The Undercave [Incomplete]

Chapter 9 - Bonding Time

"Welcome- to my- humble- abode!" Sheri exclaimed, shoving the door open with effort and taking breaks between her words as she pushed. "Sorry about the stiff door," she commented as she entered with them following behind. "Don't worry Jake, you're welcome in too," she said, realising the sheepish look on his face. The others had been round her house many times, but they could only come round when her mother wasn't there. Jake smiled awkwardly, then stepped in, relaxing his shoulders as he inhaled the warm aroma.
"So!" Lana began as she spun around on the carpet in the living room, "What should we do?" Sheri leapt over to the TV and turned it on.
"Netflix. What else?"
"Uh, what about the 'chill' part?" Theo added, smirking at Sheri.
"Oh, I've got something better than that," Sheri responded, winking at him. The others were silent as they started to get unto a tickle war. Soon, Sheri had Theo pinned on the floor. "How about that?" She laughed in a whisper, her forearm placed over his neck and her face leaned over his. Without replying, Theo lifted his head up slightly and pecked Sheri with his lips. She returned the kiss, before realising that they were being watched. "Oh, uh, sorry." She got onto her feet and grabbed the remote, before walking over to the sofa and slumping herself down on it. "So, what should we watch?"
After aimless arguing over if they should watch a rom-com or an action film, they ended up putting on a horror film.

It was soon dark outside, and they had the lights turned off for effect. Theo sat curled up next to Sheri, ignoring her calling him a 'scaredy cat', since he whimpered at every jumpscare.
"Ooooooohhh..." He moaned quietly. Sheri glared at him.
"What now?" She whispered.
"Something's gonna happen-I know something's gonna happen," he rushed, chewing at his fingernails. She shook her head.
"Oh, quit whining about it, scaredy cat." He looked up at her angrily, before a ghost flew at the women on the screen.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing Sheri to push him off of the sofa. "Ow! What was that for?" He complained, rubbing the surface of his butt cheek. She was about to reply with a witty line, but the sound of jingling keys interrupted her, turning what would have been speech into a gasp.
"Mum's home!" She whispered worriedly, reaching for the TV remote and pressing the red button at the top of it. The screen turned black, just in time before the door barged open and a Japanese women in her late forties walked in. She shut the door behind her, hard, showing her frustration. They sat in the dark, hoping that they could be silent enough until she hopefully went upstairs so that they could get out without her noticing. But instead, she did the exact opposite and turned on the lights, illuminating the room and revealing the five teenagers hunched over on the couch. Her face changed into an outraged frown, making a crease between her eyebrows.
"Sheri!!" She yelled in a strong accent, "What did I tell you about having your friends in my house?!!" Her chest moved up and down as she breathed in and out heavily. After a ten second silence, she shouted, "Out of my house, now!!!" Without hesitation, Sheri hopped up and shuffled over to where the front door was, passing her mum without saying a word. The others scurried behind her, avoiding even taking a glance at her mother. Once they were all out, her mum slammed the door, and the sound of it locking caused Sheri to grip her scalp.
"Urgh!! Now she's not gonna let me back in again!!" Lana walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Sheri," She reassured comfortingly. "Look, we can all go to mine and Cliff's house for the rest of the night. I'm sure our mum will be in bed. Then you can stay round ours for the night, and you can borrow my spare school uniform for tomorrow." She smiled at Sheri, bringing a smile out on her face too.
"Thanks," she said, putting her arm around Lana. "You all really are my best friends in the world."

