Reversed (NEW CHAPTER!)

Chapter 8: Stormy Night

After finding the common ground of movies, Corey and I traded our favorite facts and scenes as we made the salad.

Sitting around the coffee table around 15 minutes later, we all served ourselves Beef Stroganoff and salad, with the exception of Marc who was ziplocked to a chair as penance.

"Can I be untied now?" Marc begged, struggling against the ties. "I wanna eat."

'"Stop doing that," I ordered, hitting him with my fork. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"I'm hungryyy," Marc whined like a five year old child.

"Really? After three cupcakes you're hungry?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a growing boy!" he argued.

"You're a growing pain in the ass, is what you are," Brandon snickered. The rest of us laughed along in agreement.

"Mmm, Sang. This is delicious. The best meal I've ever eaten," Axel exaggerated, taking a bite of the stroganoff in Marc's face and winking to the rest of us. I like playful Axel.

The rest of us followed his lead, making various sounds of "Mmm" and "Yum" and stuffing our faces full of food.

"That's not even right!" Marc huffed.

"Payback's a bitch," Raven chuckled.

Laughing I asked, "If I cut off the ties will you actually behave? No more cupcakes? I didn't exactly have the great all-consuming-Marc in mind when I baked them this morning. You've already had your share," I scolded.

"Scout's honor!" Marc smiled.

"You were never a boy scout," Corey corrected.

Sighing, he said, "Fiiine. I promise. No more cupcakes. Now let me go before the gremlins eat everything." He wasn't that far off. With the way they'd attacked the food, you would've thought they hadn't eaten in days.

Rolling my eyes, I accepted a swiss army knife from Raven and released Marc.

"Freedom!" he cheered, flexing his wrists.

Ignoring him, we all returned to eating in a comfortable silence. The food was pretty good, if I do say so myself, so of course it required all of my attention... And theirs apparently.

"Would you like the rest of the salad, Sang?" Raven asked, referring to the single serving that was left.

"Be careful," Corey chuckled. Raven nudged him with his shoulder.

"Why?" I questioned with narrowed eyes.

"If you accept it means you're engaged to be his Russian bride or some shit," Marc laughed.

"What!?" I choked on my water. Maybe my conversation with Phil about marriage wasn't that far off.

"I thought that rule only applied to fruit salad," Brandon questioned.

"Does it really count if I'm the one who made it?" I asked. "Actually, Corey helped, so where does he fit into this equation?" Corey blushed at the mention of his name in this conversation.

"Raven?" Axel prompted, obviously curious.

"Brandon is right. It must be fruit. Salad or cup. Who makes it doesn't matter. If I give, and you take, it is done. And it is not a marriage proposal. If the woman accepts, it means that she accepts the man's advances," Raven explained.

"And if she declines?" I wondered.

"Then the man will pursue her anyways," Raven shrugged.

I laughed. Of course he would.