Volleyball is a Passion

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

A Special Occasion

Savi's P.O.V

Today, is June 13th. I wake up, feeling rejuvenated. That, and the fact that I hear my parents loudly coming up the stairs outside my room, with caution. Now, the walls are very thin, so I don't know if they were that loud. A few seconds later, I hear them start singing outside my bedroom door, my dad playing his old guitar to one of the three songs that he knows.

"Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Fourteenth Birthday Savi, baby, wake up!" My parents say in unison.

"Good morning guys! I love you!" I greet them as they set a small table with my breakfast on it, on my bed.

"Bye sweetie, don't take too long, you have that summer program today." My mom reminds me right before she and my dad step outside.

Every year they have been doing this since I turned three and moved into my own room. They would thump loudly on the steps outside to wake me up, once they think I'm awake, they start singing 'Happy Birthday' right outside my room really loudly, so I know they are coming in, then they come in and as they sing the song, they set a tray on my bed, filled with my favorite breakfast things and a cupcake with whatever age I just turned on it and fifty dollars hidden somewhere on the tray, then they just leave me alone, but not before-

A camera flash goes off in the room.

My parents always snap a picture of me with some old vintage camera that they have somewhere that they always hide from me.

"Awe, Savi, this one is so cute." My mom says as she sticks it up on the wall next to the other pictures of my birthday.

I get up to examine the photo. This one really is adorable. My hair, isn't as messy as a bed-head should be, as I grin down at the food set in front of me.

"Thanks mom! Gotta eat now!" She nods and leaves the room.

I look down to the side of my bed, where they always put my birthday present, last year was an iPad, I wonder what it will me this year.

I open the package and recognize the box. NO WAY. If they really got this for me and its not a prank, I will love them forever. Well, I would have loved them forever anyways since they are my parents. I close my eyes as I open the box. ITS NOT A PRANK!

Sitting there, inside the box, was an Instax Mini 8 Polaroid Camera, inside was 10 sheets, and outside the box, were two other small boxes with 100 extra sheets each!

~*~

After I eat breakfast in bed, get ready, find the fifty, receive really cute small messages from my closest friends saying Happy Birthday! and a few other messages, and take my first picture on the camera and make the film develop, I leave the house and head to the summer program.

~*~

I get there a bit later than I usually do, and there are a bunch of kids waiting to be let inside the classroom by the teacher. I scan through the crowd of children looking for either Scarlett, Nicholas, or Jake, but none of them appear.

As I get out of the car, the kids start whispering among themselves and start chanting, "SAVI, SAVI, SAVI, SAVI, SAVI, SAVI!" Getting louder and faster each time they chant. I see my three idiot friends emerge from the crowd, each holding a gift in their hands.

"Awe, guys you didn't have to!" I say as the chanting dies down.

"Oh, but we did!" Nicholas says.

"Happy Birthday Savi!" Both Nicholas and Scarlett say before they look at each other and blush. Scarlett shoves a flat, flat rectangular box into my arms.

"Here, and don't worry about our first periods, the teacher said we can skip, but go straight to P.E. afterwards, their 'gift' to you" she announced, putting air quotations on gift.

I open the box and find two pull-overs that I have been dying to get at the mall since I first saw them! The first is a gray pull-over, with the words in front, 'Cool Story Bro." and at the back, 'Tell it Again.' The second is more on the girly side. A creme sweater with light pink infinity signs and crosses all over.

"Ah! I love it!" I say, pulling Scarlett in for a hug.

"Sheesh, women and their clothing." Nicholas says and I give him a playful punch.

"Nobody asked you!" I said sticking out my tongue at him.

"Here before I take it back." He throws me a square shaped box.

I open it and see, it is a volleyball with my favorite colors on it! Pink, purple, and black.

"Thanks, I want everyone here to sign it today!" I tell him.

"Uhm, Scarlett, Nicholas, can you give us a minute?" Jake says.

"We'll be walking around." Scarlett says grabbing Nicholas and running off somewhere, right after she winks at me and gives me a thumbs up.

"Turn around." Jake says.

"Jake, if you put a spider on me, I will punch you!" I threaten him before turning around.

"Relax! It's nothing too bad I hope." I feel something cold slip onto my neck as he says, "Happy Fourteenth Birthday Savi." He whispered it into my ear, sending chills down my spine. The good kind.

I look down at the neclace and it takes my breath away. On a beautiful gold chain necklace, sits an even more stunning infinity sign pendant.

"Jake, I love it." I exclaim, pulling him in for a hug.

"Glad you do." He says, smiling into our embrace.

"Let's go find Scarlett and Nicholas." I grin as a grab his arm, pulling him in the direction that they ran.

~*~

When we finally found them, and I got them to sign the volleyball, Scarlett and I pull into our own little conversations at the same time as Jake and Nicholas.

"Aww, how cute, he got that for you!" Scarlett says, picking up and examining the pendant on my neck.

"Yeah, I-" I don't get to finish as I hear a few curse words escape from Nicholas' lips.

I glare at him, but he doesn't seem to notice. I tap on Jake's back to get his attention.

"My nig-"

"Say it, and I'll never talk to you again." I tell him.

"What the fu-" Nicholas starts.

"Don't. You. Dare. Say. Another. Curse. Word." I tell them.

"What you can't stand cuss words?" Nicholas says in a mocking baby voice, "girls and their fu-"

I crinkle my nose and cover my ears as yet another string of curses escape Nicholas' mouth.

As I open my eyes, Jake is staring at me in awe.

"You're so cute when you do that."

"Just as long as you promise never to curse again, I don't care what you call or gush over me." I tell them.

"Fine," He huffs.

"Let's go to the gym and pass with the ball." I suggest holding up my new volleyball.

"Okay." They all say in unison.

~*~

After the summer school ends, we are the last people there sitting at a table waiting for our rides.

"Hey, I haven't seen Ryan today, where is he?" I ask each one of them.

"He dropped out, he's going to the band camp instead."

"Okay." I open my school bag and grab my note book and flip it open to the first page.

Doesn't mean we are going to leave you alone Savi. Watch your back.

Matt, Ryan, Crystal, and Ashleigh x

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