FIC: The Group Throws a Birthday-vention (1/?)
Title: The Group Throws a Birthday-vention
Author: fangirl_101
Word Count: 2,610
Spoilers: The series. Ignores Pierce leaving the group. This takes place in December of their third year--Annie's 21st birthday.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Community or any of the other things referenced. I do, however, have the world's smartest mouse living in my house who has evaded capture for 6 months now, despite me buying the fanciest, most expensive mousetraps on the market.
A/N: This is a birthday present for greta_garbo who had the following prompts: Jeff/Annie, preferably UST, Britta being dorky and cautiously supportive of J/A, side of Troy/Britta, at least one J/A kiss, Jeff and Annie forced to have an awkward conversation about their relationship, it's gotta be somebody's birthday (not all of this will happen in every chapter). I started this months ago, so assume Pierce never left the group. Also, this is my first multi-chapter fic and I'm super nervous. Also, this is the first time I'm writing a fic without an exact idea of how it will end. It's a little disconcerting, but fear not! This is a birthday present, so I will finish it. Just not sure how long that will take.
Chapter 1: The Plan
“Does everybody know their lines?” Abed asked the group gathered in an informal circle around Pierce’s living room. He was in full-on director mode. They’d already rehearsed their parts twice in the last week, meeting in the study room when they knew Jeff and Annie had classes. But Pierce and Troy kept getting distracted-by birds outside the windows, by the Dean snooping and asking if the group was breaking up since Jeff and Annie weren’t there (and where, by the way, was Jeff, just out of curiosity, that’s all. He wanted to run an innocent role-playing idea past him.), and Chang crawling out of yet another vent-and Abed felt they needed one run-through “in costume” and on the actual “stage.” Things were not going well. Abed was having trouble making everyone focus and stay “in character.” His friends were much more difficult to direct than the actors in his Community College Chronicles. He had thought about replacing a couple of them, namely Pierce, with their actor counterparts, but in the end decided against it. This being an intervention and all, it was better to stick with his original cast, even if they weren’t professionals and were having trouble staying on topic.
“I still don’t understand why we’re doing this,” Pierce grumbled. “Or why it has to be at my house.”
“The Lord is testing me,” Shirley muttered to herself. She turned to level him with the glare she reserved for when her boys thought it was funny to hide the baby from her when it was time to do their homework. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re always complaining that we don’t include you and leave you out of things. And now you have the you-know-what to whine when we’re making you a part of something?”
“I knew you thought about me sexually,” said Pierce, grinning at Shirley and waggling his eyebrows. “And for the record I don’t whine. I gripe. Whining is for sissies… and Russians.”
Troy leaned over to whisper to Abed. “Does what he just said make sense?” Abed shook his head. “OK good. I wasn’t sure if it was one of those references I just don’t get. You know, like Sputnik or Betty Grable.”
Shirley heaved out a long sigh before opening her mouth to fire back at Pierce when Britta cut her off.
“Guys, please!” Britta let out a frustrated cry. “Can we focus and get back to the plan. They’ll be here soon and we need to make sure we all know what to do.”
“Britta’s right.” Troy left Abed’s side and walked over to his girlfriend, slinging his arm around her shoulders casually. Britta smiled at him and he returned a goofy grin of his own.
“Pshhh. Someone’s whipped.”
“Shut it, Pierce!” Britta snapped.
“What? He’s obviously only agreeing with you because you keep him satisfied with your-”
“Pierce! Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Shirley threatened him.
“Although I don’t know why you keep pretending to ignore your lesbianism. Just admit you like the ladies and you can stop denying it to yourself. … I’m only trying to help.”
“How many times do we have to go over this? I’m not a lesbian. I’m dating Troy,” she added indignantly, grabbing onto Troy as if visual proof will miraculously dismiss all of the older man’s theories.
“You’re just using him as a beard. … He’s your black beard,” he added for emphasis.
“Um… I’m not a pirate?” Troy looked to Abed for reassurance as it came out as more of a question than a statement.
With a nod from Abed, Troy added a more definitive “Right. Thought so.”
He quirked his head to the side in thought, “Although, how cool would it be to be a pirate?”
“Word,” Abed added. And Troy walked back over to his best friend so they could do their special handshake.
“We should do a pirate movie!” Troy yelled with excitement, like it was the greatest idea he’d ever come up with, better than the blanket fort. “Except not like “Pirates of the Caribbean.” That just got sloppy. And what is a hairdresser doing as a pirate anyway?”
