Friday the 14th

Part 7: Birthday Planning

I spent half of lunch in the janitor's closet with Cory before Camryn found me.

"If you want to hide from gossip, don't go to the janitor's closet," Camryn told me as she dragged me into the cafeteria. "That's such a cliche. Everyone makes out in there or has friend breakups in there or loses their v-card in there."

True.

I groaned inwardly as Camryn yanked my sleeve and I tumbled into a seat beside her and across from Jenna. Freaking Jenna. And next to her was Sydney. And down the table was Caden. Which could only mean...

"Look who finally showed up," Jake said, sliding into the seat beside me and Sam sitting down between Jake and Jenna.

I stood up quickly. "Sorry, I can't be seen with you. People already think the worst."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but we're here to plan your birthday party. AKA Valentine's Day."

Quite a few words popped into my head, none of them school appropriate. I glanced around the cafeteria, but Sylvia and Quinn were no where in sight, and Cory was smack in the middle of a group of senior basketball players who were all reminiscing loudly about epic saves in games. I was on my own.

"You're going to the Valentine's dance, right?" Sydney said. "You have to go if your birthday is on Valentine's Day."

I glared at Jake. "You told everyone?"

He shrugged nonchalantly.

"So you're going?" Sydney persisted.

The weirdness of being forced to sit at the popular kid table was overwhelmed by sheer annoyance. Why did they care what I did on my birthday? "No, I haven't really made any plans."

"Good thing you're here now," Jenna said, smirking. I still didn't get how Jenna was talking to me right now, even after Jake had used me to make her jealous. "Because on Saturday we're all going dress shopping at the mall for the dance. And you're totally having a party on the beach afterwards. I'll arrange everything."

Did I get any say it what was happening? "You really don't have to. I was thinking I'd just have a sleepover with--"

"Great idea, let's all have a sleepover at my place!" Sydney exclaimed.

"I'll get on the invite list for the beach party," Camryn said, whipping out her phone and beginning to tap quickly.

How had I gone from never speaking to these girls to them treating me like a full-on bestie?

After school, I drove to the bakery to clear my head. Working with Gran and Mom always helped me figure things out. Today was no exception--even Mom had set aside her wedding plans to Mateo to simply bake. I breathed in deeply as I removed a tray of cinnamon vanilla cupcakes and set them on the counter to cool and then be frosted.

I loved everything about the bakery, how the smells wafted through the kitchen and out into the sitting area, how the sun setting over the ocean illuminated the shopfront in the evening, how Gran would bring me recipe samples while I did my homework.

"I have a new recipe to try out," Gran told me as I picked up my backpack to find a table out front. She winked. "It's a wedding cake recipe. But it could be a birthday cake one, too. It'll be done in a few minutes." She checked the time. "Could you help out your mother and take over the register for a few minutes? She had to run to the store and get some dark chocolate for the vegans."

I laughed. "Sure."

I set down my backpack again, washed my hand, and headed out to the cash register where Mom was waiting. She smiled and waved when she saw me, slipping into the back.