How Green Becomes Wood

Sloan answered the door for them, wearing the same thing as earlier except for slightly different makeup, "Hey guys! You look good, I didn't expect you'd end up changing before coming over, but I guess, living across the street, it's not like you have to worry about running late because of traffic. Claire and some of the rest of my gymnastics team are already over, though, so you don't have to worry about that awkward time when we wait for the rest of the guests."
 
"Oh, that's cool! It'll be fun to meet some of your other friends," Alec smiled. "Oh! Here's your gift. Should I put it on a table or something?"

Xander wordlessly held up his gift in a small, unwrapped box.

Rumy and Sherri pulled up outside, and Sherri took a few seconds to nervously make sure her hair was tidy before getting out of the car. Rumy was in her usual cyberpunk attire, though she had toned it down just a little, but she still had her giant black boots. Sherri had made an effort to fit into what she assumed Sloan's family would approve of and had on a pink and black skirt and blouse combo.
 
"Oh, yeah, you can put it on the buffet table in the dining room," Sloan replied, pointing out where it was, "Thank you both, seriously. You did not need to!"

After stepping aside to let the twins inside, she stepped to the doorway again to greet Sherri and Rumy, "Hi, thanks so much for coming!"
 
Xander and Alec went to do as asked and then went to stand with Sloan's gymnast friends. Alec was quick to strike up a conversation and tried not to stare too much. Gymnasts were a very pretty group of girls. Women? Lovely. And so lively and friendly! Xander stood in the corner and watched like a brooding shadow.

Rumy grinned and gave Sloan a spontaneous hug. "Thanks for the invite! Wow, this is a nice place."

Sherri did not offer a hug and only smiled shyly before offering Sloan her wrapped gift. It was a charm bracelet with a gymnast and the year as pendents. She hadn't known what to get Sloan but hadn't wanted to show up empty-handed, either, so she had a nicely wrapped box to offer. "Thank you for inviting me. This looks like a lot of fun."

Rumy held an unwrapped shoebox. "Sorry, I forgot to wrap it. Do you want it now, or...?"
 
All of Sloan's friends were pretty welcoming to Xander and Alec, although they didn't try to force conversation with the one who didn't seem all that into it. Like the twins, Claire had changed since going home, and was now wearing a tea-length skirt with a carousel print and a sparkly pink sweater, "They're who helped me decorate Sloan's locker today," she announced, and the rest of the team murmured their praise and appreciation for it.

Sloan's eyes widened at the hug, and she only somewhat awkwardly returned it, "Thanks! Um," she pointed across the street, "That's actually Mr. Dark's, so, if you wanted a bit more of the mystery. But, yeah, it's not a bad house. We have a trampoline in the back, too." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Thanks for the presents, you really didn't need to. I... actually don't know what's more awkward, opening them now in front of people or waiting until later. Nobody else had asked me that before, so we've been setting them up in the dining room."
 
Alec turned beet red at the praise and quickly turned it around to Clair, praising her use of pictures and glitter glue. He then started asking the others questions, genuinely curious about Sloan's friend group outside of school.

"Whoa! The man, the myth, the legend!" Rumy grinned, staring at the house across the street. "He literally lives exactly how you'd expect him to! That's so cool. Anyway, I'll stick this on the table, and you can open it later."

She and Sherri headed inside to distribute their gifts on the table with the others. Rumy's give was a pair of high-end, perfectly white sneakers and a large pack of fabric and permanent markers. The note just said, "Express your self!" Then she and Sherri went in to join the others, Sherri nervous but excited, and Rumy just happy to be involved.

Peter was the last to arrive, and his dad dropped him off. He greeted Sloan happily and winked when he assured her he hadn't forgotten.
 
Joking about how she was beginning to think maybe Peter had decided to go to a tournament after all, she let Peter inside and then joined the party for real. For the first little while, she just walked around and chatted with everyone. At some point, her mom tried to linger to just keep an eye on things, but Benny stepped around and made up some excuse for why he needed her right at that moment and managed to pull her away with a sly wink to his sister, who was left gratefully wondering when her brother went from being a snitch to a co-conspirator.

In the dining room, plates of various snacks were set out, but before it came time for an actual dinner, Sloan suggested they all play Mario Kart, partially because it was a ton of fun with a group their size, but for a nefarious purpose. Naturally, she chose Waluigi while Claire chose Princess Peach, because she was classic and pink and fun.
 
Peter had played Mario Kart a fair amount, though he was only about a middling player, and Princess Peach was his favorite, but since Claire had already chosen her, he went for Toad. Neither Alec nor Xander had played much at all. Alec knew the game a bit, and Xander had barely any knowledge of a gaming controller. When it was their turn to pick, Xander picked Bowzer, and Alec went for Yoshi because he had a soft spot for the game. Sherri was a terrible player, but she clearly enjoyed herself playing a Koopa Troopa, and Rumy was a really good player with Donkey Kong Jr.
 
Sloan enjoyed it regardless of how she placed, although part of the fun was being needlessly competitive. She had considered playing Mario Party, instead, but thought the game might go on for too long, and honestly, she was testing Xander's convictions, which he hadn't seemed to notice. Later, she'd suggest they play Jackbox games, where winning didn't matter at all, but she had to test a notorious game after their earlier conversation. She came very near to breaking out Monopoly, and if it wasn't a game that took five hours to play, she might have. But nobody wanted to play a board game at a birthday party.
 