Shirley looked to Britta for explanation but the blonde just shook her head. She learned early on in their relationship that it was best to just let Troy ride out his train of thought. Besides, he was adorable like this.
Troy continued, “We already have pirate costumes from this year’s Halloween party, and we could build a ship out of all those toilet paper rolls I’ve been saving.”
“Cool. Cool, cool, cool,” Abed added. And they did their handshake again.
They turned their attention back to the group who were all regarding them with various expressions. Pierce looked at them with jealousy and resentment; he wanted to be a pirate, too. Shirley was looking at them with motherly concern, ready to speed-dial her pastor if need be. Britta was looking at them with a mixture of amusement and concern for Troy. She made a mental note to talk to him about that toilet paper roll thing. She thought that perhaps he was getting the wrong message from that show about hoarding he wouldn’t shut up about.
“Guys,” she looked at each of them one by one, willing her gaze to express the significance of what she was about to say. “This is quite possibly the most important thing we will ever do as a group. We can’t mess this up. For realsies. We only have one shot at this. If this backfires, they may never speak to us again. … Well, OK it probably won’t be that bad. But Annie will be mad and hurt and do that Disney face thing that makes us all feel like crap,” a round of agreement and head shaking interrupted Britta’s speech, “and Jeff will give us all a boring lecture with lots of inflection and arm waving about his right to privacy and respecting personal boundaries,” here she put to use her Jeff impression she’d been rehearsing for Abed’s next movie, “and who wants to listen to that am I right?”
And again everyone nodded their agreement, while Pierce randomly muttered “Gay.”
“Good. So, Abed, why don’t you take it from here?” Britta turned to sit down on one of Pierce’s overly squishy couches, with Troy following suit.
“I don’t think I need to explain the gravity of what’s before us,” Abed began, pacing back and forth in front of everyone like a general giving a message to his troops.
“Britta’s right. What we’re doing tonight will have a critical impact on the rest of this season’s story arc and will alter the direction and storyline of countless future episodes.” Everyone stared back at him, blank-faced. “In layman’s terms, what happens tonight will have a big impact on the future of our group and the relationships within it.”
At that everyone seemed to understand what Abed was saying and the gravity of the situation.
“Now, Annie will be arriving in…” he pulled out a pocket watch and held up an index finger like he was working out a precise mathematical calculation in his head, “three minutes and 32 seconds. And if I know his character, and I’m certain I do, Jeff will more than likely arrive around that same time. I suggest everyone take their places.”
The group sprang to action and comically stumbled around each other, hurrying to get to their marks: Shirley, Troy and Britta in the middle of the living room, ready to greet Annie when she arrived. Pierce over by the bar, acting as host and barman for the evening. He started randomly grabbing bottles of alcohol, suddenly flustered and befuddled about what was going on. Abed stood in between the living room and front door, giving everything and everyone a final spot check, making sure the scene was set to his liking.
Meanwhile, outside the front door of the Hawthorne Mansion…
Annie stood at Pierce’s front door, staring down at his welcome mat with both excitement and trepidation. The mixed emotions were not doing good things to her stomach, and she was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down and quiet her racing heart. She was flattered the group was throwing her a birthday party. Really, she was. Prior to this, only her mother had thrown her birthday parties, but they usually ended with her parents yelling at each other upstairs in their bedroom while Annie stared mortified at the three classmates whose parents forced them into coming to her party (they made sure she knew that). The group cared about her, genuinely, and it warmed her heart that they wanted to throw her a proper 21st you’re-officially-an-adult-now-in-every-way-possible party.
But, she was apprehensive, too. The group had been acting weird around her lately, well everyone except for Jeff. Whenever she mentioned the party, just to find out what to wear or if she could bring anything-she wasn’t trying to push anyone for details or anything, geez!-they would just smile and nod and mumble incoherent little things before either rushing off or abruptly changing the subject. Troy stopped talking to her altogether three days ago and gave her his ‘Levar Burton’ face when she mentioned the party.
What did they have planned? What was she in for? Did they invite someone from her past? Her parents? Fear ripped through her at this thought, but quickly subsided. No, they wouldn’t do something that personal to her. They didn’t know specifics, but the few things she’d mentioned about her family gave them enough information to know that that would be a very unwelcome event.
