Chapter 34- Party Games; Missent Messages

                                    

                                          
(Name)'s POV
                          
The party was in full-swing now. Drinks were distributed, food was served, and now—it was game time.
                          
I could only smile in pity at the unsuspecting faces of the partygoers who had never experienced a Polar Star party before. Yuki must've felt merciful to some degree when she announced that we were starting with a simple game of 'Telephone.'
                          
"Here's how it works: The person at the start, which will be me, will whisper a phrase to the person next to them. That person will then repeat the phrase to the next person and so on and so forth. This keeps going until the last person in the circle who will then say the phrase aloud. The goal is to keep as much as the original phrase as possible, but you can only whisper it once! So be sure to listen carefully." She nodded in satisfaction once everyone nodded in understanding.
                          
"Okay, here goes!" She clapped eagerly then leaned over to whisper in Megumi's ear.
                          
Megumi turned to Ryōko and repeated whatever she heard, and Ryōko turned to Shun, who turned to Marui, then Shoji, Daigo, and so on. It wasn't the most exciting party-game, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it enough.
                          
When it finally got to me, the last person before the end of the line, I was curious to hear just how weird the sentence would sound now. I leaned toward Hayato who whispered it to me. "The pan flew over the meal."
                          
Wait, that's it? I pouted at the bland sentence. Either Yuki chose something boring to start with, or someone misheard and made up their own phrase. Still, it didn't change the fact that it was so dull. I decided, as the second to last person in the circle, that it was my duty to give these partygoers something worth hearing.
                          
I leaned over to Ryou who frowned cautiously at my wicked grin.
                          
"What?" He pulled away with an incredulous look, to which I only shrugged.
                          
"Say it aloud!" Yuki urged him, and he hesitated again to send me one last look.
                          
"The... capitalist pudding engulfed... my stepmom's ferrari?"
                          
There was a brief pause as everyone absorbed the sentence in its glory.
                          
"H-huh?" Yuki scratched her head in confusion. "The original was, 'The plane flew over the fields.'"
                          
They all looked around suspiciously as if they could pinpoint who went and changed it completely, when I felt Hayato's curious stare beside me.
                          
Ryou noticed this and immediately ratted me out. "Of course it was you!" He roared and pointed an accusing finger at me.
                          
I couldn't take it anymore and fell over in a fit of laughter. I can't believe he actually said it! Never in my life did I think I'd hear Mister Sunshine Gigglepants utter such a strange sentence. This was a memory that would last.
                          
A number of the others laughed in amusement, whether it be at my hysterical state or at Ryou's chagrin, but a few just sighed at my antics.
                          
Yuki overcame her giggle fit and pulled out what would lead to the next game. "Anyone up for a round of Chubby Bunny?"
                          
She briefly covered the rules again: we'd all take turns eating adding one marshmallow to our mouths then saying, "Chubby bunny." Those who couldn't say it, ate their marshmallow, or spit it out lost. The last person able to hold all their marshmallows and still be able to speak wins.
                          
It started off slow as everyone easily held three to four marshmallows in their mouths. It was only when we got to the double-digits that things got interesting.
                          
"Chubbuh. Bubbuh." Ryōko said, earning a loud cheer from Yuki.
                          
The bubbly girl alongside Marui and Ryou had gotten out early due to a mix of small-mouths (which is ironic in Ryou's case, given all the trash he can talk) and over-excitement.