Today is Alex's birthday.

Servando is the first one to show at our door. Since dad let us the house to ourselves, Allie created an huge group chat with all of her best friend's friends. The party will be held here tonight, so that's a good thing we don't have a game the next morning because of the rain that has been pouring for days. When I open the door, I immediately smirk and let him in : his cap is but backwards, and his clothes are a little bit better than they usually are. He seems nervous about this whole thing.

He kisses my cheeks and smiles.

"Hey, kid, you good ?" he asks with his usual relaxed tone.

"I'm good, what about you ?"

"I'm peeing my pants."

"Glad to hear it" I sarcastically say, and he cracks a smile, before wrapping his arm around my shoulder just to annoy me. "We better go to the kitchen, Bats and Al already are here"

He nods.

When we get to the kitchen, we encounter a funny scene : Bati is basically covered in flour, while Allie and Tobin are laughing out loud. They are cooking some chicken with I don't know what vegetable, because Alex 'likes to eat healthy stuffs'. When Cari came hours ago, she brought some carrots with her because my sister forgot to buy some.

Christen, on the other hand, is the only serious person in the room. She checks the vegetables every two seconds, making sure she's cooking them right and the temperature is appropriate. When her girlfriends comes near her to talk to her, she just tells her to go away because she has 'important stuff to do'. I like how her relationship with Tobin is discrete, but their eyes are filled with love. They rarely kiss in public.

Moe and Cari come back with bottle of whiskey and wine, while my sister just looks at me, smiling.

"Dom, Syd and Kristie will be here in a few" she explains, because her plan seems complicated. "They bring more food. And I asked Steph if she could get us some weed." Allie looks at me, thoughtful. "I guess Ash, Ali, Kealia and Carli are on their way now, they had an exam in another town today. Oh, and Kling will just take Emily on her way here."

"E-Emily ? As in Emily Sonnett ?" I ask, truly surprised.

Allie gives me a weird look. "Yeah. You two are besties or whatever, right ? I mean, you want me to cancel on her or...?" she asks, frowning.

"No ! She can come" I say.

"Everything okay between you two ? I haven't seen her around lately" she insists, trying to figure out what's going on.

I sigh. "We had a fight two weeks ago, but now we're good" I assure her. "I think."

She nods, knowing that I won't say no more. She then kisses my forehead - it's her subtle way to say she's here, no matter what - before going back to the kitchen.

When I go back to the living room, from which we see the kitchen because everything is open, I spot Cari and Moe, getting the decorations ready. Our living room basically was turned into some kind of very cool birthday party, with confetti and Alex's name everywhere. Someone on my sister's team even painted a weird picture of her, in which we only recognize her face, but the scene behind her is just so weird. It looks like a kid's drawing or something. I guess Bati is the one making it, because he sucks at drawing.

I collapse on the couch, waiting for my friends to join me. When they do, we just end up watching Grey's Anatomy, and then being yelled at by Allie because we are the only ones that aren't helping.

**

Ever since Dom Dwyer has arrived, let's say things got spicy. Servando, Bati and him are just on a corner of the room, sometimes kissing their girlfriends, sometimes just talking about video games or car. I really enjoy their presence, because they are like big bros to me, even though I still consider Bati as a newcomer.

When Kristie arrived, she immediately tried to help. After a few hours, everything is settled, and now we're just chilling on the couch while some of the 'old people' are getting dressed. Moe, Cari and I are on one, talking nonsense and making fun or a dude in our class, while Kristie and Steph are in another one, the blonde has her arm around the brunette's shoulders, playing with her long hair a little bit.

The door rang, and I was the one designed to open it up. I roll my eyes and reluctantly goes to the door. When I open it, I set my jaw.

Emily is dressed in a casual red dressed, pretty comfortable and long. The truth is that she looks absolutely flawless. Her hair are straight as they always are, with some braids on them, while she put some makeup on, which she never does. I take my time to silently check her out, while she just does the same. Well, let's say I didn't take long to prepare ; I put one of Allie's dresses on, and then took care of my hair a little bit.

She bites her lips.

"You look good" she whispers, kissing me on the cheeks.

They must've become red, because Emily frowns. I look down at my feet and try to keep it real.

"I know" I joke, and let her in.

She takes her jacket off, before smirking. I know things have not been easy those past weeks, but I can see in her eyes a sparkle I missed so much.

She seems to be tired, tho. "I'm sorry about Emma" she then says, looking at her hands. "She told me what she said to you. I'm sorry about that, I just wanted you to know I never said those things about you, Lindsey."

"What did she tell you exactly ?" I ask, worried.

Wait, did Emma tell her I liked her and shit ? I think, as I am starting freaking out big time. What if she talks about that, and I don't know what to answer ? I shake my head, while she is choosing her words wisely.

"Just that you are not advisable" she lets out, and I can clearly hear some annoyance in her voice. "As a friend, I mean."

"I see" I let out, bitter.

She smiles. "But she doesn't know you the way I do. You have your reasons to be the person you are today, and I wouldn't change anything about you. I told her to mind her own business, because we're friends now, whether she likes it or not."

"What do you mean 'the person I am today' ?" I ask, not understanding her point. "You mean, a mess ?"

"No" she says, shaking her head. She then bites her lips (what's wrong with her today ?) and smiles. "You are the strongest person that I know, Lindsey. And I love the fact that you let everybody know you're the badass bitch."

"That's funny" I let out, giggling.

She frowns. "What ? Why ?"

I slowly shake my head, realizing that she is the most beautiful and caring human being I've ever met. Well, I realized it before, but now that I am standing right in front of her, it's even more striking.

"Because you're the strongest person I have ever met"