"Happy birthday!" My mother screamed as I made my way downstairs.

It had been a week since the ice cream trip I went on with Damien. Does he care? No, but I wish we had more time like that. We haven't talked since- I mean, he came over a lot but we never went or even stayed in the same room together. He either ate dinner with my mother or brought over a movie she just had to watch.

I had just finished getting dressed, wearing vintage jean shorts, a black shirt that says "Me? Sarcastic? Never", and white, slip on vans. It wasn't anything fancy, I doubt we were going anywhere. I didn't have to go to school because it was my birthday.

Thank god.

I gave my mom a hug, holding onto her tightly just because.

My mom was always excited for my eighteenth birthday, she wanted it to be the best one. She loves birthdays, she loved giving gifts, and trying to make someone cry in joy.

"Is that the birthday girl I hear?" I heard Alex literally scream from the kitchen. My mom cringed as I saw my friends pile out of the room.

"Don't you guys have school?" I was more worried than anything, I didn't want them to ditch school for me, especially Damien because who knows how many times he has ditched.

"No we all called in sick. Plus it's a Friday so it's not like we are doing anything," Xavier chuckled, trying to ease my nerves. Emily was still bouncing on her feet in excitement while Ashley looked like she was going to kill her if she said a word.

Damien gave me a small smile while my mother wrapped her arms around me, "I know you hate gifts but this year is going to be super fun okay?"

Oh great.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't mad. I just felt bad when people bought me gifts. I didn't like when people spent their money on me, that's why I stuffed a five dollar bill from that ice cream trip with Damien in the glasses holder of his car.

I was fine with just having someone here with me. Whether it was my mom or my five polar opposite friends, I was grateful for that.

"Alright..." My voice came out uneasy as I stared at the ground, not sure what was going to happen next. "It's going to be a great day! Who is first?" Xavier called making both Emily and Ashley raise their hands.

First? First for what?

"What is happening?" I called out as Emily started to crawl on Xavier with her hand still raised, making sure she went first. My mom was giggling at the scene with Damien, them whispering amongst each other.

"Well, it's like a puzzle with gifts. You will get a gift and go to a place with each one or two of us. Then, at the end, there will be a gift we all pitched in for that somewhat go with the gifts we bought." Alex called, trying to pull Ashley off of Xavier's back with a grunt.

Oh, that's too much.

Too much gifts for a birthday.

I'm fine with cupcakes and a Men In Black marathon.

I wasn't going to ruin it by being an uncaring person. I loved they actually thought of me and I wasn't going to kill it. My head slowly nodded as Xavier pulled Emily off him, giving her a push to me. Alex did the same thing to Ashley, "You two are up."

They kept giving me creepy smiles and I almost wanted to say no to them. I felt like whatever they had planned was going to kill me.

Unless that's the plan...

I felt both of them grab my hands and yank me out of the front door. I was beyond nervous about this birthday. I was terrified, literally, I had the sweats and everything.

"Don't worry, ours is the best one," Emily chuckled, unlocking her car. Ashley nodded at me, a big smile on her face.

"Where are we going?" I giggled, watching Ashley run to open the door for me, bowing. I slid quickly into the car, waiting for one of them to answer.

"Shopping of course!" Ashley screamed, diving into the back seat. I let out a laugh, knowing it would be probably the most amusing thing to happen today.

"And not our typical shopping. We have things to buy you, that you need." Emily said, backing quickly out of the driveway. I gave Ashley a questionable glance from the passengers' seat.

"You guys don't have to buy me anything," My voice was quiet as I watched Emily drive, her eyes glancing at me for a moment.

"Bitch, stop," Ashley called, complete laid out in the back seat. My eyes widened at her words but I didn't say anything because Emily was already yelling at me.

"We all got an eighteenth birthday and we are giving you a birthday experience too," Emily yelled, making me laugh as she pulled into the malls parking lot.

"Plus I like birthdays!" Ashley squealed, crawling from the back seat into the passengers' seat with me as we parked. I gave her an odd look as her boney body punctured my thighs in pain. Before I even got a chance to hit her from the pain the car had stopped and she had already climbed out.

I was so confused by everyone at this point. Maybe it was because I never had friends for my birthday, I had my parents and brother. We didn't go any buy gifts for each other, we attempted to make their favorite kind of cake.

Ashley pulled my body out of the car with an excited high pitch scream.

Oh god.

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"Ashley I don't know," I mumble out at the outfit she was holding. It was a bit...much. It was a bit revealing and I don't know why but whatever they had planned was big.

"Oh come on! At least try it on!" She giggled watching Emily place a couple bohemian outfits in there as well.

I pouted, walking into the dressing room while they sat outside of the door.

I put on one the seductive outfit Ashley picked out. It was a completely white, deep v- neck, spaghetti strapped dress. Not to mention it was tighter than a speedo.

"Ashley no!" I gasped out, opening the door to show her. She let out a fit of laughter as well as Emily, making me laugh.

"Stop! I'm going to rip it!" I cried, my laugh getting louder. I sucked in a breath, shutting the door to the dressing room to change. Getting it off, was hard. I had to suck in and jump up and down just to get it over my chest.

I turned to look at the hangers, a small smile forming on my face. On Ashley's side of clothes, it looked like we were going somewhere fancy at some point today, but Emily's side was more beach style.

