Misplaced Words

Kari is getting on my nerves, sitting there just openly flirting with my husband. Even flirting with Aiden and bugging Ally, what is her problem anyway? If she is my number one fan, then why is she going out of her way to make everyone feel uncomfortable during our last hurrah as classmates? Why is she stirring up all this drama? I look over at her and she is smirking, clearly feeling successful with the display she just caused between Ally and Aiden. I don't understand why she hates Ally so much. I force Kellin to move over so I can pull closer, so close that she is practically on my lap.

“Chill Als, you know Kari is just trying to get under your skin. She is just jealous of you.” I tug at her hair until she smiles again.

Aiden sits at the other end of the table moping, staring sadly into the cup he has in front of him. He is clearly upset with the exchange that just went done between them. The cold, wet spots, where the ice is looks awful. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him at all. The fact that Ally is upset with him must be distracting him from the moist cubes sliding down his chest. I look at Ally and she is staring at him, pouting. I could tell she feels bad and that the anger has been forgotten, at least for the moment. I expect her to keep that fact to herself and use his guilt to her advantage, a typical Ally move. Instead she shouts across the booth:

“I love you baby.”

Shocks jolts me, Ally almost never says I love you, let alone out loud or in front of a group of people.

Aiden’s eyes light up, “not as much as I love you, my queen.”

She giggles and is sitting in his lap in no time, running her fingers through his hair while he whispers in her ear. I think.... I think that Ally is actually in love. Before, she would have sulked over the Kari thing for hours, maybe even days, before even thinking about talking to the guy again. She has really changed and now I know that Aiden is why. He wraps his arms around her waist and she blushes. She probably isn’t thinking about the fact that all three of her ex-boyfriends are here to witness who she has become. I look at Jack and he is smiling at Tania, rubbing her belly with his eyes glowing with joy. I look over at Vic, he is laughing at something with Gabe hitting the table laughing along. I look over at Max and he is eyeing Kari, who is clearly eyeing him back. I should talk to Kari, let her know why she should stay away from him. Hopefully she will listen to me since she seems to look up to me.

Though she may be annoying me tonight, I can't keep this information from her. Max might not have changed as much as Ally did, he may not have changed at all. I wouldn’t want her to get hurt. I don't want to watch her crash and burn.

“Ugh,” Tania moans, “water just goes right through me.” She gets up, gently nudging Jack out of the way, so she can head to the bathroom. Instinctively, Roxy, Ally and I all get up to follow her. “Be right back.”

We bum rush the bathroom, pulling out our phones for selfies and silly group pictures. Checking our makeup, hair and clothes in the mirror, and of course, actually using the bathroom. I didn’t think I should be worried that Kari didn’t follow us. I mean, she doesn’t really know us well enough. I think of Naomi and suddenly feel so guilty, we should try harder to make Kari feel like she fits in. What if Naomi never felt like she fit in? We can't let that happen to Kari, we never know what tomorrow holds. I am determined to make her feel like one of us. Maybe I can ask the girls to come with me and her for a shopping day. So we can get to know her, that will be great.

I am feeling great about the idea, that is until I head back. I spot a very uncomfortable Kellin who is politely trying to remove a very clingy Kari from his lap. She is laughing like she is being cute and funny. I am moving quickly toward them. Suddenly, she is reaching down to touch his hair and I feel the fury bubble up in me. It’s like the world slows down but speeds up all at once. Next thing I know I am grabbing a random drink from a tray that is passing by. I ignore the waiter’s angry face and protests. In a very Ally fashion, I walk up to the table dumping the drink on Kari's head. She screams and everyone looks at us. When she looks up and sees that it is me. I can see the tears forming in her eyes and even then I didn’t feel bad.

“Get off of my husband or I will kill you.” I sneer at her.

She cringes and slides away, “I am sorry, I just - I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. I mean, I am not trying to get in between you two or anything. I was just trying to have some fun.”

I open my mouth, but Roxy places her hand on my back and I close it. I will not make a scene, well, more of a scene. I need to relax and do my best not to break the hand she tried to touch my husband’s hair with. I take a deep breath, placing myself between Kellin and Kari. I hand him a napkin so he can clean what spilled on him. He is clearly shocked by my reaction but not in a bad way. He is openly smiling like my momentary jealously is cute. I will blame this on the pregnancy, that’s all. This blind anger and stupid jealously on hormones. I know Kellin can’t be swayed from my side. Besides, it’s more about the fact that she disrespected me. She knows that we are married, she is just being a little - … I take another breath.

“Don’t let it happen again.” I give her a strained smile. “I am sorry I poured a drink on you,” no I am not, “I don’t know what could have come over me.” Yes, I do. “Okay?”

“It’s okay. I deserved it, what kind of number one fan am I?” She pouts and I pat her hand while telling myself not to crush it.

“It’s okay, we all make mistakes.” I grit my teeth and smile.

I glare at Gabe and he gets my hint. He slips into the seat on the other side of Kari putting his arm on the back of her chair. He starts chatting with her and she seems appeased enough. I pat Kellin’s leg and he moves so I can get out. I plop myself next to Vic and Jaime. I need to focus on something else. I snuggle into Jaime and grab Vic’s hand in mine. I motion for Tony and Mike to come closer, soon we are all smushed tightly together. I see Ally snap a picture with my phone and I laugh. I open my arms and pull them closer.

