Anna
A few weeks later my 21st birthday rolls around with no mention of any celebration from any of my friends, until Eli shows up the morning of. I'm woken up by pressure on my forehead, I open my eyes and smile up at my boyfriend, "morning birthday girl" I stretch making him laugh. "So here's the plan, i'm going to take you out to breakfast and we're going to have a full day of fun, just the two of us" I sit up pouting, "but I just wanna lay in bed with you ALL day" he leans forward pressing his lips to mine. Before I can take it any further, Eli pulls away, "as much as I would love to just be in bed with you, i'm taking the birthday girl to breakfast and we're going to have a great day" I sigh but slide off of the bed the go get changed. A few minutes later i'm dressed in jeans and my Wisconsin hoodie, Eli smiles and stands taking my hand before pulling me out of the house.
The two of us get seated at the local diner and Eli flags down a waitress, "hi it's my girl's birthday today, could she get a stack of pancakes with candles and everything" the teenage girl nods, "i'll just have some bacon and eggs" she nods again before leaving us alone. "You didn't need to do that" he grins leaning over the table to grab my hands, "you deserve it beautiful" I blush and he kisses my hands gently. A few minutes later I hear singing, my eyes widen as I slink lower into my seat, Eli is grinning as a few of the waitress come over with my plate of pancakes singing happy birthday. One of the girls places the pancakes in front of me with a smile as they finish singing, I look at Eli to see him holding up his phone, I stick out my tongue at him, "make a wish darling" I sigh but look down at the candles before looking up at the hockey player across from me, "I have everything I want though" he smiles "well then just blow out the candles" I nod and blow out the various candles on my stack of pancakes.
"When we finish here, i'm thinking we go bowling" I nod as I finish my breakfast. The waitress comes back with the receipt, Eli pays before I can have a say, I pout at him with my arms crossed, "you know that I will never let you pay, especially on your birthday" I sigh, "I know" he laughs and puts away his wallet before standing and holding out a hand to me. I place my hand in his with a smile as he tugs me out of the booth, taking me back outside to his Jeep. Once i'm buckled up Eli drives out of the parking lot towards the local bowling alley.
+
A few hours later once I have thrown my last ball down the bowling lane, I dance around when it hits all of the pins. I grin as I turn around to walk off of the lane, Eli is shaking his head as he stands up to take his final turn. The hockey player surprises me with a gentle kiss before walking onto the lane, "I should throw strikes more often" he laughs and I giggle as I sit to watch him. When he throws the ball, I follow it with my eyes, I jump up when it knocks over the pins. Eli comes over to me while grinning, I pull his head down kissing him, his arms snake around my waist pulling me flush against him. I pull away when I run out of oxygen, "you did great!" I exclaim, he smiles before kissing my cheek, letting me go moments later. "Lets get out of here, I have something to show you" I nod and sit down to untie my borrowed shoes.
When Eli parks his Jeep in the driveway of the house, I look over at him confused, "you know that this is my house right? we were just here?" he smiles and nods before getting out of the car coming to my side of the car. He helps me out of the car before guiding me to the front door, "what aren't you telling me?" he shrugs not replying to my question as we walk into the house. "SURPRISE!" I jump a foot into the air when my roommates jump out at us, "happy birthday darling" Eli says into my ear before kissing my temple, I grin as I take in the birthday decorations in our house. All of my roommates hug me, "I thought you guys forgot" Gwen laughs, "we would never, we just like throwing surprise parties" I roll my eyes, "okay we need to get you dressed, people are going to start showing up" I peer over my shoulder at Eli, who just shrugs as I get pulled to my bedroom.
+
An hour later i'm putting on a pair of earrings to finish off my outfit as Sierra makes sure my curled hair is perfect. "We did good" Emily interjects as I take one last look at my emerald green silk dress in the mirror, "I agree" Gwen replies, "you guys are the best, thank you for this" they bring me into a quick group hug. I pull away with a smile, "lets get down there" they nod and we walk out of my room together with our arms linked. In the living room cheers and claps arise, I blush as my friends pull out their phones, I see the flashes go off making me look down at my feet. Hands come to my waist, I look up to see Eli smiling down at me, "you look amazing Anna" I smile and he kisses my head softly before interlacing our fingers. Someone turns on our stereo, and some people make use of the empty living room, with our furniture pushed against the walls, I bite my lip watching them. "Lets go get something to drink and then we can dance" I nod as he tugs me to the kitchen.
