Done a lot of tweeking here, it's pretty different from when I first posted it. As always, I'd love some reviews!

As my favorite song danced out of the stereo, I bobbed my head along and made my way from the living room back into the kitchen. It was Saint Patrick’s Day—an event that calls for great celebration in my family. The kitchen smelled of nearly burnt nachos, and my mother's home made spaghetti and meatballs. What better Saint Patrick's Day food could one ask for? It was typical of my family to throw a St. Patrick's Day party, only invite Italian people, and then not cook any food remotely Irish. Not the mention the room was packed, because, as usual, my father had invited far too many people. There were a few aunts and uncles in attendance, several of my Dad’s friends from work, along with their daughters, plus two of my friends, Kate and Sam.

I gave the obligatory greeting of a hug or a “nice to see you,” along the way, and most of them responded with the standard "You too! It's so good to see you again, Marie." After that brief exchange, I quickly moved onto the next person, eager to avoid quizzes about my love life or my favorite subject in school.

It was then that I came across some of our oldest family friends, the Starks. Mr. and Mrs. Stark were very good friends with my parents; they had met way back when, and had kept in touch ever since. Next, there was their daughter, Jackie, who was a few years younger than I. And she had grown a lot in the year since I had seen her last. Next, I reached their son, Kyle, who was a few months older than I was. I noticed Sam gesturing for me to escape with her; I threw him a quick “hey”, and quickly made my way up to my room with the girls, while the boys went into the den for some video games.

The party was going along great. I had fun gossiping with Kate and Sam, along with Jackie, while the younger girls listened and giggled. When we made our way downstairs for dessert later that night, we were welcomed by a feast of sweets neatly arranged on the kitchen counter. I carefully selected the ones that looked worst for my health, and sat down in the front room with the rest of the kids. Everyone was gathered around the old, oak, oval table, snacking on the newly baked cupcakes as they pretended to be amused at my youngest brother's latest storytelling creation. He was so excited at his little tale that he was nearly bursting out of his chair as he described the jaws of a crocodile he had supposedly met in his travels. He was midway through a not-so entertaining story when Kate invited me to escape with her for a few moments to get a refill on our Cokes. I happily agreed.

All of the adults were gathered around the kitchen table, listening to a story my father was telling them about the time he was reprimanded by a midget:

"And then she turned to me and said, what, did you forget the jell-o, now, too?"

I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes as everyone gathered around the table roared with laughter. Somehow, the story managed to change a little bit each time.

The soda seemed to sizzle as I poured it over the ice cubes. I was pouring some Cola into Kate’s cup when she leaned forward, and whispered something into my ear:

"Wow, Kyle’s pretty cute. He plays hockey, right? Marie, my buddy, my pal, you want to--"

I looked at her, gave her the evil eye, and said, “No! I don't want to put in a good word for you, and yes, I can read your mind. Yes, he does play hockey, but don’t you dare say anything to him! I’ve known him since forever, so, number one, no, he’s not cute! And, number two, he’s off limits, because I know I would have to endure hours of you going on and on about how dreamy he is if anything ever went down...and that would be repulsive.”

Kate replied with laugh, and said:

"Come on, Marie. We both know that the only reason you went on that little rant is because you like him, and you want to keep him all to yourself."

I stood there, shocked. Kate just shot me a sly smile, and proceeded back into the other room. She knew she was disturbing me. Her remarks had put a pit into my stomach. I have to remind her not to ever tell me again when she was attracted to someone. Ever. Was she seriously going to do this to me? I knew she would, she loves to vocalize her attraction. I secretly wondered if Kyle was thinking the same thing about her. But, he couldn’t, of course he couldn’t…that would be…incredibly disgusting. If she dated him, I don’t know what I would do. I’ve known him my entire life. I knew a hell of a lot about him, too. I know that when he gets tired, he itches his nose. Did Kate know that? I didn’t think so. My mom even has a picture of the two of us playing from when I was no older than two.

And me liking Kyle? THAT was the craziest thing of all. I took a deep breath, chuckled to myself about Kate's lunacy, and then walked back into the dining room.