Due to the inner panic attack running through her mind, she didn’t hear Jeff coming up behind her. He paused and watched her for several seconds, just stared at her staring at the welcome mat at her feet. Jeff glanced down; it wasn’t a particularly interesting mat. What was she doing? …
He cleared his throat loudly and smirked when she gasped and spun around, her hand over her heart.
“So, were you gonna ring the doorbell anytime soon? Cause if not I’ll go back and wait in my car. I’m listening to “The Da Vinci Code” on my iPod and it’s getting really good… I’m on the edge of my seat,” he added with mock excitement, eliciting a smile and a soft laugh from Annie, which he returned.
“Didn’t that book come out like, five years ago?” she asked teasingly. She turned to him fully as he took the last few steps and they stood facing each other in front of the door.
“Yeah. Well, some of us were busy being lawyers then and didn’t have time to read it when it first came out.”
“Oh, so you’re catching up on all the best sellers you’re behind on while you were busy being a lawyer and didn’t have time for a life?” she asked, teasing him again and rather enjoying it. “What’s next? Twilight?” At that she burst out with that girlish giggle of a laugh that sent shivers down his spine and made his stomach twist in knots.
He shook off the not unpleasant feeling and shoved her shoulder her lightly. “Ha. Ha,” he deadpanned. “You’re hilarious. You should join Greendale’s comedy troupe.”
“Maybe I will,” she smiled at him, her nerves and apprehensions about the night suddenly gone in the glow and warmth of his smile.
She was smiling up at him in that most inconvenient way. It was the smile that brought him back to the way she looked when they won the debate, the smile she granted just for him when listening to Troy logically reason how a ghost stole her pen, and countless other little moments that happened between them that weren’t safe for him to think about. Needing to ruin the moment, break the connection, he cleared his throat loudly and turned his gaze to the front door.
“So, are you ready for what is sure to be a night you’ll never forget but that you’ll wish you could?”
“Sure. Sounds great.”
Jeff reached out to ring the doorbell but a sudden thought struck Annie and she grabbed his hand and pulled it down again. He looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“Hey wait a minute. Why aren’t you inside already, ready to throw confetti and yell “Happy Birthday” the minute I walk through the door?” she asked indignantly.
“First of all, I don’t throw confetti. It’s lame. And this suit is expensive. Second of all, I’m not late, well, not for me anyway. I’m fashionably late, like I always am. You know that I always arrive later than what’s on the invitation. Did you think you’d be the exception to my No. 1 rule about parties?” He smiled teasingly at her. Then Jeff had a thought that had him turning the tables on Little Miss Punctuality herself. “Actually, you’re the one that’s an hour late. What? Taking a chapter from the Jeff Winger Handbook of Cool. I’m telling you right now, I don’t think you’ll be able to handle it,” he added with his patented smirk.
“What are you talking about,” Annie asked, getting annoyed at his cavalier attitude. She knew he didn’t care about a lot of things. But this party was important to her. And she had hoped Jeff would at least care about it a little. At least enough to show up on time. “The party starts at nine.” She glanced down at her watch and looked back and twisted her wrist around to show him that it was, in fact, exactly nine o’ clock on the dot. She was nothing if not punctual.
“Noooo…” he drawled out, like he was explaining to a kindergartener why they shouldn’t eat paste. “The party started at eight. That’s what my invitation said.”
“Well, my invitation said nine. And I can prove it. I took a picture of it with my cell phone so I’d have Pierce’s address in case I forgot to bring the invitation with me.” She pulled out her cell and began scrolling through her pictures.”
“And did you forget your invitation?” Jeff pressed, fighting back a smile at her over-preparedness.
Annie shot him a glare and scoffed “Of course not.” At which point she pulled out the invitation as well, which had been tucked neatly into a side pocket in her purse.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Jeff glanced at Annie’s invitation, seeing that it did, in fact, say nine o’ clock. “My invitation said eight. Now, I didn’t take a picture of it, nor did I bring it with me like some psychos-” here Annie smacked him hard against the chest, “-I mean, people. So, you’re just gonna have to take my word for it.”
“Why would they tell us to come at different times?” Annie mused, glancing once again at the front door, suddenly wary of what lay for them within. “What’s going on?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Jeff reached out and this time successfully rang the doorbell, although he did miss the feel of Annie’s hand grasping his. The opening refrain of “If You Like Pina Coladas” rang out through the house and they could hear Pierce yelling “Come on in” over the melody. Annie clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles as Jeff opened the door and motioned for her to go first.
Jeff shook his head, muttering, “Only Pierce” as he made his way into the mansion and closed the door behind him.
