Secret Singing Superstar

Fifty-one ~ ♫♪♫

"Mother dearest, where are we going?" Caitlin asked. She was wearing leggings, runners and a purple top. 

Her mother, who was driving, merely smiled at her and put her index finger to her lips. "My lips are sealed," she said. "I have been sworn to secrecy."

"You're going to keep secrets from your own daughter?!" Caitlin yelled in shock. "On her birthday?"

Yes, it was Caitlin's birthday today (she was turning 14), and everyone had literally spammed her with messages saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH'. Her mother had made her breakfast in bed and allowed to play Osu all morning, which was amazing. Caitlin had wanted to open the presents and eat the cake straight away, but her mother acted all secretive and mysterious and told Caitlin that she was required to be somewhere else before coming back home, so there they were, in the car driving to who knows where.

Caitlin kept trying to persuade her mother to tell her where she was going, but her mother refused to say a word. She kept trying to guilt trip her, saying that it was her birthday and that birthdays only come once a year.

"Mum, I'll never have a fourteenth birthday again," she pleaded.

Her mother nearly cracked there. Nearly. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, and Caitlin knew she was feeling a little guilty. Finally. "I know, sweetie, but it's a secret."

Caitlin then kept quiet until her mother pulled up at their destination: the ice skating rink, the same rink she'd gone too when Claire insisted they go to celebrate after Caitlin's tennis competition. The ice skating rink was where she first met Joy. 

Why would her mother bring her here?

"Mum, you know the ice skating place is closed today, right?" she said uncertainly.

Her mother simply smiled. She pointed out the passenger seat window. "Look out," she said simply.

Caitlin turned and to her astonishment, she saw two distant figures waving madly and running as fast as they could towards the car. They both had backpacks; one was in converse sneakers, shorts and a small grey T-shirt with a flannel jacket around her waist, and the other was wearing boots, black leggings and a stripy black and white tank top with a black jacket around her waist. 

She had to squint; but as soon as she recognized them, she opened the car door and ran to them to hug them. Leanne, who was the girl in the grey T-shirt, practically bounded into her arms. 

"Surprise! Happy birthday!" she yelled happily. 

Caitlin laughed in pure delight and turned to hug the other girl who was dressed in almost black - Cailyn. She hugged her tightly; she hadn't seen Cailyn in three weeks, and she'd missed her badly. Cailyn looked quite different. Her skin had become more tanned from spending days in the countryside, but the biggest difference was that her hair had been cut from halfway down her back to almost shoulder-length. It was slightly choppy. 

"Whoa, your hair is short," Caitlin said, staring at Cailyn. "I knew you said it was short, but I didn't think it was that short." When Cailyn said she'd cut her hair, Caitlin never imagined it to be so short. Cailyn hadn't been exaggerating; her hair only passed her collarbone by two centimetres or so. 

Cailyn made a face and pretended to cry. "I know, it's too short!"

"But it's really nice," said Caitlin. "You look really cute." She was speaking the truth; Cailyn really did. 

"I don't want to be cute!" Cailyn hid her face behind her hair in embarrassment. "It's too short for my liking! I knew I shouldn't have let my mother persuade me to cut it!"