Naimh frowned. "You'd do that for me?"

“Of course!" Sam gave the redhead a fierce hug.

“We're friends, not rivals."

Naimh smiled and hugged Sam back. "I'm really glad you feel that way."

“Awesome!" Sam said enthusiastically.

“I mean, assuming Matty won't mind."

I ogled the gorgeous redhead up and down, already imagining the things we would do... TO... each other if we had all night, and I drawled,

“Wouldn't mind at all."

The doorbell rang again, and Sam went back to open it. I noticed the way she greeted the new arrivals by stepping back and gesturing them inside with a dramatic, “Welcome, welcome! Come on in!" as if she lived here. I had a sudden vision of marrying Sam, living in this house, raising our children here, and having her welcome guests in the same manner. But I quickly shook that thought away as a distant pipe dream.

In this case, Belle and Mari had arrived together, a common occurrence since Mari often parked at Belle's house first. Belle recognized the significance of Sam's attire immediately, and she looked a little shocked. "Wow, really? You spent the night?" There actually WAS a trace of jealousy in her voice.

Sam looked equally surprised. "Uh, yeah." She frowned. "Is that not okay?"

“What? No, of course it's fine," Belle said immediately, recovering quickly. She gave Sam a warm smile and leaned in for a hug.

“How was it? What am I saying of course it was amazing otherwise you wouldn't be dressed like this now."

Sam smiled and hugged Belle back, not entirely convinced everything was fine but wanting to keep things moving. She greeted Mari as well and everyone started moving into the family room by the big TV.

Zofi was the Last arrival a few minutes after 10, but since she'd been

Sam's parental alibi, she already had an idea what to expect. She simply smirked at Sam, exchanging a look that said she'd get all the details later, and moved on.

Sam finally went upstairs to change into the clothes she'd packed in her overnight bag. When she returned re-dressed in a new outfit, she clapped her hands and called out to the group, “Okay, let's get moving!"

The other girls wrapped up their conversations and started getting up, but I checked my watch and said, “Not quite yet. I'm not ready to leave."

Sam frowned at me. "We've got to get in Line to get good seats for all six of us together!" The plan was to go see a movie together and grab lunch afterwards.

“You can wait two minutes and there will still be plenty of good seats."

Her confusion deepened.

“Wait for what?”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. I smirked a knowing smirk, enjoying this feeling of knowing more than the girls did for once in my life. I left the family room and headed back to the front door, glancing back once to find that all five girls were following me curiously. With a flourish, I opened the door, took a step back, and was nearly deafened by the sudden high-pitched screaming.

"ALICE!!!" they collectively screamed.

My best friend soon got buried under an avalanche of hugs.