Xander wasn't doing well in the game, mostly since he was not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but he was trying. It was getting harder to hide his frustration at his character's (and his own) ineptitude in the game. He dropped out of playing as quickly as he could and passed the controller to someone else as he found a nice, quiet corner to cool down. It was just a game. Just a game. And he was at a party. He couldn't react badly and ruin Sloan's party. It was just a game.

Alec, who was barely better than Xander, was having a blast at the game.
 
While Xander attempted to quash his frustration, some of the team didn't bother. This was a birthday party primarily composed of athletes who competed both with and against each other, and when Claire used a blue shell and knocked her teammate out of first, the teammate exclaimed in frustration, and then, with a laugh, playfully shoved Claire, accidentally knocking her directly into Alec.

"Oh yeah, Mel, what a way to retake your spot," She laughed as she sat back up, "Taking your hand off the controller and looking away from the screen!"

"I don't need to win, I just need you to lose!"

"Oh yeah?" Claire laughed, gesturing to Alec, "And what about him? Poor Alec did nothing!"

"Collateral damage! Sometimes innocent people get hurt trying to punish enemies to the state!"

"Bestie, I think that's a war crime???"
 
Alec had his eyes glued to the screen, even though he wasn't paying much attention at the moment. Warm soft body against his... She sure smelled nice... NO! No, he would not be a typical boy or a Neanderthal. Claire deserved better. All of them did. It was just a joke. All fun and games. He was able to shake it off after a couple of seconds and tuned back in right as Claire was accusing Mel of war crimes.

"I suppose in the instant of people committing war crimes, it is only natural to form alliances against that person," he suggested to Claire with a grin.
 
"I think you're right," Claire agreed slyly, although after all this there was no shot either of them would win the game. But there were always more rounds.

"Hold on," Mel said, frowning, "That's so not fair. I was attacked first. I was just racing, she launched the shell."

"If you're racing, you assume the risk of being blue shelled!" Claire replied, playful nudging her friend as the friend who had been in third place only moments before stole first and crossed the finish line.
 
Alec groaned and pointed out the winner. "That's what we get for allowing ourselves to be distracted! It's all over now!"

Rumy just laughed at them both and stole second place. "Distractions are the death of winning!"
 
Sloan chuckled, passing her controller off, "We probably have time for one more game before the pizza arrives. Do what you have to do."

Claire grinned, picking up her remote and looking at Alec again, "Alright, this is our shot. All we gotta do is make sure the war criminal doesn't win."

"Wow," Mel huffed, "I literally just came here to have a good time, and I'm feeling so attacked right now."

"Good, you should, that is absolutely the intention."
 
Alec laughed and stretched his hands. "Ready!" he announced.

Sherri politely ducked out of the game and handed off her controller, but Rumy stayed, focused and eager to win. She didn't win, but she wasn't last! Which was a win in her book.

Alec followed Claire's lead, doing reasonably well for not having played long. He stayed behind Claire - partly because he was stuck and partly on purpose - and watched her back as best as he could. It was a blast!
 
Although Claire still failed to win, she managed to steal second, and best of all, Mel came dead last, a suitable punishment for being accepting of collateral damage.

Amused, Sloan shut off the game before anyone else had a chance to form alliances or initiate threats, and shortly after she did, the doorbell rang and the pizza had finally arrived.
 
Peter and Alec went to help set up the pizza, chattering excitedly about how awesome pizza was for a party, especially a gaming party. Xander hovered, helping where he could but mostly trying to stay out of the way.

Sherri was attempting to strike up a conversation with a couple of Sloan's friends while Rumy listening in with interest. They asked the usual questions people asked gymnasts before moving on to other topics like favorite games and pets.
 
After the pizza, there was a bit of a break where they all chatted some more before playing a number of Jackbox games, including the one where the players are more-or-less forced to give an impromptu presentation where all players select one prompt, from a list generated from other players at the start and the images and text are selected by another random player. Although, as much as Sloan would have loved it if everybody played that one, she understood if some people opted out of it, because there were enough players to work even if some sat out, although she made it very, very clear everybody looked like a fool, because the prompts would end up being things like, "Here's How Getting Drunk and Eating Spaghetti Changed My Life, and Can Change Yours Too."

The other games required much less active participation because they mostly just required entering funny prompts, so, for those who didn't want to be forced to present something with no warning, there were more than enough games to play. Afterwards, it was time for cake, and because Sloan was a woman with taste, it was an ice cream cake, because most standard cakes, in her opinion, were try and overly sweet without much going on.
 
Xander refused to take part in the presentations, but he did watch and even joined in the laughter. It was a hilarious game to watch! Peter and Alec were, of course, enthusiastic participants and loved every second of it. Sherri tried but was ultimately too shy and nervous to do it, and Rumy, while enthusiastic, kept getting the rules wrong. She didn't seem to mind too much and laughed at herself every time she got it wrong. They all had fun with the other games, even Xander, that only required prompts.

When it was time for cake, Rumy led them in a round of Happy Birthday, singing it with gusto in Spanish, and at the end, Alec and Peter took turns adding on the extra phrases like, "And many more on channel four! Scooby Doo on Channel two!" until they couldn't think of anymore.
 
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