Where Do We Go From Here?

Birthday Boy Celebrates!

"Is he doing anything that day?" Sara interrogated through the phone.

"Nope, completely free," Joe replied in a deep, serious tone.

"Good, keep me updated if anything happens," Sara said her goodbyes, and the phone hung up with a beep. The ex-couple have been planning Oliver's birthday party for a week at this point and have been in cahoots for much longer. The idea of having a birthday party had been percolating in Sara's mind ever since the tutoring session when Oliver told her he didn't celebrate it.

"How can someone just not celebrate their birthday?" Sara mumbled to herself that evening after she came home from said tutoring session. She was pacing around her room in confused thought. "If he won't do it himself, I'll make him do it! I'm going to throw Oliver the best goddamned birthday ever." The girl slammed her fist into her other hand righteously before squatting down at her table. She furiously flipped open a notebook and picked up a pen, ready to sketch down amazing birthday party ideas. She tapped her chin with her pen while staring blankly at the page.

"Maybe I should plan my grad party first..."

A month later, Sara finally found the time to throw together a party for Oliver. His birthday was July 19th and was approaching quickly. After Sara's graduation party, she switched gears immediately and began contacting people and getting supplies.

"You're coming right?" Sara asked Patrick one day while they were hanging out. It was a hot summer afternoon and the two got ice cream to cool down. Patrick's mint chocolate chip cone dripped onto the park bench as he turned to face Sara.

"You want me to go to Geek Boy's birthday party?" He asked, perplexed. "I'm barely friends with him!" he threw up his hands cautiously so as to not drop the ice cream that teetered on its cone. Sara pouted angrily at Patrick.

"Don't be like that, you know you like him," Sara, her tongue stained blue from her slushy.

"He's fun to tease, sure but it's not like we have a lot in common." Patrick turned away to look at the park-goers. Children hopped on and off the playground equipment as their parents watched boredly. Birds and bugs flew through the air and in between tree branches. The sun beat down on the two and their bare arms and legs.

"Will you at least come for me?" Sara asked, pulling her 'best-friend card'. Patrick faced Sara again with a slight smile on his face.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice do I?" Patrick laughed and punched Sara in the arm lightly before licking up the melted puddle of ice cream.

Throughout the upcoming weeks, Sara invited more and more people to the party. Joe and Vicky were basically RSVP'd from the start so that left only Oliver's bandmates.

Sara sat at the edge of her bed with her phone in her hands. She stared at Skyler's profile picture while she struggled to conjure up a text. Her eyes bore into the pixels of Skyler's hair that looked unbelievably healthy, each coil reflecting the golden sun in the photo. With each second, Sara felt more and more at a loss for how to contact her.

'I shouldn't feel awkward about talking to her. Sure she liked Oliver but that's over now. He turned her down and that was it. ' Sara thought to herself. She bit her nails anxiously as she clicked on Skylar DM's, staring at the empty chat window. 'So why can't I text her? ' Sara put her phone down in frustration and wiped her face with both hands as if to smear away the awkwardness she felt inside.

"Get it together, Sara Lin. It's just a party invite," She said through muffled hands. Sara picked up her phone again and began typing "..Hey Skylar! Just wanted.. to let you know I'm throwing a party for Oliver's birthday in a few weeks... here is my address so you can stop by if you'd like... feel free to invite the other band members!" Sara typed out loud. "Is this fine? This is probably fine!" She quickly tapped the send button and shoved her phone away from her. Having gotten that off her shoulders, she moved on to party decorations.