"Butter or Mayonnaise?" He asks. I'm confused for a moment before my head tells me he's talking about making me a sandwich.
"Mayonnaise."
Noah spreads Mayonnaise on bread. "So what's it?"
"What?"
"Your tattoo."
I lower my eyelashes and fiddle with the pendant on my neck, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "It's a unicorn."
He makes a sound at the back of his throat and shifts the sandwich towards me. I take a greedy bite out of it as I hear loud voices approaching our table from behind me.
"Get ready to meet the lousiest group of people ever."
"GALLAGHER!" A voice booms. "Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you." The four lousy shenanigans appear on our table and noisily drags out seats.
Seeing more of the Kingston boys up close now makes my previous impression of them dissipate. True, they might look like they just came out from a teen model magazine, but I feel less bothered now at their presence.
"Is that her?" One of them says.
Who?
"You must be Allie. Noah told us about you." My eyes dart to Noah for confirmation.
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," He tells me with a straight face.
"Whatever man. You just left in the middle of our conversation after you told me you understand." The one with dirty blonde hair says.
Understand what? I'm so lost here.
"Look, when I say I understand, it doesn't mean I agree. It doesn't mean I understand. It doesn't even mean I'm listening," Noah sneers.
"But I want this party to be lit. It's my birthday we're talking about here."
"I understand."
Frustration gleams in all four of their eyes. I'm thinking they're about to hold a birthday party, but don't know how to go about it and now they want Noah's opinion on it, so right now he's being the normal asshole that he is.
Figured.
"What do you guys have planned?" I speak for the first time since their arrival.
"Nothing," Birthday boy replies me. "The hotel's bar could work. We'll hire few strippers."
"We'll hire a lot of strippers," Another one with nose piercing beams. Ok this sounds more like a club party than a birthday party.
I open my mouth to say something but they beat me to it. "We could get enough booze."
"Wait, I..." Again, they cut me off.
"We could get a lot of booze."
"Do you think they'll let us take weed here?"
"Oi, Everyone shut up!" Noah snaps, making them all immediately go silent and divert their attention to him, but his gaze is fixated on me. "Allie has something to say."
My butt shifts uncomfortably in my seat when they all take their attention back to me, waiting for the alleged thing Noah claims I have to say.
"We could make it simpler, like a bonfire party..." I speak up, watching them nod their heads in agreement.
"I like it."
"I'm not done yet." Birthday boy carelessly waves me off with a hand.
"Say no more. I think it's going to be lit."
"Dude, just let her finish." I can see Noah's patience running thin.
"Honestly, I already think it's..."
Before he can interrupt again, Noah stuffs an apple from the fruit basket on our table into his mouth to stop the next words from spewing out. Birthday boy's face turns a deep red as he struggles to get the apple out.
"Proceed."
Are they all just going to ignore the fact that someone is literally choking on an apple?
"It can be like an open party, where everyone's invited, unless you don't want that. We could get activities set up, like karaoke singing or other things you can come up with. And then the most important of all... A birthday cake." I pause to take a quick look at all of their reactions to my suggestion, I'm met with boyish grins, and a look of relief from birthday boy who just successfully got the apple out.
"So? Are you guys in?"
I hear a series of yeah and i like it from all of them, except a certain hardhead.
I look into his indecipherable eyes with my own questioning ones without breaking eye contact and without resistance on his part.
It wouldn't come much as a surprise if Noah stands up and walk out on us. I'm kind of expecting it, and I think it's obvious the thought of him cutting out birthday hats and putting up Happy Birthday banners with us would make him cringe.
But what I'm not expecting is the next words that come out his mouth, surprising me and the rest of us on the table.
"I'm in."
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