Marshmallow Pride Pt. 3 (Collab with Isaac Aaron)

THIS IS DEDICATED TO ALL MALLOWS, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. I COLLABED WITH ISAAC AARON ON THIS, CHECK HIM OUT AT https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/7b7be7/

It’s been so long since I’ve talked about food. Normally I wander the aisles, letting the cans take hold of me and jump into my cart. I don’t stop them. That was before I had friends though. Now they judge my food choices. 

“Come on! Stop guarding the barbecue chips!” They didn’t like barbecue chips! Why did they care? I growled, hugging the bowl to my chest like a block of gold. Kate was advocating for freedom of food, but there was no freedom with barbecue chips.

“Ugh, why is Mariah Carey still talking?” Celeste really seemed to hate her. Of course, no one likes her, but no one hated her as much as Celeste. At the moment, though none of us were listening, Mariah was self-promoting.

“As a writer, because I did write the song…” It just felt like white noise at this point. I was trying to read my book, a holy treasure that I received for the holidays and would never let go of. There were about ten people there, all some of my closest friends, but I couldn’t focus on all of them at once. I have to vary my attention. 

At the moment, Jennie was across the room, yelling at Nainika about which book was better: Atlas Shrugged or And Then There Were None. John Galt was winning, obviously. Jennie was in her rainbow jacket, flaunting it to everyone around. It shined brightly in my eyes, which I wasn't keen on, but it did look great.

“Ugh... Give back the Lay’s!!” Kate was struggling next to the couch, trying to pull the bag back from Mira, but Mira kept on yanking. Finally, the bag exploded over both of them and they laughed, throwing chips at each other. 

I remembered, three years ago, my whispered New Year’s resolution. 

My only friend, Takumi, had just joined a new friend group. I would’ve been fine with that, totally okay, but he had to join the worst of them all. The non-readers. I’d always swarmed him with book recommendations, always threw them in his face, but to join with the enemy? Sacrilege. 

“I resolve to pick friends, actual friends, and ones that like books as much as I do.” That seemed easy enough. There had to be some, right? Wrong. The only friends I could seem to find were dumb. 

I was shot back into the party, Mariah Carey still yammering on about her new book. Isaac, with his Fritos, was reclining on the chair, watching the sweet chaos with a smile. I threw a BBQ chip at him because if he thought that chips were all love and joy, he was wrong. It was a war. I was joking, of course, and I loved Fritos too. 

Suddenly, as if by magic, the five-minute mark sounded. No other party has that, no, but we or, well, Maya, decided we would have one. Nainika and her slaved away the night before to set it up, but it wasn’t very exciting. Still, I was happy to have it.

Jade was vibing to Groundhog Day on the couch next to me, occasionally laughing her head off. She really liked Bill Murray, I guess. Tom Hanks will always and forever be my favorite, though.

“Excuse me?” Oops, guess I said that aloud. Jade ominously clicked pause and turned to face me.

“It’s true, I’m not arguing it with you.” Ha, leave it to me to weave a Joe vs. The Volcano quote into a conversation. 

Radhika, Alina, and Akshaya were at the door, showing each other pictures of their pets. They had always loved sharing pics with everyone, and all of them started to blur together, but they were sweet to share them with us. Alina watched Mariah from afar, intent on listening to every word. She was just one of those people that loved watching whatever was on.

“Twenty… nineteen…” Was it that time already?? Mariah was still talking, but the cameramen cut her off and switched to the view of the ball dropping. The polyester sphere inched down, like a worm or a snail. The only difference was, well, that worms had no places to be. 

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Everyone burst into disarray hugging around the room and throwing chips into the air like confetti.

Though I’d never had a great party like this one, I acted like I’d partied every night of 2020. Mira and I threw some more chips at each other and jumped up and down like little children. Mira was by far the best person to be a child with. Nainika and I started throwing our books in the air, though we’d never drop them, no. Nainika, a devoted bookworm like me. 

Isaac and I exchanged chip bags and cheered. Isaac was always very kind. Maybe he deserved all the Fritos. Kate, well, she was in her own inner party, dancing like she was the only person there. I had to shake her a little to “wake her up”. Radhika, Alina, and Akshaya were taking pictures like the devoted people they were, and we all smiled for the camera. 

The doorbell rang through the room, and we all turned and started making our way to the door. As it swung open to the chaos within, we gasped at the face standing outside. It was Emmie Greensgate, and she’d brought a cake. I went for the cake, obviously, but Mira ushered Emmie in. 

“Come on, let’s party!!” The music turned back on, and Celeste started screaming incoherently. We all did the same, and I’m sure Haripriya, who lived in the next building, could hear us as we went crazy. 

“Okay, guys, here’s the sparkling apple cider.” I handed out cups to everyone, the fizzles bubbling onto everyone’s hands. I had drunk an entire bottle of this earlier, and I was sure that Emmie had done the same. We all clunked the cups with each other, and said “cheers”. It was great to be with friends.