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Among the *Sassy Six*, Sandra's birthday comes first. It falls on the fifth of October, which happens to be a Thursday-a school day. So, her birthday party is set for the following Saturday at Pearl Beach, a few miles from my house. I'll have to make it, either way.
A part of me hopes Lila will stop poking her nose into my life before then. Dad will most definitely be ignoring me, so sneaking out should be easy.
Sandra claims she's planned everything down to the tiniest detail. The theme is Hawaiian-grass skirts for everyone.
"There's going to be a Tiki bar for drinks, and we're gonna hula!" she told us excitedly.
She handed out the invitation cards this morning at school-well, to all of us except Chidinma. And for good reason.
Back in junior school, Chidinma had bullied Sandra so badly for being in a wheelchair that Sandra once said she wished she were dead.
Chi had called her legs *faulty* right in front of everyone. Of course, the Sassy Six stood up for her. We didn't back down-even when it turned into a full-blown fistfight. It got us into serious trouble at school, and our parents had to get involved-everyone's, except mine, of course.
The hate still lingers. Literally everyone hates arrogant, deluded Chi. I just choose to ignore her.
Sandra is trying to bring Hawaii to Nigeria on her birthday but I already told her I am not wearing a coconut bra, no way. Except for the food through, the price of fishes have gone high up tremendously.
On the invitation card, it says there's going to be chocolate surprises;
°Chocolate cookies
°Chocolate cupcakes
°Popcorn with melted chocolate
°Strawberries dipped in chocolate
°Banana dipped in chocolate
We're not kids anymore but Sandra is still mad about chocolate, so we're going with it.
And there's going to popcorn with lots of fun toppings to choose from;
°Coconut and marshmallow flakes
°Sprinkles
°cinnamon
°sugar
°caramel sauce
°strawberry sauce
°pretzels
°cranberries
°garlic powder
A full day at the beach with the people who make me happy-that's exactly what I need. It would soothe my soul and reinforce my *happy wall*, so no matter what Mr. Bolade says or does, it won't break me. Not enough to make me cry again, at least.
"Sandra, what about rice? What about chicken? What about semo?" Imade's voice rang out from the video call, loud and dramatic as ever. "I've read that invitation like ten times-no mention of a single grain of rice!"
"You eat rice every day, abeg," Sandra replied. "It's a special birthday. We're going all out with special treats!"
"Rice *gan gan* is a special treat! How I go come party and be eating only light food? Abeg, make jollof rice o! Don't be stingy! Popcorn the whole day ke?"
"Jollof rice *ko*, rice and beans *ni*! Behave like a civilized child for once and eat light, abeg."
"Na eba I dey eat right now sef. Civilization no dey full person belle."
"Are you coming for the food or to celebrate me?"
"My sister, it is both o! As we dey eat, we go dey celebrate."
I smiled to myself as I pressed the iron over the pleats of my skirt, quietly enjoying the chaos of Sandra and Imade's endless banter about food.
Then my phone rang again.
YOU ARE READING
A kiss for Ree
Teen Fiction"You got hotter?. How long have I been away?" Jax drapped an arm possessively over my shoulder. I smiled, but my gaze met with Ludwig's again, his eyes narrowed in a possessive way I knew too well. Well if he's dancing with another girl, then I'm g...
