COOK:
Wanna hang with
us today?
ME:
did effy not tell u
COOK:
tell me what
ME:
pandas invited us to
a pj party
COOK:
cool, see u there
ME
unless u have a minge ur
not on the invite list mate
COOK:
fucks sake
-
Pandora invited me to her pyjama party, probably because we've all become friends after Cooks party and Thomas's weed predicament. Sucks though, I don't think Thomas will be back after his Mom found us all in his flat, and sent him back to the Congo. We only knew him for about a day, but it feels like someone in the group is missing.
I walked up to Pandora's house, hoping I got the right address. I brought a random bottle of wine that Liv had bought for me. I knocked on the door, and looked to the side of me, seeing a random man appear there.
"Oh! Can I help you..?" I said, awkwardly.
The man folded his arms and looked me up and down, focusing on the alcohol in my hand.
"No, as you were" He replied, walking back to his front garden. He stood up on a ladder, and started trimming a bush, glancing down at me. I frowned at him.
"Creep" I muttered.
"Hey!" Emily said, walking up to me. Naomi was close behind, holding some drinks too.
"Hey guys" I greeted, before ringing the doorbell once again.
"This is a little weird, i've never been to a pajama party before" Emily said.
"Same" I responded.
"I dunno why she invited me anyway, I hardly know her" Naomi shrugged.
"I..I asked her to" Emily admitted.
"I thought we sorted this out..." Naomi said.
"No I didn't mean...well it doesn't hurt to get to know eachother! We in the same class! We're gonna be hanging out for the next two years"
"Are you gonna tell people you're gay anytime soon?" Naomi asked.
I bit my lip, wondering if I should be listening to this conversation. I willed Pandora to open the fucking door.
"What? I'm not! I'm not gay!" Emily defended.
"Look, let's just talk later ok?" She said.
I felt awkward, and willed Panda to hurry the fuck up and open the door.
Suddenly, my prayers were answered. It wasn't Pandora though, it was her... mom? She opened the door and frowned at the alcohol in our hands, before Pandora pushed past her and grabbed them, tossing them into the neighbors bushes.
"Panda- hey!" I exclaimed, before Pandora tugged Ems, Naomi and I inside.
"Mum, this is Emily, Naomi and Kalani!" Pandora exclaimed. She was flapping her hands wildly, and jumping up and down, clearly a bit too excited. I don't think Pandas used to having this many friends.
Or any friends at all.
"Hello" I greeted, while Pandora's mom shook my hand firmly.
"Hello! Oh it's so great to finally meet you all, until now I thought Pandora was making you all up!" Angela, Pandora's mom expressed.
I gave an awkward laugh and looked over at Naoms who raised her brows.
"So, how do you all know Pandora?"
Panda stepped in, answering for us.
"Well, Ems and Naomi are real good friends, and now they like me as well! And Kal is best friends with the boys, so we-" She stopped in her tracks, and clamped her hand over her mouth.
I looked around at the others, confused.
"B-boys?" Pandas mom said, widening her eyes.
"Yeah?" I replied, frowning.
"But-"
"Let's go and finish the brownies" Pandora quickly gabbled, grabbing her moms wrist.
Angela still seemed weary of me, as I took one of the mixing bowls and started stirring the perfect-looking batter around. I stared into the swirled mixture and started to zone out, wishing Panda let me keep my wine. My day-dream was interrupted, as some powder was tipped into my bowl. Katie slipped past me, winking.
"Hey what are you-" I whispered.
Katie put her finger over her mouth and smiled.
I sighed, knowing Pandora would be less than happy about this. Even so, I needed something to take the edge off if I was gonna deal with Angela all fucking day.
"We're gonna put these in the oven, you girls can scoot off now!" Angela said, smiling at all of us. She had a lot of flour on her nose, which I had to will myself not to laugh at.
We all ran upsairs into Pandas room, apart from Effy who stayed to help.
"Nice room Panda" I said, looking around. All I saw was pink, pink, and fucking pink. The complete opposite of me. It all matched Panda I suppose.
We all sat on her bed, staring at the twister mat before us.
"Twister? I wasn't expecting to pull a muscle today but hey..." I trailed off.
"Don't worry guy, I spiked the chocolate brownies with MDMA" Katie giggled.
I sighed, but mentally thanked her.
"You what?" Emily said, sounding worried.
"Yeah? Appreciate it ok? There's fucking 40 quids worth in there"
I couldn't help giggling, as well as Naomi.
"You guys think it's funny?" Ems said, looking over at us.
"Kind of!" Naomi replied.
"Sorry Em" I said, through my muffled giggles.
"Yeah, enter into the spirit Ems!"
"So Katie, you gonna be nice to me now we're twister pals?" Naomi asked.
They went on talking, while I zoned out as usual, staring at the twister mat.
I snapped out of my trance when a pile of pj's were plopped onto the floor.
