Slightly Less Badass

~Chapter Twenty Three~

(About a month after they got the tattoos)

I curl up into a ball on the couch and close my eyes. My phone was ringing but I ignore it. I don't think I can move ever again. I'm just too tired. But the ringing continues for several minutes and eventually I can't take it anymore. I groan in frustration and jump up, looking around for the stupid contraption. I finally find it hidden under a pillow. I take one look at the screen and groan again. Jacob.
"Whatever it is, I don't care," I hiss into the phone. "I've given up caring. Go whine about it to Jay."
"Well okay Miss Sassy. I just called to tell you that everything's finally ready. But if you don't care...."
"Ugh fine. Give me a report."
"Her family will stop by but they can't stay the whole time. David agreed to help us and he also said he'll attempt to clean up their house a little. By the way, he's not happy about the present we got her. All decorations ready to be put up and the playlist is prepared. Eliza and I bought the food and drinks. All that's left is for you to bake a cake and get her out of the house. All we'll need is about two hours to make sure everything is set up," he lists off. I sigh loudly and nod, even though he can't see me.
"Okay... okay. I can manage that. I'm nearly done with cake #2," I say.
"Number two? What happened to the first cake?"
"Don't ask," I reply in a hard tone. The first cake I attempted to make went horribly wrong. I don't know what happened but it was a huge flop. I think I just tried to get to fancy. But the second cake looks a lot better.
"Alright sounds like Rina's birthday party will hopefully go well. I think we have everything ready."
Jacob must've heard the stress in my tone because he said, "Relax. We've got everything covered. You don't need to worry about anything beside icing cake number two. We'll be fine."
"I know, I know. I'm not really sure why I'm so freaked out about her birthday this year. Usually we just go out to dinner with her parents then go back to her place to have a movie marathon and drink wine. I don't know why this year I'm making things so special and fancy. Actually it's really not that fancy, just a barbecue party in her backyard with a few decorations. But still it's more than we usually do," I ramble on.
"Is it because she's turning 25?" Jacob asks. I shake my head again even though I know he still can't see me.
"Nah that's not anything special."
"Maybe because it's also you're celebrating you're weird ten year friendship anniversary thing," Jay says from behind me. I smack myself on the forehead. It hurts.
"I completely forgot about that! Shoot. That's what this all started off as, I can't believe I already forgot," I exclaim. "Shoot, shoot, shoot!"
"What happened?" Jacob asks. I kinda forgot I was on the phone with him.
"It's our friendship anniversary. That's why I made such a big deal out of this party," I explain. Apparently it's not a good enough explanation because Jacob then asks , "Huh?"
I refrain from sighing and rolling my eyes. If he would've just paid attention every year when Rina and I discussed it the he would know what was going on. I shove my phone into Jay's hands.
"Explain. I have to get this cake out of the oven," I say.
"They couldn't remember when they first became friends so they decided that every year on Rina's birthday they would celebrate the anniversary of when they first met. This year is their tenth year they celebrate it."
Jay sounded exasperated. Probably because he found it as silly as David did. Neither of them understood why we did this but we just thought it was fun.
"Well that's dumb," Jacob grumbles. I guess Jay put him on speaker phone. And I do agree, it is rather dumb. But Rina and I had fun doing it. We started doing it after our..argument.. in high school as a way to consolidate our friendship.
"You and Jay should start celebrating yours," I smirk. I knew what their replies would be. At the same time, they say, "No way."
I take my phone back from Jay and turn the speaker phone off. I chew on my lip as I think about what to do next. I may already have her birthday present ready but I still haven't gotten her anything for our anniversary. Can't this party be good enough? Unfortunately I don't think Rina would accept that because she's as petty as I am. And both of us liked presents.
"Jacob.. can you pretty please do me one more favor?" I ask in the nicest voice I can manage.
"No," he says immediately.
"Why not?"
"Because I refuse to help you anymore. I'm not your fairy godmother."
"But-"
"No way."
"All you'd need to do was pick up a gift card for me," I pout. Jacob sighs like a drama queen. I look over at Jay and roll my eyes.
"Why can't you go get it?" Jacob asks eventually.
"Because it's already 10:15 and I have a cake to decorate and a giant card to make. Pretty please Jacob? I'd obviously pay for it and I'll throw in free cupcakes for a week."
"..........bibbity bobbity boo," he grumbles.
"Thank you Fairy Godmother!"
"Whatever. Bye."
I hang up before he changes his mind. I rub my eyes tiredly and glance up at the clock. It wasn't even that late but suddenly I felt exhausted. But I slowly force myself to get off of the couch and walk back into the kitchen to see if the cake was cooled down yet. When I stand up and turn around, though, Jay in blocking my way.
"I have to go somewhere but I'll be back soon," he says. I groan loudly and lean my head on his chest.
"Jay I'm not really in the mood for another prank right now so I swear if that's what you're-"
"I'm not, I promise," he cuts off my rant.
"Then why are you leaving?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Stop being shady and just tell me. If you don't tell me then I'll call Rina and Eliza right now and we can have a prank ready to go in under and hour," I threaten. Jay just smiles and shakes his head.
"It's a secret. I swear, though, it's not a prank. It's a good surprise. You'll find out tomorrow. Be back soon." He leans down to give me a quick hug before turning and walking out the front door. All of my motivation to finish this cake leaves with Jay and I sit back down on the couch. Working and owning a bakery sometimes makes me hate baking. Sometimes I just feel like I'm surrounded by it with no escape. But then I remind myself that it's for Rina so I make myself get back up again. Just as I take a step forward, my phone buzzes.
You never said what gift card I'm supposed to get -Jacob
"Oh, right. Duh," I mutter to myself. I type my reply then finally walk into the kitchen. Let's get this over with so I can relax in bed and watch some Netflix.
—•-•—•-•—•-•—
I wake up with my face covered in glitter. I moan and lift my head off of the table that I fell asleep on and look around the room. Last night after finished the cake I got to work on making a birthday card for Rina. I was in the middle of filling it with glitter when apparently I fell asleep.
"About time you're awake,"Jay says from behind me. He sits down on the couch next to me and starts wiping the sparkles from my face.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Time to get ready for the party. Now get up and go shower. I'll finish the card for you."
"You let me sleep here the whole night?"
"Eh, I was going to carry you to bed again but you looked comfortable. Now hurry up you have to go pick up Rina in a half an hour."
"Oh, okay. Are you sure you guys can manage her gift until I get there?"
"Yes," he sighs. I've already asked this a couple times. Honestly I was just looking for an excuse to go play with her present because it was so cuddly and cute.
"Are you sure?" I ask again.
"Mira, I'd like to think that between the three of us we can handle a puppy."
"I know but-"
"But nothing. You can play with her dog at the party. Now go get dressed."
"Jay?"
He immediately starts shaking his head. He grabs my hand and pulls up off of the couch and gives me a slight shove towards the bedroom.
"No," he says.
"You don't even know what I was going to say!"
"You we're going to ask for a pet and the answer is no. We've had this conversation before. You can't have animals in this apartment complex. Sorry."
Before I could argue anymore, Jay pushes past me and walks into the bathroom. I hear the lock click shut and Jay yells through the door, "Get dressed!"
I pout and do as he says. Most people my age wanted a loving husband, big house, and a baby. All I wanted was a dog.... Well obviously Jay, my friends, and family as well. But I wanted a pet to coddle, not a baby. Based on my experience with babysitting children , I wouldn't be a very good mother. I don't have enough patience to deal with their whining and brattiness. They were adorable and I didn't mind them but a puppy just sounded much more appealing. Instead Rina was getting one. Oh wells, guess that means I'll just have to visit her more often.