What the hell kind of night were they in for?
TBC...
Author: fangirl_101
Word Count: 2,610
Spoilers: The series. Ignores Pierce leaving the group. This takes place in December of their third year--Annie's 21st birthday.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Community or any of the other things referenced. I do, however, have the world's smartest mouse living in my house who has evaded capture for 6 months now, despite me buying the fanciest, most expensive mousetraps on the market.
A/N: This is a birthday present for greta_garbo who had the following prompts: Jeff/Annie, preferably UST, Britta being dorky and cautiously supportive of J/A, side of Troy/Britta, at least one J/A kiss, Jeff and Annie forced to have an awkward conversation about their relationship, it's gotta be somebody's birthday (not all of this will happen in every chapter). I started this months ago, so assume Pierce never left the group. Also, this is my first multi-chapter fic and I'm super nervous. Also, this is the first time I'm writing a fic without an exact idea of how it will end. It's a little disconcerting, but fear not! This is a birthday present, so I will finish it. Just not sure how long that will take.
Chapter 1: The Plan
“Does everybody know their lines?” Abed asked the group gathered in an informal circle around Pierce’s living room. He was in full-on director mode. They’d already rehearsed their parts twice in the last week, meeting in the study room when they knew Jeff and Annie had classes. But Pierce and Troy kept getting distracted-by birds outside the windows, by the Dean snooping and asking if the group was breaking up since Jeff and Annie weren’t there (and where, by the way, was Jeff, just out of curiosity, that’s all. He wanted to run an innocent role-playing idea past him.), and Chang crawling out of yet another vent-and Abed felt they needed one run-through “in costume” and on the actual “stage.” Things were not going well. Abed was having trouble making everyone focus and stay “in character.” His friends were much more difficult to direct than the actors in his Community College Chronicles. He had thought about replacing a couple of them, namely Pierce, with their actor counterparts, but in the end decided against it. This being an intervention and all, it was better to stick with his original cast, even if they weren’t professionals and were having trouble staying on topic.
“I still don’t understand why we’re doing this,” Pierce grumbled. “Or why it has to be at my house.”
“The Lord is testing me,” Shirley muttered to herself. She turned to level him with the glare she reserved for when her boys thought it was funny to hide the baby from her when it was time to do their homework. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re always complaining that we don’t include you and leave you out of things. And now you have the you-know-what to whine when we’re making you a part of something?”
“I knew you thought about me sexually,” said Pierce, grinning at Shirley and waggling his eyebrows. “And for the record I don’t whine. I gripe. Whining is for sissies… and Russians.”
Troy leaned over to whisper to Abed. “Does what he just said make sense?” Abed shook his head. “OK good. I wasn’t sure if it was one of those references I just don’t get. You know, like Sputnik or Betty Grable.”
Shirley heaved out a long sigh before opening her mouth to fire back at Pierce when Britta cut her off.
“Guys, please!” Britta let out a frustrated cry. “Can we focus and get back to the plan. They’ll be here soon and we need to make sure we all know what to do.”
“Britta’s right.” Troy left Abed’s side and walked over to his girlfriend, slinging his arm around her shoulders casually. Britta smiled at him and he returned a goofy grin of his own.
“Pshhh. Someone’s whipped.”
“Shut it, Pierce!” Britta snapped.
“What? He’s obviously only agreeing with you because you keep him satisfied with your-”
“Pierce! Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Shirley threatened him.
“Although I don’t know why you keep pretending to ignore your lesbianism. Just admit you like the ladies and you can stop denying it to yourself. … I’m only trying to help.”
“How many times do we have to go over this? I’m not a lesbian. I’m dating Troy,” she added indignantly, grabbing onto Troy as if visual proof will miraculously dismiss all of the older man’s theories.
“You’re just using him as a beard. … He’s your black beard,” he added for emphasis.
“Um… I’m not a pirate?” Troy looked to Abed for reassurance as it came out as more of a question than a statement.
With a nod from Abed, Troy added a more definitive “Right. Thought so.”
He quirked his head to the side in thought, “Although, how cool would it be to be a pirate?”
“Word,” Abed added. And Troy walked back over to his best friend so they could do their special handshake.
“We should do a pirate movie!” Troy yelled with excitement, like it was the greatest idea he’d ever come up with, better than the blanket fort. “Except not like “Pirates of the Caribbean.” That just got sloppy. And what is a hairdresser doing as a pirate anyway?”
