They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking In Circles!

Chapter 6

They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking in Circles! 

Chapter 6

After we got downstairs, I peeked into the room where the party was being held. I was awestruck by what I saw. The walls were covered in seashells and seaweed, giving it a truly fishy look. The lights were a blue-green shade, and everything somehow made you feel like you really were underwater. There was shrimp at the sides, and there was even a pool installed. It was a good thing we advised the guests to bring their best swimsuits.

Jasmine had already disappeared to make the announcement that we were coming, and sure enough, her voice echoed loud and clear through the house. That’s how good the sound system we’d gotten was.

“Hey, guys!” she greeted. “Welcome to Shay and Maddie’s fabulous Sweet Sixteen Party!”

A lot of people started cheering, and Jasmine had to wait until everyone calmed down before she began again. Even though we lived in a fairly big place, there weren’t many party throwers around, and this was probably the first great one they’d been to in a while, where they didn’t serve Party Pizzas, and where there was live entertainment.

“I’m not gonna ramble on and on quite yet,” she said. “I’ll save that for the toast-thing later on. But I will announce that the birthday girls are here and ready, so give a round of applause for Shay and Maddie!”

We strutted into the room, with an air of confidence that only your birthday and a nice down of tequila could give you. Everyone started cheering, and we grinned and waved at them.

We went onstage, and Jasmine handed me the microphone. “Before we get to the fun stuff, we’ve gotta get through the mandatory stuff.” I frowned. “The toasts and words of love and whatnot. So come on, Mom and Dad. Let’s just get this over with.”

My mom, Maddie’s mom, Damien, and Bianca came up. But there was no sign of our dads.

“Mom, where’s Dad? And Maddie’s dad?” I whispered to my mom.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. They were here a second ago. But we’ll have to go on without them.”

I frowned, but accepted it. After all, this was such a typical move from them. They were probably getting drunk or something.

“Hello!” my mom greeted. “I’m Shay’s mom, and because I promised her I wouldn’t do too much damage, I won’t break out the baby pictures. But I will say that I am so proud of my daughter. She has grown up to be a beautiful young woman, and I couldn’t ask for better. But I wouldn’t mind it if you wore those dresses I buy you all the time once in a while.”

“Mooom!” I whined. Everyone laughed at that.

“I’m sorry, honey. I’ll pass it to Damien, who hopefully won’t embarrass you as much.”

I think he’d be worse, actually.

“This isn’t easy for me, little sis,” he began. “This means you’re pretty much all grown up. I was even thinking of giving you The Talk already.”

I’m pretty sure I turned beet-red at this moment.

“But I won’t, at least not publicly. All I wanted to say was, that now that you’re all grown up, I hope you’ll continue to be the same, witty, funny and unique person you’ve been your whole life. Don’t you ever change, no matter what people say. Because we all love you for who you are, not the blond bimbo who’s trying to make you be like her. Oh, sorry, I’m not talking about you, Maddie, I swear, because you’re just as special as she is.”