"How do you two know each other?" Ethan repeated the question to him.
I looked the other way as Oili stayed silent. There was no way we could reveal the existence of our karaoke club.
"Exactly," Ethan sighed, deciding not to push his fellow fraction member any further.
"And how the heck are you also close to the leader of the neutral fraction?" Ethan targeted Ben.
Ben scarily smiled in response, "and how does she know you?"
Ethan backed away, knowing he chose the wrong target. It looked like we all had our own secrets we were unwilling to disclose on our own. The room currently had the top three powerful fractions who were fighting for political dominance at the opportunity of spotting each other's weaknesses.
"Anyways, the strawberry shortcakes?" I remembered putting it in the catering menu .
"I'll order the maids to bring them inside," Luke sighed.
"And pizza?" I begged Luke with the most pitiful eyes.
Luke narrowed his eyes to warn me not to push him any further. I guessed today was not the day where I would finally get the taste of pizza. Even though it would be the perfect comfort food other than chicken wings and fries.
"Pizza?" Ethan's partner, Flora, questioned me in confusion.
"It's the most wonderful cheesy dish on top of marinated tomato sauce on the fluffiest bread with crispy crusts!" I could still remember the image of pizza inside my mind.
"You should really try it!" I grabbed her hands.
"Should I?" Flora seemed curious.
"See! Even Flora wants to try it!" I turned to Luke.
"Unfortunately, we do not have- "
"Can you do this to the people who donated a great sum of money?" I cut him off.
Pizza was relatively cheap and easy to procure. I had no doubt that Luke could get a box of pizza in no time since I remembered they existed in his tablet the last time I visited his mansion. At this rate, I didn't even care if it was a fancier version of pizza than I knew of.
Under the pressure of the people in the other fractions donating a great amount of money, including Ben who donated two million Aris while we were arguing, Luke gave in. I almost jumped in the air, but happily hummed instead. Meanwhile, those who have never seen a picture of pizza seemed to greatly anticipate how it looked like.
In a matter of a few minutes, the maids brought in a few boxes of pizza which filled the room with its greasy aroma. My eyes glittered as I ran towards the maids, swiping a box before they had the chance to serve them into plates. Oddly, they also brought forks and knives when we would clearly not need them.
"Melon soda?" I realized what was missing.
I turned to Luke since there was no way tea would go well with pizza compared to soda. It was another sugary goodness I never got to enjoy ever since I ran out my supply of junk food. When Luke stared at me in disappointment, I grabbed the tablet from him and ordered some fries, fried chicken, and big bottles of soda all at once.
In the meantime, I opened the box, grabbing a piece of pizza with my bare hands. Seeing I didn't use any utensils as some of the greasy oils dripped down to my hand, the group seemed shocked. I took one big bite, immersed in its comfort and deliciousness as it melted inside my mouth. Various flavours exploded on my tongue as the slice was gone in no time.
When the maids came in again to deliver the boxes of more junk food and melon soda, I couldn't help laying down on the ground in happiness. I didn't care if Luke lectured me later on for this. All I wanted to do was enjoy the moment.
"And you thought Sprinkles was bad," Ethan whispered to Flora.
I ignored Ethan's comments as steam poured onto my face when I opened more boxes. The entire table was occupied by all my favourite food. When Lucius and Alex entered the room, they momentarily froze from shock. Why wasn't anyone trying this out?
"Can I take a slice?" Shelly walked up to me.
I nodded my head while chewing as Shelly hesitantly opened her mouth to take a bite. Her eyes widened as she finally tried junk food for the first time in her life. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but pull up from joy. Seeing how Shelly was happy in bliss, the others decided to use their own hands to enjoy the food in front of them.
"So this is the pizza that you talked about," Oili knew from my complaints in elementary school.
Oili's hand couldn't stop from taking another slice like he had entered a whole new world. Even Ethan who mocked the junk food soon gobbled up plates of fries and pizza. The huge bottles of soda were almost empty as everyone discovered the existence of junk food other than fancy pastries. When I turned to check if Luke joined in, irks of annoyance formed near my forehead as he laughed while eating a slice with Alex.
Why was he eating the food when he was so against it before? We could've enjoyed this happiness together if he wasn't this stubborn.
"Everything here should never be revealed," Lucius warned the people inside the room after he finished eating.