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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❝ YOU MAKE EVERYTHING FEEL LIGHTER. ❞ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
THE GROUP SHUFFLED into the cozy booth at the pizzeria, their laughter still lingering from the heated competition at the bowling alley. Quil slid in first, quickly claiming the window seat, with Jacob following close behind. Bella, ever the peacekeeper, took her spot beside Jacob, leaving the other side of the booth for Embry and Talia.
Embry slid in across from Quil, and Talia had no choice but to follow, slipping into the spot beside him. She glanced at him as she settled in, catching the faintest smirk on his lips. "Looks like we're stuck with each other," he teased quietly.
"Lucky me," she replied with a grin, nudging his arm lightly.
The waitress came by to take their order—two large pizzas, one pepperoni and one supreme, along with a generous helping of garlic knots and an assortment of sodas. Quil and Jacob grudgingly agreed to cover the bill, grumbling good-naturedly about their humiliating loss to the girls.
As they waited for the food to arrive, the group's conversation naturally turned to planning how they'd spend Talia's remaining time in Forks.
"Okay, so we've got about a week left with you," Jacob said, leaning back in his seat. "We need to make the most of it."
"Starting with tomorrow," Quil said, grinning. "It's Shrek night, no exceptions."
Talia laughed. "I didn't forget, Quil. We can watch it tomorrow, but Bella and I were also going to ask..." She glanced at Bella, who picked up the thread.
"There's a party tomorrow night," Bella said, her voice hesitant but hopeful. "We were invited, and we thought it might be fun. What do you guys think?"
"Wait, so Shrek and a party?" Quil asked, mock-offended. "How are we supposed to cram all this greatness into one day?"
"We could do both," Talia suggested, shrugging. "Movie first, party after. Or we can postpone Shrek night until another day if you're too chicken to pull an all-nighter."
Quil gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "Chicken? Did you hear that, Jake? She called me chicken!"
Jacob snorted. "It's true, though."
"Fine," Quil huffed. "Movie and party. Bring it on."
Embry, who had been quietly listening, finally chimed in. "I don't think I'll be able to make it to the movie. My shift doesn't end until 8," he said, glancing at Talia.
