𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 ᶜᵒⁿʳᵃᵈ ᶠⁱˢʰᵉʳ

08

-🌊-

HEIDI

Steven is a good friend, but one of the most annoying people I've ever met.

He's currently hovering right beside me as I flip Belly's Mickey Mouse pancakes, breathing in my ear and his chest pressing on my back frequently as he looks over my shoulder. I jab the spatula in his face, turning around to look at him.

"Steven get out."

"Make sure they're golden and crispy," he says, using tongs to scoop up the bacon on the same frying pan. "And I'm here for the bacon, not you."

I roll my eyes, placing the last pancake on a plate and turning to look at the door as Belly walks through. After her closer family and friends walk forward, I join them, patting them on the shoulder and wishing her a happy birthday.

Even if Belly didn't like me that much, I'd continue trying to show her I'm interested in becoming her friend. She smiles as I say happy birthday to her. "Thanks Heidi."

"Your pancakes are ready," Laurel tells Belly.

Belly looks at the stack of pancake on the island, all of which I made sure to flip so they were golden and perfect, and back at the moms. "I'm not really that hungry."

I flick my eyes up to her, knowing that sentence all too well. "Are you sure?"

Susannah looks over at me as Belly nods. "Let's open presents."

I look over towards a small bag on the bench, where my present I bought for Belly sits. As the group move to the lounge to sit down, I grab my bag, making sure everything looks okay on the inside.

Conrad moves over on a chair in the lounge as I slot beside him. He's staring into nothing like he was majority of the book party, until we had our argument when his face shifted into pain. I'm worried about him, more and more each day.

Belly ripping the wrapping off Laurel's give draws me back into the room. A book with a golden cover lights the room up. Laurel smiles at her gift. "It's a first addition. I got it from a rare book dealer. Turn to the bookmarked page."

Belly furrows her eyebrows, flipping through the pages until she reaches the one bookmarked. "Wait I remember Susannah teaching us to recite this."

I smile as everyone in the room says a poem that I've never heard in my life. Susannah leans forward, passing Belly a small box. "Mine next."

Belly opens the box to reveal a necklace of pearls. "They're gorgeous, thank you Susannah."

As Susannah explains the significance of the pearls, I can feel the back of Conrad's hand pressing against my thigh. I glance down, watching as he fiddles with a small black bag in his pocket, out of sight from everyone except me.

"Belly, you look really pretty," I tell her as she glances down at the pearls. She looks up at me and a small smile forms on her face and a slight pink tint rises up her face.

"Me next," Jeremiah announced, passing a small, wrapped package to Belly. As she pulls out a small key from the box, Jeremiah smiles. "It's a good luck charm so you can pass your driving test."

"Perfect," Belly smiles, waving her wrist around with the charm on it.

"Think fast Belly," Steven yells, throwing his present across the room towards her.