[edited]
Ethan and I ran through the aisles of the grocery store, trying to find what we were looking for.
"Grayson! Go get the sauces," he yells, pointing me in the correct direction and attracting the stares of other customers.
I took off that way, while he went to the dairy section. I grabbed ketchup, mustard, honey mustard, and mayo, my arms overflowing with bottles of various condiments.
We met in the middle, and each threw what we had gotten into the shopping cart.
"Do we need anything else?" I asked.
Ethan thought for a moment, "Fruit? Candy?"
I nodded, and we both set off again, this time I headed for the produce section, where I grabbed mangoes, grapes, and bananas.
We purchased everything, and drove back home, where Emmy was waiting for us. I gave her a greeting kiss.
"You guys get everything?"
"Yep. Is the area ready?"
"Yeah!" she clapped her hands, "Come see!"
We followed her to the kitchen, where she had covered every exposed surface in plastic wrap. "Perfect," Ethan compliments.
"How are you getting Addi to come over?" she asks the same thing I was thinking.
"I told her she forgot something of hers here," Ethan says, "She should be coming over in about an hour."
"She answered your text?" I exclaim.
"I doubt she would have if I hadn't said she left something," he shrugs.
"Whatever," Emerson speaks, "You two have an hour to do whatever it is you do to get ready."
"What're you going to do?"
"I can just go home, or do you guys want anything else?"
"Can you stay and help us while we're filming the video? So you can ask us the questions and all that stuff," I suggest.
"Sure. I'll just go home and change, and then come back in half an hour. Cool?"
Ethan and I nod, and then wait until Emmy leaves before going upstairs and quickly changing clothes."
"Eth, go get the camera so we can set it up. It's charging in your room, bro."
He fetched our video camera along with the tripod, and we positioned it where we wanted, while adjusting the lighting and audio. In the frame, you could see us from the waist up, and the counter we were standing behind.
The doorbell rang, and Emmy walked in a moment later, "Y'all set?"
"Yep. So here's what'll happen, Emmy," I proceed to explain to her the plan.
Ethan and I had thought of it over the weekend. We had wanted to show Addi how much she means to us, while also at the same time introducing her to all of our social medias.
We had come up with a 'BEST FRIEND TAG'. All three of us would have to answer questions correctly about each other, or we would get drenched in a variety of different food products.
A knocking came from the front door, and it reminded me of just a few days ago, when Addi's rapid and furious knocking had begun this whole ordeal.
Emmy signaled for Ethan and I to wait here, and she went instead. We heard them greeting each other, Emmy telling Addi to follow her, and Addi complying.
The two girls walked in, and Addi's expression turned to confusion.
"What are you two doing here?" she asked.
"We live here," I sarcastically reply, causing Ethan to elbow me hard in the rib cage. He was doing everything he possible could to get Addi back, and that meant I had to be on my best behavior.
"We wanted to apologize one more time," Ethan starts, "Except this time, we have a little something planned."
Addi's arms were crossed in refusal. She turned to Emerson, who was standing behind her with a hopeful smile, "You're in on this too?" she accused, "I thought you were supposed to be there for me?"
Emmy got defensive and replied, "No, no, Addi! Trust me, if I didn't think they really meant it, I wouldn't have helped them out. Please, just listen to what they have to say," she pleads.
I wanted nothing more than to kiss Emmy at that moment. We never could have put all this together without her.
"Fine," Addi grumbles, frowning back at us.
Ethan and I shared a quick nervous glance, then he began speaking again.
"Addi Katherine Peterson. We've known you since preschool, and we've shared so many good memories."
I take over, "We can't express how sorry we are about not telling you about the whole YouTube thing. We just wanted things to stay the same."
"And we realized, that's want you wanted too. The old days when we told each other all our secrets," Ethan says.
"So, we wanted to show you just how much you mean to us by doing a-"
"BEST FRIEND TAG!" we cried in unison at the end.
Addi's mad glare had now loosened into an amused smirk, and she looked to be listening a little more intently.
We explained to her and Emmy the idea of the game, and what each person would do. Her smile continued to get bigger as we continued talking, so I took that as a good sign, and that we were making progress.
"So, what do you say?" Ethan pries.
Addi began to think, and we waited in awkward silence for about two minutes before Emmy blurted out, "Just hug them already!" she quickly covered her mouth, as if she hadn't meant to say that.
Addi laughed, and ran up to us, wrapping her arms around our waists. "I'm so sorry," she muttered, "For being stupid."
"We are too," we simply responded. It wasn't much, but it meant everything to us.
Ethan and Addi were deep in a kiss, and showed no signs of stopping the make-out session until Emmy and I awkwardly cleared our throats.
"Let's get started!"
Everyone went to their places, and we told Addi what she had to do before directing Emmy to turn the camera on.
"HEY GUYS! WE'RE BACK!"
"AND WITH A SPECIAL GUEST!"
"PLEASE WELCOME ONE OF OUR BEST FRIENDS, ADDI!"
"Hi," Addi says awkwardly, making us laugh.
"Oh yeah, and you all know Emmy, she's behind the camera," I add.
"Gee, thanks."
We explain the challenge to the camera, and Emmy begins asking questions.
"Alright, first one's for Ethan. Ready?"
"Shoot."
"What was Addi's first pet? I'm talking type of animal and name," she says.
"Uh....was it Waffles? Your golden retriever puppy?" he looks uncertain.
Addi waits a minute before saying, "WRONG! It was Percy, my hamster."
Ethan groans, and Addi proceeds to splash two small packages of applesauce on top of his head.
Some gets into his mouth, "EW! Apple juice is WAY better," he squirms, spitting it out immediately.
We continue on with the game, each of us getting covered in food multiple times.
"OK, so the winner is....GRAYSON! WITH A WHOPPING SCORE OF 8!"
I jumped up in victory, "THAT'S RIGHT! YOU TWO SUCK!"
They hung their heads in defeat, and we moved outside for their punishment, which was jumping in the pool. I touched the water with my bare toe, and quickly jumped back from the cold temperature.
After we had finished filming the video, and all four of us had cleaned up, we sat down to watch the footage we had gotten. Ethan and I had a lot of editing ahead of us, but good thing we were free tomorrow.
"Thank you too so much," Addi said as she was leaving, "And you too Emmy."
"You bet."
She gave Ethan a kiss and me and Emerson each a hug before walking out. I smiled brightly. I had my best friend back.
~ ~ ~ ~
SONG OF THE CHAPTER: Elle Me Dit
ARTIST: Mika
this song is in french but it's hype.