"Jesus.." Naomi muttered.
"So you can have sexy-poo!" Pandora said, throwing a pajama top at Naoms.
"Or brainy-poo!", she said, throwing a top at Emily. "Kal, you can have silly-poo, and look I've got Panda-poo!" She laughed, throwing me mine. "Mum and me sewed them on, it was a wacker job i'm telling you!"
"I'm not wearing that" Naomi shrugged.
"Why not its a pajama party!" Panda sighed.
"Fuck it, i'll put one on" I said standing up to get undressed.
"Yay! Katie, Emily?" Pandora said.
They both sighed and stood up, Naomi soon following. Effy also walked in, and Pandora thrust a pj top and shorts into her hands while she stood there, a little stunned.
"Cmon Eff, pajamas!" Naomi exclaimed, trying to fit the top over her head.
I pulled my t-shirt off and was about to put my pajama top on, when I looked up and saw two figures at the window.
JJ and Cook?
JJ looked shocked, then completely shut his eyes when he realized it was me. Cook leaned over, also looking surprised, except he kept his gaze on me, and let his eyes wander down my body. He smirked a little, while I flipped him off. Suddenly, they both slipped off, landing with a thud on the floor.
"What was that?" Katie asked.
"Nothing..probably just... an animal or something" I replied, smirking.
"Big fucking animal" Effy said, as she clearly had seen it all. She gave me a look- one that i couldn't quite read. I'm not sure why she did it, but I decided not to overthink it.
I went downstairs with her, after Angela had asked us to keep an eye on the brownies. It was more than awkward, just us in the kitchen, Effy sitting on the counter, and me standing opposite the oven staring at it.
"So what's the deal with you and Cook" She randomly asked.
"What 'deal'?" I replied.
She shrugged, while picking at her chipped, navy-blue nail polish.
"You just seem..close"
"So do you" I shrugged.
"We're just fucking"
"Completely needed the clarification. Anyway, we've been friends for ages."
"Friends?"
"Yes? Effy what are you getting at?" I asked, straightening up.
"I-"
The oven suddenly pinged, thankfully ending the conversation.
We handed the brownies to everyone.
"Yum! I'm gonna have three!" Pandora exclaimed, grabbing the brownies off the plate.
"Might wanna slow down Panda" I smiled, while a puzzled look flashed on her face.
"Why? What have you done?"
"Don't worry about it Pands" Katie laughed. "I'm telling you, this is fucking good shit!"
Pandora glanced round at all of us, before storming out of the room, tears welling in her eyes.
"Panda!" I shouted, going after her.
She went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.
"Panda?" I called, knocking on the door.
A few muffled cries came as a reply.
I walked away silently.
I decided to head downstairs, checking my phone on the way. I was still munching on a brownie, which made me feel a little guilty.
"Cute" I giggled, walking to the kitchen and watching Naomi and Emily outside on the bouncy castle.
"Yeah" Katie replied, unable to hide her smile.
Emily suddenly landed on top of Naomi, and they shared a kiss. I wasn't expecting that.
Neither was Katie apparently.
Her expression suddenly dropped, and she stared at them, irritated and confused.
She soon stormed off, going to open the door as the doorbell had just rang.
"Wait you're not supposed to be here remember-" I heard, before a rush of adults dived into the living room, holding bottles of alcohol and cheering.
"Katie what happened? Who are all these people?" I asked, trying to push past them to get to Katie.
"Danny's friends? I couldn't stop them!" She said, trying not to get pushed by random guys.
Danny stood in the middle of the crowd, turning on some music and sending everyone crazy. I ran to retrieve my wine and Naomis cans from outside, and walked into the crowd.
Since there's a party, I might as well enjoy it.
Bottles of champagne were sprayed everywhere, people were tangled up on the twister mat, and cigs were being passed around. Someone had gotten hold of the leftover brownies and handed them around, i'd be lying if I said I didn't have a few.
Effy came to join us, and we danced up against each other, giggling wildly. It was weird, considering everything was so tense hours before.
"I'm gonna check on Pandora" She said into my ear, before slipping out of the room.
I followed her, feeling the need to apologize too- even though it wasn't really my fault.
"Panda come on let me in" Effy said, tapping her hand against the door.
"Go away!" Panda wailed from inside.
"Pandora it was a joke! It wasn't even us!" I said, trying to calm the situation.
She opened the door, her face tear stained and red.
"You always bog everything up! It's always you! You do everything you like, just because you're depressed cos your moms getting wacked up the pants! Well bogging bog off!" Pandora said, while tears streamed down her face.
I didn't realize how annoyed and upset she really was.
"Panda-" I started.
"No! This is my party and i'm upset because my boyfriend got deported, and you're supposed to be playing and eating jelly and playing twister at my party, and telling me how to pop my cherry, with my boyfriend"
Effy stood there, a little dazed.
"Christ sakes, Ill show you how to do a blowjob" She shrugged.
