Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 10 - It Just Squirts Out

In order to make everything work the way it was supposed to, I had to tell the boys about the shower beforehand. And I threatened to personally castrate anyone who blabbed. I don't know how, but we were actually able to pull off the surprise.

Calum's job was to get Tori out of the house long enough for the rest of us to set everything up. He came up with some ridiculous excuse about needing some new underwear. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but it worked.

Everything was going smoothly until Michael spotted the helium tank. I thought, Oh, good. He's going to get started on the balloons. Wrong. And of course Luke and Ashton had to join in.

You think Ashton has a high-pitched giggle? Imagine adding some helium. That's all I can say. Those little shits ended up inhaling more helium than they used to fill up the balloons. And, okay, I'll admit to joining in the fun, too. But only for a couple of minutes.

Once I came to my senses and got everyone back on track, it didn't take long before everything was set up. The guests, who were mostly people Tori had worked with and a couple of neighbors, began arriving right on time. They had been instructed to park around back or down the road so that Tori wouldn't suspect anything when she came home.

Luke was on lookout duty. So when he told us they were pulling into the driveway, everyone hid the best they could. Calum walked in ahead of Tori, carrying a bag of what I assumed was underwear. Tori came in behind him, stuffing her mouth with what looked like was probably once a very large cookie. She nearly choked on it when everyone jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!" Initially, she was smiling and laughing. But then, just a few seconds later, she was crying. Those pregnancy hormones were out of control.

"You guys shouldn't have! You're all too damn sweet." She carried on, greeting and hugging every single person there.

Ashton told her, "Lex and Luke are the ones who deserve the credit. Mikey and I pretty much just inhaled helium." Our guests, who were not familiar with our childish friends, didn't know whether to laugh or not at his statement. They mostly gave fake smiles and kept quiet while the six of us were cracking up.

"Oh, but there's a job for everyone," I informed them. "Ashton, you, my friend, get to help with games. And Mikey, you're in charge of the food. Let's get this party started, shall we?"

Okay, so do you know that game where you pass around the diapers and guess what substance has been "pooped"? It's a fun game anyway. But you should play it with four immature guys in their twenties, who still think anything involving poop is hilarious.

I was a little surprised when Calum won that one. The proud mom to be said, "What can I say? My man knows his shit. Pun intended." Again, cue more silence from the guests while we laughed our asses off. They were such party poopers. Pun intended.

After two more games, I thought it was probably a good time for food. That way, everyone could eat while watching Tori open her gifts. I announced the plan and told them to give me five minutes and they could get their food in the kitchen.

I led Michael to the kitchen to help me with the last-minute things. I was digging around in the fridge, looking for the fruit dip. "Hey, Mikey. Did you see where I put the fruit dip? I swear I put it on this top shelf."

"I thought I saw you put it on the bottom one."

I bent over and searched some more, removing things and blindly handing them behind me to Michael to get them out of my way. "I still don't see it."

"I think it's way back there in the corner, behind those pickles."

"Are you sure? There's nothing - " It suddenly dawned on me what the perv was doing.