Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions
Chapter 49 - A Lot Of Conversation

It ended up being most of Samuel's friends who were interested in getting to know Lena more than his Uncle and family had been. His cousin, Fran had been polite and asked a few questions and talked with her at first after everyone else had arrived, but didn't stick around long before she went back to be near where her family was positioned in the living room.

With the addition of so many people being there, the living room had been shifted around to accommodate the numbers by moving the furniture further back in the room and leaving the middle floor open for people to stand and chat. Samuel's parents were setting it up so eventually they would be moving out towards the back yard area where tables, and grill had been setup. Lena didn't know much about what a barbeque entailed, but it didn't sound bad from the way that Roger and Sam had explained it to her, plus being outside meant that there would be more space away from people.

The girl who had come with Roger, Jenifer as the princess had learned her name to be was probably the most interested in her because she was Sam's fiancé. Not out of jealous or any such thing, but more because she was curious to know what kind of person he ended up with. Her overly inquisitive manner and close proximity didn't settle well for Lena, but because the other wasn't being completely invasive she tolerated it and managed to answer the questions as best she could without giving too much information away about things they weren't supposed to know.

Samuel also tried a certain degree to stop too many people from asking her questions at once, most likely due to the fact that he could tell she was obviously uncomfortable with the situation that she found herself in. Roger picked up on it quicker than any of the others did and petition that they moved out to the back patio where the barbeque was going to take place since food was going to start being cooked soon anyways.

It was more spacious than Lena had imagined it would be, the cement patio was at least twenty by twenty feet wide. It was covered and held two round tables and a set of comfortable looking chairs. Off to the side was where the grill was a placed and two metal tables had been set up behind, most likely for where the food and dishes would go. A large drink dispenser with fruit punch and bottles of two litter soda and tea had been placed along the back of one of the tables for those who wanted to drink.

Being midday, the fresh air was nice though a little bit warm due to the summer heat. Lena didn't mind it though because it felt easier to breathe outside than it had indoors. She couldn't deny that Samuel's parents seemed like nice, caring people. It was a family feeling similar to her own yet different in a certain way she couldn't explain. It was something that she hadn't figured out yet if she was going to be able to get used to or not. She knew that she wouldn't be seeing them often because of her own family situation and the way she lived, but that didn't mean she intended to keep Samuel completely away from his family, that wouldn't be fair to him or them. It would just be a matter of working out a safe situation for both parties.

Samuel's father and uncle took care of cooking the food while their wives talked and helped to set everything up and made sure everyone knew where the drinks and snacks were placed if they wanted something while waiting for the main course to be served. No one was really interested in drinking however. Roger had actually suggested that they play ball.

Lena wasn't sure what he had meant by this, even though she had agreed to join because she didn't mind anything that required moving around. It left less space for people to try and talk with her while she worked on getting more comfortable with the current situation.

Roger took the ball first and explained how it worked to Lena. It was basically a modified game of catch that they played when they didn't want to go out and do paintball. The goal was to catch or kick the ball to another player, it didn't matter which was done, the only rule was that no player could keep the ball for longer than ten seconds before they had to pass it one to the next person. It could be played in teams or individual. A player was out when they missed the pass to them or held the ball longer than ten seconds. It was a definitely a game that caught the princess's attention.

Since there was ten of them, they decided to play individuals because the space was a little bit tight to spread out too much to make it advantageous to play in teams. Jennifer had decided to join them as well. Passing the ball was done carefully as to not hit it off to the patio or grill where other people were crowded. It didn't limit the playing field too much however as they were able to go further back since there wasn't a house located behind Samuel's which meant they could use that space without worrying about upsetting anyone.

Despite the number of players, the matches ended up being rather quick either because people didn't have a good grasp on the ten second count as they got ready to shoot or others would miss the ball. Lena lost the first time exactly because of the ten second count and trying to figure out the best player to aim for if she wanted a chance to get someone out of the game.

She didn't mind this though as it gave her a chance to observe from behind the scenes to get a grasp on how everyone else played. Samuel was actually better at playing this than he was paintball because it was more straight forward and quick paced than paintball was plus it was easier to see where everyone was because movements were limited in this game. Jennifer dropped out after the third game as her aim wasn't that great and many times the boys ended up hitting it past where she was quick enough to catch it so she just ended up sitting further back and watching them play until food was called and it was time for everyone to take a break.

Samuel found it interesting that even though they weren't playing a match game, Lena hardly aimed to hit towards him during the game unless she needed too or thought it would be more advantageous for her. He also noticed that competitiveness between Roger and Lena hadn't died down either. Although, it might've been more one-sided with the jock as the princess didn't really seem interested in focusing on him as her target the same way that he did her.

Either way, the game had been a great way to burn energy and everyone was rather tired and hot after playing and thus had to go and wash their hands and faces before they were to be served. The momentary cool air from inside was a nice reprieve from the hot outside that they would soon be returning to.

So far, aside from the large amount of questions and conversation that Lena had been a part of, it hadn't been a bad day for experiencing something that she wasn't used to. It wasn't something that she could see herself doing often, but perhaps something they could work in in the future of Samuel wanted to be able to spend more time with his family if they ended up moving closer.

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