"Here we are!" Lana exclaimed as she entered the house and ran straight into the living room. "I've got an idea of what we could do!" The others walked in slowly as she crouched down at the TV unit to get something out of one of the drawers. "Monopoly!" She said, slamming the box onto the carpet. "Come on!" She motioned her hand for them to come in. When they did, she was already assembling the board, so they all sat in a circle on the floor surrounding it.
"Got any snacks?" Sheri asked, positioning herself on her knees and trying to get comfortable.
"Oh, I don't think we do..." Lana told her, scratching her temple with her index. "Maybe we could go to the co-op down the street and get some," she offered.
"OK," Sheri agreed.
"Ooh! I'm coming too!" Theo said as he jumped onto his feet.
"Do you guys wanna come?" Sheri asked Jake and Cliff as she stood up. They looked at each other then shook their heads. "OK." They then walked through the hallway and out the front door, shutting it behind them and leaving the two boys alone. They sat without any words for a while, Jake's fingers tapping his knees, until Cliff broke the silence.
"Should we uh, turn on the TV?" Jake nodded in response, so Cliff grabbed the remote which was on the sofa and pressed the power button. He then slumped himself where the controller was sat, and Jake got up to sit on the space next to him. Another fragile silence filled the room, the TV being the only source of sound in the house, however it had to be kept quiet just in case Cliff's mother was woken up. "Do you want a drink?" Cliff asked, stopping the absence of speech in case it got too awkward.
"Sure, what have you got?" He replied, smiling politely but letting a slight tinge of flirtatiousness seep into his voice.
"Uh- coke- and 7up I think," he stuttered.
"Can I have a 7up please?"
"Yeah, sure," he said nervously as he stood up and walked over to the kitchen door in the dining room. Jake's eyes followed him keenly as he watched him through the opening in the wall between the dining room and the kitchen. Cliff bent down at the fridge after opening the door and took a can from the fridge. He then shut it and walked back over to the sofa.
"Thanks." Jake smiled at him, looking up at him with dilated pupils. Cliff sat back down next to him as he took a sip of the carbonated beverage. He swallowed and exhaled, lifting his arms up, and lowering the left one around Cliff. He froze as Jake's hand rested on his shoulder, and his heart picked up pace. He slowly looked over at Jake out of the corner of his eye. His gaze was set on the TV, but based on the lip bite, it was obvious what he was thinking about. Jake suddenly turned his head towards Cliff, who quickly bolted his eyes to look back at the TV. "Cliff," he began, "What would you do if I kissed you?" Cliff went completely rigid, unable to move any muscle.
Kissed? He thought, several butterflies erupting in his stomach, Why does he want to know that? The image of Jake touching his lips to his caused him to blush, and his face turned a deep red causing Jake to giggle. Cliff whipped his head around to see Jake staring into his eyes. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't. The deep hazel eyes had left him paralysed, and combined with the tanned skin and the chocolate hair, it just made him even more irresistible. Jake placed a hand on Cliff's cheek, causing him to glow even further. Just as he came to the realisation that Jake's face was almost an inch away from his, they heard the front door open. They quickly pulled away from each other as fast as they could, moving themselves into awkwardly neutral positions on the sofa.
They heard quite a distressed Lana, who popped her head round and said, "Sorry, I forgot my wallet." She then grabbed her wallet off of the small table in the hallway and ran straight back out the door, slamming it shut and leaving them two alone once again. After a few seconds of silence, they slowly turned their heads towards each other, with faces of held in amusement. Then, without a warning, they both chorused into a howl of laughter.

Once the rest were back, they played Monopoly for a while and then decided to start playing Truth or Dare. They were sitting in a circle, as they were when they were playing the board game.
"Truth or dare?" Theo questioned Sheri.
"Uhh.... Dare!"
"OK. I dare you to..." His eyes scanned the room for a moment, then looked back at Sheri with a glow. "Wash your mouth out with soap!" Sheri's eyes widened.
"What?" She cried, "What if I swallow it?"
"You won't," Theo reassured her, smiling calmly but letting a hitch of amusement tug at the corner of his lips.
She groaned, then got up and stomped over to the kitchen. "Bar soap? Who the hell uses bar soap anymore?" They heard her mutter to herself. After a few more seconds, she appeared back in the room scrubbing the inside of her mouth with the bar of soap, and wincing at the alkaline taste of it. "See? See?!" She said with a mouthful of bubbles. Then with a few more scrubs, she removed the soap from her mouth, and started to gag.
"Ew, go do it in the sink!" Lana shouted, shooing her away with her hands. Sheri ran back through to the kitchen and spat the froth into the basin. She then went back into the room where they were all sitting.
"Okay," she announced as she lowered herself onto the ground, "Now it's my turn to ask you something, Cliff!" He gazed at her with his head hung low as she slowly inched her head forward intimidatingly. "Truth, or dare?"
"Truth," he responded immediately. She sat back and leant on her palms, seeming unsatisfied.
"Fine, um..." She stared up at the light on the ceiling to allow her to think of ideas, and then one popped into her head. "Who do you like?" She interrigated, smirking suspiciously. "If anyone," she added. This brought his mind to the images of earlier on. He didn't want to confront this. At all.
"No." He got up and walked through the door to the hallway. He needed some space. He shut the structure behind him and leaned against it, taking a deep breath and holding his head high. Meanwhile in the lounge, the others were silent, sitting in the circle.
After a minute, Lana finally stood up and said, "I'll go and talk to him." She went through the dining room to get to the hallway, just in case she opened the other door whilst he was still leaning on it. "Hey, you OK?" She asked in a soft tone as she quietly shut the door behind her. He buried his face in his palms and sank to the floor. Lana walked closer to him, crouching down on the ground and resting her hand on his shoulder in order to comfort him.
"...Lana," he finally started, his speech muffled by his fingers, "I like girls." Lana nodded slowly, even though he couldn't see her. "But... Is it okay if... if I like boys too?"
"Come here," she whispered, bringing him into a hug. "Of course it's okay. You can't choose who you love. Why would you be made this way if it wasn't?" He shook his head, his face still buried in her shoulder.
"I don't know," he whimpered softly through a sob, a tear rolling down his cheek.