Book Club Snacks Novels & Stories

She had two different types of burger buns and my mouth was watering. Along with the mac' n cheese, Daniel's sister, Gloria, made baked beans. A towering carrot cake sat on another counter for dessert. We made a little line around the kitchen and put food on our plates, buffet style. Julia had opened up the sliding doors and had put up a large round table there for us to eat together.

After settling her into the car, he handed her a bag of snacks—a pack of lemon-flavored cucumber chips. Noelle looked at Charles in confusion, pointing at the chips with her fair finger. "These are for me?" "Yes." Charles nodded. "Don't all women like to eat these snacks?" Noelle was speechless. "Have a bite to tide you over. We'll be going for a barbecue soon." At the mention of a barbecue, Noelle's eyes lit up. "Where?" "Seamoss." "Seamoss always has a line. We have to take a number, and it's peak hours right now. Aren't you worried about waiting?" Noelle tilted her head to look at Charles.

I chimed in, quickly turning the topic before he gets all romantic and emotional and makes us miss the movie. We made our way to the snack station, where fresh popcorn, nachos, warm hot cocoa, and tropical drinks were being served. I handed him a cup of hot cocoa, knowing he’d go for something warm instead of the fruity drinks. I opted for a coconut drink, holding it happily as we gathered our snacks, extra buttered popcorn for me, salted for him, and a plate of nachos to share.

"Just great." Looking around the room more carefully, I noticed something odd. The snacks on the table weren't random, they were all my favorites. Salt and vinegar chips, chocolate-covered almonds, even those weird Swedish fish gummies that only I seemed to like. And there was a pile of books on the couch, my current reading list. They'd planned this. Carefully. But why? I thought about Amy's strange behavior lately, her tearful conversations and her warnings. I thought about Lucian's increasingly desperate attempts to keep me away from the party. I thought about Darryl, always watching, always protective.

"It was just a few pancakes. Henry ate four of them by himself. Mom and Dad shared one. If that's your idea of treating the family, then I have nothing more to say." I'd thought the food looked unhealthy, so I'd taken a photo and asked a doctor if it was safe to eat them. The group chat fell silent instantly. My cousins, who had never gotten along with Henry, didn't hold back. "Wasn't this supposed to be a family dinner? I thought it'd be something fancy. This is it?" "Five pancakes for four people? And you call that treating the family? Seriously?" "He ate four by himself? Aunt Lucy, you've got such a great life, it's hilarious."

We'd only just finished dinner, and I was pleasantly full. Still... the smell of popcorn proved there was always room for snacks. Scrolling through endless movie options, I recognized maybe ten percent of them. Eventually I chose a superhero movie that looked interesting. Right as I made my selection, Orion returned carrying two bags of popcorn, chocolate bars, Twizzlers, and two bottles of water. “I wasn't sure what candy you liked,” he said while handing half the snacks to me. “There's plenty more at the kiosk if you want something different.”

I see complete utter 'heaven'. There are 5 Hershey bars (dark, milk, and white chocolate (my favorite's of all of them is the white chocolate)), 3 Twix, 2 Snickers, 2 M&M's, 2 Skittles, 3 big bags of Cheetos and 2 of Doritos, 1 onion rings, 3 Sun chips ( cheese, original, and spicy), and lastly 2 pringles. I stared at the bag full of holiness. My eyes slightly widened in surprise that he brought this here. But my question is, 'what are we going to do with this?' I didn't notice I said that out loud until he gave me an answer.

Our waitress brings us the check and we quickly split it before heading back to the house to get snacks ready for the movie. Once back at the house we pack some cold drinks, beer for the guys, and a few White Claws for Grace. I stick a bottle of water in the cooler for myself and some grapes for if I get hungry. Our other bag is filled to the brim with al different types of snacks. Everything from Ketchup chips to fruit roll-ups. We climb into Luke’s truck and head to the theatre. We pay to get in with a half-hour to spare. Enough time to set the pillows and blankets into the bed of the truck and get some cute photos.

She started walking toward the kitchen, needing to move, needing to do something with all this nervous energy. "I'll join you in grabbing the snacks for the movie," Ethan said, following her. In the enormous kitchen, they gathered an impressive array of snacks from the well-stocked pantry: the sea salt and vinegar chips Jems had picked up earlier, the gummy bears, chocolate-covered almonds, several different kinds of popcorn including the fancy truffle-flavored one, those cream-filled cookies, some pretzels, and a few candy bars for good measure. They carried everything back to the living room, creating a little spread on the coffee table that could have fed a small army.

“I have snacks.” I shot Sloane a smug look. He returned with a wooden tray stacked with mini croissants, chocolate-dipped biscotti, a bowl of grapes, and chilled sparkling lemonade. Sloane leaned toward me. “Okay, I’ll admit... this is not cucumber hummus energy.” I laughed under my breath as we sat on the couch, our notebooks open, pens already uncapped. Alexander sat beside me. Not too close but close enough that I could feel him when he shifted, and when his shoulders almost brushed mine.