The Lonely King | Ongoing [New Edition]

29 | Dinner Preparations

"Paper bags and plastic hearts,

All our belongings in shopping carts."

❁❁❁

"TELL ME WHY I'm here again?" Logan asked, staring at the garish neon shop front as we arrived at the town's grocery mart. While I was still in my uniform, Logan had changed into an otherwise unassuming outfit— a grey boat neck sweater and black skinny jeans, but because it was Logan Marshall, he looked a million bucks.

"You're going to help me with groceries!" I chirped excitedly. The car door slammed behind us, and out emerged the grumpiest boy in the city. Asher, like Logan, switched out of his school uniform. Instead, he chose to dress in an imposing all-black attire that made him look like Death himself.

"This is the worst day of my life," Asher grumbled, running his hand through his shaggy white hair, his permanent frown deepening. Rolling my eyes, I walked towards the entrance of the shop and grabbed a grocery cart.

"Get over it, Asher. You're the one who wanted to organize this party for Emily in the first place," I said in a matter-of-fact tone. Asher grunted, turning around to get back into the car before he was quickly stopped by Logan.

"Oh no, you don't," Logan cheered, grabbing Asher by his shoulders and practically pushing the giant into the shop.

"So, what exactly are we here for?" Logan asked, turning to look at me with eyes wide.

"I need to get the ingredients for Robin and Yuko's dinner, and for the cake I'm going to bake for Emily," I reminded him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the baking aisle. Asher followed suit, without much choice, since Logan kept a tight hold on the white-haired grinch.

"I won't be much help around here. I hardly go grocery shopping," he said, pursing his lips.

"I figured, but you and Asher were the only ones I could ask, and I do not want to spend time with Asher alone," I replied, wrinkling my nose at Asher, who scowled at me.

"You think I want to be here?" Asher scoffed, narrowing his eyes at me. "I'd rather spend my time bathing a baboon!"

"You know, you guys act an awful lot like siblings with your constant bickering," Logan commented, causing Asher and I to shoot him a glare.

"Ew!" I cringed.

"He's not that bad, sunshine. He might be a grouch, but he's a good friend," he said, his lips quirking into a sincere smile.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment, Logan?" Asher growled, glaring at his cheerful friend.

"Anyways," Logan continued, ignoring Asher's question. "We should get started! Curfew's in three hours."

The next hour and a half was spent running around the supermarket and trying to locate all the ingredients and food on the list Yuko had given me. We only took so long because Logan kept getting distracted by all the food on display. I wasn't informed about what the two boys were cooking up, but with the amount of food they're making us buy, it must've been enough to feed the entire city.

"I still don't understand why Yuko needs all the flavours Bonne Marman offers. Why can't he just get the strawberry jam? That's good enough, isn't it?" I exclaimed, grabbing all twelve jars of assorted fruit preserves and dumping it into the already over-flowing cart.

"You know Yuko, he likes to be sure," Logan laughed.

"He could've just asked," I grumbled.

"It's a surprise for a reason, idiot. If he asked her, she would've figured it out," Asher said in a condescending tone. I shot him a glare, but he deflected it like it was no big deal.