"I hate this," Liz stated, moving uncomfortably on the Minter couch.
"Why?" Dylan asked, "We basically live here."
"Not this soon after school," Liz argued, "After school is Chipotle time."
"Well, you know—"
"Don't say it," Liz interrupted Anusha and covered her ears, "It hurts too much."
After Aggie had left, the Chipotle no longer had anyone working there, and was forced to shut down. The manager that had basically started the SideThot friendship was now off the grid and no one knew where he was.
"Well, if we stay here too much, Minter parents will kick us out," Josh said.
"Nah," Ethan dismissed, "Minter parents love us."
"You know that tik tok audio?" Anusha asked everyone, "The one that's like from Arthur? 'Why don't you go back to your own house and stop bothering us.' That's the Minter parents."
Dylan pointed at her, "She's absolutely right."
"Well, I always knew Simon's mom hated me," Harry shrugged, "Technically I'm not even supposed to be here since the fire of 2019."
"The... what?" Liz asked.
"Oh my god," Dylan sat up and looked in the kitchen, "That black patch on the island? You did that?"
"Hey," Harry yelled, "We all make mistakes."
"Not me," Lewis said.
"Not Lewis."
"Hey, talking about the Minters," Liz sat up next to Dylan and looked around the house, "Where did they disappear to? We're literally in their house and they're no where to be seen."
Dylan looked around as if she had just noticed Veronica and Simon weren't there. "You're right. Where are—"
"Simon, what the hell are you doing?!"
On cue, Simon came tumbling down the stairs, rolling into his living room and the view of his very concerned friends. He stood up and brushed himself off casually. "Hey guys. Want any refreshments?"
"Why did you just fall down the stairs?" Josh asked, "And why does Veronica sound so mad? What did you do?"
"I was simply hiding in her closet," Simon said, "I don't know why she's so mad."
"Because that's weird, Si!" Veronica's yell came from the top of the staircase. With her clumsiness, all the SideThots were surprised she hadn't fallen down the stairs either.
"You didn't need to push me down the stairs!"
"I didn't! You literally fell!"
"Not what they saw!" Simon shouted and pointed to their friends. Turning, he asked, "Right guys?"
"I could go for a refreshment, actually," Anusha said and Tobi gave her a look. "Not alcohol. Maybe NiQuill, though, this shit is unbearable."
"I understand," Tobi nodded, "But that's still a no."
"But why was Simon in Veronica's closet?" Dylan asked and looked around once more, "And where's Vik?"
"Here, right here," They heard from behind them. Vik emerged from the hallway and sat on the couch, away from the bickering siblings. "I took the other staircase. Those two are having an intense staring contest."
"They have another staircase?" Liz asked, "There's only four people living here, Jesus."
"What happened?" Dylan asked.
