The Mahabadi residence was gleaming as the flurries of snow came down. The sun had set and the four friends were nestled inside, the rich, chocolatey smell emanating from the freshly made hot cocoa and mixing with the pine of the Christmas tree that was still up past the new year. All of them gathered around the table. Ashley in a baby blue sweater and grey sweatpants, Yosef in a plaid button-up with faded jeans, Miranda in a Tri Delta branded white sweater with pink leggings, and Marco in double layers with a red rash guard and then a grey v-neck t-shirt on top with casual lounging pants. All of them were gathered around a nice, ornate dining room table. The freshly boiled milk still bubbling with the metal rumbling. 

“This is so weird” Miranda broke the silence “If you told me at the beginning of the semester, that I’d be hanging out with you three, I would’ve laughed in your face.” 

“Ditto” Yosef remarked dryly “But I have to admit, you do know how to be hospitable” 

“My dad’s from Tehran and my mom’s a Sicilian-American, I know how to make get-togethers legendary” 

“This is even better than lavender lattes” Ashley said, the satisfaction evident in her voice after a sip

“Welcome to the world of chocolate, you’ll come to appreciate it even more as time goes on” she replied with a wink 

“Reminds me of some of my nonna’s treats.” Marco said, casually. 

Miranda pulled out her laptop with a groan “I waited to check my grades until after the New Year, so here it goes.” 

“Are ya daft, lass? Ya gotta check it before so you can appeal them in case a professor did ya dirty” 

“Yeah, I know, but that ship has sailed. That’s why I invited you guys. I need some moral support…that aren’t part of Tri Delta” she said as she clicked ‘View Grades’ with a wince. The grades popped up. She steeled herself taking a deep breath “Alright, Creative Writing….A, Human Anatomy….A-, Microeconomics…B+....Pathophysiology….Oh my GOODNESS! I can’t believe it, I got an A!!” 

She got up and threw her hands in the air “We gotta get some dessert delivered now! Oh my God, I was so nervous. After everything plus the sheer difficulty of that professor, he was so extra.” 

The rest smiled. “Grades. Just vanity” Marco joked 

"Don't be so metaphorical Mr. Kohelet Cringe, she's acing classes we could only dream of passing" Yosef interrupted

She raised an eyebrow "Wow, I never thought you would be cheering me on"

He shrugged "I recognize hard work when I see it" 

Marco chuckled "Kohelet Cringe? That's a good one” 

“It would be different if ya actually understood what those Scriptures mean” Yosef quipped. 

Ashley stepped forward “Outstanding work. Congratulations” she stuck out her hand. Miranda rolled her eyes, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into a hug. “How many times do I have to tell you, you’re my friend, we hug” 

She hugged back, a semblance of a smile forming. “What dessert are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking a lava cake we can all split.” she replied.

"There's a cake made of lava?! How?" 

"No, it's not actually from some volcano, Robo-Ash. It's the deepest most enjoyable chocolate you'll ever have!" 

“Good grades don’t warrant random dessert binges” a voice cut in. A young man walked in, tan, hair slicked back, wearing some gold chains with a long sleeve athletic t-shirt and joggers. 

Miranda squinted at him “Lady and Gentlemen I present to you my little brother, Hunter. My biggest hater, who's taking a 'gap year' cause he couldn't get into his dream school” 

He shrugged “Whatever makes ya sleep at night” before pulling up a chair, the rest cringing as it scraped against the hardwood.

One by one, the quartet started to introduce themselves, each chuckling at his audacity towards his sister and shaking his hand. Ashley stepped up and stuck out her hand, overly formal “Very nice to meet you, Hunter. I am Ashley Avtorkhanova” 

He grimaced as she squeezed his hand. Then he walked over to Miranda, who was ordering  delivery. He glanced back “Is your friend there always this socially…off?” he asked, half-whispering but genuine. 

“Hunter, that’s rude. She’s come a long way” she replied, then her lips twitched “Although, I do have a funny story. Cadogan was here for this one” 

Yosef’s face fell as Marco and Hunter leaned in. Ashley sat back down, wondering which story this could possibly be. 

“So I come into the Anxious Owl” she started, gesturing wildly to Yosef and Ashley “And I see these two bozos sitting at the couch. Ash is acting like a living cartoon, jumping up and down on the table and stealing his phone. I'm surprised they didn't throw you guys out” 

“C’mon, don’t rehash this” he groaned. 

Marco chuckled “I wish I was there to see Ash being a literal cartoon, sheesh” 

"I made a mistake having her watch all those to understand social norms" 

“...and then I go and make fun of Yosef because, well, I can. He fires back and we start going back and forth. I was mid-sentence about his poor taste in coffee when I’m interrupted by Ashley literally ripping ass....” she couldn't finish as she devolved into laughter.  Yosef shook his head and Marco couldn’t help but chuckle. Ashley blushed ever so slightly, “I was experimenting with humor” 

“You could hear a pin drop in that cafe” she laughed back. 

Hunter stood with his arms crossed “That’s a rich story coming from you, Miranda Methane” 

She froze. All eyes went to Hunter and then to her. “No, we are not doing this” 

“Now you HAVE to!” Marco said, gesturing. 

He immediately went into the story, calm as could be “So it was her twenty-first birthday party, not super long ago, and we had the whole works. Marco, you know how Italian family events can be” 

He chuckled “Sicilians do it differently than Venecians, but yeah. Pesto is superior, by the way” 

“Whatever, Nonna made pasta fasule and dad made ghormeh sabzi.” 

