Frenemies ✔

Chapter 7

Over the past three months, Tori, Rocky and I have really enjoyed Robbie being part of our group. We've invited him to some of the summer activities that we all normally do. I invited Robbie to my house a few times to play video games on the Wii, or just flip through some movies that were on Netflix. Tori invited him to go with hiking with us by this state park. It's about an hour and a half drive from Crestwood to Wesley Heights, but the drive is worth it. Wesley Heights had a lot of hiking trails. A lot of them were mountainous, but they were awesome. The state park also had places to climb rocks, camping grounds (or the choice of staying in a cabin), a public pool. I loved it when Tori took Rocky and I up there during the summer.

Rocky invited Robbie to a couple of large-crowd rave parties that her older cousin threw. But I had a suspicion that the parties we went to were made for college kids because they had sold beer there. We ended up only staying for fifteen minutes, then we would leave. The parties got out of control (for my taste). Rocky didn't seem to care, but for the sake of Tori and I, we left and ended up going to Coffee Jitters.

Friday night was sort of a stressful evening for my Mom and I. She had to take off from work because she wanted to meet Robbie's older sister, Elsa. They were supposed to come over for dinner this evening, along with Rocky and Tori. But the two girls had already shown up a little early so they could help us with the bouillabaisse Mom planned on making for tonight. And since my Mom wanted to make this evening special, she told the guests it was a formal dinner. So, I was forced to wear this cute little black dress that my Mom paid an arm and a leg for with matching round toed kitten heels to go with it.

But I simply refused to wear heels and quickly switched them to a pair of black Chuck Taylor low tops instead. I assumed she hadn't noticed because she didn't say anything about the combination. Which was fine with me. Tori wore a cute gray jumper dress with a tight long-sleeved shirt underneath. She had matching gray flats with a big bow on the end of each shoe. She also had her beautiful, black, curly hair tied up in a messy ponytail. Two little curls dangled on each side of her face. Rocky, on the other hand, her apparel was little eccentric for the occasion. She wore an extremely, bright, neon, blue trapeze dress with also extremely, bright, neon blue Chuck Taylor knee high sneakers. For a minute, I almost thought she just came from visiting the Pacific Ocean. I did recall my Mom saying a formal dinner.

"Are the fish fillets chopped, Victoria?" Mom asked, quickly adding the veggies and the seasonings to the oil.

"Yes, Mrs. Greene. Where did you need me to place them?"

"Right here in the pot for me, sweetie. Ava, can you stir the mixture for me? I need to use the restroom real quick."

"Sure, Mom."

I hurriedly ran in her place and mixed the stew. Once she disappeared into the half bath that was right off the kitchen, Rocky ran up to me with the cutting board full of various sea meat.

"When do I put these in?" She asked.

I looked into the bubbling pot of stew. "Um, now. You can put the meat inside now," I replied, moving out of the way to grab a paper towel.

"When are Robbie and his sister supposed to get here, Ava?" Tori asked me, fiddling with one of her side curls.

"Uh..." I checked the oven clock. Six ten. "...probably in about fifteen, twenty minutes. How come?"

She shook her head. "Just asking. Do you think I look okay, Ava?"

"Tori, you look just fine. The dress gives you a really nice shape."

She looked down, blushing. "Thanks."

"I wish I was wearing something that comfortable rather than this stupid little black dress," I complained.