casserole for everyone

John turned the corner onto his street and was glad to see there were no cars in the driveway. He grabbed the mail on the way in and locked the door back up behind him.
"Mom, dad, I'm home," he said, knowing no one would answer. He found casserole in the fridge and heated himself a plate. One could chastise his mother for never being around, but no one could say a word against her casserole. He crammed his dirty dish in what little free space the sink had left and took a second plate of casserole up to his room. Earlier he had dumped the contents of his backpack onto his bed, and now he pushed it all onto the floor.
He sat on his bed, took a bite of the casserole, and looked at the contents of his backpack. It was a bunch of nothing really. His real phone, green scotch tape, spray paint and few random candy bar wrappers. Being without a nagging mom left him the chance to make his own diet with the money his parents left him. Still, his mom's casserole was more filling.
“John,”came from outside his window followed by a stone. "John what the heck are you doing its time for phase two."
John opened his window to see Lucas below.
"Come to the front" he called down. Looks like Tommy hadn't bothered to tell their group phase two had been delayed.
The first thing Lucas did when John let him in was to head to the fridge and heat himself up a plate of casserole.
"Phase one was a bust," explained John. "I found Jessica there and we couldn't move forward."
"What was she doing there?" asked Lucas.
"I don't know. She was unconscious so I called the cops."
"You what!"
"It's okay, they didn't find anything."
"What does Tommy say we should do?" asked Lucas.
"Tommy just said not to meet for awhile. So maybe you should go."
"But I'm already here. Besides, two friends hanging out after school is the opposite of suspicious."
The doorbell rang.
Kristy let herself in and came bounding into the kitchen. She followed suit heating herself up some casserole. This is why John ate so many candy bars. His friends killed his supply of casserole at least twice a week.
"Phase two?" asked Kristy.
John had the biggest crush on Kristy. so he just sat there nodding his head with a smile.
Lucas interjected "John said Tommy delayed phase two.”
A knock came from the door, followed by the doorbell. By the time John opened the door, Charlotte had rung the bell five more times.
"Are you having a meeting without me?" accused Charlotte as she pushed her way in. "I live across the street. If you're trying to exclude me you should have meet somewhere else. Hey Kristy. Hey Lucas. Where's Tommy?"
John waited a second to make sure Charlotte was really done talking before he answered.
"Tommy said not to meet. You should all leave," said John.
"Don't be such a bad host," said Kristy.
John hesitated. He didn't want Kristy to think badly of him.
"Yeah, I haven't even had a plate of casserole yet," added Charlotte.
"We're here already, you might as well let us stay," said Lucas.
"Fine fine. As long as you're all staying there's something I've been meaning to bring up. Are we sure we should even be doing this?" said John.
"What do you mean?" asked Lucas.
Tommy stormed through the door. "What are all rejects doing? You're supposed to wait on my signal."
John looked at Tommy, his face was beet red with frustration. John wondered if perhaps everything wasn't going to plan.
"Lucas go get your bag," Tommy ordered and pointed outside.
Charlotte edged over to make room between her and Kristy. John hoisted himself onto the counter, but held himself a couple inches above the counter top for a few seconds before easing himself down. Kristy smiled and set her hand on the counter within John's reach.
Tommy glared at the empty casserole dish on the counter. "Thanks for saving me some guys," Tommy said sliding the empty dish over so he could sit on the other side of Kristy. John tensed.
Lucas returned with his bag.
"Since we're all here." Tommy paused to glare at John. "I figure we can go through all our roles for phase two, so we don't have another screw up like phase one."
"Are we going to redo phase one or skip it?" asked John.
"I took care of it," said Tommy. "Now, Kristy first. Have you been practicing?"
"What do you mean you took care of it? By yourself?" asked John.
Kristy started hyperventilating. Her hands began to shake. A look of horror spread across her face. She collapsed onto the floor and thrashed about for a solid minute before she became still.