Daddy Issues

76 - Surprise party

I'm in a light panic. I don't want to be here. I want to be with Dan. But how do I get out of this without telling everybody the truth?

Half an hour has passed already with everyone coming up to me to catch up. On another day, I would have appreciated the effort. I guess it's sweet of Liv and Zoe to throw me a surprise party. They have been reaching out to me asking me to hang out and they've even asked me a few times now if I'm okay because they haven't heard from me.

The truth is, I just don't feel that connected to them anymore. They're fun to party with, but our friendship isn't much deeper than that. And I don't feel like partying that much anymore. I mean, I still love to go out and dance, but the desire to drink myself half to death and chase men has left me since I started to grow feelings for Dan.

And I definitely don't feel like hanging out with most of the people they've invited. They all act like they're so excited to catch up, but I haven't heard from any of them in ages. Why would I want to spend my birthday with them when the man I'm in love with has planned something special for me?

By the time I finally find Mel again, I was already supposed to be at Dan's. I need to let him know what's going on, but I don't dare to call him in the midst of all of this. He probably wouldn't even hear me anyway.

Mel and Luke grin at me when I walk up to them. So I make sure to plaster a smile on my face too. Even if I realize as I'm getting close to them that, for the first time in a very long time, I'm angry at Mel. Why would she go along with Liv in this? I told her I was looking forward to a quiet night after our dinner.

I think my face must be a little telling despite my smile, because hers wavers a bit as I get closer

'You don't like it?' she asks me. 'Honestly, I wasn't sure, but Liv was so adamant about it. She said she was going to do it with or without my help so I figured I might as well go along with it.'

Already, my anger wavers a little. I know how pushy Liv can be. It's one of the reasons Mel never liked her in the first place. I'm sure Liv put her in an annoying position and I believe Mel when she says the party was going to get planned either way.

'It's uhm... well, I just wasn't prepared for it.'

'I'm so sorry,' Mel says earnestly. Ugh, I really can't stay mad at her. Though I'm still annoyed by the whole situation.

'It's fine,' I say, trying to reassure her. 'It will be fun.'

I stand next to her and take a look at the crowd. Liv invited so many people. But I'm pretty sure most of them are just here to score some free booze and let loose, not necessarily to celebrate me.

'I just haven't seen most of these people in over a year,' I mumble to her. 'I don't know why Liv thought I'd want to spend my birthday with them.'

'That's kind of what I thought, honestly,' Mel says. 'Since she made me plan this with her, I added some people to the guest list.'

She waves towards a corner where I spot some people I hadn't noticed before. My heart lifts a little to see Avery and Pete talking to Joey and Chloe from work. They probably ended up together because they're some of the few people who don't know each other from high school.

'Oh, that's nice,' I say genuinely, thankful that at least Mel made an effort to invite some people I actually like to hang out with these days. 'I'll go over and say hi in a bit.'

Then I throw my arms around Mel and Luke, who's on my other side.

'And at least I get to spend more time with you guys, my favorite people. Luke, you'll be excited to get to know all the people Mel hated in high school.'