The Host family has a barbecue. Loosely fits the prompt.
In honor of Chelsea's recovery, her parents threw a barbecue party in their backyard. They invited Aunt Aubry's family, and the Conways invited their friends. As a result, Chelsea was bombarded with a bunch of new people and names.
Five were just Uncle Owen's friends. Aunt Aubry brought her two girlfriends, and Jimmy, Jacob, and Jo had ten friends between them. All of the adults brought their families as well. The party was lively… and gave Chelsea a headache. She stayed as long as she could. The party was for her, after all, but eventually, she had to go inside.
Jacob followed her with his three friends.
"Hey, you doing alright?" he asked as they sat around the kitchen table.
"Yeah," Chelsea said wearily. "I'm just tired. You guys go out there and enjoy the hot dogs and hamburgers."
"We want to get to know you," Nina said with a smile. John and Kamal nodded in agreement.
"I'm boring," Chelsea said.
"That's not what Jacob tells us," Nina said.
"What has he told you?" Chelsea asked, giving Jacob a side eye.
"That you like comic books," Kamal said. "What's your favorite?"
Chelsea blushed. "Actually, Jacob's comics are my favorite."
It was Jacob's turn to blush.
"You make comics?" John asked Jacob.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Nina added.
"They're just for Chelsea," Jacob said.
"But you're such a good artist," Nina said. "You should share them with us!"
"Yeah, we want to see!" Kamal said.
"I'll go get them," Chelsea said, and left to do just that.
"No, Chelsea, wait!" Jacob called after her, but she continued her mission. Jacob put his head in his hands.
"C'mon," Nina said, poking Jacob's arm. "I'm sure they're great! You don't need to be embarrassed."
"Yeah, it's us, man," Kamal said. "We share everything."
"Well, obviously not everything," John remarked.
Chelsea came back with the comics stacked in her lap. "Here you go," she said, handing them out to the friends.
"These are of Phantom!" Nina said.
"You've been documenting his fights?" Kamal asked.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Jacob said through his hands.
"This is awesome!" John laughed.
"And you made these all by yourself?" Kamal asked.
"Yeah," Jacob said.
"You should be proud of these!" Nina praised. "They're so good!"
"You can tell your art has improved over time," Kamal noted.
Jacob finally looked up. "You guys really think so?"
"Yeah!" everyone said.
Jacob still blushed, but he finally smiled. "Thanks."
"I take it you haven't shown Phantom?" Nina asked.
Jacob looked mortified. "Are you kidding? He would hate them! Besides, it's impossible to talk to him. He only appears for fights, and then he's gone."
"That's true," Nina said, "the talking part, not the hating part. You don't know how he'll feel about these without asking him."
"And I'll never be able to ask him," Jacob lamented.
Chelsea almost said she met Phantom, but remembered what he said about secrecy. She didn't know if she could trust Jacob's friends with her secret.
"You know what," Nina said, pulling Chelsea out of her thoughts, "you should make copies and give them out at school."
"What?" Jacob shouted. "N-no! No way! These were meant just for Chelsea, no one else!"
"Talents are supposed to be shared," Nina said. "You're not sharing yours."
"Yes, I am!" Jacob retorted. "With Chelsea. And only Chelsea!"
They continued arguing for a few minutes. Chelsea smiled as she listened. She liked Jacob's friends.