Pieces of Love

Chapter 17

February the first. I woke up to that morning with high-pitched squealing of my two best friends, shouting 'Happy birthday Emma!' at the top of their lungs. My bed dipped as the both of them sat on each side of my feet, and before I could utter a single word, Lily said excitedly, "You are going to my house today. We are throwing you a party!" Sophie then handed me a paper bag, in which I took out a one-piece black swimsuit with a deep neckline.

"We're going to be using Lily's indoor pool," Sophie explained, "and you are going to wear that. That's my birthday present." I stared at it in shock. In my defence, no fifteen year old girl should wear something like this. But knowing Sophie, there's no backing out of something she decides on. With a resigned sigh, I got off my bed and went to the bathroom opposite my room to get ready. Anyways, I thought, it would be pretty fun to try something new, seeing as I'm turning a year older.

Turning to my closet, I picket out a blue tank top and denim shorts to wear over my swimsuit. I braided my hair into a side braid and climbed down the stairs. My parents were in the kitchen when I came downstairs, and they both wished me happy birthday and a fun day with my friends. Kissing them both on the cheeks, I exited the house to see Lily and Sophie waiting for me beside Lily's ride, with a proper chauffeur and everything.

Once arriving at Lily's gigantic house, we immediately stripped off our clothes and jumped in the indoor pool in our swimsuits, splashing each other in water. After a good two hours, when the skin on our fingers started to get wrinkled, we climbed out of the pool to a scrumptious lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches made by Lily's butler. Then the afternoon was spent on Lily's deck, still in our swimsuits, blasting music through our earphones, me borrowing one of Lily's ones since mine was broken.

At five o' clock, just when I thought that Sophie's 'party' just consisted of the three of us, not that I minded since I was having the time of my life, more people started to turn up. First were Dylan and Nicholas, who both announced that Jacob would be coming soon. Dylan immediately turned a deep shade of red at the sight of Sophie, in which Lily and I exchanged smirks about. Shortly after Lily received a text saying that Isaac would be there, the said person arrived with Xavier, taking me by surprise seeing as I was not really close to Xavier.

Nicholas, always the joker, was definitely the life of the party, making terrible puns that made us roll our eyes and shake our heads. But even he could not erase the fact that Jacob had yet to arrive, making me start to grow worried. There were no texts from him whatsoever and just when I was about to call him myself, there was a loud commotion wafting through the door leading to the indoor pool which sounded strangely like bickering.

"You were supposed to drive me here earlier, not laze around watching soccer!"

"Chill bro, it's just a birthday party. Anyway, I deserve a break, don't you think?"

"Just a birthday party? Do you have any idea how much she means to me?"

I recognised the owner of one of the voices immediately. As the two bickerers entered the room, they confirmed my thoughts. Jacob was standing there, looking furiously at what must be his brother, Joseph. He looked more like Jacob's twin than his older brother, seeing as they were around the same height and had the same body figure. The only difference was that Joseph's hair was shorter than Jacob's.

I recalled Jacob telling me about Joseph driving down from his university for the weekend, but it must have slipped my mind earlier today.

The room was deathly silent, everybody had paused what they were doing to stare at the duo. Joseph was smirking slightly and Jacob seemed to shrink under everyone's gazes. Then, the uncomfortable silence was broken by Nicholas bounding over and slinging his arm around Jacob's shoulder, giving him a 'bro' handshake.

I also made my way over to them as everyone else continued to help themselves to the food provided. It was only when I was directly in front of them did I feel self-conscious, seeing as I was still wearing my swimsuit and they were fully dressed. Nicholas had already gone off to disturb someone else and it was just me with the Lynch brothers. Jacob's expression was similar to the one when he saw me in the red dress I wore for our concert. His mouth was ajar and he seemed to be at a loss for words.

"You might want to close that mouth of yours dear brother, or you might catch some flies," Joseph commented smugly, a knowing glint in his eyes. Jacob shook his head violently and croaked out, "Em, Joseph. Joseph, Emma." Joseph chuckled and placed his arm around my shoulder.

"We finally meet! So tell me, birthday girl, what it is about you that makes Jakey over here so absolutely smitten?" Joseph beamed at me as his eyes raked over my appearance. I gave him a weak smile and glanced at Jacob, who was blushing deeply, yet a scowl directed at his brother still emerged from his face afterwards.

I stuttered slightly, because Joseph must be mistaken. Jacob and I were only friends and nothing more. When nothing more came out of my mouth, Joseph chuckled softly. He withdrew his hand from my shoulders and glanced at the two of us.

"Well, I'll go now. See you two lovebirds soon!" Joseph yelled over his shoulder as he exited the indoor pool. Jacob cleared his throat awkwardly after some silence and said, "Happy birthday Em."

"Thanks," I muttered, looking down at my bare feet. "Well...help yourself to the food and drinks. I'm going to look for Lily and Sophie." With that, we went our separate ways.

The rest of the evening passed by peacefully. Lily brought out a coffee flavoured cake, and the Nicholas belted out the birthday song to everybody's amusement. I had never laughed harder as he attempted to cannonball into the pool and ended up flying in on his belly. The birthday presents were also pretty satisfactory.

Lily gave me a floor-length dress which was absolutely stunning. The idea of wearing this dress to the Valentine's Day dance filled my head with giddy happiness. Isaac presented me with a brand new set of earphones with a shy smile on his face. Nicholas gave me a hoodie with the words 'Hogwarts Alumni' on it, which totally made my day. Just as I was helping out to a third serving of the cake, Jacob tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for me to join him on the deck.

"I hope you are enjoying yourself," Jacob said earnestly when it was just the two of us on the deck. I had thankfully already changed back into my clothes, so that Jacob would not look like a tomato when near me.

"Are you kidding? I never had so much fun before!" I said excitedly. A small laugh escaped Jacob's lips. He moved closer to stand directly in front of me. "I wanted to give you your present when we are alone," he muttered. From his back, he produced a paper bag with the Harry Potter logo on it.

"I saw you eyeing it. I think you will like it," he explained. Without another word, he extended the bag towards me. I took it curiously. Reaching my hand into the bag, I produced a small black box which gave me a vague idea on what the present might be. Prying the box open, it revealed a charm bracelet, confirming my thoughts, yet I was still speechless.

The bracelet had three charms: a Deathly Hallows sign, a golden Snitch and Platform Nine and Three-quarters. I fingered it carefully, a lump forming in my throat as the thought of the sweet thoughtful boy in front of me probably spending a considerable amount of money on this thing. My heartbeat rocketed and I suddenly felt smaller than usual next to Jacob.

"I...I don't know what to say..." I voiced out my true feelings. I looked up at Jacob and saw his eyes brimming with uncertainty. "It's more than I can ever ask for. Thank you so much." Jacob's face crumpled with relief and he made a motion towards me. Just then, a voice interrupted our moment.

"Emma, I need to talk to you."