I reached for a deep red, spaghetti strap, V-neck boho maxi dress, slowly slipping it on. It was beautiful, it even had pockets! I pulled open the door to show an amazed Emily. Her body quickly got up from the sofa and she squealed. "It's perfect Em," Ash whispered, her eyes going to me.

"Okay! There is one! Now you need something from My pile!" Ashley called, pushing me gently back into the dressing room.

They were all dresses, every one of them. I slowly grabbed a short, off-the-shoulder, long sleeve, ivory lace dress. It was a tight dress but not as tight as the other one. It was beautiful, but I have no idea where I would wear this too. I stayed in the dressing room but it didn't last long because Ashley busted in.

"What's wrong birthday baby?" Ashley said quietly, making me smile. She had shut the door behind her, leaving Emily outside.

"Nothing, it's beautiful, really. I'm just nervous about all this." I breathed out watching her smile in excitement.

"I promise this is all going to pull together soon okay? Now I'm buying this for you-"

"Thank you, Ashley," I smiled, grabbing her and pulling my taller friend into a hug. Ashley let out a small laugh, patting my back before she left, leaving me to change.

When I changed I walked out with the two dresses, letting them buy it. I didn't even like it when my mom bought me a shirt, so it was stressful for me.

I really shouldn't have let them hold the dresses to the car because they started swinging the bags at each other. It was funny to watch Ashley run while Emily spun like a tornado into her with the bag.

"Okay, so your next trip is with Xavier and Alex-"

"Oh, Alex is super excited!" Ashley laughed, getting a nod from Emily. A small smile fell on my face. I didn't really talk to Alex a lot, he usually stayed quiet and listened to everyone look like fools or get attacked by Ashley. I wonder what Alex has planned... it must be good or really funny because he wouldn't be excited.

Ashley turned up the radio, letting out a giant laugh, "Thea its like this song was for you," she yelled, turning to me as I tried to listen.

I laughed at the John Legend song, surprised he even made a happy birthday song. When the song came to an end we had pulled into my driveway. My nerves set it again when I got out of the car.

Am I going to be alone with Damien then?

Oh god.

I haven't talked to him since he saw the birthmark on my butt. Yeah, it was a birthmark. I will never tell him, even though he kept saying "it's a birthmark right because that mole is huge,"

One word for that moment, Embarrassing...

As soon as I opened the door I was confronted with my mom screaming and the sound of laughter. Xavier came out from the kitchen covered in flower making my mouth drop open.

"What is going on?" I said watching Ashley and Emily go around me and into the kitchen. "Damien was helping your mom bake a cake and we wanted to join- well I Alex messed up and your mom threw powder at him. It really just went downhill..." He sounded traumatized which only made me bust into a fit of laughter. My mother came out with food coloring covering her pink shirt.

"Okay I know what you're thinking but he started it," She tattle making me laugh harder. Alex popped his head out before walking slowly over to me.

"I know we were supposed to go somewhere but since we look like shit we will just give it to you here," He said quietly, his head watching the ground like he was in trouble.

I couldn't help but cover my mouth, trying to stop laughing as I nodded. Xavier glared at Alex before walking to the couch to grab a small pink box. My mom went around me to close the door, pushing me further into the house.

The closer Xavier got the more I could see the detail in the wrapping paper. "Are those middle fingers?" I yelled, getting Alex to bust out laughing. Xavier sent him another glare, realizing the Alex must have picked out the paper.

I gave Xavier a reassuring smile as I took the gift from him. Alex came up beside me, letting out a nervous sigh.

"We notice you didn't have any pictures of your brother and you in your room," Xavier said quietly as I started to unwrap the present. "So we asked your mom and...I just hope you like it," his voice got quiet as I looked at the small picture frame.

I ran my fingers over the boy that had my mother's blonde hair and my Dads brown eyes. This photo was taken at the park when he finally agreed to let me date. I had cucumbers covering my eyes while I laughed at my brother who had oranges on his chest. Cameron was the definition of an older brother. That day he had taken me on a picnic, showing me how a guy should act. It was funny because he did what my father was supposed to do. He was my father figure in my life.

"Do you like it?" Alex asked nervously, getting me to finally look up at them. Tears were pouring out of my eyes as I wrapped my arms around both of them, "Thank you." I felt them both awkwardly hug back, getting a relieved sigh from Xavier.

I let go of them before quickly running upstairs. I knew exactly where to put it, my vanity-desk thing. I would see it every morning when I woke up, not to mention it fit beautifully in a spot by my makeup. I sat at my desk and just stared at it for a few minutes, taking it in. I didn't even know we still had this photo if I did I would've asked for it a long time ago.

"Thea come see this wreck of a cake!" My mother called making me laugh to myself before I got up, going to the kitchen.

Yeah, it might have looked like a wreck of colors and awful frosting skills but it was my cake.

It was made by people who actually cared for me, not to mention someone (Damien) had even frosted what my birthmark looked like onto a part of the cake. Alex even put a few flower attempts that started to resemble a feminine part but it was great.

"Okay the cake has to go in the fridge for an hour so go out with Damien now," My mother called to me, looking terrified at the disaster in front of her. I let out a small gulp and turned to Damien who wore the biggest smirk on his face.

I'm dead.

So dead.

IF ANYONE NEEDS A JUDGE FOR A CONTEST LET ME KNOW!

AND I REALLY WANT A TRAILER FOR THIS BOOK. SOMEONE HELP❤️❤️❤️😂

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