Lunches with Gally and Newt combined have gotten less awkward through the time, especially because Gally's friends now do show up and they're nicer than I expected them to be.

"I think you should give it a try," Gally advises. I told him about the thing we had a discussion about at home, and asked his opinions. "I mean, your mom won't just put a random kid in her house. She must really trust him."

"Yeah, true. But Minho is one hundred percent not going to share his room and I don't think Finn's very excited to do it either."

He cocks his head to the side, thoughtful. "Would you be okay with that boy in your room?"

"Not really. I mean, maybe if I take some time to get to know him, but he'll need a place to sleep during that," I explain.

"Understandable. I wouldn't say it's a good idea to make a random boy sleep in your room either. But you said there already was a silent agreement?"

A nod. "Yup. They barely mentioned the possibility of him sleeping in my room."

"As they should," Gally replies. "So—"

"Yo, Newt," one of Minho's friends, and also one of Newt's, greets. It's Alby, a broad, dark-skinned boy who barely has any hair on his head. He pushes his hands down on Newt's shoulders. "You heard about the party this Friday?"

"No." He turns his head. "Where, who, what?"

"I don't know. Some dude's house, but anyone's allowed to come. His parents aren't home; the usual. Starts at eight." Alby's eyes trail over all our faces. "Y'all are welcome to come, too."

"I assume we are. 'Anyone's allowed to come'," Gally repeats, muttering quiet enough for Alby to give no reaction.

"I guess I'll be there," Newt announces. "What time?"

"Eight. I'll send you the address."

Then he's off. In the following seconds of our break, we barely get the chance to talk before someone else appears at our table.

"Gally." It's Jeff. I don't know him very well, but I do know he's kind. "Party at Friday. You coming?"

"Just heard about it. Sure."

They share a high-five. "Awesome. I'll see you there."

By the time Gally's friends have also received an invitation from their friends, break is almost over. I've grabbed my bag a minute before the zooming starts echoing through the building.

"Sage, wait!" A rushed voice comes from behind. Half-running, Thomas rests his hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking. "There's a party this Friday. Tes, Brenda, and I are going, and we wanted to invite you as well."

"I know. And sure. Don't lose me in the crowd again, though."

"That was your fault," he points out. "You let go of my arm."

"You started walking really fast."

"You bumped into people."

"You didn't help me."

"You— whatever. We won't make it happen again." He hooks his pink around mine. "See you Friday, then."

"I'll most likely see you before that, but alright, see you Friday."

☀︎︎

"It's a regular party thrown by some guy at school, and you're sewing clothes for that?"

"All you've done the second you came in my room is complain, so if you don't quit now, leave. I'm now sewing for you, am I?"

Minho removes his palms from below his chin—the position he had been lying on my bed in for at least ten minutes—and falls backwards. "There is nothing good right now."

"Such a sunshine, as always." I start cutting the material of the dark red top I'm planning to make.

"Do you agree with me? That I don't have to share my room?"

"Yes, of course," I say. "But on the other side, I'm curious about this boy. Maybe it's not that bad. You could try for one night. And whenever you want privacy, you switch with Finn in whatever way, or me."

"You are not sharing a room with him," Minho informs. Then he remains silent for exactly ten seconds, which is a record for today. "Maybe I'll try for one night, indeed. I don't want to disappoint Mom even more as I'm already doing."

"You're doing fine," I assure him softly. "Didn't you get an A for PE?"

"Yeah, but that's like... PE. The most basic thing ever."

"I have gotten multiple F's. And it doesn't matter for which class you get a good grade, it's still amazing. You know Mom's proud anyway."

"I guess." I can sense the way he's shrugging by the sound of his voice. "Anyway, you gonna be boring at that party again?"

At parties, I'm the kind of person to stay really close to the ones I know and barely drink because I'm scared I'll do something embarrassing in front of a whole crowd.

Minho doesn't give a single shit. He joins all sorts of games, traumatizes my retina by making out with multiple girls right in public, goes swimming in his boxers (if there's a pool)— it doesn't matter to him.

Finn's a mix of both. You won't see him get intimate with someone in public very fast, but he's very social and would play the games.

Thomas's way of acting at parties depends on the situation. I can't explain it. Sometimes, he's outgoing, and sometimes he sticks in a little corner with friends.

"Maybe, maybe not," I say. "Depends on the vibe. If there's very crazy people, I won't touch a single drink."

"You're going with Thomas, right? Wait— I don't even have to ask that."

"And Teresa and Brenda," I add.

Well, Brenda usually also disappears to Minho's hutch.

Minho hums. "Go with Bren for once. You'll love it to just get drunk for once. I'll make sure you don't do any embarrassing things. I mean, you usually don't even have to try, so we've all gotten used to it."

I roll my eyes at the last thing, but give him a serious stare. "You promise? I won't mind getting a bit tipsy, but swear you'll watch out for me."

"Will do, I promise," he says, as serious as I am. Satisfied, I turn back to my desk. "Meanwhile, Brenda goes with you and Thomas and Teresa will probably get nasty."

"Not everyone gets nasty like you do at parties," I reply, nearly offended.

"Damn, I'm sorry." One of my pillows hits me. Groaning because I almost got the needle through the thread and will now have to retry, I throw it back. "Bet on five dollars they'll be kissing in a corner."

"I don't do bets."

"You know I'll win. Always."

At some point, he's standing next to me. Well, bends over so he can have a good, close-up look of my face. "You don't like the idea of them getting all freaky, do you?"

"...not at a party. That's not exactly the most amazing place to do things like that for the first time."

Minho raises an eyebrow, scoffing. "How would you know for sure it's the first time?"

"Because Thomas said so."

"Don't believe every single thing he says."

"If it wasn't, he would've already told me about it."

"Hmm..." With a shake of his head, Minho bites his lip. "Don't think so. Seriously, what eighteen year old goes sharing their bed adventures with their best friend of the opposite gender? I definitely would not tell Brenda things like that."

"That's different," I say, now starting to hesitate at my own words. "I've known Thomas my whole life and we tell each other everything. But, fine, whatever you say. I don't think I'd even want to know those details."

"Exactly," he points out.

Just when I think he's moving back to the bed, he appears in my sight again, so close I can see the twinkle in his amused eyes. "You're a wee bit jealous, aren't you, Viviette?"

"Of?"

"Teresa. Who else? You either want to keep your best friend for yourself, or you literally want to keep him for yourself. In other ways."

"Might've been struggling a bit with the first thing, yes," I say.

"It's very similar to the second one. You sure that's not it?" He grins.

"Positive," I say firmly. "He's been my best friend since forever and I don't want that to change. Besides, there is absolutely no motive to suddenly like him in that way, as he remained quite the same."

Minho makes a popping sound with his mouth. "Yeah, no. Also, this whole explanation proves you've been thinking about it."

"Stop teasing me."

"Fine, jeez. I'll go get some food."

"Dinner's in ten minutes. Don't get full."

"Yeah, mother Vi."

☯︎︎

A/n: The thing about shorter chapters is that it also means there will be a larger amount of chapters, but I guess that's fine

Hope you enjoyed this quite useless thing

To be honest I just wrote this in a rush at night so I can wake up with comments tomorrow, to start my day well

Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more useful ahah

Uhm, I have no question ideas. Just come up with one yourself and reply to your own question as well as others'!!

Well, maybe this: what will happen at the party?

(I genuinely have no idea ahah)

Have a good day
x V