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"What can I get you for drinks?"
"Coke." "Lemonade." "Sweet tea." " Coke as well." Everyone starts to say what they'd like to drink from left to right of the waitress. Sam on one side of the table to Colby on the other end. Kat, Stats, Carmen, Ainisa and me in between them.
"Me too." "Lemonade for me as well!" "And Coke for me." Ainisa, me and Colby all continue to ask for our drinks as another waiter hands us all menus.
I scan the menu for something that I'd think would be tasty. Salmon, White Alba Truffles, Angulas, Saffron? Yuck.
"Alfredo pasta with chicken." I read to myself. That's what I'll get, it's my favorite after all. I had ordered the last time I was here and it was incredible, not as good as if it were I who made it but still great.
"Is that what your going to get?" Ainisa asks as I read the ingredients of the pasta. I look up at her and nod. My throat still slightly sore from singing.
"What are you getting?" I ask her looking at her menu. She points at a salmon dish and explains how she never had salmon before and wanted to try it, I just nod and agree with whatever she was saying because I have a massive headache from singing my head off.
"What are you getting Colby?" I whisper to him leaning over more towards him and looking up at him.
"I think I'm going to get the Kobe Beef." He says, pointing to the picture of a steak. "Yum." I smile and I tell him how I was getting pasta.
"Oh. Niko! Mom wanted to know what we're going to do for your birthday?" Carmen asks as she puts her phone down next to her. I look from Colby's face to Carmen's.
My 22nd birthday is in a month and I had no idea what I was going to do.
"Uhm. I don't know? Do you guys want to do something?" I ask everyone else because I have no clue in the world of what I wanted to do.
"Hell yeah!" Colby says as everyone else agreeing as well. I smile.
For the last 2 years I haven't really celebrated my birthday. I have my popular tradition of sitting in my New York apartment with a cupcake and a candle with my age on it.
"Alright. We'll figure what we'll do when it comes around." I say with a bright smile on my face, making everyone else smile.
"Wait. But don't you live in NYC? Are you going to fly all the way there and back to LA in a month then?" Kat asks. I smile and nod.
Little does she know that I don't live in NYC anymore.
"Don't worry. I'll stay for like a week or two for my birthday." I say as the waiter comes back over to our table with our drinks.
"Thank you!" We say to the waiter as he ask what we wanted to eat.
We all tell the waiter what we wanted and he wrote down everything and said he'd be back with it soon.
"Niko, when ARE you going to come back to LA?" Colby ask me and everyone else questionable about it as well. I give a questionable look before trying to make out a convincing lie.
"Uhm. I mean eventually, at least between 1-2 years." I say slouching slightly back into the booth.
"YEARS?" Kats calls out, making some of the people in the restaurant look at us. "Shhh Kat." I say almost laughing.
"Sorry. Years?" She apologizes and says in a softer tone.
"Yes Kat, years. I mean it takes a while to release my rent contract and I'd have to update my car's license plate and my id-"
"Okay! Okay! I get it. But I'm going to keep you to that year." Kat interrupts, getting annoyed of my list of things that I'd need to get done. "You do that." I smile to myself, she had no idea.
We all laugh and talk for the rest of the dinner and try to figure what to do after dinner.
"So. Where should go after?" I ask, everyone else having no idea of where to go so I suggest the liquor infused ice-cream shop right next door and they all agree.
"But don't you not like alcohol?" Carmen asks with her eyebrow raised. I scoff at her comment. I was 21, the same age as her and she drinks like a sailor. Why can't I?
"Who said it was for me?" I laugh with pride.
"She literally chugged a entire bottle of vodka yesterday." Sam says with a confused look about my liking of alcohol.
"Okay... to be fair. I was piss drunk already." I say, I had already had 12 other entire shots before that. Who wouldn't? It's Vegas.
Carmen knew my past with alcohol. She just didn't know my consequences for it, the anxiety, the guilt, the fear.
"What?" Carmen asks almost sarcastically, unbelieving of Sam's comment.
"What you think I can't chug an entire bottle of vodka?" I say almost challenging her, she can only laugh at me.
"No. I'm just saying your the biggest lightweight ever." She laughs, I scoff.
"She is the complete opposite according to yesterday." We all laugh and converse for a while longer before then getting our food. After finishing our food, we left the restaurant after a hour or two of being in there.
We head over to the ice-cream shop and they order their alcohol infused ice-cream but turns out it's only 2-3%.
"Well, I think it's time for me to go." Stas says as she starts to pack her things up into her bag.
We said our goodbyes to Stas and she made her way to the exit of the hotel.