"TIME FOR CAKE!" I move my gaze towards the yell to see my roommates carrying a cake which has a ton of candles on top of it. I smile as they come to me, Eli moves to my side, his arm around my waist, "make a wish birthday girl" I bite my lip looking at my friends and then up at my boyfriend. "I already have everything that I want though", a chorus of awwws ring out as I blush, Eli kisses my temple, "then just blow out the candles" I nod and take a deep breath before blowing out the flames in one go. Everyone claps as I smile at them, Eli kisses my head before grabbing the cake, going to the kitchen, I follow him happily. I place my arms on the counter as Eli takes out a knife to cut the cake, I watch him slice it into pieces with a smile on my face, "I doubt this is something exciting to watch" he says before looking up at me, I shrug, "I needed a break from everyone, and this does the trick" he laughs. I stick my finger into the nearest piece, taking some frosting moving it up to Eli's face, smearing it on his nose, his eyes are wide, I giggle and he puts down the knife. He sticks his own finger into some frosting before leaning over the counter smearing it on my cheek, I gasp making him chuckle as I move around the counter grabbing a piece of cake as I do so. Eli stops laughing as his gaze moves to the cake in my hand, he starts backing away, but I speed up with a smirk on my face, one of my hands holds onto his arm as I bring the cake up shoving it in his face. I'm laughing as he wipes away the dessert from his eyes, he starts laughing too as I let go of him to lean over feeling the cramps in my sides.
+
When the two of us reappear in the living room, cleaned up, a few minutes later we see that the room has emptied out a bit. "People left" I say with a pout, "well two took forever with the cake, and people had things to do tonight" I smile sheepishly at Gwen, she rolls her eyes but takes a piece from my hand. Once everyone has cake I sit on the couch with a sigh, Eli joins me bringing his arm across my shoulders, "being a party host is tiring" he smiles before kissing my forehead, "yeah, but i'd say it's worth it most of the time" I nod bringing my legs onto the couch, curling into his side. "Good birthday darling?" I peer up at him, "yeah, the best" he grins before lowering his lips to mine, my hand moves up, my fingers weaving into his hair our lips moving in sync, Eli's hand moves to the back of my head keeping me in place as we get lost in our own little world. As we pull away minutes later Sierra wolf whistles making me blush, "okay time to go everyone, the lovebirds are sick of your company" I roll my eyes at her announcement. I stand up to say my goodbyes and thank you's to the people that showed up to celebrate. A few minutes later my roommates and Eli are the only ones left, I start picking up the garbage littering the floor, but I don't get far when Emily stops me, "no the birthday girl should not be cleaning up, she should be taking pictures with her balloons" I laugh as she pushes me to the balloons shaped like the number '21'.
After many pictures are taken with my birthday balloons the sun has started to set, I let out a yawn as I make my way to my bedroom. Eli sits on my desk chair with a smile, spinning on it a few times, I laugh before grabbing my pjs wanting to get out of the green dress i've been wearing all afternoon. When I reappear in the bedroom I see that Eli has shed his own clothes and is laying on my bed scrolling through his phone. I lay next to him, leaning my head on his chest, "tired?" I nod letting out another yawn as I blink a few times to stay awake, he brings his arm around my waist pulling me closer, I watch him put his phone on the nightstand before he turns his attention back to me. "Lets get some sleep gorgeous" I smile as I shift even closer to him, "I love you so much E" he squeezes my waist and kisses my temple, "I love you more than anything in this world darling" I grin into him bringing my arm across his chest. Eli moves slightly and the lights turn off my eyes closing as I fall asleep.
YOU ARE READING
The Graduation List
RomanceIt's senior year and Anna Emery can't help but feel like she missed out on college experiences because of her workload... Can one moment change that?