“Hunter, I swear I’m gonna….” 

“And then! She starts eating like a madwoman. You’d swear that this was her first meal, like, ever. She had to have had five bowls of each, easy. I was surprised there was any left for us” 

“No! He’s exaggeratinggggg!” 

“It was calm for a while, but the stews came back with a vengeance later that night. Wasn’t too long after we had to fumigate the living room after she completely lit up the couch, that’s where Miranda Methane was born. I mean you should’ve heard the–”  

“One more word and I will END you!” she cut in throwing pillows at him, which he easily caught and deflected. She looked around turning slightly red. Yosef had a smirk while Marco was holding back laughter. Ashley looked at her confused “So you..?” 

“Don’t! Let’s just order the lava cake”

***

The lava cake arrived, Miranda cut it up into slices and served it on decorative plates with Farsi script on them. She passed it out to everyone, except Hunter. 

“If you’re going to tell obvious lies about me, then you don't get any cake, hmph!” 

He shrugged “No worries, I’m tryna get shredded for the summer anyway.”

Ashley took a bite and started salivating. “This is like hot cocoa but solid....and better!” 

“You still have the weirdest compliments for food. I'd love to see you on a cooking show” 

Yosef was also impressed “Seriously, where’d ya get this stuff, Mahabadi? It's the best I've ever had” 

“My cousin, Vinny, owns a bakery out in Fairfield. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Vincenzo’s Cucina. Best pastries and arancini in the tri-state area”  

“My family used to order from there a lot when I was a kid” Marco said, mouth full of cake

“Ha! The Northerner ordered from the Sicilian bakery.” 

“If only Tri Delta could see you now, Mir” Hunter said. as

She rolled her eyes “Oh my God, stoooooppp! You’re literally so annoying” 

The boys couldn’t help but chuckle. But Ashley was confused, she leaned over to Yosef “Is this how siblings normally behave? They seem very hostile to each other” 

He chuckled and whispered back “Yeah, it’s bonding. My sis and I do it too, though not as much as them” 

“I’m just over here doing the ‘Glad I’m an Only Child Dance’” Marco chimed in. 

“There’s a dance for that? Should I learn it?” 

“Let’s head over to the couch” Yosef suggested, getting up and moving. Marco and Ashley followed suit. They headed to the ornate living room where a big Persian rug took up the floor along with a small coffee table, the walls were a deep amber with a grand piano tucked into the corner. The couch was wrapped in plastic as was the recliner that was by the piano, they all sat down on the couch with a scrunch. Miranda and Hunter followed into the living room, still bickering. 

“You’re just jealous that I’m worth following” she said, sticking her tongue out. “Plus, I know you want Kaitlyn from Tri. I saw you eyeing her up last time she was here, you little creep” 

“Hey, I appreciate the hard work she puts into her physique” 

Marco rolled his eyes “Wow, real Casanova we got here” 

Yosef chuckled “Kinda like lookin’ in the mirror, isn’t it Fiorello?” 

Miranda then went to sit on the recliner, only to be cut off by Hunter.

“Get off! Why are you being a jerk?” 

“C’mon, you always hog this chair whenever baba isn’t home.” 

She huffed, but then a devilish smirk came on as she squeezed in next to him, pushing him into the stiff arm of the chair.

“W-whoa! Get your big butt off of here! You’re just proving my point” he grimaced. 

"Keep that energy. After everyone leaves, I’ll call all of Tri Delta to come over and then have them do your make-up and post it on our page. How about that?” 

The other guys’ eyes widened as the two looked at each other and then back. Ashley took a sip of her drink “She’s threatening…social punishment?” 

“Look who’s catching on” Miranda smirked, looking back at Hunter “So what’s the next move, hm? You ready to look pretty for Kaitlyn? I have all my make-up upstairs.” 

“Alright! Alright!” he said, exasperated 

She finally pushed him off the recliner “Pleasure doing business with you”

Hunter shook his head and with a chuckle as he walked away. 

“Wow. Didn’t know you could be so….brutal? Actually--yeah I did” Marco commented. 

“You can’t run a sorority without having a backbone. Luckily, with a brother like him, I’ve had plenty of experience with ‘high-stakes negotiation’, which actually did help me with my path to the presidency” 

“Yeah, I can tell. No wonder you’re running that sorority. Don’t ya think you were a bit harsh?” Yosef said, half-laughing and half-impressed

She laughed “Now you know how I got so strong, gotta push him all the time. But he’ll be fine. As much as I give him shit, I do love him. And I actually did consider setting him up with Kaitlyn” 

“Oh please. That’ll be punishment enough” 

She threw a pillow at Yosef, hitting him square in the face. Ashley laughed at that “You’re good at silencing people”

She beamed “Easy to do when you’ve had the experience. I could teach you in exchange for some martial arts lessons” 

“Sounds like a fair trade” 

Marco took out his phone "Alright, as part of my penance for being a complete idiot when I first met you guys, I'll order us all some more dessert. What do you all want?" 

"More lava cake" Miranda and Ashley said almost in unison. They looked at each other 

"I've trained you well" 

"It seems you have" 

Yosef's face fell "You guys are talking about dessert, not some bloody birthright. I swear--" 

*whack. He was cut off after Ashley threw a pillow at his face.

"That was fun" she said

Miranda laughed "See, I have taught you something after all" 

The guys couldn't help but laugh too. 

"Alright, I'll put the order in." Marco said.