Beyond The Classroom

Birthday Preparing.

The car ride to the party store was filled with the blaring sounds of pop music and the laughter of three friends on a mission. Victoria sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through Pinterest on her phone for last minute decoration ideas, while Eric drove, and Mia sat in the back, meticulously organising a list.

'We need balloons, streamers, fairy lights, and definitely a disco ball.' Victoria said, glancing up from her phone.

'Don't forget the life sized cardboard cutout of you.' Eric added with a grin.

'Why would we need that?' Victoria asked, laughing.

'For selfies, obviously.' Eric said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Mia peeked over her list. 'And a banner that says 'Happy eighteenth, Victoria!' in sparkly letters. Also, we need confetti cannons. Lots of them.'

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Eric parked the car, and they piled out, ready to conquer the party store. As soon as they entered, they were hit with a barrage of bright colours and a cacophony of festive sounds.

Victoria grabbed a shopping cart and pointed ahead. 'Alright, people. Let's make this the most epic party ever.'

They made their way to the balloon section first. Eric immediately started inhaling helium from a balloon, speaking in a high pitched voice. 'Victoria, your party is going to be amazing!'

Mia rolled her eyes but couldn't help laughing. 'Eric, you're going to pass out.'

'Worth it.' Eric replied, still sounding like a cartoon character.

Victoria picked out a giant '18' balloon and a bunch of others in various colours. 'We need more balloons than this. Like, a hundred.'

They loaded up the cart with balloons and moved on to the streamers. Mia started wrapping Eric in streamers like a mummy. 'There, you're ready for the party.'

'Very funny.' Eric said, trying to free himself. 'But I do look pretty fabulous.'

Victoria grabbed a box of glittery streamers. 'Perfect. Now onto the lights!'

In the lighting section, they found a shelf filled with fairy lights in every colour imaginable. Victoria and Mia debated over which ones to get while Eric started wrapping himself in a strand of lights.

'Eric, what are you doing?' Victoria asked, laughing.

'Testing them out. I'm a human Christmas tree!' Eric exclaimed, striking a pose.

Mia shook her head but grabbed several boxes of lights. 'Alright, tree boy. Let's get the disco ball and the confetti cannons.'

They found the disco ball aisle, and Eric's eyes lit up. 'This is it. The pièce de rèsistance.'

Victoria picked up a large disco ball, struggling with the weight. 'A little help here?'

Eric and Mia helped her get it into the cart, which was now overflowing with party supplies. They navigated to the checkout, causing a minor traffic jam in the aisle.

As they loaded the car, Eric noticed the life size cardboard cutouts. 'Oh, we almost forgot!'

'Really?' Mia asked, skeptical.

'Yes, really.' Eric insisted. They ended up buying a cutout of Victoria striking a sassy pose.

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On the way back to Victoria's house, they sang along to the radio at the top of their lungs, not caring how off key they sounded. They pulled into the driveway, and Victoria's mum and sister came out to greet them.