Their original plan for that night was to go out for a big dinner out at a local Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, there was a big storm passing through, and nobody wanted to drive through the chaos. Rather than leave everyone disappointed, Zoe volunteered to make some meatballs. The food was mostly on the table already, but Zoe just needed to get a few more things out of the fridge.
Then Jess slammed the door open, shaking the entire kitchen.
"Hey Zoe, do you need any help in here?"
Zoe was standing in front of the fridge, getting out powdered cheese and condiments. “Jess! Calm down, you’re going to break something swinging doors open like-OOF!”
*WHAM*
*CLANK*CLANK*
Piles of pots and pans, including a cast iron skillet, fell from above the fridge to squish Zoe. Her body crumpled bit by bit as each piece of cookware fell.
*CLANK*CLANK*
“OOF! OW!”
Zoe’s legs folded and crumpled as her whole body got shorter and wider. Her tummy crumpled like a cheap can with a satisfying *CRUNCH!* Her now flattened head kept pushing the rest of her to the floor until she was a three foot pancake with braided hair.
Jess was a little embarrassed, but also laughing. "Ack! Sorry babe! You need a little help?”
Zoe’s voice was muffled by her disked body. "Mmmmf! Mmmf!"
Jess peeled Zoe off the floor with a satisfying *SHHHHLRRRRRP!*
"Well, as long as your squished, I’ve got an idea.”
“Mmmmff???”
Jess walked towards the dinner table. “Well, our friends are enjoying the fancy spaghetti and meatball dinner you provided. They need atmosphere!"
Zoe was a little worried, but too dazed to restore herself. She was still very much stuck together as a pancake anyway. All she could managed was a weak wobble.
Jessica slide out towards the table while Amber and Scarlett were feeding each other pasta. They looked at their roommate’s ridiculous sock slide surprised, but intrigued.
Jess gave an exaggerated bow, flourishing the Zoe disk over her head. “Okay love birds! After checking with Zoe, we decided to make this casual dinner super fancy!"
Scarlett saw the black and tanned disk in her hands. "Oh really?"
"Okay, maybe she didn't volunteer and I accidentally squished her, but don’t worry!" Jess took both hands and opened Zoe like an accordion...
*VVVVVVVVVVVVVV!!!*
Zoe felt her body stretch, unfold, and make a very strange noise as Jess pulled her feet and head apart.
*Oh no, she made me an accordion?*
Jess wasn’t the best with an accordion, but she managed to get a few good notes out of Zoe. The stretching felt okay after getting crushed, but getting folded back together still tickled. Getting stretched over and over, air flowing through her musical body, was actually quite relaxing after working in the kitchen.
After about a minute, the ticklish sensation got to Zoe. Her squished attempts at laughter caused missed notes in Jessica’s accordion recital, so Jess smacked Zoe back together and gave a bow.
Amber and Scarlett gave a standing ovation. “Bravo!” “Encore!”
Jess laughed too. “Okay, I better get the chef back to normal. We’ll be back with the cheese in a second.”
With that, she went back to the kitchen to shake Zoe out.
*POP!*
Zoe stood holding her head, still with stars in her eyes. “Whooooa...it’s been a while since you’ve used that joke.”
Jess shrugged. “It seemed right for those two. Nothing wrong with a little romance.” She turned to walk back to the table and eat her own dinner. “Thanks for playing along!”
“Maybe so. But we can’t forget the most important part of their meal.” Zoe grabbed a bowl, and sneaked behind Jess.
“Wait, what are you-URK!”
Zoe slammed the bowl down on Jessica’s head, squishing her in the large mixing bowl. “Now, just wait here while I get the hand mixer...”
* * *
Scarlett and Amber finished all of the spaghetti, showing just a little pudge from their efforts.
Scarlett leaned back and pat her stomach. “Wow...I couldn’t eat another bite.”
Amber’s head was handing back over the top of the chair, eyes closed and practically in a food coma. “Yeah...Zoe’s food is too good.”
“Yeah...Hey, what happened to those two anyway?” Scarlett tried to push herself up at the revelation they hadn’t seen their chef since her musical number.
“I hope you two saved room!” Zoe walked out holding a large brown three layer cake, lined with bits of green and purple icing.
Amber and Scarlett realized what happened immediately.
Scarlett reached for her fork. “Noooo, you didn’t!”
Amber was busy laughing. “I guess I could eat a little more. I wouldn’t want to waste Jessica’s efforts.”
Zoe looked a little disappointed. “Aw! What gave her away?”
The ladies pointed to the purple icing on the top layer of the brown gooey cake. “Jess’s hair dye is too obvious for icing.”
“Ah well.” Zoe put the Jessica cake on the table and pulled out her cake knife. “Anyway, let’s dig in!”