Night Walkers

“Where’d you get so good?” Matt asked.

“THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!” Jimmy yelled from the kitchen.

“In high school, all my friends played different instruments and we were the best video game rockband ever.”

“Were you in an actual band?”

“No, we were too lazy for that.”

We were laughing and making jokes when the front door opened all of a sudden. A woman with long blond hair walked in and waved. She had on skin-tight leather pants and tight red top that showed off her, uh, assets.

“Am I missing out on something?” She asked quietly.

“Not at all, Olivia,” Brian said flatly.

Zacky stood up violently and walked out of the room. Olivia watched him leave but then turned her attention to me.

“I thought I smelled fresh blood in here,” She said maliciously.

“This is our friend, Lily. She’s cool,” Val replied, warily.

“My name is Olivia,” She extended her hand. “It’s charming to make your acquaintance.”

I said the same and then dropped back behind the guys. Something about this woman seemed off, dangerous even. Everyone was on their guard around her, and the way Zacky had left so abruptly was very odd.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt; I just wanted to check in on you guys. Make sure the move was going well.”

“It is,” Michelle, replied.

Olivia smiled and turned around without another word. She opened the door and was gone.

“You can come out now, Z,” Brian said quietly.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“Olivia. She’s an old…friend.”

“Actually, she’s my ex-fiance. And she’s the most manipulative, psychotic-“

“Zacky, chill. Don’t let her get you all riled up now,” Leana patted his arm.

He shook his head and breathed out heavily. Val walked into the kitchen and Michelle followed. I didn’t even notice that they were cooking while we were playing, but now delicious smells wafted in from the kitchen.

“Val, can I help you at all?” I called.

“No, girly! This is our treat to you for being such a cool neighbor! Besides, it’s ready anyway!”

We went and sat down at the dinner table, where I noticed all the girls sat on one side and the boys sat on the other except for Val and Matt, who sat at the heads of the table. I sat down between Michelle and Matt, which was across from Zacky, because it was the only seat available. Everyone grabbed their utensils and looked at Val expectantly, which I was clueless about. She raised her hands up and paused, then dropped them quickly.

“Bon appetit! Eat, eat, eat!”

The chowfest began. I seriously was so hungry that it took everything I had not to throw the food at my face. Nobody even talked for the first five minutes, but then we all started to fill up and slow down on the gorging. I noticed Johnny was eating dinner, but Lacey wasn't. She was the only one not at the table, and it was kind of weird.

After we finished eating, the guys snagged all the plates before I could even say anything. All five of them walked into the kitchen like the seven (or five?) dwarves and did the dishes. I cracked up watching them be so domestic.

“How did you guys get them to do that?” I was still laughing.

“Please! We cook and they clean up afterwards. It’s the law and if they break it, no food for them!” Michelle exclaimed.

We all laughed and got up to go into the living room. By now, it was about 8:30 and it was getting pretty dark. I didn't want to overstay my welcome, so I told everyone that I was going to head home.

“But whyyyyyy?!?” Jimmy whined.

“Jimmy, you are an actual baby sometimes,” Leana said.

“We’ll all walk you home, Lily,” Matt said.

As we walked back to my house, Val and Michelle kept talking animatedly about some clothing thing or other. Randomly, Leana would chime in and Jimmy would make a perverted or obscure comment. I kept laughing at everything which was strange because I felt like I hadn't laughed in years. As we reached my house I saw that Dan was home, an oddity since he normally went out and got belligerent every night.

I said goodbye to the guys and they waited politely while I unlocked my door. Surprisingly, the door opened just as I was about to grab the handle, and a petite, redheaded girl looked back at me. She seemed equally surprised.

“Uh, hi?” She offered.

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?” She retorted.

“Dan’s girlfriend! What are you doing in my house?”

While she stuttered trying to come up with an answer, Dan broke the ice by coming down the steps with a pair of lace panties hanging off his finger.

“Hey, Candice, you forgot th-“ He stopped mid-sentence and just gawked.

“Perfect. Abso-fucking-lutely perfect,” I threw my hands up and walked down the steps. The guys were still there and watching the whole thing, so that was pretty great.

“Lily, it’s not what it looks like!”

“Please, Dan, explain to me how a pair of lace underwear that some harlot forgot in our house does NOT mean you are fucking her?”

I didn't really expect an answer, and I sure as hell didn’t receive one. I whipped around to the girl, Candice, who was trying to sneak away, unnoticed.

“ Aren't you the girl from Dan’s work? Goddammit, you knew he was with somebody!”

I walked up and was about to punch her in the face, when somebody yanked me back with significant force. The girl dashed away and I screamed incoherently after her. I turned around and glared at Zacky, who had been the one to stop me.

“Get your hands off of her,” Dan said lamely. Everyone ignored him.

“Why did you do that?”

“You would have regretted it.”