Before the storm

1

It's 2pm in the noon, I'm trying all sort of pretty dresses that I have in my wardrobe, tonight is going to be a special one.

"Hey birthday girl, so, what's the plan tonight?"
Zach wraps his shoulder around me.

I jump from his sudden appearance.

"Urgh, not again." I push him off.

"You never lock your window, as usual." He shrugs.

Zach and I have been friends since we're like 6 when my family decided to move to this neighbourhood. His house is just next to mine, and I remember the first time we get to know each other was because he threw a firework into my room and somehow set a small fire and burnt my curtain and his parents have to come to apologise to us.
(God knows where he got that and how he lit that)
And now we're friends for like... 12 years. I'm in my 18, starting college in just few days time.

Failing to hide my happiness, I shrug, "Joshua is coming over."

Joshua and I have been together for 2 years, and no one has ever made me feel so completed and loved besides my parents and Zach (well, occasionally.)

Zach rolls his eyes, "oh love birds."

"You should come over." I invite him.

"I don't think I'll like the idea of seeing both of you together on the bed while I'm just there, doing nothing." He takes off his hand, takes my bottle and have a few sip.

"Hannah is coming over too." I say, matter of factly.

Zach frowns, "Hannah?"

"Yeah, Josh and Hannah have an upcoming performance in a cafe together, and some other band members of course, they've been practicing for like weeks now."

"Okay so, I don't want to be involved or any sort, I just don't want to see you getting hurt, even the slightest chance, just be careful of this Hannah girl, she's not easy."

I roll my eyes, this is the 5th time Zach has been warning me about Hannah. "Oh come on Zach, we all know Hannah, she's been there since Josh first joined the band, she is not that kind of girl. And she's been helping Joshua a lot along the way too. And Joshua is not that kind of guy as well. The first time you told me, yes, I panicked and I confronted Josh, and turns out it's just me being an overthinker. They're cool. I'm cool too."

Zach sighs and mumbles something that I can't catch, then continues, "Just remember, I'm pretty good at kicking ass. Tell me when you need it."

He stands up and walks to my table, take a seat and started playing his games on his phone.

I continue to try on some other dresses, but this time without actually putting them on. Shoving away another 3 dresses, I come to one which is more like a shiny rose gold silky texture kind of dress. Putting it in front of me while I'm standing infront of the mirror, I'm satisfied with it. I'm gonna look so good in that. Josh gonna like it so much. I have to make sure I'm pretty even though I'm not going anywhere.

'Happy Birthday Audrey! We'll be there by around 5pm, see you soon!' I receive a text from Hannah. A smile spreads across my face.

I quit the chat, and realise I have unread messages from Josh. Probably missed it while I was trying all the dresses just now.

He sent me a photo of him with a present on his hand, 'Happy Birthday Bae, you got few hours left to guess what's inside this box! I love you, and see you soon!'

My grin gets bigger.

I type back,'See you soon, and I love you.'

"Oh Honey, you should come..."My mom barged in my room without knocking, she does that when she gets excited btw, she looked surprise when she notices Zach is in my room,"oh, I didn't know you're here too Zach! You two, follow me, I have something to show!"