"Wait. Where is your guy's luggage?" I ask them. Ours will be transferred from the Red Rock to this hotel in about 30 minutes according to Carmen.
"Oh shit. It's still in our rental car at the hotel." Sam says as he quickly pulls out his phone and goes off to call the hotel about the car and their stuff.
"Hopefully nothing was stolen." Colby sighs.
"I doubt it. Even so if anything was I'll replace anything that was stolen." I say, smiling at him as the group goes to sit down at a table while Sam and Carmen figure out if their shit is still theirs.
"Noo, if anything was stolen it's not your fault." He responds, sitting down right next to me with Ainisa next to me on the other side.
"It would be my fault because you guys came to OUR concert." I say, taking a sip of my water that I got instead of ice-cream.
"We came out of our own will." He says as he crosses his arms and slouches a bit.
"Yeah, but-" "No buts. It's not your fault." He interrupts my bitching and I just decide to drop it. Knowing Colby, he wasn't going to back down anyway.
"Okay. So, their going to deliver the luggage here tomorrow morning." Carmen says as her and Sam come back to table relived.
"Until then, I guess we have to get some pajamas for you guys. Unless you want to sleep in the clothes you have on?" Ainisa suggests.
They agree to buying some temporary clothes and other night time items so we head to the CVS next to the hotel. Carmen staying back to check in to the hotel rooms.
The only problem is we have to walk about 3 blocks and I'm wearing one size too small of boot.
"My feet are aching." I sigh, stopping on the sidewalk to grab my shoe to try and adjust it so it won't dig into my ankle.
"Do you want to trade shoes?" Colby asks. I laugh, thinking he was joking.
"I'm being serious." He smiles with me as we stop at the crosswalk. I stop laughing realizing he was indeed not joking.
"Oh. No, it's okay!" I decline his kind offer but I feel like I'd trip with his shoes. "Do you want me to carry you then?" He says with a straight face. I burst out laughing.
"What? Is that a no?" He ask with his goofy smile as I continue to laugh. "No. I'm okay Colby. I promise." I smile as I stop laughing. Thee light turns green for us to cross the street.
"As long you're sure." He says as we get up off of the curb and walk to the door of the CVS.
"Niko, Ainisa! Come here!" Kat calls to us while pointing at the rack of Hello Kitty pajama pants.
"We should all match!" She says looking though the sizes of the pants and hands me and Ainisa our sizes.
"Yess!" "There so cute!!" We agree to matching pajama pants and Katrina goes off to find a shirt and me and Ainisa run to the snack section.
"What should we get?" I ask, looking through candy section. "I don't know about you but I'm getting gushers." Ainisa says grabbing her favorite snack.
"Hmm. I guess I'll gettt... Kit-Kats." I say grabbing the bag of candy and walking with Ainisa to the the drink section, grabbing some drinks and then to the check out. We meet back up with the rest of the group at the front to pay for our things.
I look around to see a rack with swimming suits while waiting for Kat, Sam and Colby to finish paying for their things before me and Ainisa.
I go over to look at them, remembering that there was a pool at the hotel. I guess forgot to pack a bathing suit while rushing to pack yesterday. Maybe, it would be nice to take a dip in the pool.
"Niko, hurry up!" Ainisa says as she puts her things down on the counter. I grab a bathing suit in my size and walk back over to the counter, paying for our stuff on our shared card.
As we leave the CVS, I walk next to Ainisa and Colby.
"What did you get?" Colby asks looking over at my bag that I was looking through. I look up at him an showed him my bag.
"Candy and a bathing suit. Oh! And matching pants with Ainisa and Kat." I smile.
"You're planning on swimming?" He smiles back. "Maybe, I don't know yet."I say looking down at the revealing swim suit.
"We'll if you plan to, tell me. I'll come with you." He smiles at me and smile back at him.
"Hi Carmen!" I say to my sister as she turns around. She was waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel. I was honestly surprised that she wasn't off gambling or something.
"Hey. Did you guys get your pajamas?" She asks. I nod and we show her the bags.
"Okay. Here's the keys to your room." Carmen hands them their key and hands us ours.
"Cool. Thank you." Sam says taking the key.
We all start to head to the elevator lobby of the hotel. I take time to look around the hotel like I did yesterday. Noticing there was another boba place at this hotel as well, I grab Ainisa's sleeve and point to the shop.
"You just love boba, don't you?" She laughs as we pass it. "Yeah." I laugh with the entering the lobby of the Conrad portion of the hotel, heading to the elevator lobby just to the left of the entrance.
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╰ katrinastuart I love my girls <3
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