"I don't want a blowjob! I want my boyfriend back!" Pandora shouted, slamming the bathroom door afterwards.
"Panda...j- i was just... Panda!" Effy shouted, hitting the door.
"Eff let's just leave her, she's upset" I sighed.
"Do I ever get to be upset? Do I ever get to be anyone but me?" She replied, frowning at me.
She walked into the other bathroom and attempted to close the door, but I stopped it with my foot and slipped inside.
"Fuck off" She muttered, sitting on the floor, her back against the wall and planting her head in her hands.
We were silent for a moment before I spoke.
"...What did you mean? When you said you don't ever get to be anyone but you?" I asked.
She took her head out of her hands and looked up at me slowly. Tears were filling her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. She shrugged.
"I'm always the strong one, I never get to be upset" She mumbled.
I sat down beside her, and grabbed her hand while she leaned onto my shoulder, silent for a moment. Comforting Effy Stonem...didn't think I'd ever be doing that.
"I like Freddie" She admitted, her voice coming out in a tearful squeak.
"I know" I whispered back.
"No, I really like him" She replied.
"So you love him?" I asked.
She didn't reply, but mentally said yes.
"But I'm.."
"Scared?"
"I guess. You are too" She said.
"Hm?"
"Cook. You're scared because you love him"
"No I-"
"You do, but you can't hurt Freddie and JJ, you can't mess everything up"
How did she know? I swear this girl is psychic or something.
"You've got me" I sighed.
I stood up and stretched my legs, noticing someone out the window.
"Freddie's outside! You should go and speak to him" I suggested.
She stood up slowly, thinking, before nodding and walking out.
I watched them out the window, as they talked for a second, and Freddie invited her into the taxi with him and JJ. I smiled, and walked onto the landing. Pandora was there, walking to her room, hanging her head. She didn't really acknowledge that I was there.
I walked downstairs, stumbling in a dazed way. I was pretty much sober now, just worn out.
"Alright babe?" Cook suddenly said.
I looked up as I walked into the trashed living room. Cook was standing there, draining some unfinished beers.
"Hey" I greeted, giving a half smile.
"We're the last ones standing, nobody's got any stamina these days" He chuckled softly.
"Mm. I know right" I replied, I perched on the chair arm, and yawned.
"Tired?"
"Yeah. The party sort of went to shit. Well I didn't mind it, but for Pandora I mean" I shrugged.
"Bummer. Nice tits by the way" He smiled.
"What?" I said, before I realized what he meant. "Fuck off!" I laughed, throwing a cushion at him. "Take notes from JJ, he closed his eyes. Anyway, how come you're here?"
"I got stuck in the wardrobe upstairs for hours. I only just figured out how to open it"
"What the... actually I don't even wanna know, I'm too tired to hear you explain" I said, shaking my head.
"What were you guys gonna do anyway? With Pandora, like"
"Just play twister, and tell her how to 'do sex' "
"Funny. How'd you it anyway?" He said.
"What? You've done it billions of times"
"No, twister" He laughed, nodding at the twister mat.
"Oh! Well you spin that dial, and then put your hands and feet where it tells you" I replied.
He grabbed the dial and pulled me up, before putting his right hand on yellow. I did the same with the dial and ended up with my right leg on green. We carried on playing, laughing and trying not to make too much noise. We got tangled up and collapsed a few times, falling into laughing fits and trying to muffle our
giggles.
I ended up straddling him, while he held the spliff up in his mouth. I took it from him and took a short hit, before placing it back in his mouth. He smiled up at me, and I focused on his eyes for the first time in ages. Suddenly, he pulled me in and planted a long kiss on my lips.
"Wait-" I started before he kissed me again.
My heart beat out of my chest.
"James, what about JJ and Freds-"
"Fuck them, just kiss me" he replied, and I pulled him in this time.
He flipped me over, so he was on top of me, and kissed me once again. He undid my pajama top and pulled down my shorts, surprisingly gentle for someone like Cook, while I slipped my hand into his pants.
The next morning, I walked out of Pandora's house with Cook. He kissed me again and again before he left, sending butterflies flying around in my stomach.
I turned to leave, when I saw Effy.
"You got him then?" She smiled.
"Sort of. Not sure" I shrugged, also smiling. "How'd it go with Freddie then?" I asked.
"Getting there" She replied. "I've come to say sorry to Pandora" She said, nodding at the house.
"It's Katie that should be apologizing really" replied.
"True" She nodded.
We suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind us.
"Effy! Kal! I'm back!" The voice called.
It was Thomas, running towards us with some bags at his side.
"My mother let me come back!" He exclaimed, a little out of breath.
"How are you guys?" He asked, hugging us.
"We're fine Thomas" I smiled. "Don't be a twat, go on inside and give your girlfriend a hug, she needs you"
"Yes, yes" He said, before hurrying inside.
edited ✅