Help! Phobia distress!

part 2 - the party

Both John and Ruby were really dreading this party, both of their minds were full of doubt and their housemates could clearly see this. As the two girls were getting ready for the party, Claira felt it was appropriate to comfort her friend one last time.

"He's going to love this party and fall for you straight away hun" explained Claira as she applied her favourite rose red lipstick on her lips, she then walked over to her distressed friend and placed her hand on her shoulder " he's going to find these decorations cute and fall deeply in love with you". As soon as Ruby heard this her cheeks burned red with embarrassment, but let out a shy smile which overflowed with excitement. She was about to say something but that was quickly interrupted by a loud knocking on their front door.

"come on girl lets make this a night to remember" Clara inspirational emphasised as both girls walked quickly towards the door, greeting their impatient guests.

A couple of blocks away Tim noticed the stress and fear that was painted clearly on his best friend's face as they slowly wandered across an empty road heading towards the party, he thought it was appropriate to comfort his friend on last time.

"Everything is going to be ok you're going to enjoy this party," Tim encouraged while his best friend's face filled with stress and worry "just try to relax there won't be any balloons, just enjoy yourself". John reacted positively to this and took a deep breath, he looked at his friend who was now smiling comfortingly.

"You're right mate I trust you completely you've never been wrong like this before, well apart from my 16th when...", John was soon cut off as Tim placed him hand gently on his shoulder and looked at him deep in the eyes, John looked into his eyes for a few seconds then took another deep breath

"I trust you mate" replied John while his heart filled with confidence, both boys strolled quickly to the party.

As the two guys came closer to the party something caught John's eye, he looked forward and saw a huge '17th birthday party here' sign placed in Ruby's and Clara's garden, it painted with bright colours. But what was that attached to it? It was attached to the sign pretty loosely as he could see it floating around carelessly. John's heart sank as he chest now felt really tight, he felt him hands begin to shake as he started to feel really warm while negative thoughts and fear began to flood his mind without giving his brain enough air to breathe, he stood dead still and froze up. Tim noticed that his friend had stopped walking and with a confused tone in his voice asked,

"John? What are you doing?". He didn't answer, he felt himself unable to answer, he just stared at Tim unsure of what to say or do. But it didn't take long until Tim noticed the balloons which were flapping around in the wind bumping against each other. He looked at John full of concern.

"You can do this mate" urged Tim "you're not afraid of the balloon itself just its pop, and I'm going to go into that party and beg everybody not to pop a single one, just for you bro", he smiled softly at John which gave him some confidence, he gave a massive sigh and replied with,

"okay, but if one single balloon pops or I think a balloon is about to pop, I'm walking out and not looking back".

"That sounds fair, I'm proud of you for trying" declared Tim as they walked slowly towards the house.

"Ruby!" shouted Claira as she dragged her housemate to the window and pointed at the two guys who were approaching her party "see hun I told you they would come, now you and John can hook up", Claira's smile beamed brightly as she loved the feeling of being right. and she was happy for Ruby too as she could finally date the guy she's been crushing on for years. But Ruby didn't feel so enthusiastic, her cheeks burned once again but this time brighter as she saw her high school crush walk towards the front of her garden. As she stared at her crush, she noticed that he was acting really strange and walking much slower than Tim was, like he didn't want to go to her party or like he was being forced to attend. She noticed him look at the ground as he passed the balloons on the sign, he wasn't paying any interest to them it was like he was trying to distract himself from this situation. She found her mind once again drowning in doubt.

"Oh god he doesn't like the party" she cried out "I can't talk to him now, I mean what if I mess up? What if he likes somebody else? What if I'm not good enough? What if I'm not his type? What if...", her rant was soon stopped by her friend, Claira, handing her a pink balloon. Ruby held it with her hands feeling how tight it was inflated and, rubbing her hands along the smooth latex and

feeling the neck rub on her dress, she knew exactly what she needed to do with it and walked nervously towards her front door.

Ruby stretched out her hand holding on the door handle and slowly pulled on it, then proceeded to slowly open the door while holding the balloon behind her back making sure that her surprise is was hidden. As she opened the door and stepped outside, her chest felt tight with fear as she walked towards the two guys getting ready to greet them.

"Hey John, hey Tim" exclaimed Ruby as her head was mixed with so many emotions: relief; happiness; worry; fear, but the one emotion that was affected her the most was love.

"Hey Ruby" replied John while faking a smile and gently waving at her, he felt so scared and worried that it made him nauseous, but seeing Ruby there made him feel better. He liked the way she looked, he always admired her cute face and her long hair, it made her look adorable, he quickly found himself smiling for real. Ruby noticed his smile and felt relief and calmness travel through her body, she smiled back at him and couldn't help but blush even more. The two of them walked towards each other smiling and blushing uncontrollably. Tim saw the two of them staring at each other with their eyes filled with passion, he knew that he was interrupting a very special moment and thought it was best for them to be alone, so he slipped inside the party leaving them alone, both of them stared into each other's eyes, daydreaming.

Ruby quickly remembered that she was holding the tight pink balloon behind her back as her mind uncontrollably filled with joy, she wondered how he would react, how cute he would think she would be.

"I have a surprise for you John" she softly announced as John smiled more, expecting a kiss or a hug

"What is that surprise?" he replied with him voice full of hope. But his hope soon turned to terror as Ruby moved the balloon from her back and placed it gently on her chest, wrapping her arms around it and hugging it, like it was a teddy bear. She tried her best to replicate a cute giggle and then stared into John's eyes once more. To her surprise, John's reaction was not what she has wanted, his eyes were wide and his hands were shaking, he just stood there, paralysed with fear, feeling his whole body tremble wanting to get away from that ticking time bomb as soon as possible. Ruby had to idea what to do, her plan backfired and now both of them were stood there frozen, unable to think of what to do next she squeezed the balloon tighter. Nothing could have prepared her for what happened next...