“I am going to miss you guys so much!” I start crying.

They hug me tighter, “I will miss you too Lil’ Bit.” Mike states.

“My Padawan,” Tony squeezes harder, “we will talk every day.”

“Of course I’ll miss you Liz Machine. Who else will make me feel like the funniest man alive.” Jaime proclaims in a funny voice that makes me giggle.

“I’ll miss you monkey. I’ll miss you most of all.” Vic squeezes my hand.

The hug breaks and my boys wipe away stray tears.

“I will be at every possible concert. I promise. Every single chance I get.”

“Okay, you better!” They say at once.

“Let’s sing together Vic. Just like we used to.” I whisper the last part, no one, but Kellin, knows I would sneak off and sing with Vic whenever I was stressed out. “Come on.”

We run up, and tell the MC to play our jam. The opening cords of Broken by Seether featuring Amy Lee start to play. We start singing like we have never sung together before. It was bittersweet. It was like we were both okay with everything that’s happened between us, but, there is a certain layer of sadness like dust over everything. I give the song my all, pouring myself into the lyrics. We hug when we are finished and I run off to the bathroom to puke. The emotions must have made me nauseous or maybe it was the food, either way, baby was not pleased. I am glad I bought a pack of those disposable tooth brushes. I brush my teeth and head out in time to see Ally singing to Aiden. She literally pulled his chair to the stage. So that he can sit on the center of the stage. She is dancing around and putting on a bit of a sexy show for him. I blush just looking at them, I head towards Kellin suddenly feeling very shy.

He laughs as he leans into my ear, “me next babe.”

I blush and swat at him, “stop it.”

“Come up here Lizzy!” Ally shouts and stomps on the stage, shooing Aiden back to his seat after the song is over. “We have to sing together. MC, play Pretty Girls by Brit.”

She throws a mic to me as I walk towards her. She is already giggling when the beat starts. We sing all the lines in unison but I know I am going to do the rap. I laugh when the raps comes up. I change Iggy to Lizzy and I know that Ally is dancing in the background. The group is hollering and pounding on the table like fools. So we start a second song, with no beat just voices. We are doing a PTV song. I run to the table, snatch Vic’s beanie and pull it over my head as I do my best impression of him. Ally is mimicking the rest of the guys, running between all their usual places on stage. Then Roxy runs up and starts being Mike. Tania sprints over to be Tony. I realized in this moment how much I am going to miss this. I quickly think about something else because I can’t start crying right now.

When I look over at Max’s table, Kari is sitting on his lap making out with him. I shake my head; this girl is like a young Ally. She is impulsive, angry and hungry for male attention. I look over at Gabe to see what he is doing, when I notice him punch Mike in the face. I gasp and run over to the table. We pull them apart, Gabe is gasping and cursing.

“What the hell Gabe?” I shriek.

“He can’t talk about Kari like that.” Gabe’s lip is bleeding.

“Chill dude, I was joking. Damn.” Mike pushes his way from the table, a joint already dangling from his lips.

I sit at the table and feel suddenly feeling deflated. The other patrons look over at us and start whispering. Of course, we have done a few things to grab their attention already. Why is it that every time we come together something like this happens? I pout to myself and try not to overthink this. It's just what happens when there is a lot of personalities in one group. We've been through a lot as a unit, so that causes complications. I look at Ally as she gives Vic a coy wave. I look over at him, I can see a flash of anger in his eyes. That's so weird, Ally said that they made up and were fine now. I need to talk to him to see what that look is about. I make my way back to him and he gives me a shaky smile.

“Great me impression.” He says as I sit close to him.

“Thanks,” I take off his hat and ball it up in my fist. “Are you mad at Ally?”

He leans close to me, “hell yes.”

I don’t ask why, I already know why. I can't really blame him. It makes sense that he would still be upset with everything that has happened to between them. That kind of damage doesn't go away with a few words. I am just shocked that he is this mad. I have never seen him this mad before. He has never openly told me that he is pissed off at someone.

“Did you tell her?” I ask in vain, I know the answer.

“No,” he shrugs, “I don’t want her to be upset and frankly I don’t want us to start up the cycle again. I mean look at her,” we both look at Ally as she giggles and plays with the collar of Aiden’s shirt, “she is happy. I don’t want anything to mess that up, for either of us.”

I feel emotional all over again. I don’t want us to be divided. I don't want Ally and Vic to be at odds, for him to move away and never speak to her again. I look at Ally for the second time since I sat with Vic. Aiden is kissing her cheek and holding her close to him. She is smiling while she says something softly to him. I can see the love there. I can see the joy and peace that I have never seen on Ally's face before. I can understand Vic’s logic, I am still not happy about it. I can't be selfish, I have to leave it be.

“Besides,” he adds, “I am happy with where I am heading. I don’t need anything else. Well, I do need you, my best gal pal.”

I laugh, “you’re drunk.”

“I am serious. You get me, I don’t need Ally to be my friend. Not when you have always been a friend to me, even when I didn’t realize it.” He smiles and pats my arm.

Without thinking I face him and say, “Do you still love her?”