Those Brunette Boys

Chapter 11 - Burgers and Boys

Sage Dunwoody

I was chowing down my burger, wiping off the extra hot sauce with my fingertip when it fell from the corners of my mouth. It was so good. I don't think I've had a burgers this good in quite sometime. I usually ordered a pizza for my nightly dinners, being ironically too lazy to cook, even though I watched Food Network for most of my television time. Yeah, the food on the shows looks amazingly delicious and simple to make, but was I really going to go through the struggle of putting veggies in the skillet or worst of all; dishes? I think not.

Most of the meal was silent. We were too indulged into our food to talk to each other. Hell, I barely even looked up from my plate. I took big bites of burger, not noticing the boys looking at me while doing so. My cheeks were filled with the hamburger meat and my tongue was blazing from the peppers stuffed inside it. The only time I actually straightened my neck, I saw three pairs of eyes staring at me.

"Do people just like to stare at me when it comes to food, or...?" I asked with a mouthful. It sounded muffled and incoherent. I may as well be on a Carl's Jr commercial while I'm at it.

"Sorry," Ryder immediately stopped looking at me as I still stared at him with a raised brow. He tried to catch a glance at me again without me noticing, failing. He went back to keeping his eyes fixed on the food in front of him.

I popped in the last bite of my burger in my mouth, taking a sip of a Coke afterward to wash it down. "What is up with you guys? Have you not ever seen a human being eat a burger?"

"To be honest," Xander began. "You're more like a human bean."

I shook my head back and forth, grinning slightly. Strange to admit, but I actually liked being called a bean. Brought back some pretty good memories back in the day. But, that's for another time to go into detail on.

"You guys know Melissa Lane?" Grayson said while looking down at his phone.

"Yeah, what about her?" Ryder popped a fry into his mouth and munched on it.

"Apparently she's throwing a party tonight since it's her birthday," Grayson looked up at all of us. "Wanna go?"

"Sure, why not." Xander shrugged. "Seems like it would be fun for all four of us to go."

I was taken aback. "All four of us?"

"Yeah," Xander replied. "Me, Ryder, Grayson, and you."

And me?!? I thought to myself. No. No way. No exceptions. I am not going to this party.

I don't mean to make this sound super cliche or stereotypical or anything but... I have never been to a high school party before. Trust me, back in my freshman year or something like that, I would've said yes in a heartbeat. I would've loved to make myself seem included. However, I was never invited to a high school party before so I guess that never happened. I've become accustomed to being by myself on Friday nights and doing whatever I wanted to do.

"Uhh.." I trailed off. "No thanks."

"WHAT? Why not?" Ryder exclaimed. "It's gonna be lit."

I rolled my eyes at his generic terminology. "Sorry, but I have other plans."

Now it was Grayson's turn to roll his eyes. "Like what?"

"Like staying at home a binge watching YouTube videos and episodes of Catfish," I said with a blunt expression. "Duh."

"Too bad that you're going to have to cancel those plans so you can have an amazingly awesome funtastic time with your three favorite guy friends!" Ryder enthused.