Upside Down book 2

Chapter 13: The Final Plans

"Okay guys. We have a lot of work to do." Baba said to all of us. And by all of us, he meant Ken, Gabe, me, Soni, Julianna, and one of her closest friends from volleyball.  Gabe had ended up sleeping over, so mom said that me and Julianna can invite one of our friends to come over and help out. We all sat down to do the gift bags that we'll be giving out at the end of the wedding. Kinda like the end of a birthday party.
As we were making the bags, I could feel some sort of tension between the boys and Soni. I don't know what was going on, but I was starting to get uncomfortable. I tried to ignore it, but I just couldn't.
"Uh Julianna, can I have a sister moment with you? Like now?" I asked anxiously.
"Uh sure." She said getting up and following me into my room.
"Okay before we start, what is up with your friends?" She asked.
"You felt it too?" I asked and she nodded.
"Yeah. It's like every couple of minutes, the boys and Sonya are giving each other death glares." She said.
"Okay first off, it's Soni, not Sonya." I said.
"However you pronounce it." She said back.
"Second of all, I don't know what to do. I just can't ignore it." I said
"Well you can try to get Ken and Gabe together, then I can get Soni and me in a room by ourselves." She suggested.
"That's good, but that'll make it too obvious that something's wrong. And plus your friend will be left out." I said.
"That's true, but she will be left out one way or another because one, she doesn't know what's going on. Two, she has to leave as on as we finish the bags." She said.
"Oh." I said.
"And Gabe and Soni will be here for a little while. Probably till nightfall." She said.
"Okay I got it. We're working on the cup placements next right?" I asked.
"Yeah why?"
"Well, maybe me, Gabe, and Ken work in a group of three, then you, Soni, and your friends work together." I said.
"And how is this gonna work?" She asked.
"Well, when the boys break away from Soni, then they will start talking about her and stuff. Then as they are talking, I will then stay quiet and listen."
"But Soni won't say anything to me because she doesn't know me." She said.
"I know."
"And after the cups, we're off the hook." She said after.
"I know. But when me and Soni go to my room, she'll bring it up at some point within the day." I said.
"You know, you come up with the strangest ideas, but they always seem to work, so I'm not gonna argue with you." She said. I nodded and we headed back to the group.
"Finally! Took you long enough!" Julianna's friend said.
"How long were we up there?" Julianna asked.
"Half an hour." Gabe said.
"Okay anyways, we have to do the cup placements now so us girls will work together and the boys will work together." I said. Julianna nudged me on my shoulder.
"What are you doing!?" She said through her teeth.
"Don't worry." I said back.
"Hey but that's not fair. You'll get the work done quicker." Kenneth said.
"But don't you guys need a little guy time?" I said.
"I mean yeah, but Joy-Anna we need you." Gabe said.
"Yeah, your company makes everything better." Ken said after. I stood there still for a quick second then turned around to get Soni's approval.  She gave me the most excited looking nod anyone can even give. She's always had this idea that me and Gabe would make a good couple, but I'm not looking for a relationship anytime soon.
"Okay, I guess." I gave in. Then we got all of the supplies we needed and headed our separate ways.
"Thanks again Joy." Gabe said.
"No problem." I said back. We sat there in silence for a few minutes doing the cups.
"Why are you friends with Soni?" Ken asked.
"What?" I said back
"He said why are you friends with Soni?"
"Because she's nice to me and funny. And I like the fact that I can tell her anything and can trust her and-" I was saying.
"Wait she knows what trust is?" Ken asked.
"Yeah why?" I asked.
"You see, uh Soni has liked Ken for the longest time. They even dated for a year and a half. But when she broke up with him and then she found out that Ken and Bailey had started to build a good friendship, she's been trying to break our squad apart ever since." Gabe said.
"Okay two questions. One Bailey is the one with the really short hair right?"
"Yeah." Ken said.
"Okay and two, the people in your "squad" are you, Gabe, Sean, Bailey, and Boogie right?"
"Uh yeah." Ken said.
"Haven't you guys been around each other for years? Before Soni even came around?" I asked.
"Yeah why?" Ken asked.
"Then there is no possible way that Soni can break you guys apart. You've gained too much of each other's trust for that to happen." I said. Gabe and Ken looked at each other then back at me.
"Yeah your right. Maybe I shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly." Gabe said.
"Exactly." I said.
"But I'm still gonna keep an eye on her. I think she was flirting with me earlier." Ken said.
"I'll keep and eye out." I said chuckling. "Come on, let's finish the rest of these cups."