"Slow down!" I laughed, watching Aaron stuff his mouth with potato chips. He smiled at me with his cheeks all puffy since they were filled with chewed up chips. I saw Angel (Aaron's twin sister) roll her eyes.
"He always does that with chips. He wants to make mashed potatoes in his mouth!" she cried in disgust. The whole table laughed and groaned, even the adults.
"You know," Vonnie said nodding her head. "I remember when I used to do that." Laughter burst out again.
"I know what!" exclaimed Brian. "Let's have a contest! Let's see who can make the most "mashed potatoes" in their mouths!" At that, everyone burst out talking in disgust.
"Ew! Gross!"
"You're sick, B-Rok!"
"I'd rather step all over live crickets!"
"I do NOT think so!"
I saw Brian's eyes crinkle up with laughter and he had that grin on his face which makes you HAVE to smile too. Kali slapped Brian's shoulder and put her hands on her hips.
"I don't see WHAT you're laughing at, Mr. Littrell," she said. "You almost made my hamburger come out again! And I don't think you would want to clean that up...." Everyone burst out laughing again. I felt someone jab me in the ribs.
"Hey, Nikki," whispered Kaitlyn. I looked at her. "Why aren't you eating?" She pointed to my burger, which was still in one-piece and barely touched. She also pointed to my chips, pickle, coke, and potato salad which I didn't even look at. I shrugged at her.
"I'm not hungry," I lied.
"Yes you are!" I heard someone yell across the picnic table. I turned to see who's face that voice belonged to. It was Howie.
"No, I'm not," I protested.
"Yes you are," Howie argued back.
"And how would you know that?" I snapped.
"You interrupted Nick because you said you were hungry," he said. My eyes went blank. I did. Hey, wait a minute, I did not!
"No I didn't!"
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Kevin.
"No, no, no," I said shaking my head. "I said "when's dinner?", that's all. I didn't say I was hungry. You liar."
Howie fell back and acted as if he was shot. Everyone laughed but me. I did NOT think that was funny at all. Ever since that night 3 months ago, I began to hate guns and knives for a good reason. Howie was the first to stop and look at me.
"Whoa, I'm really sorry, Nicole. I didn't mean it." Everyone at the table said nothing and stared at me with no expressions on their faces. I managed to put on a fake smile and shook my head.
"It's alright." I stood up from the bench and grabbed my plate with food untouched. "Great dinner, Mom." I walked into the house not letting anyone dissuade me out of it. I walked over to the kitchen trash can and was about to pour my food in, but I decided not to. I took some serande wrap, covered my plate, and slipped it into the refrigerator. All of a sudden, my stomach jolted. My eyes got wide and I clutched my stomach again. I collapsed onto the floor, but I managed to crawl towards the bathroom.