My own twist on short stories

2nd times the charm

"AH!"
I jumped as an all too familiar face grabbed my waist. Justin's big blue eyes and black hair popped out behind by backpack.
"Hey Justin", I said absentmindedly.
"You okay Em?" Justin asked worryingly.
"Eh." This was the response that was known in our little group as the 'I won't explain till all of us are together' look.
Justin cautiously responded with "alright" and followed me to my locker. The hallways were crazy loud as per usual in the mornings.
I turned down the 180 hallway towards my locker and was greeted with a big smile from my best friend. Lilly stood leaning against my locker with a big "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" balloon and contagious grin.
"HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY EM" she screamed as I approached my locker. I giggled
"Thanks Lilly." I smiled and Justin stared for a minute waiting for the explanation of the 'eh' he received earlier.
When I didn't explain, he further pried. "Babe. You alright?"
"Oh yeah. Well. I got home at like 3 last night. So not really," I replied.
It was Friday and I had just spent the last week at my moms celebrating my 18th birthday which was Tuesday. My mom dashed to New York for a boyfriend no one knew about when I was 10, and since then it's always been tense when I visited her. And now being a senior in high school, it's getting more and more depressing to go.
"Well on a less depressing note....WHOS READY TO PARTY TONIGHT?! 2nd TIMES THE CHARM" Lilly asked, breaking me out of my internal monologue. She was always so enthusiastic about everything and I admired her so much for making every moment so happy and light hearted. Giving her a thankful glance for the break of tension, I replied with " HELL YEAH."
Justin giggled to himself and muttered "God I love my girls."
Arm and arm the three of us walked down the hallways to start our day.
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Finally the long day ended with the ring of the 8th period bell, and we were freed from our torture chamber the county calls school.
I met up with Lilly and Justin in the band hall and then we all made our way to my little red pick up truck. Lilly jumped in the back and Justin called shot gun. We got in and Justin turned on the radio. He screamed as the name 'queen' crossed the radio. Turning it up till the bass pounded against the walls, we all screamed the lyrics to 'somebody to love' while making our way to my house.
We walk in the door and Justin plops down onto our couch. I had just moved into this little apartment with Justin when I could no longer live with my dad. supportive of my situation, Justin picked me up and him and I got an apartment together. Thank god he's there cause idk where I'd be without him. Lilly threw her stuff onto the couch and draped her legs over Justin's. After changing into leggings and a low cut tank top, I made my way to the living room to join my trio. Justin had already turned the tv on to baseball but I walked in and stole the remote.
"HEY" he yelled but I just giggled.
"So whatcha wanna do tonight?" Lilly asked.
"Absolutely nothing" I replied.
"Are you sure? You only have one 18th birthday" Justin said.
"Yeah I'm sure. This is what I want. An Ice Cream chick flick night with my Best Friend and amazing boyfriend." I replied.
"Ewwww chick flickssss" Justin whined. Lilly and I couldn't help but giggle. I moved over to sit in Justin's lap and he threw his arm around me. Lilly moved her legs onto mine and we all cuddled together while watching '50 first dates'. The rest of the night consisted of giggling, popcorn, ice cream, and cuddle puddles with my family trio. An occasional kiss with Justin and ew from Lilly would follow but it was overall the better half of my birthday.
The next morning I woke up to Lilly's head on my waist and me wrapped in Justin's arms. I guess we had all passed out on the couch. I tilted my head up and blew in Justin's face and he, without opening his eyes, replied with "babe shhh". I giggled and turned down to look at Lilly. Her curly black hair was draped across my leg. I softly played with her hair and got lost in though as I laid in my best friends arms. God I love them. Brief moments from last night replayed in my head and I chuckled to myself. Lilly was right. 2nd time was the charm.