Tuesday came and all I could think about was the fact that I was invited to hang out with a group of people who already considered me one of them. Sure, we worked together, but that didn't put a damper on my excitement one bit. I stifled it as I tidied up the apartment and watched the clock on my phone. Niki would be here to pick me up at 6, she'd said. Gavin had work again today so it wouldn't be an issue leaving the as long as I was back by 9 before he got home. It was around 4:30 that I'd started getting ready by showering and blow drying my hair. I straightened it and put on makeup as best as I could before 6pm rolled around. I was still attempting to finish the devil's invention of winged eyeliner when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was a text from Niki telling me she was downstairs so I hurriedly finished my makeup, tugged the back of my sneakers on over my foot and made my way downstairs.
We pulled up to a 3-story red bricked building only a few blocks from my apartment at 6:20. Niki and I made our way up the stairs and inside with me carrying 4 bags of corn chips and her carrying 4 jars of chunky salsa. It was a little chilly out so I had worn a sweatshirt 3 times my size, jeans, sneakers, and a regular black t shirt underneath. Niki dressed comfortably as well, decked in tight black jeans, boots, and a black leather jacket. I didn't know what she had underneath it but she looked great anyway. When we made it to Ian's door, Niki pounded her fist against the wood and we waited. Someone creaked the door open just enough to whisper: "What's the password?" Niki rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.
"I don't fucking know. Chips and salsa?" She groaned, leaning on the wall beside the door, which immediately flew open and revealed the keeper to be Chad, the large, hairy man I met at the club the other day.
"That works." He said, pulling all 4 salsa jars from Niki's arms and moving away from the door. Even though his arms were full, he gestured for me to hand him the chips, so I did, stacking them in his arms and nodding my head.
"Hey new girl, what's up?" Chad said as he walked past Niki and I into another room. We followed him and I discovered that room to be a tiny kitchen. He piled the snacks on to the counter before moving to the refrigerator and pulling 2 beer bottles from it, offering them to us.
"Her name is Olivia, dick." Niki sneered, walking past him to the fridge to grab a couple cans of cola instead and handed me one. I accepted it gratefully. Chad's face fell at the action but decided to move on from it.
"Oh shit, that's my bad mate. Hi Olivia, how are you?" He asked a little more formally, pulling open one of the bags of chips and dumping them in a large blue bowl. Someone came into the kitchen behind us, patting me on the shoulder and leaning in to hug Niki. The side profile of his face told me it was Ian and I relaxed just a little.
"I'm good, thanks." I replied to Chad in a too quiet voice, already feeling a little uncomfortable. There was absolutely no reason, but I just was.
"Hey! I'm glad you came." Ian smiled at me before pulling his hand from my shoulder. It was strange seeing him in a blue long sleeve shirt rather than the black club shirt I'd only seen him in so far, though I'm sure he was likely thinking the same thing about me. I smiled back at him, clutching the soda in both of my hands.
"Thank you for inviting me, I'm really glad to be here." I said politely.
"Of course! You're one of us now, right?" Ian chuckled, grabbing one of the beers Chad had pulled out for us and breaking the top off on the counter. There it was again. One of us. I beamed, whether I meant to or not. I felt warm inside from being constantly met with kindness and friendship by these people.
"Thanks for bringing the chips," He told Niki. "Let's go chill in the living room. We have pizza too."
I was followed Niki and Ian out of the kitchen, down a short hallway, and into a wide living space with a large L-shaped beige couch that sat in front of a flat screen television. Two figures were leaning forward, elbows on their knees as they clicked rapidly at the controllers in their hands and focused on the TV. A fighting game that I was unfamiliar with was on screen and two characters were beating the hell out of each other. Ian and Niki made themselves comfortable on the couch, with Niki on the farthest right, the side of the couch that sat against a window, and Ian nestled between the two people focused on the TV. As I came around to sit beside Niki, I recognized the two as Max and Joji. I'd caught Max's attention first as he looked at me, back at the TV, then back at me again before commenting.
