SERENDIPITY | chase davenport

08, a very terrible surprise party

EIGHT

❥

LEO DOOLEY'S birthday was just around the corner, and he was convinced that his mother was throwing him the party of the century. He was met with a wave of disappointment when Tasha's 'lie' turned out to be true. To turn his mood around, Adam, Bree, Chase and Kate decided to put together an even better party than Leo could've imagined.

With strict instructions from Chase, Kate hurried over to the Davenport residence, trying her best to avoid any form of contact with her best friend. Which would've been easier if she didn't use the front door.

She could hear Leo from the other side, practically shouting like he was expecting a giant surprise party on the front porch—not his brightest moment.

Panicked, Kate hid behind a pot planted tree, hoping she was small enough to not be seen—not her brightest moment.

When he opened the door, he let out a croaky 'surprise' of his own, coming to a halt when the only person that was there, was his closest friend.

"This is the worst surprise ever." He quietly muttered, crossing his arms with a disappointed grunt.

Feeling incredibly awkward—and slightly bad that he was clearly upset, Kate sang out a high pitched 'surprise', while flailing her arms about in every direction. She slowly lowered them to her side, seeing as he was not in the mood for her frantic behaviour.

Squinting her eyes in realisation, Kate gnawed on the inside of her cheek, taking a step closer to Leo with crossed arms. "Hold. on. a second." She gritted out between breaths. "What did you mean when you said that this was the 'worst surprise ever'?" She queried with furrowed eyebrows.

Leo raised his eyebrows, trying for the life of him, to think of an excuse. "Uhm...well, you see..." He was trying so hard to think of the best possible answer, Kate could see the wheels turning in his head. "So, did you get me a birthday gift?" He changed the subject, swaying side to side with a wide, devious grin.

Kate jumped forward, and extending her arms out in a dramatic way. "Me! I'm your gift." She gave him a toothy smile.

Leo scrunched his face up, looking her up and down with a look of disgust—in a joking manner of course. He scoffed, turning away from his best friend and walking back inside. "Yeah, save that for Chase's birthday. That's not gonna work on me. I need material things." He joked—sort of, with a sassy shake of his head.

Kate bit her lip to keep from spitting out an insult, considering it was 'special day' and all. With nothing coming out of her mouth—only thing brewing in her mind being insults, Leo left her in the living room alone, going down to the lab to find the others.

❥

The surprise party was in full swing. Adam had already busted the bouncy castle, Chase was following after Shark Man and Flipper boy, showing them his...awesome...dance moves, and Bree was dancing manically with Kate on the coffee table—definitely leaving some scuff marks.

Deciding that she needed to take a break, Kate went out the back for some fresh air. The slightly cold air painted her cheeks a baby pink colour. The wind was blowing her hair in her face, and she regretted not tying it back.

From beside her, a deep chuckle sounded, laughing at her frustrated state and watching as she fought with the air. She quickly snapped her head in the direction of the sudden noise, being greeted by a strange face—but a kind one, nonetheless.

"Hell of a party." He simply stated, keeping his eyes locked on hers. She shivered under his intense gaze, nodding her head awkwardly. His staring was so immense, that it felt like he knew everything about her—every lie she ever told, every secret she ever kept and every personal detail about her life.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" She wondered with a curious head tilt, her lips slightly parted as she waited for an answer.

A smirk washed over his face and he cocked an eyebrow—a look she'd grow to hate, despise even. "I'm Marcus." He stuck his hand out for her to shake, which she cautiously did.

"Kate." She told him, sending him a small smile. Standing in an awkward silence after their little introduction, Kate was glad to hear footsteps coming up from the other side of her.

Chase let out a nervous laugh, crossing his arms, then stuffing his hands in his pockets, and repeating that same action a few more times. "So..who's your friend?" He pried, giving the new guy an angry glare—which was disguised by his taunting smile.

"This is Marcus." She sweetly told him, turning to look at Marcus. "And this is Chase."

Chase nodded his head, lowering his height to he level with Kates ear. "So, do you love him?" He asked in a high pitched squeal, an unnoticeable frown tugging at his lips.

She smacked his chest at his ridiculousness, aggressively shaking her head. "Oh yeah, totally." She sarcastically replied, playfully rolling her eyes.

He sheepishly smiled back at her, his body flooding with relief. "Well, Marvin—" He was immediately cut off by the stranger, who was looking at him with an evil snarl. "It's Marcus." He corrected.

"Right." Chase scoffed. "Marcus. If you don't mind, I need to talk to Kate." He interlocked his fingers in hers, causing her cheeks to burn a bright pink—and dragged her away from his new 'arch nemesis'.

❥

Leo's surprise hadn't gone as planned. Sure, it was a great party, a great one, even— but, he probably would have enjoyed it more if he actually got the chance to experience it. Instead, Eddy kept him locked in the lab, getting an earful from Kate later on that day.

The Davenports, along with Kate, had come up with another idea to make it up Leo—hopeful that this one would actually get him to smile.

Under strict rules to avoid this simulation that Donald had programmed, Chase suggested that they sneak the cyber key away from him and give Leo the experience that he had been longing for.

Watching Chase fight fake bad guys was something that Kate didn't know she needed. Despite her incapability to admit that she felt some sort of way toward the brunette, she couldn't deny the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach anytime he rescued her from imaginary villains.

After getting the chance to fight some 'rebels', both Leo and Kate were now—more than ever, wishing they had bionics to go on missions.

Even though his birthday didn't get off to the best start, Leo couldn't have wished for a better day, or better people to spend his special day with.