first floor.", Will said. "I need to work off some stress."
"You know, I can think of another way for you to work off some stress.", Angelo said with a wink.
"As fun as that sounds, lover-boy, I need to do some working out for the swim meet my team is having next week.", Will said with a smile.
"Okay then. Have fun.", Angelo said understanding before he went and scooped Cornelia up in his arms getting a squeal of surprise from her. "As for you, we have some unfinished business to take care of!"
"Then let us continue where we left off.", Cornelia said before Angelo carried the Earth Guardian into his bedroom.
Will couldn't help but grin to herself while rolling her eyes as Angelo bedroom door closed. She then went into her bedroom to change for the gym. A few minutes later, she came out dressed in a pair of black spandex shorts, white sneakers, and a white tank-top with a sports bra underneath. She then got a towel from the hallway closet and left the apartment and headed down to the gym that was on the first floor of the building. Once there, she saw that Taranee was already there working out. She was wearing a pair of red spandex shorts, white sneakers, gray tank-top with a sports bra underneath. She also had a towel with her to wipe off any of the machines she used.
"Wanted to work off some stress, too?", Will asked as she used the machine next to the one Taranee was using.
"Yeah.", Taranee said with a small grunt as she was working out. "Between the attitude Matt, Joel, and Eric have towards Angelo and Cornelia as well as how Irma and Hay Lin are acting, I needed to work off some stress before I snapped and gave then all a piece of my mind."
"I hear you there.", Will said with a small grunt as she was working out. "I thought that they would at least have second thoughts about not being friends with Angelo and defend him when Joel and Eric said what they said. But they're okay with not being friends with him."
"I was hoping the same thing with how quite the ride back here was after we said what we had to say.", Taranee said. "But I guess I was wrong."
"Well, you can only hope for the best.", Will said. "After that, you never know what'll happen."
"Yeah. I guess you're right.", Taranee said. "I just hope that they realise that giving up their friendship with Angelo was wrong and try to fix it before it's to late."
"You and me both.", Will said. "We don't ned something like this tearing our friendship apart. Not to mention tearing W.I.T.C.H. apart.", she said to which Taranee nodded in agreement as the two of them continued their workout.
Meanwhile, Angelo and Cornelia were in his bedroom lying on his bed sweating and panting from what they just finished doing.
"Who knew that foreplay could tire you out so much?", Cornelia questioned with a smile as she laid next to Angelo on his right side.
"Depends on how much you do and how well you do it.", Angelo said smiling. "All I got to say is... Wow!"
"Yeah! Wow!", Cornelia said as she slowly moved closer to Angelo and rested her head on his shoulder as he rested his left hand under his head while wrapping his right arm around Cornelia and pulling her closer to him slowly. "So are you okay with Irma and Hay Lin not being friends with you?"
"It sucks not having them as friends anymore.", Angelo said. "But if they still wanted to be friends, then they wouldn't have let it end the way it did. I think that they honestly wanted to end our friendship to make their boyfriends happy."
"I still think it's stupid.", Cornelia said.
"Well if I didn't end it, they would have when they came back from seeing them.", Angelo said. "So I decided to save them the trouble."
"I guess you're right.", Cornelia said. "I mean your heart was in the right place. I only wish things had turned out different and they'd still be friends with you and still be with their boyfriends."
"You and me both.", Angelo said as he and Cornelia laid together in his bed. "Maybe things will change in the future and we'll be friends again."
"You never know.", Cornelia said as she rested one of her legs on Angelo's as she snuggled up to him a bit more. "Anything is possible."
"On that I couldn't agree more.", Angelo said as they both shared a kiss before relaxing together.
As for Irma and Hay Lin, they had just finished looking for places to stay online, only to find places that were to fr from campus.
"How hard is it to find a cheap apartment that's close to campus!?", Irma complained as she flopped down on the couch of their apartment. "All the other ones are to high for us with the money we make at our jobs!"
"I guess that they've been all taken by other students.", Hay Lin figured. "So I guess we'll have to find a dorm room to stay in."
"Well that's just great!", Irma said not liking the idea.
"It won't be that bad.", Hay Lin said with a smile. "If we're lucky, we can get a room together."
"True.", Irma said. "But think of how it'll be living in a dorm building. We'll only have one room between us. A small room!
"We'll have to share a bathroom with others!", Hay Lin said.
"And we can only have a mini-fridge in our room instead of a normal size one.", Irma said with a frown.
