There were exactly five more days till my birthday.
Somehow in those five days Emma and Stefan broke up. And Emma and I lost complete communication. I tried talking to her a lot but our conversations lacked a lot of emotion. She was mad that I was still Stefan's friend after their breakup. What she had to understand was that he was my friend before they ever even happened. It wasn't like he cheated on her or was ever a bad boyfriend to her, they just didn't work out.
Stefan and I became closer in those five days. I guess you could say the whole group got closer but it felt weird without Emma. When we all hung out with her, she was quiet and refused to really make any effort to talk to us.
-
I finally understood why everyone was being so distant with me, they were planning a surprise birthday party. I expected Emma to be behind it, after all I did plan hers. I felt like if it was her, things would be okay between us. But she wasn't and instead, it was the group that planned it.
I walked in a hallway where Juli led me. She told me she needed help to pump up basketballs and soccer balls for her community service hours. She also told me this would be a perfect opportunity for me and her to bond on my birthday. She really fooled me.
It was dark in the gym when I entered with Juli.
"Are we pumping up basketballs in the dark?" I asked her.
That's when I heard a laugh in the distance. The kind of laugh that was real but tried very hard to stay hidden.
"Do basketballs laugh?"
That's when the lights turned on and everyone started laughing.
"SURPRISE."
Can't say I wasn't surprised. I was happy they even remembered it was my birthday, with it being New Years Eve and all.
I took a long sip of vodka as Molly approached me.
"Drink as much as you want, I'm taking care of you tonight."
I interpreted that as birthday sex.
From the corner of my eye I saw Stefan talking to a girl. She had long brown hair, and skin like Juli's. I wasn't bothered by it at all, I felt like I should be for Emma's sake. I was happy for him.
I was walking through the crowd and saw lots of people I knew. Each of them grabbing my arm and pulling me towards them.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" They would yell in my face.
I saw Katherine and James dancing, and she glanced at me. Her makeup looked good and she was dressed nicer than usual. We looked at each other for two minutes, I made weird faces at her. Then I made kissy faces, clearly mocking her and James. She smiled and shook her head, shifting her attention back to James.
I saw Emma next, who hugged for a long time. We talked for awhile and then split.
I turned my head looking for Molly. She was talking to Luca and Juli.
"Molly, Molly, Mol.. you're distracting a couple from doing their thing. Come here" I said while pulling her towards me. I was clearly drunk at this point.
Once we gravitated away from the two, I saw them instantly making out. Molly really was being an inconvenience.
"Do you know how much you mean to me?"
"Two percent?" I muttered.
"More."
"Really?"
"I've become really dependent on you."
"Is that so?"
"You make me happy" She said.
I stopped replying and listened to her pour her feelings out. I was drunk and she wasn't.
"I really love you, Jordy. It's honest when I say it. You make me happy and I like having you here and kissing you and being with you and having you in my life..."
She said some more things but the "I really love you" made me happy.
-
The night wasn't over yet, we were all celebrating New Years together. We were getting closer and closer to the time being 12. Molly and I searched for the group, it was only hard because more people had joined my birthday party. I don't think these people realized it was my birthday, they probably thought it was a New Years party. That's what it turned to, so it was okay.
We eventually found one another by accident by bumping into each other. We huddled in a group, promising that we would stay best friends another year.
"Why not promise for forever?" Asked Luca.
"Let's take it one step at a time" Replied Juli.
We hugged one another a minute before 12 then turned to our lovers, kissing them at exactly 12. Stefan kissed the girl he met earlier at the party. We all noticed and Katherine personally knew her. Who didn't Katherine know?
