Chapter 16
Whole at Last
Jeff opened the door and walked inside heading towards the kitchen, where Carole was cooking what smelt like macaroni.
"Hi, Carole," he said, "I found some of my friends on the way home, and I was wondering if, after dinner, I can take them to see the others."
"Of course dear," she responded cheerfully, "Hello, my name is Carole."
"I'm Ivan."
"It is nice to meet you, Ivan. I am glad that I overestimated how much macaroni I needed, because now I think there is just enough."
"My pleasure. I suppose Ivan will be staying with us, since all of the guys are here as well?"
"Maybe, if that is okay?" Jeff asked.
"Of course it is okay. You are like family to us now, and we have a lovely air mattress."
"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Jeff said, bowing his head slightly.
Jeff took them downstairs where Ivan Flores was sitting on his bed watching the TV.
"How was your first day?" he asked when he heard the door open.
"I don't know, you tell me."
Ivan Flores looked up and saw that it wasn't just Jeff who had entered the room.
"Hey," Ivan Chavez said as he walked over and sat on the other bed.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"Jeff almost ran me over," Ivan Chavez added sarcastically.
"He is pretty good at doing that," Ivan Flores said, turning his head toward Jeff.
"I AM NOT!" he yelled at them, his face started to turn red.
"We were only joking," Ivan Chavez said as he held his hands up, telling Jeff to calm down.
"DINNER IS READY!" Carole yelled down the stairs and they all rushed up to the table.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have quite enough seats. So, a couple of you will have to sit up at the counter."
"That's okay, I will sit up there," Jeff said, grabbing his plate and going to the counter.
"How have you all been?" Carole asked Ivan Chavez.
"Good, just trying to wrap my head around what had happened," Ivan said while stabbing the macaroni with her fork.
"Yeah, I was mugged when I was walking down the street and I woke up and saw Jeff."
"Oh no, are you okay? Did they take something from you?"
"I'm a'ight. I still had everything when I woke up."
"That is good."
"I was asleep during my class and when I woke up, I was on a bench in the park."
"Wow, it seems like we all got here in different ways," Jeff added with confusion on his face.
"That sure is strange," Kurt started, "First you all show up in our world. Then you keep on coming and now there is nothing in common between how any of you got here?"
"I guess, but I think this should be the end of it. I don't think there is anyone else going to show up, because this is all of my friends," Jeff announced.
"Really, you only have nine friends?" Finn asked, quickly regretting what he said, because Jeff's eyes began to fill with tears.
"Jeff, it is okay. Nine is a good amount of friends," Kurt said, trying to keep him from crying.
"I have plenty of people that think they are my friends, but the nine with me now are my best friends. They are the ones that I tell everything to and I don't regret it later," he started weeping.
"Sorry dude," Finn got up and walked over to him, tired of the piercing glares that he was getting from Burt.
"It's okay, I am fine."
"Are you sure? I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I am fine. Well, we should get going. I am sure everyone will be glad to know that you are here."
"Okay, I will see you later Ivan," Kurt said, giving a slight wave of his hand.
"Yeah, I will see you later," Ivan Chavez added as he followed her out of the room.
"Thank you for the dinner," Jeff gratefully said, gathering their plates and washing them in the sink.
"You're welcome."
Jeff went out and unlocked the car and they hopped in. When they got to Mercedes's house, they got out and approached the door, pressing the doorbell.
"Hey," Mercedes said when she opened the door.
"Hi, is Alyssa here?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, come in, let me go get her."
They went into the cozy little house that was a crème color on the inside. There was a 32-inch TV in the living room that was showing The Colbert Report from the previous day.
"Oh my god, IVAN!" Alyssa shouted, running to give him a hug.
"Hey Alyssa," he said.
"Ivan how did you get here?"
"Well, I was mugged, then I woke up, tried to cross the street and Jeff almost ran me over."
"Oh no! That is awful. You're okay right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"I am so glad that you are here. Are you going to go to the same school as us?"
"Actually, I think I am going to go to Dalton with Jeff. It is rude to have him be there by himself, and I never went to a private school before, and it might be fun."
"Really, you and Jeff hardly even know each other. We could send other Ivan to Dalton."
"You really think that he would leave Naomi?"
"Yeah, you're probably right, but we are going to get both of you back."
"Really?" Jeff questioned, curious about their plot, "What are you going to do?"
"That is for us to know and for you to find out," she said, smugly.
"Okay, well good luck, and don't do anything stupid."
They all said their goodbyes, and went to Brittany's where the same thing took place and followed by more goodbyes.
"Okay it is getting late, so we should all get some rest."
"Ivan, you can have my bed tonight, and I will take the air mattress," Jeff said, flopping down on the mattress.
"Thanks dude," he walked over to the bed, kicked off his shoes, and lied down.
"Good night," Jeff said as he flipped off the lights.
"Good night," both Ivans said in unison as they slowly drifted off to sleep.