"We'll have to use the kitchen on the first floor of the building.", Hay Lin added. "And that's if it's not being used by someone else."
"We won't be able to stay out to late because of the curfew the dorms have.", Irma said with a pout. "So that's less time partying and having fun."
"This is going to suck!", Hay Lin moaned.
"Hey! What if we get Joel and Eric to help us get an apartment and help us with the high rent?", Irma suggested.
"Good idea. Except for the fact that they probably don't have that kind of money yet.", Hay Lin said.
"Oh yeah.", Irma said sadly. "Forgot about that. Crap! If only we could get some extra money from somewhere!"
"That or get Angelo to move out instead. That way, he won't be living so close to us.", Hay Lin said when she noticed a smirk grow on Irma's face and knew what her best friend was thinking. "It's not going to work, Irma. Angelo won't simply move out from here."
"And why not?", Irma questioned. "I mean he has the dough to afford a place somewhere else. We just have to convince him to do it."
"And if we can't?", Hay Lin questioned.
"There's always my mind control.", Irma suggested. "I'll just have him sign a contract saying that he'll move out."
"And what if your mind control doesn't work on him?", Hay Lin questioned. "You know that he may have gotten some training from Kadma and the other older Guardians in how to protect himself from that stuff."
"Then we'll just have to use our other assets to get him to leave.", Irma said as she gestured at her body while winking.
"Oh no!", Hay Lin said. "We just got back with our boyfriends, Irma! I'm not about to cheat on him!"
"It'll only be for one night, Hay-Hay.", Irma said as she wrapped a friendly arm around her best friend's shoulder. "Besides. What they don't know won't hurt them. Besides. It'll be only a last resort for us. And if I can manage it, I'll be the only one to do what needs to be done."
"No you won't.", Hay Lin said with a small smile as she wrapped her arm around her best friend. "If we do this, then we do it together."
"That's my girl!", Irma said with a wink.
"So how are we going to do this?", Hay Lin asked.
"We invite Angelo over to dinner tonight.", Irma said. "He won't see it coming after what happened yesterday. We'll make some small talk and then request that he move out and find another place to stay. We can say it'll be his way of helping us make good with Joel and Eric."
"What about the other girls?", Hay Lin questioned. "You know they won't like this. Mainly, Will."
"Oh please!", Irma said with a wave of her hand a she sat on the couch. "We can convince Taranee to move in with Will which would allow Corny to make Taranee's old room into a large walk-in closest.", Irma said. "Everybody wins."
"I guess that could work.", Hay Lin said as she headed for the kitchen of their apartment. "Now I just have to make a good meal."
"And I'll clean up around here and call Angelo and invite him for dinner.", Irma said as she began to straighten up the place. "When all is said and done, we'll talk Angelo into moving out of here and we'll still have a place to stay."
"Here's hoping.", Hay Lin said as she took out what she needed to cook dinner.
Later that day, Cornelia was in the apartment she shared with Taranee taking a shower. When she was done, she dried herself off and exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around herself and headed into her bedroom. Once inside, she removed her towel and was about to get dressed when her cell phone rang.
"And who might you be?", she asked as she picked up her phone and saw the name on the phone. "Matt?", she questioned as she answered the phone. "Hello, Matt."
"Hey, Cornelia. What's up?", Matt asked.
"Nothing much.", Cornelia said. "I heard about what happened between you and Will today. Which has me wondering why you're calling me. Matter fact, how did you get my number anyway?"
"It's the same number you had in high school.", Matt said. "Listen. I know that I'm the last person that you may want to talk to right now."
"Very true.", Cornelia said in an annoyed tone.
"But I figured that you may be the only one that can help me with Will.", Matt said.
"What are you getting at?", Cornelia asked.
"I know I messed up with Will today.", Matt said. "But I want to make things right with her. And I figured that out of all the girls, you were the one best suited to help me."
"Go on.", Cornelia said getting interested.
"I know that Will probably told you about what Eric and Joel said about you.", Matt said. "Help me make things right with Will and I'll try to get them to back off about Hay Lin and Irma spending less time with you."
"And Angelo.", Cornelia said. "You have to try and get them to back off about Angelo as well. Same goes for you. You guys have nothing to worry about when it comes to Angelo."
"Fine. I'll see what I can do.", Matt said. "So can we meet somewhere tonight and talk about how I can make things right with Will?"
