Chapter Text
“This is ridiculous, y’know that, right?” Jeremy slumped against the diner counter, swiveling his stool back and forth as he did so. He was full of a nervous energy that he couldn’t quite contain, which resulted in him tapping his fingers, spinning in his seat, bouncing his leg… He was certainly agitated. Michael, on the other hand, wasn’t concerned in the least. He was eating his fries without a care in the world.
“Listen, y’know my mama loves collectable barbies. This one is hella rare, and mom wanted to get it for her. I just happened to have the connections. He’s trustworthy, don’t sweat it.”
“Why did he want to meet here , though??” Jeremy looked around, taking in his surroundings. He’d never been to this particular diner, but it was one he’d heard about before. It was one of those kitschy 50’s themed diners, all decked out with Coca Cola themed items and bold patterns of red, white, and black. He’d always meant to come here, as he was a bit of a sucker for campy themed stuff like this. “I really don’t get the whole collecting dolls thing, either.”
Michael laughed in response. “You said the same thing about my sodas. Doesn’t your aunt collect Beanie Babies? You know this shit is collectable as hell. It’s all about rarity and interest, my dude.”
Jeremy rested his face on the counter, sighing and looking at Michael sideways. “I guess? And she’s my great aunt, and crazy. Don’t compare you and your mom to her. What does the doll even look like?”
“Oh, shit, it’s on my phone, in my search history. Grab it out of my pocket, my fingers are greasy as fuck.” Michael gestured to his hoodie pocket. Jeremy didn’t hesitate to reach in and grab Michael’s phone. He tapped in the passcode and pulled up the browser. He clicked into the search bar and scrolled down the search history.
“...Why did you need to know how to do brain surgery?” Jeremy asked after a beat, obviously confused.
“What? OH! Oh yeah!” Michael snorted. “It was cuz I was trying to make soup and looked it up, and Mama laughed at me and was like, “It’s not brain surgery!”. So I looked it up in the hopes of finding a Wikihow entry on it. Just to be a sass-master, I guess. They don’t have one, by the way. How are the neurosurgeons supposed to learn without that vital guide??” He feigned looking distressed. “I’m losing faith in modern medicine.”
“Your mom is a whole ass doctor.”
“Yeah, and how is she going to keep being one without Wikihow?!”
The two of them laughed at the absurdity of the statement while Jeremy found the name of the doll. Some Holiday Edition Barbie in a light blue dress, embroidery going down the skirt of it in swirls. She wore a cape, sort of like Little Red Riding Hood, and had her hands covered with a red, furry muffler. He supposed she looked nice enough, though really she was just like any other Barbie in his opinion. He was about to quip something as he looked back up at Michael, but found that not only was Michael staring at him. His dad, Michael’s moms, Christine, Rich, and Brooke were all there, smiling at him widely. He jumped, falling back and off of his stool, managing to bump his head on the counter. This led to a lot of concerned chatter from the group, especially his dad, who scooped him up and put him back on the stool.
“Oww….” Jeremy rubbed his forehead. “What the hell?”
“....Surprise??” Christine offered with a sheepish smile. “Happy Birthday, Jeremy.”
Jeremy blinked. “Wh… My birthday isn’t until next week.”
“Yeah, yeah, but that ruins the surprise!” Rich bumped shoulders with Jeremy, who was over his head bump and smiling.
“I guess, jesus! What about the Barbie?”
“There’s no Barbie, that was just to get you here.”
“This seems kind of… convoluted. But thanks, guys.” Jeremy couldn’t help but beam. “Seriously.”
“Hell yeah, no problem, dude!” Michael grabbed Jeremy’s arm. “Now it’s party room time! They do like, old timey milkshakes and have a soda fountain and a record playing jukebox in there! It’s rad as fuuuuuuu-” He looked at his moms. “-uuuuuuudge?”
They looked at him sternly for half a second before bursting out in laughter, with everyone else following suit soon after. This was certainly unexpected, but Jeremy had to admit, this had to be the coolest birthday he’d had in a while.