Chapter 39
Another Party to Plan
The first two weeks back on campus went rather smoothly for everyone. No one was having any issues with their classes so far; especially Alex, who was beyond thankful she no longer had to take an Economics course. Olivia and Elliot kept their Fridays free from classes, making all of their weekends extra long, which meant more time for Xbox and partying. Speaking of, Olivia's birthday was the 23rd, which was a Thursday – meaning they had the next day off with no obligations. So, Elliot got with everyone earlier in the week to make plans for what to do for her 22nd birthday.
"Blondie! What's up?" Elliot yelled from the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Alex's gait making its way through the townhouse.
"Hey Muscles. Not much, what's up with you?" Alex responded, throwing her backpack down on the floor as she climbed into a chair by the counter.
"Makin' a sandwich. You want one?" Elliot turned around, waving sandwich in the air after taking a bite.
Alex squinted her eyes, looking over the sandwich to try and figure out what was inside. She had to admit, it did look pretty good, whatever it was.
"Hmm. Looks good, so maybe. What's on it?"
"Bologna, cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream and onion potato chips." Elliot took another bite of the sandwich, closing his eyes in approval as the chips crunched gloriously with each chew.
Alex lifted an eyebrow. "Chips? On a sandwich?"
Elliot scoffed before giving a few chuckles as if Alex had insulted him. Or his sandwich.
"You've never tried chips on a sandwich?!" Elliot asked surprised, taking another big bite of the sandwich.
Alex shook her head.
"Blondie… you got no idea what you're missing. You gotta have one now!"
Elliot didn't even wait for Alex's answer before quickly assembling her the same sandwich, serving it to her on a paper plate. After they had just cleaned nearly every dish in the house during the big cleanup a few weeks ago, they all decided paper plates would be best for a while.
Alex thanked Elliot with a smile before picking the sandwich up with two hands and taking a bite out of it. She carefully chewed it, surveying the flavor before swallowing and setting the sandwich back down on the plate.
Elliot couldn't contain his excitement. He was leaning against the counter on his elbows, head in his hands with a giant smile as he watched Alex try his creation.
"Well? Whaddya think?"
"It's… well…" Alex started before picking up the sandwich again to take another bite. "It's… good. I just feel like it's missing something."
Elliot stood up and put his palms on the counter top, drumming his fingers against the cool marble.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Well… I think we should fry the bologna. Give it a nice crisp. And do you have any pickles? I feel like that would be another good addition," Alex suggested, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
Elliot reached a hand up to his chin, rubbing it in thought. "Okay. Let's try that. Finish your sandwich, I'll finish mine, and we'll split the new one. Deal?"
Alex nodded, mouth full of sandwich as Elliot finished his. Once they were both done, Alex got up to get a frying pan out to crisp the bologna as Elliot sliced the pickle spears into smaller triangles to fit onto the sandwich.
"Oh!" Alex said, flipping the bologna in the pan. "Should we toast the bread too or is that too much?"
Elliot shrugged. "Couldn't hurt. It might actually help the bread not get so soggy from the mayonnaise."
With that, Elliot popped the bread in the toaster for a couple of minutes. Just as it was done, Alex was done frying the bologna. They assembled the sandwich together carefully, acting as if it was an intricate puzzle – fitting together each layer slowly and precisely.
"Alright! I think we're good," Elliot said as he delicately placed the last slice of bread on top. "Look at this masterpiece."
Looking over the sandwich, Alex had to admit that it truly did look like a masterpiece. They had assembled the sandwich with four slices of fried bologna, two slices of American cheese, a ton of mayonnaise on both sides of the bread, and pickles and chips in the middle of the sandwich.
Just as Elliot cut the sandwich diagonally, Kathy, Casey, Trevor, Charlie, and Johnny came through the front door.
"Mmm, what's that smell?" Johnny asked, rushing to the kitchen to peek in.
"Fried bologna!" Alex said proudly, holding up her half of the sandwich.
"You didn't make us any?!" Casey asked, pretending to be offended.
"Nope," Elliot replied with a grin. "Gotta make your own. This is me and Alex's special recipe."