Shirley looked to Britta for explanation but the blonde just shook her head. She learned early on in their relationship that it was best to just let Troy ride out his train of thought. Besides, he was adorable like this.
Troy continued, “We already have pirate costumes from this year’s Halloween party, and we could build a ship out of all those toilet paper rolls I’ve been saving.”
“Cool. Cool, cool, cool,” Abed added. And they did their handshake again.
They turned their attention back to the group who were all regarding them with various expressions. Pierce looked at them with jealousy and resentment; he wanted to be a pirate, too. Shirley was looking at them with motherly concern, ready to speed-dial her pastor if need be. Britta was looking at them with a mixture of amusement and concern for Troy. She made a mental note to talk to him about that toilet paper roll thing. She thought that perhaps he was getting the wrong message from that show about hoarding he wouldn’t shut up about.
“Guys,” she looked at each of them one by one, willing her gaze to express the significance of what she was about to say. “This is quite possibly the most important thing we will ever do as a group. We can’t mess this up. For realsies. We only have one shot at this. If this backfires, they may never speak to us again. … Well, OK it probably won’t be that bad. But Annie will be mad and hurt and do that Disney face thing that makes us all feel like crap,” a round of agreement and head shaking interrupted Britta’s speech, “and Jeff will give us all a boring lecture with lots of inflection and arm waving about his right to privacy and respecting personal boundaries,” here she put to use her Jeff impression she’d been rehearsing for Abed’s next movie, “and who wants to listen to that am I right?”
And again everyone nodded their agreement, while Pierce randomly muttered “Gay.”
“Good. So, Abed, why don’t you take it from here?” Britta turned to sit down on one of Pierce’s overly squishy couches, with Troy following suit.
“I don’t think I need to explain the gravity of what’s before us,” Abed began, pacing back and forth in front of everyone like a general giving a message to his troops.
“Britta’s right. What we’re doing tonight will have a critical impact on the rest of this season’s story arc and will alter the direction and storyline of countless future episodes.” Everyone stared back at him, blank-faced. “In layman’s terms, what happens tonight will have a big impact on the future of our group and the relationships within it.”
At that everyone seemed to understand what Abed was saying and the gravity of the situation.
“Now, Annie will be arriving in…” he pulled out a pocket watch and held up an index finger like he was working out a precise mathematical calculation in his head, “three minutes and 32 seconds. And if I know his character, and I’m certain I do, Jeff will more than likely arrive around that same time. I suggest everyone take their places.”
The group sprang to action and comically stumbled around each other, hurrying to get to their marks: Shirley, Troy and Britta in the middle of the living room, ready to greet Annie when she arrived. Pierce over by the bar, acting as host and barman for the evening. He started randomly grabbing bottles of alcohol, suddenly flustered and befuddled about what was going on. Abed stood in between the living room and front door, giving everything and everyone a final spot check, making sure the scene was set to his liking.
Meanwhile, outside the front door of the Hawthorne Mansion…
Annie stood at Pierce’s front door, staring down at his welcome mat with both excitement and trepidation. The mixed emotions were not doing good things to her stomach, and she was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down and quiet her racing heart. She was flattered the group was throwing her a birthday party. Really, she was. Prior to this, only her mother had thrown her birthday parties, but they usually ended with her parents yelling at each other upstairs in their bedroom while Annie stared mortified at the three classmates whose parents forced them into coming to her party (they made sure she knew that). The group cared about her, genuinely, and it warmed her heart that they wanted to throw her a proper 21st you’re-officially-an-adult-now-in-every-way-possible party.
But, she was apprehensive, too. The group had been acting weird around her lately, well everyone except for Jeff. Whenever she mentioned the party, just to find out what to wear or if she could bring anything-she wasn’t trying to push anyone for details or anything, geez!-they would just smile and nod and mumble incoherent little things before either rushing off or abruptly changing the subject. Troy stopped talking to her altogether three days ago and gave her his ‘Levar Burton’ face when she mentioned the party.
What did they have planned? What was she in for? Did they invite someone from her past? Her parents? Fear ripped through her at this thought, but quickly subsided. No, they wouldn’t do something that personal to her. They didn’t know specifics, but the few things she’d mentioned about her family gave them enough information to know that that would be a very unwelcome event.
Due to the inner panic attack running through her mind, she didn’t hear Jeff coming up behind her. He paused and watched her for several seconds, just stared at her staring at the welcome mat at her feet. Jeff glanced down; it wasn’t a particularly interesting mat. What was she doing? …
He cleared his throat loudly and smirked when she gasped and spun around, her hand over her heart.
