A Day in My Life

Party Prep

The next few days were spent primarily planning and prepping for the party. I missed Emma and even Eric, even though it had not even been a week since they were gone. Luckily, the party talk had kept me busy. I got to invite Luke and a few other friends, and the boys each invited many other people.

The day before New Years Eve, I slept in late for preparation. I had actually never stayed up until midnight on New Years to see the ball drop before, and tomorrow night I was playing on staying up all night long. So, at about noon, I woke up and got dressed. I put on both my K necklace and bracelet from Luke and then walked downstairs. At the bottom, I saw all my brothers leaving the house and getting in the car. 

"HEY! Where are you going?" I called as I ran outside. 

"To the store. Need stuff for the party." Nick said, as he pulled on a jacket. 

"Can I come with??" I asked, exasperated. Man, they would love if I never got involved and just sat alone in my room all year long, wouldn't they? 

"I guess." Nick said, as he got in the car. I crawled in behind him. Dylan and Blake looked back at me from the front seat and said "Oh, you're coming too?"

"Umm... YES." I said. "Thanks for almost ditching me."

They turned back and Blake started driving. 

Talen said "Sorry, Kota. We were just gonna grab a few things, it's not a big deal."

"Whatever." I said.

We began driving until we got to Albertsons. 

"Oh yes, Albertsons. Where Parties are made." I said. "Why are we here?"

"Food." Talen said as we went inside. Made sense. 

As we got in, the boys all split off in different directions to get stuff, so I followed Talen. 

"What're we in charge of?" I asked him.

"We're getting chips." he said, grabbing like 7 bags as we got to the right aisle.

"Whoa, do we really need that many?" I asked, struggling to hold 3.

He looked at me as if I was naive. I got that look way too often in this family. We walked over to the  check out area and met Blake, Dylan, and Nick. They dropped everything like soda bottles and salsa and decorations and stuff into a giant basket and we walked over to a huge line.  

Then Dylan said "Hey guys, you know what? I'll pay, and you guys can go to the car and wait."

"You'll pay?" I asked, stunned.  Dylan had payed for maybe nothing in his life, ever, if he didn't have to. 

He gave me a fierce look that said "Shut up." and he turned to Blake and put on a smile, that looked kinda fake to me. "It's kind of my party, right? So I'll pay." he offered. 

Blake said "Fine by me." and he walked outside with us. Once we had just walked out of the store, I told them I forgot something and went back inside. 

Dylan was still waiting in line, leaning against our cart. I walked up behind him and said "Whatcha doing?"

He jumped a foot in the air and spun to me. "KOTA! Go outside, now!"

"You're not in charge of me." I said, acting unconcerned. 

"Ugh. You sound like you're 4. Why are you in here?" he asked angrily.

"Why are you in here? You never pay for anything."  I said, as we got closer to the front of the line. 

"Not telling you." he said, somewhat nervously. 

"Fine. I can wait." I said, crossing my arms, and leaning against the cart too. 

He looked tense for a little while until he said "Fine! Ugh. You cannot tell Blake."

I nodded, excitedly. Dylan leaned over to our basket and shifted some stuff around. 

"What?" I asked. He pointed into the cart. I looked in and saw a few bottles of alcohol and a huge pack of beers.

My mouth dropped open in a huge smile. "OMG YES!" I yelled. Dylan hissed "Shut up." and I went silent. "Wait! How are you getting them to let you buy it?" I asked, curiously. 

"My friend works the register." he said with a smirk. "So now that you know, why don't you go wait outside like a good little girl?" 

I squinted my eyes up at him. "No." I said. 

"No?" he asked, through clenched teeth. 

"No, unless.... you sneak me some at the party." 

"What? Blake would kill me!" he said. 

"You're right." I said, nodding. "But ya know, he'd also kill you if he knew you were buying all this probably. "

He said "No, I'll just show him part of my stash, say a friend brought it, and who knows? He might like it, and he'll definitely believe me." 

Dammit. He had a point. There was no way he would let me try anything. I stomped off to the car and heard Dylan laughing behind me, because he probably knew that he won. But he didn't know I was planning to steal one at the party. I'd just have to be careful. 

Eventually we got home and continued prepping. Well, they did. I sat on the couch while they strung up lights in the back, and made it look all pretty. They were all super into it, even though it was tomorrow. I couldn't wait. 

Later that night, I got even more excited. We were eating some spaghetti that Blake had made when Blake said "Guess who I invited to the party?" 

"Who?" I asked, while the others swallowed their food in huge bites without taking any breaths. 

"Emma and Eric!" Blake said. 

"YAY!" I said. "But they like just left."

"They're just dropping by for a little partying and they'll leave the next day. But still, should be fun." 

"Awesome!" I said. Talen said "Cool." I knew he missed them too. Dylan and Nick nodded in agreement. 

After dinner, even though it was only 8:30, I decided to go up to bed. 

I waved good bye to my bros but they were confused. I normally liked to stay up till the last possible second, until I was pushed up to my bed. 

"Why are you sleeping so early?" Talen asked. 

"I'm just a little tired." I said, I wasn't gonna admit that I probably couldn't stay up tomorrow. 

"At 8:30?" Nick asked. 

I nodded, stiffly. 

As usual though, Dylan and Blake saw right through me. 

"Wait a minute! Awww, Kota, are you worried you won't be able to stay up till midnight tomorrow?" Blake asked, wrapping his arms around my neck from behind me. 

I pulled out from his arms. "No! I can make it all night. No problem." I said, confidently.

"I guess we'll see tomorrow." Dylan said, with a smile.

I walked upstairs angrily, got ready for bed, and tried to fall asleep.