Alex turned and looked at Elliot smiling as they toasted their sandwich halves together before each taking a bite.
"Ohhhh yeah," Elliot said, moaning in approval with a mouthful of sandwich. "This is way better, you're right Blondie."
"Mmm, definitely better!" Alex agreed, closing her eyes as the flavors mixed together beautifully in her mouth.
"What is on that thing?" Casey asked, now standing next to Alex.
"Seriously, what the hell are you eating, babe?" Kathy also asked, surveying Elliot's sandwich.
"I told you. An Elliot and Alex special. We will never reveal our secrets, will we Blondie?"
Alex shook her head as she bit into more of her sandwich. "Nope. You'll have to find out next time we make it."
"Alright, alright," Johnny said, grabbing a handful of chips. "Real talk now. Before Liv gets home. What's the plan?"
"That's why I asked everyone here," Elliot started, wiping his hands off on his pants before clapping them together as if to bring attention to the room. "Liv's gonna be 22. Her birthday is Thursday, and me and her don't have classes Friday. So, I was thinking we just do something on her actual birthday then. Can anyone play hooky?"
"Gladly," Casey said.
Trevor and Charlie both nodded their heads.
"You know I will," Alex said with a smile, polishing off the last bite of her sandwich.
"Great. I don't think she'll want something super big, but we're definitely gonna party a bit with just us. My dad is gonna swing by with some alcohol and stuff tomorrow, since my schedule is pretty tight," Elliot said.
"My mom has the food figured out," Alex said. "She won't tell me what exactly she's doing, but she said she has a plan."
"She really does love Olivia, doesn't she?" Casey said with a smile, looking directly at Alex.
Alex nodded in response, smiling just as big as ever. For Olivia being her first relationship, she was genuinely shocked by how much her mom truly loved and cared for Olivia. She had always assumed her mother would hate whoever she dated, and never open up to them like she did with her and Casey. But considering how much they got along, especially just after a few months in, Alex was beyond happy.
"Okay, this is great. Now, what are we doing? Just chilling here, playing some games and stuff?" Elliot asked. "Or does anyone have any suggestions? For her 21st last year, we spent a ton of time uptown getting her drunk. But, I don't think she'll necessarily want to do that this year." Elliot declined to mention the part where he and Kathy played wingman – finding girls for Olivia to hook up with. They figured it was best to leave that part out.
"I think a night in is good. You guys could play Xbox, we could play beer pong, Cards Against Humanity, poker, literally anything. Olivia loves that," Kathy suggested.
"I'm game. Especially because it might snow anyways," Johnny said. "Amanda will be here too."
"Okay, this is perfect! Now, I gotta go get her a damn gift." Elliot grabbed his coat from the closet as he slipped on his boots.
"El! You said you'd get her one earlier than this," Kathy said, scolding him with her arms folded.
"Too bad. Now, come on, you're coming with me!"
With that, Elliot and Kathy left to go get a present. Johnny, Charlie, and Trevor sat down on the couch to immediately fire up the Xbox while Alex and Casey talked for a while about some school work.
After around 45 minutes, Alex decided to go up to Olivia's room to wait for her to get home, since she would be home any minute. She changed into one of Olivia's t-shirts before slipping between her covers, phone in hand to kill time.
Not long after, the door to her room opened.
"Hey," Alex said, smiling up at Olivia after setting her phone down on the nightstand.
"Hey baby," Olivia said, returning a smile as she slugged her backpack off of her shoulders. As she began to get undressed to change into something else, she continued the conversation. "What's up? How was your day?"
"Pretty good. Just been waiting for you to get home. How about your day?"
Lifting up the covers, Olivia slithered into the bed and wrapped her arms around Alex's midsection. "Fine. Tired. Boring. You know, another day."
Alex gave a quick chuckle before leaning over to place her lips softly against Olivia's. "You know… your birthday is in a few days."
Olivia sighed. "Yup."
"Aren't you excited?" Alex asked, a bit concerned at Olivia's reaction.
"Ehh. 21 is like the peak of birthdays. After that, what's really the point? No one seems to care past that until they're 50. Which is depressing to think about."
