Hell With A Smile

ANDY'S POV

Trying to adjust and get all comfy, my demon of a brother appeared...
"Well, I guess the birthday lady doesn't miss me much, seeing how well you girls are making her laugh"

"...and he couldn't stay without me for a day, miss me so much bro???"

"Ha-ha, you so wish, I just brought them guys along, they wanna see the birthday girl and I knew I would find you here"

Well, the "them" referred to his four best buddies, four arrogant jerks in an order of annoyance..

"Happy born day princess!" The trio chorused, Jason, Mason and Peter had been childhood buddies with my brother, they were the only friends, neighbors and acquaintances my brother ever got to have...

"Happy born day snow white"..... Yes, that's Jason, he had this awesome grace of making me pissed, he knew the way I felt about been called anything in relation to fairy tales,and he just stood there smiling..

" Jason!!....even today??....can I just celebrate this in peace, even if it sucks???" I kinda pleaded

"Alright, okay, but you are one weird girl, and ama tell you how, first, you bear a masculine name, then you dislike fairy stories, you sure you're a female??" He teased further, while everyone just laughed....yes, everybody as they knew they were in for a ride, seriously, we barely got on the same page..

"Wanna confirm??" I blurted.... Jason just gazed in shock. I knew he was a bit shy with such talks and I chipped in on it...

"Gross!...no way, you ain't my type in any form"

"Purrfff!!...I meant birth records, gender test run etc....you ain't ganna be here tripping, quit wishing bro!!, not even in your own made up dreams" I smiled haughtily..

"Your sister needs whipping bro" Jason said to my bro, sounding tired already..

"Waooo, don't involve me bro" Finn objected, raising up his hands in mock retreat. Mason and the rest kept laughing...

"Jason, let our princess be, obviously she got the upper hand today" Mason added..

"It's her birthday, so I'll just let her enjoy it with a little bit of victory glow over me" Jason defended, standing up with d rest to leave.

"See u later sis" Finn greeted still laughing as they all hugged me and left...

"Jerk!!" I muttered

Out of sight, I just smiled, my brother could be such a pain....but he's the only one stopping me from falling apart, most times, I had pressing issues, sometimes I wanted to have some girly pep talk with my mother, but she would just wave me aside in a haste to catch some flight, with an annoying remark about me subscribing to the internet and getting my answers, I doubt she was ever going to realize how every motherly pep talk mattered to me....

"Andy, snap outta whatever it is again!!!" Stella screamed, too loud I must add, I had this feeling she knew I was about to think about my unlucky self and get moody again..

"You can't go thinking while we are here, I mean, you still got us,don't snap out of us right now, you know what, with or without whatever it is I know but won't mention, today is ganna be some blast, let's head back to class"

Smiling, I headed back for more torture in the guise of classes but in the company of these two awesome individuals I knew to have my back, always...

FINN'S POV

Getting a few things in place and getting everyone, except my sister, back home, wasn't so much of a hand full, I mean, it was a bit difficult snatching Stella and Ann away from Andy's sight, but I did anyways, the excitement of teasing her with a surprise bash was more than welcoming..

Having put everything in order, I, Stella and Ann decided to go fetch Andy, getting to the door, we bumped right into her

"Hey everyone and almost the only people I know in my life, back home and relaxing, not to add that they are still alive and healthy" she greeted with a lot of sarcasm and upset.

"Very funny sis, what kept you back in school, was about coming with your rescue team" I replied too loudly for someone close by, I just needed to warn the rest inside that she was already here

Dahm!!.... I was so horrible at pretenses, okay, to clear things up,this wasn't my first birthday bash for my sister,in fact it was a yearly kinda thing, but this was the first ever at home, for reasons you all should guess.... Come on, do some thinking here,okay, I'll tell, I guess it was to annoy my parents as they didn't welcome the idea of a bash at home, we could as well, break down the glasses and doors....

Having rescued your slow thinking membranes, can we just paddle back to the main screw up at hand----forgive me,I'm tensed and stressed out..

Andy just stood hands akimbo with this "you're so stupid right now" kinda look, "calm down bro, yes I'm back, obviously and besides where have you guys been, I've been searching for you all like crazy, it's so not fair to leave me on my birthday all alone, I'm already almost alone as it stands" she added smiling

Yes, I just saw my sister smile for no reason I could see

"Andy, are you alright, you are smiling for no reason" I asked

"Hahaha, funny bro, I'm so okay, can I just please get a hug" she demanded, I saw the look on her face and knew she felt miserable all over again...

"Sure thing, I got ya sis" I pulled my sis in a warm embrace hoping that would take away some hurt in her system

Stella smiling buzzed in "can we go inside now so Andy can change up into something comfortable"

"So, where did you guys plan my birthday bash this year, which sit out???" She asked disengaging herself from me

"Go shower first sis,you stink!!"

Andy only laughed and stepped into the sitting room, winking at every other person, suddenly, she stopped and stared at one object -- the screen, I had put up a screen, comprising of Andy's memories, her funny moments, laughter, reading moods, sleepy faces, sad and you name it, all in a musical video like collection, with the track "how great is our God" playing alongside, for the first time, I saw Andy teary eyed

"Happy birthday honey" everyone chipped in

"Where's mum and dad's gift" she asked, well I didn't see that coming

"I'm not buying any this year, if they really wanna get you one, they will"

Andy only smiled and breathed a sign of relief...."thanks Finn, I love you so much " she said in between sobs, pulling me into a hug, "you really don't know what this change has done to me, it always killed me whenever I saw a gift from you signed in their name, I'm glad you finally decided to let go"

I sincerely blushed and felt stupid and shallow minded, of course she knew all these years that those gifts came from me, I felt glad and hugged her in return.

Well, I'll spare you the intriguing details of how the bash went, but a lot of eating and drinking + games took place, in all these, one thing stood out, I came to realize how our kind of upbringing affected her every being, behind all her smiles, sarcasm, noise and care free attitude was a young teenage girl, yearning for some motherly love, care, attention, warmth and even rebuke...

From the look of things, her 18th birthday marked her revolution and self zeal to care less, make it obvious and never give a fuck, in as much as I disliked to admit this evil side of me, but I felt super excited for her, I felt it's high time she did....... Holding on to nothing or so little was way over due!!