"Hey, I'm glad you came. What's your name again?" Max asked, his eyes glued to the screen again. His words pulled Joji's attention over to me for a second before he smiled in greeting and returned back to his game.
"Olivia." I answered Max, clutching my cola can again. I was aware of the nervous action so I tried to relax and stretch my fingers as to not crush it. Niki was scrolling through her phone to my right so I watched the boys' game for a few minutes before Chad came into the room with two large bowls of chips and two smaller ones full of salsa. He placed them on the open pizza box on the coffee table in front of the TV before sitting down on Joji's left side.
"Alright, I'm done with this gay shit, let's play something else." Chad complained, taking a chip and dunking it in the salsa. Max suddenly cursed and threw his controller onto the table, almost spilling one of the bowls of salsa.
"Hey, cunt, watch out!" Chad yelled.
"You fucking bastard, you cheated." Max cursed, looking directly at Joji to his left who had a wide smile on his face.
"I didn't, you just suck." Joji defended, putting his controller down on the table and taking a chip from the bowl. Next to me, Niki put her phone down and sat up straighter.
"So, what are we gonna play? It's Liv's first game night so let's pick something good." Niki asked, standing up to browse a bookshelf beside the TV that was full of what looked like DVD's and video games. Ian looked around Max's body at me.
"Do you have a preference?" He asked me, pushing his glasses up his nose. I shook my head no. As excited as I was to be there, something inside me was nervous. I couldn't pinpoint if it was simply because I'd never hung out casually with these people before...or any people, or I was worried that Gavin would somehow find out where I was.
"Let's play Shrek." Chad suggested around a mouth full of chips. Max turned his head with a glare.
"Nah, we wouldn't wanna make your dick hard when we have company over." Max spat, earning a laugh from Niki and a smirk from Ian. Chad glared back at him before mumbling some insult back that was too quiet for me to hear across the couch. The dynamic of the group was certainly new to me. They insulted each other but no one took offense, at least that I've seen. I knew then that if I wanted to be friends with them, I would need to keep in mind that most everything they say is in good fun, if they ever decided to poke fun at me.
"How about Mario Kart?" Niki suggested, pulling a white case from the shelf and holding it up.
══════
"You fucking RAT!" Max screamed, shoving into Ian beside him as Joji laughed wickedly. On screen, Max was hit by a blue shell and thus knocked out of 1st place as Ian and I raced past him to the finish line. Joji had been dead last and once he found out Max was in 1st, he unleashed his blue shell. Immediately after being stunned by the blue shell, Ian came in behind him with a red shell, and that's how Ian finished 1st, I finished 2nd and an NPC controlled Yoshi came in 3rd. We could only play 4 at a time and the match before this was Niki, Chad, Ian, and I at Bowser's Castle. We had been playing for an hour or two...I honestly wasn't sure. I was having so much fun and actively chatting with everyone so my nerves and sense of time were long gone.
"I fucking hate you guys, seriously." Max grunted before a small smile appeared on his face and he passed his controller to Chad. I stretched my back, deciding I also wanted to skip out on the next race and handing my controller over to Niki. I stood from my place on the couch and walked around it quickly so I wouldn't block the TV. I took my time, taking in the room and the art on the walls, which consisted of the weirdest framed photos I'd ever seen.
I was staring at a photo of John Cena on the wall when I felt a presence approach. Joji shouldered me gently as he came up to the spot beside me.
"I'm going up to the roof to smoke. Want to keep me company?" He asked, smacking his box of cigarettes on his open palm. I'd had such a good time already tonight and was fitting in smoothly, but I didn't speak much to Joji directly. I nodded, looking back at the group who were screaming about which track to race on before I followed Joji out of the apartment.
YOU ARE READING
The Etiquette of Smoking
Fanfiction"We shouldn't be doing this, Joji." I tried to reason, but my words held no weight. His grip on my waist tightened, pulling my body down to his so I was now straddling his hips. He gave a pleased smile as he pulled the straps of my top down my shoul...
