Rising Power ~ p. parker

Date Crashing

"Peter is on something."

"No, no, no, hear me out!"

MJ, who was sitting in the booth next to Taylor, held back a snicker. Sitting across from them were the boys; Ned already laughing and Peter pointing an accusing finger at Taylor. The group of friends were all seated at the diner down the street from Peter and Taylor's building. The two had raved about how good the food was so, naturally, Ned and MJ had to try it out. They were all waiting for their orders when Peter accidentally brought up what Taylor considered to be their most pointless argument to date. And they had a lot of stupid arguments.

"All I'm saying is that I don't understand why a banana peel couldn't be considered a shell," Peter innocently challenged.

"Because you peel it!"

He shrugged, "I mean, you peel the shell off of an egg too."

"Oh my God, what kind of eggs are you scrambling in the morning?" Taylor sarcastically, and exasperatedly asked.

The two friends had been passionately arguing since the waitress took their menus back. Ned found Peter's rebuttals quite entertaining. He wasn't able to respond because he hadn't stopped shaking with uncontrollable giggles. Nobody was quite sure if the wheezing sound coming from him was just laughter, or if he was choking.

"Well what if you hard boil an egg?" Peter countered. "That thing doesn't just pop out, does it? No, you have to peel the shell off."

"Okay, but shells are hard."

"Ah ah ah! According to Merriam Webster, a shell is usually hard. Not always."

Taylor put her hands up and shook her head in bewilderment for a beat. "Have you researched shell facts prior to this argument?"

MJ took a sip of her shake and set it aside before looking over at Peter. He nodded towards her. She nodded back. They had an unspoken alliance. "So a shell is just an outer covering to protect what's on the inside?" She asked him for clarification.

"Exactly!"

MJ's sudden participation only fueled Taylor's desire to win the argument more. "MJ, shut up."

"So my skin could be a shell?" Ned asked, suddenly well enough to finally participate in the conversation. Either he had come to his own conclusion, or he was also in on the silent alliance against Taylor.

"Ned, your opinion is irrelevant considering you haven't been able to form a coherent sentence for the past ten minutes.

Peter leaned back in the booth, both arms up in victory. "Tay, I believe I have you outnumbered."

Just as Taylor took a breath to counter once more, their waitress came over and set their food down. Taylor made MJ try their BLT sandwich, claiming that it was unlike any other BLT in the state of New York. The boys agreed to try the diner's signature burgers that ended up being bigger than their faces. Ned and Peter looked at each other with wide, excited eyes when their plates were set down in front of them, high-fived, then began eating their massive meal.

Taylor loved her little friend group. She believed the universe royally messed up her life in the family department. She liked to think that the family she had in front of her was an olive branch from the universe.

Ned and MJ both had "family stuff" to do after dinner, so they left after they paid their checks. It didn't go unnoticed that MJ looked at two still sitting at the booth right before she walked out the door and winked at Taylor. They were all alone now. Not wanting to overstay their welcome at the diner, they paid for their food and decided to go to the park. They wanted to sit outside before the sun fully set, then go home and have a movie marathon.