"Sure.", Cornelia said. "Remember that diner we all hung out at when we went to high school?"
"Yeah.", Matt said.
"Meet me there tonight around 10:30.", Cornelia said.
"Why so late?", Matt questioned.
"I'm having dinner with my family and I may stay a while with them.", Cornelia said.
"Okay.", Matt said. "Then I'll see you at the diner tonight around 10:30."
"See you then.", Cornelia said as she hung up the phone and got dressed for dinner with her family. "I only hope I can help them make amends.", she said as she picked out what outfit she was going to wear.
As for Matt, he hung of his cell phone with a smirk on his face.
"Tonight is going to be a night to remember.", Matt said as she went to find something to wear for his meeting with Cornelia.
To hours later, Irma had called Angelo over for dinner with her and Hay Lin. At first he was a bit confused by this. But then he figured that they wanted to talk and hopefully be friends again. So after taking a shower, he got dressed in a pair of tan slacks and a light blue dress shirt with a pair of brown loafers and headed over to Irma and Hay Lin's apartment. Once he knocked on the door, it was answered a few seconds later by Hay Lin who was wearing a yellow thin-strapped dress that went down to her knees with matching high heel shoes and her hair in a single ponytail.
"Hi, Angelo!", Hay Lin said with a smile as she gestured for him to enter.
"Hi, Hay Lin.", Angelo said as he walked in. "Thanks for inviting me over for dinner. I was pretty surprised when Irma invited me over after what happened yesterday and all."
"That's why we invited you over.", Hay Lin said as she walked over to the tale Irma had set for the three of them. "We figured that we should try and work things out seeing as we're back with our boyfriends."
"So I've heard.", Angelo said when he saw Irma standing next to the table wearing a red thin-strapped dress that went down to just above her knees with matching high heels.
"Well, we figured that we should have dinner together and talk about things.", Irma said as they all sat down.
"Works for me.", Angelo said before they said grace and began to eat. "This is quite a meal you cooked up."
"Thanks.", Hay Lin said as they ate their food.
About an hour and a half later, after talking about old times while eating their meal, they had finally finished it along with dessert.
"Wow! That was a great meal girls!", Angelo said as he wiped his mouth. "Thanks for inviting me. After what Will told me earlier, I had thought that you didn't want nothing to do with me seeing as your boyfriends did want you anywhere near me."
It was then that Irma and Hay Lin looked at each other nervously.
"It something wrong, girls?", Angelo asked as he noticed the look on their faces.
"Well, Angelo, it's like this.", Hay Lin said sadly. "Eric and Joel don't like the idea of us being around you if we can help it."
"So why invite me over for dinner if that's the case?", Angelo questioned.
"Well if we have to move out the only place for us to go to is the dorms on campus.", Hay Lin said. "And they pretty much such compared to here. So we were wondering if..."
"If you would move out so we can stay here.", Irma blurted out.
"Say what!?", Angelo questioned shocked by their demand. "Are you serious!?"
"Well... Yeah.", Irma said. "You, unlike Hay-Hay and I, are rich enough to afford a good apartment near campus. So if you were to move out, then we could stay here."
"So let me get this straight.", Angelo said. "You two want me to move out so you can have a cheap place to stay as well as make your boyfriends happy that I'm no living near you because they don't trust me near you."
"Yes.", Irma said as Hay Lin nodded.
"Are you two nuts!?", Angelo questioned as he stood up. "I'm not moving out! This is my home! Why would I move out just to make your boyfriends happy!?"
"But..."
"But nothing!", Angelo said. "You know, I was hoping you had invited me here as a sign of friendship! But I guess I was wrong! I'm out of here!", he said as he headed for the door.
"Angelo wait!", Hay Lin pleaded as she and Irma ran up to him. "Try to understand that we want things to work out with Eric and Joel!"
"Then they should understand that I wouldn't try to take you from them.", Angelo said. "If they can't understand that then that's their problem.", he said as he turned to leave only for Irma to stand in front of him.
"We can make it worth your while if you leave.", Irma said as she pulled down the straps of her dress and began to press up against Angelo. "Really worth your while.", she said as Hay Lin did the same with her dress.
"Oh for the love of... Stop! Just stop!", Angelo said as she pushed the straps of Hay Lin and Irma's dresses back up. "That is not going to work on me. What you two need to do is confront your men and tell them that they got nothing to worry about. And if they don't, then there's no use in being together with them."
