Alex sat near one side of the pizza, across from her two guests. She had a mental debate in her head. Either she could speak up about her side of the story and be called defensive or she could keep quiet while Emily and Lauren continued to talk about her.
Oh, and Logan.
Since Lauren came to her house, she hadn’t been given the chance to change into her pajamas. Emily had her sit next to her on the floor and set aside the bag Lauren brought. On the bright side, she had been offered free pizza and soda.
“So kind of had a rough time at this party…” Lauren said.
“A party?”
“Yeah, we’ll get to that later. It’s not that important. What’s important is I need someone to share my woes and misery.”
“Perfectly understandable” Emily nodded.
“Anyway, after the party, I decided to check on Alex the next day and did you know what I found?” Lauren paused for dramatic effect. The memories burned fresh in her mind, “I saw her and Logan almost kiss!”
Alex’s eyes turned into the size of saucers. That wasn’t what happened!
“Oh, shush, Alex” Lauren turned to her, “You didn’t see it like I did.”
Alex made a face. Had she said that one out loud? Even if she did, why shouldn’t she talk? Of course she didn’t see it like Lauren did because she had been part of it. Shouldn’t she know what happened better as the person involved?
“Ignore her. Continue the story” Emily spoke up, shaking Lauren’s arm. There had to be a lot of stories to go through but they didn’t have that much time.
“But as a good friend of Alex, I had to save her from embarrassment. Not only did these two almost kiss, they flooded the laundry room! They sure had their priorities straight! The kiss mattered more than the mess!” Lauren scoffed, remembering the whole thing, “If I hadn’t arrived things would have been messier!”
“You walked in on them?” Emily accused playfully, “Don’t be a blocker, Lauren. You’re better than that.”
“Emily, you don’t understand. What I did was for the goodness of the Logandra ship. It had long term benefits. I told Logan to go home and after he left, I told Alex that her white shirt had clung to her bra!”
Emily placed a hand over her mouth. Her lips couldn’t hold in the giggle that threatened to escape. She raised her other hand, implying to wait for her to compose herself.
When she could finally breathe properly, she said, “Was it the macaroni one?”
“Yes!” Lauren exclaimed with wide eyes, “How did you know?”
This time, Emily lost all restraint. She had no willpower left to stop the laughter that wanted to burst out of her lungs. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and fell sideways to the floor.
Alex bowed her head, shielding her face with her hand. She wished the ground would swallow her up right about now.
Lauren caught her movement from the corner of her eye. She glanced alternatively between the two girls around her, “Is there something I missed?”
Emily recovered from her fit. She sat up and patted Lauren’s shoulder, “You didn’t. Alex and I bought that bra from this shop back home. It’s the only bra Alex has that stands out from the rest. That’s why I guessed it had been that one.”
“Ah, now that makes sense” Lauren sighed in relief.
“Oh, man. That was such a good story.”
“It’s not over yet” Lauren smiled mischievously.
“It’s not? Tell me the rest, woman!” Emily nudged her.
“Okay, okay. When I told Alex about her bra, it turned out Logan had been standing outside and heard the whole thing. Neither of us expected it! Alex turned red as a tomato and yelled at him to get out while I just stood by and enjoyed the whole thing.”
“OMG” Emily cackled, “What did you mean about the good of the Logandra ship then?”
“Ugh, I was scared Alex would be too embarrassed to face Logan again. If they don’t talk, how would the ship sail, right?”
“Brilliant thinking” Emily told her in awe.
“I know right? And Logan just had to ruin it by eavesdropping!”
“Have they talked?”
“Thankfully, yes! Alex got sick from their bath and Logan took care of her so they made up.”
Emily cooed, “Aw, that’s so sweet!”
“And Logan turned out to be sick that time too!
“Aaw, okay. He redeemed himself on that one.”
“Exactly.”
Was she even needed around here? Alex thought to herself. So far neither party took notice of her. They even talked like she wasn’t around.
Emily’s spider sense felt a brooding presence coming from the spot across from her and Lauren. Looking over, she could almost see a dark around Alex.
She chuckled and got up.
“Aw, come on, couz. Why the long face?” Emily chuckled, walking over to Alex. She sat down and hugged her sideways, “Consider this as practice when Logan meets your mom. You know Aunt Angie would also ask for stories.”
Lauren soon joined Emily. She took the free spot next to Alex and also hugged her, “If you really don’t want to talk about it then, we won’t.”
Alex raised an eyebrow at her, “Really?”
Lauren grinned, “Not in front of you anyway.”
“Fair enough” Alex rolled her eyes, “How about this? Can we not talk about boys for the rest of the night?”
“But Alex…” Emily began to say. Alex and Lauren looked over at her with disapproving eyes. She held up her hands in surrender, “I was just going to say Alex is a boy.”
Alex picked up a pillow nearby and smacked it against her cousin’s arm.
“Hey!” Emily yelled, “Abuse. This is abuse.”
“Get your own dialogue” Alex giggled, hitting her again.
“Quite the slumber party we have here.”
All three girls stopped what they were doing and looked over to the doorway.
Lilly stared at them with amused eyes. She could hear their voices from downstairs. The house had never been this lively.
If only it’s Lauren that Angie knew about instead of Logan then, Alex could have Lauren around when she stays over the summer at her parents’ house.
“Aunt Lilly” Emily cheered, springing to her feet and running over towards Lilly. She gave her aunt the tightest hug she could muster, “Can you adopt me too?”
Lilly pulled her earlobe, “Try and say it in front of your mom why don’t you?”
“And die? No thank you!”
Lilly chuckled and released Emily’s ear. She used a light grip so it didn’t hurt. She glanced at Lauren and waved, “Nice to see you again, Lauren.”
“Great to be here” Lauren waved back.
“Now, what is this about taking a bath in the laundry room?”