"Why can't I go into my own house?" Rina demands again. My grip tightens on the steering wheel. If she asks me that one more time, I may jump out of this car.
"I never told you that you couldn't," I tell her once more as calmly as I could. My patience is wearing thin but I was still trying to be nice since it is her birthday.
"But you're stalling. I know you are. So what's going on?"
"Guess you can go see since we're here."
Thankfully we were in her driveway. Rina throws me a glare then quickly jumps out of the car. I take a deep breath to try to steady my anger before following her. Truthfully I had been stalling because after the movie ended I saw a text from Eliza says the boys were having some issues. She wouldn't clarify what the problem was but she didn't want us back yet so I took as long as I possibly could. All I can hope now is that they sorted everything out. She starts to walk to the front door but I hurriedly redirect her to the backyard.
"What is going on?" she grumbles. I don't reply. I don't have to. Because just then we entered the backyard where our friends were waiting. She looks around the yard with wide, confused eyes.
"Happy birthday/ ten years of successful friendship," I say loudly. She grins and walks further into the yard. Her parents along with my parents stood waiting next to Jacob, Jay, and Eliza. I look around nervously as I try to spot whatever problem they might've have. Everything seemed in place, though.
"Thank you. Everything looks amazing," she exclaims and gives me a hug. Then she half runs, half walks towards the group of people. She practically tackles David in a hug. For a split second I'm worried they're both going to fall to the ground but luckily he manages to catch her and keep steady. I walk over to where Eliza was standing slightly away from the group.
"What was the issue?" I whisper.
"What?"
"You texted me and told me to stall. What was wrong?"
"Oh, right, that thing. You have to ask Jay of Jacob about that. I'm not allowed to say," she whispers back. Based on the look she gives me I could tel it was the end of the conversation. I make my over to where Jacob was since he was closest to where we were standing.
"Why did Eliza want me to stall?" I whisper. Rina was only a few feet away talking to Jay. Jacob just shrugs and nods his head toward Jay.
"Ask him," he says. I nearly stomp my foot in frustration. Why can't these people just give me a straight answer? I stand there and decide to wait until Rina walks away from him. But when he throws his head back and laughs, I can tell she isn't going to leave. I'd ask David what the problem was but unfortunately he was standing right next to Jay and laughing too. Eventually I get bored with waiting and slowly walk over to where they stood. I tug on Jay's shirt then lean close to him.
"What was the problem?" I whisper as quietly as I can.
"Oh, that. Well we have something to tel you. Something to tell both of you, actually. Close your eyes."
I squint at him suspiciously then glance over at Rina. She shrugs and squeezes her eyes shut tightly. I do the same. I feel something wrap around my eyes.
"Just so you don't peek," Jay says only inches from my ear. Then someone puts their hands on my shoulders and starts leading me forward. I have a funny feeling about this.