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The following Thursday, Billy drove Max, Charlie & I to school per usual. "Hey, Whitley?" Max asked as the four of us were about to part ways to our separate schools. "Can I talk to you for a second?" "Yeah, of course." I say. "I'll meet you at my locker." I say to a frowning Billy. He nods and walks towards the school. Max peeks over my shoulder to make sure Billy isn't in hearing range. "Okay, so, I don't think Billy's told you this, which is why I'm going to tell you, but his birthday is tomorrow." My eyes widen in shock. "What? Are you serious?" She nods. "He usually doesn't celebrate his birthday except for partying, but I thought I should tell you so maybe you can celebrate. He is turning eighteen, after all." I can't believe he wasn't going to tell me it was his birthday. What's his deal? "Wow. Thank you for telling me. I honestly can't believe that he didn't tell me that it was tomorrow." I run a hand through my hair. "He's a weirdo, that's why." Max laughs. "Anyways, I've gotta get to class. I'll see you after school." "Thanks again," I say before we part ways. I'm going to have to come up with an idea to celebrate his birthday. "What was she talking to you about?" Billy asks when I meet him at my locker. He snakes an arm around my waist. "She was just asking for... advice." I answer. "About what?" I turn to look up at him. "Billy, it's your sister's business, not yours." He rolls his eyes. "Whatever."
"Okay, we have about two minutes until Billy gets here," I say. Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan look at me each with a confused look on their faces. "His birthday is tomorrow." I tell them. "Good for him." Steve says, not caring. "Steve." I groan. "Can you at least forgive him?" "Whitley," he mocks me. "Can you tell me why i should?" "It's not my place to tell you, but he's trying to better. Please?" I beg. Steve rolls his eyes. "I'm not going to forgive him, but I'll forget about it for now. So what, are you planning to do something for his birthday?" I nod. "Yeah. I was thinking we could have a small get together and celebrate. Just the five of us." Nancy raises an eyebrow. "Whitley, you do realize we're not friends with him, right?" Jonathan snickers. I groan. "Yes, but you're my friends, so I was hoping that you guys would try to be his friends. Everyone else he knows is fake and popular. Two very gross qualities." Nancy and Jonathan share a glance while Steve groans, running a hand through his hair. "Fine," they say. "So what are we going to do?"
"What kind of cake do you think I should make?" I ask Jonathan while we play badminton during P.E. class. "I don't know. He kinda looks like a chocolate person." He shrugs. "True," I reply, hitting the birdie back to the opposite team whilst we talk. "So, you guys will be at my house by 7:30 and we'll surprise him then?" Jonathan huffs as he deflects the birdie from falling out of bounds. "Sounds like a plan." He says. "That's game!" The P.E. teacher shouts. "Switch opponents!" Billy smirks at me from across the gym. He and his partner, a popular guy named Danny Richards, make their way towards Jonathan and I. "Wanna play a round, princess?" Billy asks. I nod. "Just prepare to get your ass beat." I smirk. He chuckles. "That's my girl." Danny serves higher than I'd like, but I jump up to hit it back at Billy. Billy hits it back right towards me. I hit it back at them with ease, this time at Danny, who barely misses the birdie. I high-five Jonathan and grin back at my boyfriend, who looks impressed. Jonathan and I ended up winning the game. Victory at last. "You want to hang out after school?" Billy asks after gym class. "I can't. I... have to study for a big test." I lie. I actually have to make his birthday cake and get him a birthday present. "I can help you study." He smirks. I laugh. "Yeah right. But can you come over tomorrow night? Eight o'clock, maybe? Collin and Charlie are gone the whole night. Collin's on a work trip so he's having Charlie sleep over at Dustin's." "Yeah?" He grins. "It'll just be you and I?" He pulls me closer by the belt loops on my jeans. "Yep," I grin back, resting my arms around his neck. "So you'll be there?" "Without a doubt." He says before kissing me.
The next evening I clean the house quickly but efficiently. The cake is already made from last night. I take it out of the fridge and place it on the dining room table. Steve suddenly bursts though the front door carrying three boxes of pizza. "Hey," he says. "Wow. Nice cake. Did you make it?" "Of course I did. I don't buy that artificial crap from the grocery store." I scoff. "Alright. We have cake and pizza, now we just need Nancy to bring the balloons and Jonathan to bring the punch." "Done and done." Nancy says as she and Jonathan enter through the front door. She puts the balloons in the living room whilst Jonathan puts the punch in the kitchen. "Okay, we're all set then." I grin. "Now we just have to wait." "What time is it?" Steve asks. "Seven forty-" I start to say but stop when I hear the loud engine of Billy's car roll up in the driveway. "Shit!" I rush to turn all of the lights off. "Everyone, get in your spots." I take a match and quickly light the candles on the cake. The front door freaks open and Billy's footsteps sounds through the house. "Whitley?" He calls out. He walks into the living room and stops when he sees the candles on the cake. I flip on the lights. "Surprise!" We exclaim. He looks surprised for sure. "Happy birthday, Billy." I kiss his cheek. "H-How did you know it was my birthday?" He asks. "Max told me." I grin. "Blow out the candles!" He glances at me before bending down to blow out the candles. Not even a second later a bunch of people from school enter the house with drinks in their hands. "What the hell?" I frown. "Did you wish for there to be a huge party or something?" I ask Billy. He raises his eyebrows. "No...?" He then frowns. "You didn't invite them?" "No, did you guys?" I turn to the others. "I might have accidentally told some people we were doing this birthday party, but I didn't invite them." Steve scratches the back of his head. "I also might have mentioned that your brother wouldn't be home, either." Exasperated, I glance at the continuous stream of teenagers flowing through the front door. Tonight was going to be be a mess.
