Chapter 240: Friends

Scarlett went back to her house since she needed to pack her bags for Tomorrowland on Saturday and Sunday (but we’re going a day earlier—tomorrow morning we’ll already be in Vegas).

We were all sitting at the table talking while Mom poured wine for the adults.

“Who would have thought that the boy we met two years ago would become one of the most famous artists in the world?” Monica remarked with a hint of nostalgia.

Then she told Paige and Carly that they had met me at Ross’s wedding and that it had been a disaster (without mentioning the reason).

“Wow, maybe Jake is bad luck,” Paige smirked. “Because the wedding we went to also turned into a circus.”

“Shut up, Paige. And at Gloria and Jay’s wedding, I saved the day,” I replied, then explained how I livened up the wedding.

“Did you try to save Ross’s wedding?” Carly inquired thoughtfully.

“No. That one was simply impossible. Ross said the wrong name at the altar…”

Paige and Carly winced. Even the others reacted the same way (no matter how many times you hear the story, it’s hard not to wince).

“Anyway, it’s Ross’s wedding. If you can’t save one, you can always try the next one,” I joked, making Joey, Monica, Rachel, and Chandler burst out laughing.

Chandler, still laughing, questioned, “Do you think wedding jokes about Ross will ever get old?”

“Probably not. And knowing my brother, he’ll find a way to mess up another one,” Monica observed, shaking her head.

"Speaking of weddings, yours in October will be legendary!!" I proclaimed to Monica.

"Don’t do it, man," Joey whined.

Seeing everyone’s expression, Chandler was the one who explained, "When it comes to our wedding, Monica starts talking non-stop..."

Before Monica could defend herself (or start talking about the wedding), Rachel jumped into the conversation, changing the subject,

“Yeah, but we ‘adopted’ Jake as a nephew during the trip to Barbados,”

“You quite literally did, Rachel,” Chandler commented sarcastically, earning a glare from Rachel.

“Great and funny trip!” I exclaimed, raising my juice.

“Let me guess, there were girls,” Paige teased.

“It’s Jake, there are always girls,” Carly responded deadpan.

“Heyy.” I opened my arms. “It’s a family trait. My dad likes women, my uncle certainly likes women, even my mom likes women. So it’s not my fault"

They all stared at me poker-faced.

“You were supposed to be a genius, right? Because that was dumb even by Joey’s standards,” Chandler ridiculed.

“Heyy!!” Now it was Joey who shouted indignantly. “I think what Jake mentioned all makes sense.”

Everyone was staring at Joey.

“Speaking of intelligence,” Chandler remembered something. “We can play a funny game I learned. You have to name all the states in six minutes.”

“Uncle Chandler, I think you’re getting old. We really have different opinions on what a funny game is,” I pointed out. “And it’s an easy game,” I added.

“It’s harder than it sounds. You always forget one. Or, in some cases, fourteen.” Chandler sneaked a look at Monica.

“It’s stupid, and I wasn’t playing against people, so technically, I didn’t lose,” Monica admonished.

“You forgot fourteen states?” I looked at her in disbelief.

God knows, we Americans are not the best at geography, but fourteen...

“Nobody cares about the Dakotas!” Monica defended herself.

Mom decided to help Michelle in the kitchen with dinner. We ended up playing Chandler’s game: Joey, Rachel, Carly, Paige, and me.

After a minute, I had already finished writing and said out loud, “Now I feel like Chandler, when he and Monica were at the beginning of their relationship. Having only six minutes but not knowing what to do with the five minutes left.”

Monica, Rachel, and Joey burst out laughing. Chandler glared at me but then chuckled as well and remarked, "That is a good one. I’ll use it against Ross and some coworkers."

After five minutes, "Okay, time’s up," Chandler announced.

"All right, I got 48," Rachel reported.

"I got 49. There’s one I can’t remember," Carly said, a bit frustrated.

"All 50, just like Jake," this time it was Paige.

"Joey?" Chandler asked the last remaining one.

"Say hello to the new champ of Chandler's dumb states game," he declared proudly.

"Wow, how many did you get?" Monica asked, confused.

"Fifty-six," Joey replied.

"Joey, we still haven’t annexed Canada," I said a little sarcastically.

"Anyway, what are all these numbers you pasted, Paige?" Chandler asked curiously, looking at Paige’s paper.

"I got bored and wrote down the population from the last census of each state, and the size of each one," Paige answered.

"Now you’re just showing off," I gave her a playful slap on the forehead.

Then I remembered something, "Rach, how are the dresses? Are they all going as planned?"

We placed an order for Ralph Lauren to provide all the custom-made dresses for my group (for Oscar).

There will be nine dresses (Carly, Cher, Regina, Scarlett, Britney, Judith, Monica, Pepper and Rachel).

The men already have or will borrow tuxedos (I ordered a custom-made one from Kiton for myself).

"They are, some are already basically ready," she smiled.

"That fast?"

"Your order is treated as something truly special," Rachel pointed out, "especially considering the price."

"Are you sure about that, Jake?" this time it was Monica asking, "that’s a very expensive dress," she made a face.

"Of course!" I said emphatically. "You are all my guests, we need to look impeccable."

"Oh yeah," I changed the subject again, "I’m going to give you the Tomorrowland gifts now."

I grabbed the gifts (which were stored in a special cabinet).

Rachel began to inspect them, "a new CD, a metallic keychain with a bottle opener, and some rubber bracelets," she smiled.

I nodded, "these will be the souvenirs for those who bought the two-day ticket. The CD has two new songs of mine, and the rest are remixes made by DJs who will perform at Tomorrowland."

I remember that Livestrong bracelets were a craze. I don’t know if we’ll manage something similar, but it’s ridiculously cheap to produce and a nice collectible (though I have my doubts about the style).

"And this white Marshmello bracelet glows in the dark," I gave a thumbs up

A/N: I didn’t have the inspiration to create a Tomorrowland worthy of the moment, so I decided to skip it and save this for future dialogue. (I want to do it properly in the next Tomorrowland - 2003, so I’m already collecting ideas.)