Spy School: Life After Graduation

Chapter 12: Party Planning

Here's what happened while Ben was busy. Hope you like it.

Erica's House
Living Room
8:00 AM
Monday
June 15th

Erica's POV:
I can't believe Ben left for practices already! He never got up this early before. He is going to work out for 3 hours to beef up and he has hour long practices for three sports. When did he get so athletic? And adorable? Wow, he's clearly not the only one who's changed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know but he's amazing, and he's definitely worth emotions. Damn, I really have changed, like a lot!  

Anyways, since he left, Chip, Jawa, Jessica, Mike, Zoe, and I were all preparing for his birthday the day after. We all got everything ready and when he went to the gym tomorrow, we were gonna set everything up. Mike went to the gym with Ben, (or following Ben) to make sure he didn't come home too early. Zoe and Jessica ordered his cake and handled food. Meanwhile, Chip and Jawa were wrapping the presents. I was getting decorations and watching over everyone else since I was his girlfriend, but I was being nice about it though. 

The plan was to decorate his parent's house and I'd meet them tomorrow, thanks to Mike knowing them so well, they didn't question us too much. Then when he left on his birthday, we'd decorate my house and set everything up there. I'd pretend to be upset and ask him to stay at his parents' house for a little while. I knew it was mean, but it was for a good reason. I felt bad, but he forgot his birthday and I wanted it to be a complete surprise. 

~Timeskip~

It was now 11:00 and Zoe and Jessica had the cake and most of the food, Mike was at practice with Ben warming up, Chip and Jawa had a lot of the presents wrapped, and I had banners, signs, and balloons all set. We drove over to Ben's house and his parents were about to let us in, but they didn't see Mike and got nervous. 

Crap! We forgot we need Mike here! Call him and tell him to say it's a family emergency. I mean, it's not really lying because Ben and Mike are pretty much like brothers.

"Zoe, I need your phone a sec please. I need Mike's number." 

"Okay, here." She said as she pulled out her phone. 

"Thanks. I'm calling him, no one talk because Mike is now with Ben, so we can't risk him hearing us." I said as they all nodded. 

"Hey, Mike it's Cousin Jenifer," We agreed not to say our real names so Ben wouldn't hear. And Mike said to call as Cousin Jenifer if we needed him. "We need you here, soon. It's a family emergency. Go tell Ben and your coach you have to go and say family emergency and family emergency only, understand? Also, look sad and shocked to convince them." 

"I'll be right there cuz." 

He hung up and we waited. He got back a little while later. 

"Thank god you're here, we forgot they don't know us and didn't want to let us in without you." I filled him in. We walked up and they seemed relieved and let us in. 

It took us like 45 minutes to get everything set up. It looked amazing. "Nice job, everyone. It's now 12:37. He'll be back around 2:45 ish. By then everyone needs to be gone and no one bring it up. Now, tomorrow, he'll leave at around 8:00 and be back around 10:30. We'll have everything up and ready by then. To recap the plan, I act upset and ask for some space sending him to his parents' house instead. He'll go home and feel happy as he remembers his birthday and the fact that we remembered, even though he didn't. There are signs saying to go to my house. He'll come over and we'll all jump out and celebrate there. All of us will be there along with Cyrus, Alexander, Catherine, and his parents. Is everything clear? Any questions? No? Then let's head by to my place and get everything ready for my house. We'll have about 2 and a half hours to put everything up. Tonight he'll come home and be exhausted so he'll tell me all about his day, we'll eat dinner, and he'll want to watch tv, probably "The Mandalorian" because he loves Baby Yoda or "The Child." He'll fall asleep and when he wakes up, he'll go to the gym. So, let's do this!"I explained.

"Yeah!" They all yelled. 

~Timeskip~ 

Oh man, it's 2:15, he's gonna be on his way in 15 minutes and he's gonna call me ike he always does. 

"Ben will be on his way soon, but amazing job everyone! Remember, 8:30, be here and we'll finish it up. I want to thank all of you for your help. I wanted to do something special but I knew I couldn't do it without some help. But all of you came on such short notice, and that means a lot to me and will definitely mean a lot to Ben because his friends and family are really important to him. He's on his way so I'll see you tomorrow. Great job, all of you!" I told them. 

A chorus of "You're welcome" and goodbyes were heard as everyone went home. 

We did it. A few things to fix up tomorrow, but otherwise, you planned a birthday party for your boyfriend! 

He called not long after everyone was gone and everything was hid and cleaned up. As I predicted, he told me all about his practices and how he thought he was going home, and realized he meant my house. 

Awwwwww... he feels like it's his house too!  Man, I love him so much. And tomorrow I have to break his heart and tell him to go back to his parents' house. But, I can't: it'll break his heart. NO! You've worked so hard for his birthday. He'll be heart-broken for an hour or two until they send him back to our house where we'll celebrate. Wait, did I just say OUR house? Awwwww... I did! I have to tell him tomorrow. And it occured to me, it'll be the longest hours ever for him. He wanted to be with me since he saw me like 5 years ago. It'll crush him. NO! STOP IT! He'll be fine. I'll make it up to him. We'll go watch Men In Black: International. Yeah, he'll be fine. 

"Erica? Hello? You still there babe?" 

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I just miss you. Are you almost home? I mean here." I quickly covered up. 

"Home? Awwwww... You feel like that too?" Clearly I was not quick enough.

"Maybe." I muttered. 

"Awwwwww... I knew it! I love you! And yes, in answer to your question, I'm 3 minutes away."

"Okay, see you soon! Love you!" He hung up and I realized I was bright red. 

Man, tomorrow's gonna be harder than I thought. He walked in and came to the table and ate with me, still talking about his practices. Man, did I call it or what?

"Mandalorian?" He asked with a hopeful little grin. I'll take that as a yes. 

"Sure, why not?" I replied. "But, you need a shower first." I said with a smile. 

"Okay, I'll be right back." 

15 minutes later he was dressed in a tight T-shirt showing of his muscles, like he knows I like, and some shorts. We snuggled up on the couch and I curled into a ball with my head resting on his chest. I was really tired, so I knew Ben must have been exhausted. 

"Goodnight baby." He whispered right into my ear. "Sleep well. I love you." 

"I love you too." I murmured. 

This is gonna be WAY harder than I thought. 

Thought I'd add more detail to Erica's POV because she was way less tired than Ben, so she remembered it better. Hope you're enjoying it! I'll update pretty soon, probably within the next few days.