City of Dreams

Dinner Party | Chapter XVI

3rd Person Narrator POV

Thirty minutes after Milo had gotten showered the friends who were out buying dinner arrived. Their neighbors had joined them and so they were about 12 teenagers, of whom 2 had gone up through the elevator with food and the other 10 went through the stairs and not by choice. When they entered their apartment they saw Milo face-timing a friend, she had her AirPods on so no one was able to really know who she was talking to unless she said her name, or they saw her face. Clearly, Milo was gossiping about Argentina, and her friends. Her friend on the other side of the screen asked her why she seemed worried, and it wasn't something she could say aloud with twelve people staring at her so all she said was "It's not really my story to tell plus right now I can't tell you but I'll call you later okay?".

- Hey who are you talking to? - Valen asked intrigued.

- Cler - she answered.

- Tuquiiii - Jaz said excitedly as she went towards her friend.

- Hold on one second Cler, I'll disconnect my airpods so that the girls can hear.

As soon as she took off her airpods all the friends started asking their friend about Argentina and she wasn't going to let them off for barely texting her since they arrived, the only one who seemed off the hook, was Milo.

- Well Cler, I have to go - Pichu said to her friends as she left to shower.

- Us too - Valen said including Jaz in her goodbye - Jaz and I have to get some things ready.

- Hi Tuquiii!! - Mery's voice was heard from the kitchen, Milo who was sitting on the kitchen bar turned around the camera so that her friend all the way in Argentina could see Mery who was making some scrambled eggs.

-Juan is still in our bedroom? - Milo asked.

- I think - Mery answered- if you want to go to a quieter place you can go to my room.

- Thanks, I'll grab my airpods and go. - Milo said. As she went to her friends room she greeted her neighbors and friends who were trying to get settled to help prepare dinner.

- Mery, maybe we should prepare dinner at our place, at least some part of it. - John said.

- That'd be great - Mariana said - we are pretty tight all together here. I'll go help you. Juanma, Lucas you should come as well.

When Pichu finished showering and Jaz and Valen getting their things ready they headed to the apartment next door to eat dinner. They called Milo but she wasn't hungry and was still talking to Clari. Mery on the other hand said she'd join them in just a bit, as soon as she gave Juan his scrambled egg. Mery told Milo that she was leaving and Juan wasn't so that she was aware. On their neighbours place, a culinary class was taking place. Pichu, John, Angie and Jaz were "teaching". Lucas and Lukas were watching the match of Argentina versus Spain hockey, Pedro and Tobías were doing karaoke, Juanma was listening to a podcast, while Valen, Mariana, Mery, Francisco and Martin were assisting their "teachers" cooking. They prepared beef and fetta balls with brown rice and quinoa salad and for dessert cacao and raspberry ganache tart. They set the table properly and had dinner as adults, they didn't watch Netflix while eating and had a decent conversation.

- Hey did anyone talk to Juan after he returned? - Angie asked.

- Nope, I prepared him some scrambled eggs but he barely lifted his head of the pillow.

- I've never seen him so down.

- I know right? - they all started commenting about their friend.

- Well, maybe we should talk of something happier - Pichu interrupted.

- Sure, did anyone choose a major or minor or college? - Valen asked those her age.

- I'm considering applying to all the best universities, including Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, UCLA, Brown, Columbia, Princeton, MIT, Duke, Carnegie, Johns Hopkins among others and I'm choosing Ball State as my safe option. - Angie said.

- Wow, I didn't know you had to choose a safe choice. - Martin said.

- Well, usually when you do good in school you choose the ones you love the most and one you'll clearly get into since they have a big admission rate.

- Did you like have this planned forever or you chose today? - Valen asked getting nervous about not knowing what to choose.

- Oh, I watch a lot of American YouTubers many from the US, mostly high schoolers or college students so I just searched the colleges I liked and compared their admission rates.

- Cool - Tobias said just to able to say something, he had been quiet the whole meal.

- It was about time, I thought you were dead man - Lukas said.

- What? - Tobias said not realizing that an hour of dinner had gone by and he hadn't spoken.

- Well, I think what he means is you haven't spoken since we sat down to eat...an hour ago. - Lucas added.

- There's no way.

- Who are you thinking of? - Pedro said mocking his friend.

- No one... - he said while looking at Mariana, who was thinking of Milo and thinking of what they were to do that night.

- Hey guys, I think I'll leave. - Mery said.

-Why? - Pichu asked.

- I just want to go to sleep.

- Is this about Marcos? - Juanma said kinda happy he knew the cause of the drama.

- Probably - his brother answered.

- Well don't worry, he'll come around, he has to learn to control his temper - Juanma said and all the argentinian friends let off a small gigle. -What?

- Really? You of all people are saying that? - Jaz said.

-Oh c'mon it wasn't like I attacked Pichu.

- No, just Martin - Valen added.

- But really, are you still angry about that.

- Not really but what you just said was really incoherent. - Pichu answered.

- It's not like I said I was good at controlling my temper. - Pichu rolled her eyes.

- Well, I am definitely leaving now.

- Okay- Juanma said - by the way Pichu can we later go outside, I want to talk to you.

- Oh, sure if you want we can go now - she wasn't excited but she wanted to not have to worry about what he wanted. They left and returned when everyone was going back home.