Falling For Thy Enemy

16 : Brownies and Vanilla Ice-Cream

"Shut up!"

I caught Josie glaring at Carl.

"Or not." Carl mumbled.

Josie's furious eyes snapped to mine and I looked away. It was only then that I realized that all the others had distanced themselves from the table so to avoid any casualties. 

"Shut up you both." Josie repeated, her voice frustrated and angry.

Stefan and I shared one last glare before looking apologetically at Jo. "I'm sorry." We said together.

Josie sighed and shook her head. "This doesn't cut it. You two are grounded for the rest of the week. No going out unless it's school and back. Understood?"

"But -" I opened my mouth to argue but shut up when another glare was casted my way.

"Understood?" She pressed.

"Yes." Again, we mumbled together.

"Good." She sighed. "Now go back to your rooms, do your homework or whatever. I'll clean this up."

"I'll stay and help." Stella offered. Josie nodded at her, smiling.

Feeling guilty, I volunteered myself too. "I contributed to the mess, so I'll clean up. Thanks though, Stella."

Josie looked at me and after thinking for a moment, she nodded. "You know what? You're right. You both created this mess so you both should do the cleaning, right? Now get on with it and mind you, if you get into another fight while cleaning up, I'll extend your punishments for the next week too. Okay?"

I nodded. I heard Stefan sigh but didn't argue. Instead, I got on with my work, putting plates together and bringing them to the sink.

Slowly, one by one, everyone left the kitchen to retire to their rooms. Before she left, however, I heard Josie mutter, "Thank God I don't have kids. At least not this many."

Stefan and I shared a look before I looked away, afraid that another fight might break. I stifled a laugh at Josie's comment and I could feel Stefan doing the same. Wordlessly, I picked up the trash that included wasted food that again made me feel guilty while Stefan mopped the table and the counter. 

Then, I went ahead and started scrubbing and washing the dishes and found Stefan beside me, drying them and putting where they belonged. We worked in silence and withing thirty minutes, we were done.

"I'll bring the trash out." Stefan mumbled (to me?) and exited the kitchen through the backdoor.

I shrugged and was about to go to my room when my eyes fell on the brownies that were still in the oven. I left them there so they stayed warm when we ate them. Now because of douche bag Stefan, okay, and me as well, nobody got to taste my delicious delicacy.

"Why are you looking at the oven as if it's your long lost love?" I heard Stefan say from where he was leaning on the frame of the backdoor.

I glared at him. "I made brownies for dessert. Now thanks to you, nobody got to eat them."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Because of me? From what I remember - no, you know what? Forget it. If I argue with you anymore, I'll be grounded for the whole next week."

My eyes widened as I remembered that. "Right."

He sighed and then walked towards the fridge, taking out the tub of vanilla ice cream. "Take out those brownies and put them on the plates. We can still serve this to everyone in their rooms and even apologize to Josie. Maybe she'll forget about our punishment."

"Brownies with ice-cream!" I squealed as my eyes twinkled with excitement. "And the possibility of no punishment. Wow, Satan. Who would have thought that you could think something intelligent once in a while too."