Scars // LH

Chapter17- Birthday Girl

Hey guys! *poop*

Birthday Girl

The morning sunlight brushed my eyelids, dragging me kicking and screaming from my sleep. I wanted to open my eyes, but I kept them closed for a while. I could hear muffled giggles close by. I didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Is she awake?" I heard Calum whisper. I could imagine him staring at me, his eyes wondering over my face.

"I don't know..." Ashton whispered back. "Maybe we should..."

"SOPHIE! WAKE UP!!!" Michael's voice boomed around the room as I felt him bouncing up and down on the bed. I couldn't help it at that point. I burst out laughing, burying my head under the covers. "Guys, its too early!" But I was droned out by the boys singing Happy Birthday to me. They were so loud and deliberately off-key, I'm surprised the whole of Italy didn't hear them!

When they finally piped down, I sat up, glancing in awe around the room. The walls were plastered with sparkly pink banners with the words 'Happy Birthday' and 'Sweet Sixteen' printed across them. There were balloons floating around the room, not to mention the huge pile of presents wrapped up in the middle of the room. I was speechless. "Guys, you didn't have to..."

"We wanted to, though." Ashton interrupted me, tweaking at my nose. "We felt bad that you're away from home on your birthday, so we wanted to make it extra-special for you." Before I could open my mouth, they all jumped on me, giving me a huge bear hug. When they pulled away, I smiled at each one of their beaming little faces. They were all dressed and ready, wearing tiny little party hats and  clutching party poppers. I wanted to tell them that they were the four sweetest boys ever. But I couldn't. There was only three of them. One was missing.

"Where's Luke?" I asked curiously, pulling my hair from its bun so that it fell down on my shoulders. The boys all exchanged a look. They knew where he was. But they weren't planning on telling me. Calum looked down at his lap. Michael shrugged. Ashton was the one to speak up. "He left really early. He's probably getting his present for you."

"His present?" I ran my fingers through my hair as Ashton leaped off of the bed, taking Calum with him. Michael nodded. "Yeah, we got you loads of presents, but then we've got a special one from each of us." My heart melted. They were so thoughtful.

Ashton and Calum came back, arms full of presents, and dumped them on my bed. They then sat surrounding me, staring at me expectantly. "Well?" Calum waved his hand at me. "Get unwrapping!"

So I did. I always loved opening presents as a kid, just being able to rip open all that paper to see the surprise inside was so satisfying.

There were so many sweet presents, boxes of Thornton's and tubs of Lindt, they knew me so well. A bunch of designer clothes, including this white tube miniskirt which I absolutely loved. I also got a new pair of expensive curlers. Ashton insisted that they were top-notch. They also threw in a load of new makeup, fancy gift sets, expensive designer perfumes, and all sorts of different little trinkets and treasures. Of course, most of this stuff was 5SOS merchandise.

When I'd opened them all, Michael stood up on the bed and pretended to play a trumpet. "Now, its time for the individual presents! Mine first." He sat back down and handed me a big rectangular box. I shook it wearily, and gave Michael the stink eye. It was really heavy. "I wonder what it could be? Maybe the world's biggest whoopee cushion? Or a giant ping-pong ball?"

Michael laughed. "I'll ping-pong you in a minute. Open it." I did as I was told and started to tear at the wrapping paper, until I finally came to a peach-coloured box. I held it at arms length. "I'm genuinely scared now!"