"That's easy for you to say.", Irma said. "You're not the one with nothing to lose."
You're the ones who said that you were willing to stop being friends with me if your boyfriends wanted you to.", Angelo said. "I just saved you the trouble of ending our friendship. And with that, I bid you two good night.", Angelo said as he left their apartment.
"Well that was a bust.", Irma said as she and Hay Lin went and sat on their couch.
"What do we do now?", Hay Lin asked fearing that they may have to move out.
"It's either the dorms or we move back to in with our families.", Irma said which caused her and Hay Lin to shiver.
"I'd rather move back in with my parents.", Hay Lin said. "I'll at least have my own room."
"Moving back home is okay and all, but I enjoy not having my pest of a brother bugging me.", Irma said. "I can't go back to that!"
"Then move in with me.", Hay Lin said. "We have an extra room. And I'm sure my parents will let you move in for a fair rent."
"I guess that can work.", Irma said. "But I'm going to miss this place."
"Yeah.", Hay Lin said with a lazy smile. "Hey! Maybe we can talk the guys into being okay with us staying here."
"Yeah right.", Irma said with a scoff.
"It's worth a shot.", Hay Lin said.
"I guess we can try.", Irma said getting a smile from Hay Lin.
"That's the spirit!", Hay Lin said. "Tomorrow, we try and get the guys to be okay with us living here due to the cheap rent. But for now, we do dishes and kick back and watch some TV.", she said as the two of them got up from the couch to clean the dishes.
Later that evening, after eating dinner with her family and spending some time with them, Cornelia took the city bus and met Matt at the diner she told him about.
"Thanks for coming.", Matt said to Cornelia as she sat at the table.
"No problem.", Cornelia said. "So, you want help making things right with Will, huh?"
"Yeah.", Matt said. "I really messed up today and want to make things right."
"Well, the best advice I can give you is this.", Cornelia said. "Just talk to her. Maybe give her some flowers and a stuffed frog to break the ice. But try and talk to her. You two may not get back together, but at least you can be friends."
"Okay. BUt how can I talk to her if she won't listen to me?", Matt asked.
"Leave that to me.", Cornelia said. "I can bring Will here tomorrow around Noon. Be here before then and you can go from there.", she said as a server came up to them with two things of tea.
"Here are the teas you ordered, sir.", the server said as she placed the teas on the table.
"Thank you.", Matt said. "I hope that you don't mind but I ordered us something to drink."
"No problem.", Cornelia said as she got up from the table. "I'll be right back.", she said as she went to use the bathroom.
Once she was in the bathroom, Matt took something out of his pocket and quickly dumped it in Cornelia's tea before anyone noticed it. Once he did this, he watched it dissolve in the tea quickly as a smirk grew on his face. A few minutes later, Cornelia came back from the bathroom and sat back with Matt and drank some of the tea.
"Mmmmmm...", Cornelia said as she enjoyed the taste of the tea. "I love the tea here."
"It still has that great taste.", Matt said as he drank some of his tea knowing that it was going to be a while before the powder effect would kick in. "So do you think I should treat Will to lunch tomorrow as well?"
"Why not? If it'll keep her here long enough for you two to talk, then I say go for it.", Cornelia said. "But like I told you over the phone today, you, Joel, and Eric have nothing to worry about when it comes to Angelo. If you and Will manage to get back together, he wouldn't try and steal her away from you. He's not that kind of guy."
"If you say so.", Matt said.
"I know so.", Cornelia said.
After talking some more, Matt paid the bill and offered Cornelia a ride back to the Vanders' apartment building instead of taking the bus. She of course accepted his offer. As she rode in his rental car, she began to feel dizzy as Matt drove down the street. Things began to get blurry for her as she tried to focus her eyes but she then began to get sleepy.
"What's... What's... going... on?", she questioned as she looked down at her hands and then at Matt who smirked at her. "What did... What did you do... to me?"
"You're the reason Will is the way she is now.", Matt said. "She was very important to me and now she won't give me the time of day. I lost something special. And now, I'm going to take something special from you.", he said as Cornelia blacked out.
A/N: Oh boy! First, Irma and Hay Lin's plan goes bust and now Matt has drugged Corny and is going to do who knows what to her. What's going to happen next? Can Irma and Hay Lin talk Joel and Eric into getting over their questioning of Angelo? And how bad is Matt going to humiliate Cornelia? Find out in the next chapter.
Please review.