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49

Harsh raindrops begin to pour down on my car as we pull out of the parking lot, the three drunk idiots in the back taking videos of it with their phones as if they've never seen rain before.

"You're sure you're okay to drive Sunshine?" Blake asks me softly from the passenger seat, resting his hand on my thigh. 

"Yes, I think we concluded that after you made me walk in a straight line 4 times and had me say the alphabet backward before we even left the booth," I chuckle, flicking on my turn signal to bring us out of the restaurant parking lot and toward James' house.

"Elena!! Can you play Toxic by Britney??" Olivia squeals from the backseat. 

Giggling, I toss my phone to Blake for him to find it.

When the high-pitched strings of the violin pour through the car at the familiar tune, James, Noah, and Olivia all begin dancing in the back seat.

"Baby, can't you see I'm calling?

A guy like you should give a warning,

It's dangerous, I'm falling"

All of them, particularly Noah, yell the lyrics as loud as they can throughout the car. Blake shakes his head and smiles towards his lap.

"Come on Blakey, I know you love this song!" Noah cheers, reaching forward to give him a playful slap on the shoulder.

I turn and shoot him a cheeky grin, now singing along with the rest of them. 

To my surprise, when the chorus hits, Blake joins right in, all of us belting the Britney Spears lyrics so loud you can't even hear the claps of thunder outside the car. 

"That's in, when all of you graduate, we're going to a Britney concert!!" James slurs happily, reaching into his gift bag to take another swig of the whiskey. 

"I don't think she's been on tour for like 4 years, but sure," Olivia giggles.

The rest of the ride is spent with multiple song requests from the three of them, and I breathe out a sigh of relief when we pull into James' driveway.

I'm having fun with all of them, but my social battery combined with the subtle hangover setting in has me wishing there was a magic button to simply teleport to my bed with Blake. 

After helping James into his house, Blake and Noah get back into the car shivering from the rain and I turn up the heat for them. "I'm so happy we gave James an awesome birthday celebration," Noah smiles, and we all nod in agreement. 

Blake's plane ticket idea was really considerate, the second he mentioned it to me I loved it. He tried to act like I was in on it too, and I was in some ways, but it was his original idea.

All I did was call James' mother because Blake was too scared to do it himself.

After unwillingly listening to No Hands three times in a row, I drop the other two off at Noah's house.

We all say our short goodbyes, knowing we will see them tomorrow for the game. 

The rain begins to fall much heavier and I ask Blake to check the weather app. He replies that there is now a flood warning coupled with a severe storm watch and I grip my sterling wheel tighter, driving extra careful through all the massive puddles that now scatter the road.