Not Very Stereotypical.

Chapter Twenty Three

"Happy Birthday Milly!" I heard Gracie squeal as I turned the final corner by the lockers on that Wednesday morning. After placing the giant gift bag I wrapped up the night before in my locker, I made a beeline towards Milly's locker.

Interrupting Gracie and Leighton's rendition of ABBA's Dancing Queen, I crept up behind Milly and squeezed her into a hug from behind, her fresh new fragrance engulfing me as I did.  "Happy birthday!" I said as I let go of her warm body. She smiled at me, showing her bright teeth in pure happiness.

"Thank you everyone." She said grabbing the last book out of her locker and pushing it into her bag. Gracie bounced on her feet slightly and then opened her mouth after impatiently pushing them together.

"Okay you can have your other gift later but you have to open this one now." Milly sighs with a smile on her face as she closes her locker and leans on it casually, hiding the excitement that's playful behind her eyes. Gracie pulls a small gift box from behind her back and places it in Milly's delicate hands.

The Tiffany blue gift wrapped box got pulled open by the ribbon to reveal a JEEP keyring and attached to it a emerald gift card with the iconic logo printed over it. She let out a laugh as she pulled it away from the cotton like filler in the box.

"Awh thank you, Gracie - it's so cute!" Pulling each other into the hug, Leighton looked over them rolled her eyes in a sarcastic manner before giggling at herself.

As I rubbed the edge of my eye, flakes of mascara dropped onto my finger along with the remainder of sleep that I missed in the morning. This causing me to zone out for a second, I missed the question Milly asked me so I blinked quickly to the answers being echoed for me by the others.

"Huh?" I muttered as I looked at them trying to gain understand of where the conversation just went. They laughed at my obliviousness and began walking away from the lockers.

"Milly invites you to her birthday party/ sleepover thing." Gracie confirmed as she happily side stepped around a group of people. "So we said yes for you whilst you dozed off."

I smiled gratefully, and squeezed Milly's shoulder with a big smile over my face. " I would love to come round, thank you." I blew her a kiss and carried on skipping with everyone else as we made our way to home room.

As we stumbled around, happy and ecstatic, many people wished Milly a happy birthday. Of course I recognised a few but some looked a few years younger than us. She wasn't your typical popular girl and I'd learnt that she'd much rather be stuck inside watching movies and reading books than be out joining clubs like her brother.

And as you could guess, Mitchell was quite the opposite, ever since they moved he had always been the more outgoing on the pair- despite the popularity levels being fairly equal throughout. Even though they are different in their ways their matching looks and humour bring them together in the ways many siblings would be jealous of.

"So who else is coming tonight?" Leighton asks as she drops into her plastic seat. Following similarly in actions, Milly sits next to her and grunts as she lifts up her bag that has been filled with cards on her way here.

She sighed before letting out a smile, "it's only small obviously and probably the same as last year." Glancing at me as she talks she continued to speak. "So just you three and then the few Mitchell invites, that's all."

Nodding in agreement, I simply sat through attendance, picking at my ring on my finger. It was only a cheap silver thing with a little diamond/gemstone resting in the middle of it but it was the short meaning behind it that encouraged me to wear it for non-fancy occasions, which all my other jewellery would never get to experience. The slight signs of wear on the ring remind me of the final adventure I had back home with my friends.
Emma gave me the ring the last weekend we spent together after I told her I was leaving. All my friends and I all had a final sleepover back then, just like when we were younger. It was the best time.