“So, were you gonna ring the doorbell anytime soon? Cause if not I’ll go back and wait in my car. I’m listening to “The Da Vinci Code” on my iPod and it’s getting really good… I’m on the edge of my seat,” he added with mock excitement, eliciting a smile and a soft laugh from Annie, which he returned.
“Didn’t that book come out like, five years ago?” she asked teasingly. She turned to him fully as he took the last few steps and they stood facing each other in front of the door.
“Yeah. Well, some of us were busy being lawyers then and didn’t have time to read it when it first came out.”
“Oh, so you’re catching up on all the best sellers you’re behind on while you were busy being a lawyer and didn’t have time for a life?” she asked, teasing him again and rather enjoying it. “What’s next? Twilight?” At that she burst out with that girlish giggle of a laugh that sent shivers down his spine and made his stomach twist in knots.
He shook off the not unpleasant feeling and shoved her shoulder her lightly. “Ha. Ha,” he deadpanned. “You’re hilarious. You should join Greendale’s comedy troupe.”
“Maybe I will,” she smiled at him, her nerves and apprehensions about the night suddenly gone in the glow and warmth of his smile.
She was smiling up at him in that most inconvenient way. It was the smile that brought him back to the way she looked when they won the debate, the smile she granted just for him when listening to Troy logically reason how a ghost stole her pen, and countless other little moments that happened between them that weren’t safe for him to think about. Needing to ruin the moment, break the connection, he cleared his throat loudly and turned his gaze to the front door.
“So, are you ready for what is sure to be a night you’ll never forget but that you’ll wish you could?”
“Sure. Sounds great.”
Jeff reached out to ring the doorbell but a sudden thought struck Annie and she grabbed his hand and pulled it down again. He looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“Hey wait a minute. Why aren’t you inside already, ready to throw confetti and yell “Happy Birthday” the minute I walk through the door?” she asked indignantly.
“First of all, I don’t throw confetti. It’s lame. And this suit is expensive. Second of all, I’m not late, well, not for me anyway. I’m fashionably late, like I always am. You know that I always arrive later than what’s on the invitation. Did you think you’d be the exception to my No. 1 rule about parties?” He smiled teasingly at her. Then Jeff had a thought that had him turning the tables on Little Miss Punctuality herself. “Actually, you’re the one that’s an hour late. What? Taking a chapter from the Jeff Winger Handbook of Cool. I’m telling you right now, I don’t think you’ll be able to handle it,” he added with his patented smirk.
“What are you talking about,” Annie asked, getting annoyed at his cavalier attitude. She knew he didn’t care about a lot of things. But this party was important to her. And she had hoped Jeff would at least care about it a little. At least enough to show up on time. “The party starts at nine.” She glanced down at her watch and looked back and twisted her wrist around to show him that it was, in fact, exactly nine o’ clock on the dot. She was nothing if not punctual.
“Noooo…” he drawled out, like he was explaining to a kindergartener why they shouldn’t eat paste. “The party started at eight. That’s what my invitation said.”
“Well, my invitation said nine. And I can prove it. I took a picture of it with my cell phone so I’d have Pierce’s address in case I forgot to bring the invitation with me.” She pulled out her cell and began scrolling through her pictures.”
“And did you forget your invitation?” Jeff pressed, fighting back a smile at her over-preparedness.
Annie shot him a glare and scoffed “Of course not.” At which point she pulled out the invitation as well, which had been tucked neatly into a side pocket in her purse.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Jeff glanced at Annie’s invitation, seeing that it did, in fact, say nine o’ clock. “My invitation said eight. Now, I didn’t take a picture of it, nor did I bring it with me like some psychos-” here Annie smacked him hard against the chest, “-I mean, people. So, you’re just gonna have to take my word for it.”
“Why would they tell us to come at different times?” Annie mused, glancing once again at the front door, suddenly wary of what lay for them within. “What’s going on?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Jeff reached out and this time successfully rang the doorbell, although he did miss the feel of Annie’s hand grasping his. The opening refrain of “If You Like Pina Coladas” rang out through the house and they could hear Pierce yelling “Come on in” over the melody. Annie clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles as Jeff opened the door and motioned for her to go first.
Jeff shook his head, muttering, “Only Pierce” as he made his way into the mansion and closed the door behind him.
What the hell kind of night were they in for?
TBC...