"That's a sad way to look at things, Liv. You should always be excited! It's your day! Who cares about the number. Everyone deserves to enjoy their birthday." Alex felt Olivia's arms wrap tighter around her, pulling her in closer. She then felt Olivia's lips against her cheek, giving her a soft kiss.
"Okay, okay, you're right. I'm still a bit excited. It just doesn't feel as important as last year's."
"Well… then we will have to change that," Alex said, a curious smile forming at her lips. "Speaking of… what do you want for your birthday?"
"You don't have to get me anything, Alex," Olivia tried to say, with Alex stopping her.
"Hush. What do you want?"
"Uhh… I don't know, Alex. Honestly. I kinda have everything I could ever need."
"Well… let's try this then." Alex turned to face Olivia a bit more, propping herself up on her elbow. "Is there anything else you want? You know… that… isn't tangible?"
Olivia raised her eyebrows at Alex, confusion plastered across her face. "What do you mean?"
Alex immediately began blushing. "Liv… you know…" Alex lifted her eyebrows suggestively as she shrugged, hoping Olivia would get the hint.
She didn't.
"Alex, what on Earth are you saying?"
Alex groaned as she tipped her head back in annoyance, briefly closing her eyes. "You're really going to make me say it, aren't you?"
"Say what?!"
"Liv… is there anything…" Alex whispered her next word very quietly, as if everyone else in the townhouse had their ears pressed against the door. "Sexual, that you want from me? Like… something we haven't tried or done?"
Olivia blinked a couple times before a smirk slowly began to spread across her mouth, and her cheeks immediately began to turn red. "Uhh… well… Alex, you don't have to –"
Alex put a finger up to Olivia's lips to silence her. "Olivia. Tell me. I insist."
"Okay, well…" Olivia started, before her mouth froze and no words came out. She then released a big exhale before closing her eyes. She didn't think she could look at Alex while telling her this next part. "There's a couple things… one, I've always wanted… a… a lap dance." Olivia couldn't help the way her skin blushed at the admission. "Two, I have this… thing. I've always wanted to use it on a girl, but never found the right one to do it with. Well, now, I think that I have. But it's completely up to you."
Alex didn't think she had ever seen Olivia blush so badly before. "And what is this… thing?"
"Well… it's… it's a… well, you see, it's a… uhhh… a…" Olivia mumbled the next word so quietly, Alex barely even heard her. "Strap-on..."
Alex's eyebrows perked up in interest. "A what?"
"You don't… know, what a… a… strap-on is, Alex?" Olivia stuttered.
Alex shook her head. Damn her, for being such a good and sheltered kid.
"Uhh. Well, we can save this discussion for a later time," Olivia said, feeling completely embarrassed and foolish.
"Olivia, stop it. Just tell me what it is, please?"
"Uhh… okay. Well, it's a… it's a dildo, that you strap onto your body so you can use it to fuck someone." Olivia buried her head in Alex's shoulder.
"Like… a dude? Like if you had a penis?"
Olivia lifted her head once more. "Technically speaking, yes. But it's not like that emotionally. It's not about the object. It's about the person behind it, if that makes sense." Olivia felt like she wasn't making any sense.
"I think so. So you want to use this on me?"
Olivia nodded her head. "Yeah. It would feel really good for you, Alex. It's a lot more… filling, if you catch my drift."
Alex couldn't help the way her core clenched tightly at Olivia's words. She had no doubts it would feel good. Hell, anything Olivia did to her felt good.
"Okay. Yeah, I'm in. For both things."
Olivia couldn't help but chew on her bottom lip. "Seriously? Are you sure?"
Alex nodded before leaning in to kiss Olivia again. "I love you, Liv. And I want to give you a good birthday. So I'm more than happy to do these things for you. You just have to promise me you won't laugh. I'm still not a good dancer, you know."
"Uhh, I'm pretty sure you proved that wrong at Elliot's party," Olivia said, reminiscing about the way Alex had danced on her at the party. The images flooding through her mind immediately sent some pangs of arousal to her core.
"Yeah yeah," Alex teased with a chuckle, wrapping her arms around Olivia. "Now let's watch some Netflix and cuddle before we have to do homework."
