Dreamjumper

Chapter Three

"Come on, don't you want to go hang with Shane?"

"No! Shane doesn't have a PS4, and he likes musicals." Trade rolled his eyes, and threw up his hands in exasperation.

"He was your best friend last week, James, what happened?"

James glanced up from his new XBOX 360 console, and said plainly, "I found out he doesn't own any games, and sings show tunes."

Trade sighed, pacing in frustration. "What about Will? Doesn't Will have all the latest tech?" he suggested.

"Will likes show tunes, too," James replied with a shrug.

"Okay, that's just an excuse so you can stay here and bug me," Trade said, giving him a sharp look.

"Basically," James said, tapping away on the remote buttons.

Trade looked totally calm, but I noticed that he was biting his lip nervously. It was Friday night, and people were coming over in less than an hour - James couldn't be here to see the party. Lance, Kim and I had already tried to convince him to go for a sleepover, but that didn't work either.

I leaned back on the leather couch, bringing up my legs so I sat cross-legged. "Is there anyone else that you might want to hang out with today?" I asked, though I knew my efforts were in vain.

He killed a couple more pixelated monsters before replying, "Uh-uh."

I let out a small sigh and looked beside me at Kim and Lance, who were equally baffled at what to do with him.

"Just stop bothering us, James! We've got plans for tonight, and we don't need you hanging around," Trade said, his demeanor amazingly still calm.

"What? Are you guys having a party?" James asked suspiciously, peering around at all of us.

"No, we're planning something really cool - we don't want to wreck the surprise," Lance said all of a sudden, in a burst of spontaneity.

Trade turned his head and gave him a sharp look, and mouthed the words "What are you thinking?" Lance gave him a sheepish look, his blue eyes looking away quickly under his thick rims.

James still looked distrustful; then, slowly, his face changed from suspicion to hopefulness. "A surprise?" he asked, his dark eyes lighting up.

"Yeah - that's why you need to go over to a friend's house for the night. We're setting it all up for tomorrow," Kim replied, tapping her ring lightly. Anyone who knew Kim knew just what that meant – she was thinking hard. That ruby ring worked wonders.

"Well, I guess Will's not that bad. I'll ask him if I can go over to his place," James finally relented, whipping the mobile phone off the basement carpet. He paused his game and climbed the stairs into the main room, leaving us by ourselves downstairs.

As he dialed his friend, the four of us exchanged an ecstatic look. The party was going to be a success, now that babysitting duties were out of the way. It was officially going down.

In about ten minutes, James was ready to head over to Will's house. He slung his red backpack over his shoulder and turned around. "See you guys tomorrow," he said, with a small wave.

"Bye, James," all of us called out in unison, and he closed the door.

As soon as we saw him cycling down the street on his bike, Trade switched into host mode. His eyes glimmered with a wild delight, and he could barely contain himself. "Alright, let's get this party set up! Kim, you're on snacks. There are already bowls out on the counter, just bring them downstairs with the snacks and fill them up. Lance, you're on music. Connect the iPhone to the dock, test out the speakers, and find the right volume. Anne, you can help set up the video games. Find some that you think everyone will like, like a dance game or something. And I'll get out a couple drinks, cups, and an empty bottle," Trade said.