The sound of whispers, fidgeting and shuffling of feet pulled me out of my sleepy state. I was now half awake but laziness caused me to keep my eyes closed. The fidgeting still continued. At that moment I opened my eyes and met a shocked Aaron frozen in place with a pillow raised above his head. "You have got to be kidding me." I said in a low tone. "I, I thought you were asleep. I swear you were asleep." He stammered. "What were you planning on doing with that pillow?" I rolled out of bed and sat on the edge. "Oh this?" He chuckled and casually threw the pillow in the sofa behind him. "Nothing." He shot me a cute smile. Just then Anthony burst through the door. "Aaron did you do it already. How -." He stopped mid-sentence. "Hi Leila. How was your night?" He shot Aaron a knowing look and looked back at me. "You look busy. I'll see you downstairs. Bye!" He rushed his words out and shut the door. I looked at Aaron. "Out! You box of crazy!" I said to him. As he was leaving I got curious about something. "What are you even doing here this early?" I asked. "Come down and find out." He responded. When he finally left I freshened up and went downstairs.
At the staircase I could hear male voices but none I recognized as Nathaniel's. So either he was still asleep or he was out. "She's here!" Aaron cheered as I entered. I shook my head amused. He just literally tried to beat me with my own pillow a few minutes ago. "Hi." I still greeted. "Hi Leila." Pete greeted also. He seemed to be in a very happy mood, actually they all did. I smiled at all of them. "Answer one thing; how did you wake up so quickly? Like, I'm a hundred percent sure I made no sound." Aaron asked. "You made a lot of noise." I walked to the pantry and grabbed a bottle of water. "So, what's so important that you felt the need to wake me up by beating me with a pillow." I looked at Aaron and Anthony but mostly Aaron. They all looked at me like I was crazy. "What?" I asked confused. "I don't think she knows." Anthony said. "Knows what?" I asked again. "You really don't know?" Pete asked. They were beginning to scare me. "Wow." Aaron added. "Guys! I think it's quite clear that I have no clue of what you're talking about or what is going on so would one of you kindly tell me and stop looking at me like I offered to give you a billion dollars in cash with an Audi driven by a stripper!" Pete huffed out a chuckle but held himself together. "It's Nathaniel's birthday." Now it was my turn to look at them like they just handed me a signed contract by Idris Alba, saying I now own him. "She really didn't know!" Aaron whispered but not low enough. "Ofcourse I didn't know! He used to be an ass when we were young so I didn't bother to keep details about him in my head. That was not true, it also wasn't a complete lie. I did keep some details about him but no one will ever know. What am I going to get him now!" I ranted to three amused men. "You guys should have told me earlier or something! Now I'm going to look like a bad friend. He let me live in his home and share his stuff and I can't even get him a decent gift on his birthday. A terrible house guest too." I placed my head in my palm. "Oh I think you're more than a friend to him." Aaron said. "What was that?" I asked. "Oh nothing! It's still early. You can go and get him something." He suggested. "What will you guys be doing?" "We will be here organizing things for the party later on." Anthony said excited. "Does he know about the party?" I asked just to be sure. He doesn't like being caught off-guard but they should know that already. "Not really. But we are not planning on making it a surprise either." Pete answered.
Later in the afternoon, I returned to find everything in chaos. The hall was in a mess and the kitchen as well. I rushed to where the cheers were coming from only to meet Nathaniel soaking wet but fully clothed. The rest were crouched in laughter. "what happened?" They all turned to look at me. "Birthday traditions." They all chorused. "Wow." I shook my head and smiled at their behavior. "Just don't call me when you fall sick." I turned and walked back into the house. Boys will be boys. All the time I was out I had driven by my parents' to see them. After that, I just drove around trying to find a gift. I was in my room when my name was courteously mentioned from somewhere in the house – note the sarcasm – and only one person came to mind, Aaron. I hadn't even fully descended the stairs when he came crying at my feet. "We need your help. Please don't say no. I..." "Aaron." I chuckled. "I'll help." By 7 pm everything was set. Pete picked the music and that was the best decision so far. The first few guests started trickling in and before I realized the house was packed with complete strangers to me except for the few I met earlier. I stood in the corner with my drink observing the scenes unfolding. Nathaniel laughed with his guests. exchanging pleasantries and shaking hands. I've not really noticed how he scrunches up his nose when he laughs and how his eyes widen just a bit when he's happy and how he slightly lifts one eyebrow when he's interested in something someone is telling him. "Hey L!" Anthony came to stand by me and bump my shoulder playfully. "Hey A!" I replied and bumped his shoulder slightly too. "Why are you here? Come on." Without waiting for a reply he pulled me along to where he was going. We went to where Nathaniel was and as soon as our eyes met I became tongue tied. I haven't really got the chance to talk to him aside the time I found him soaking wet. "Happy birthday." I wished him and lowered my head. It was amusing to me why I was being like this.
