Project Jones - Birthday Boy

Chapter 6: At the Window

Robot sighed, watching Mr. Schmitt's car pull out of Socks's driveway, and onto the road leading out of the subdivision.

Standing on the grass lawn in front of the house just after sunset, the rest of the party guests chatted to each other quietly in the twilight, two holding brand new, out-of-the-box light-up swords, one in red and the other in green. Both were technically gifts to Robot, though he only needed one, and he didn't really plan on using either himself. They were bought by Mitch and Cubey as part of the entertainment for the party--the guests able to partake in their own bracket lightsaber showdown. The idea being that the last person to not have all four of their limbs 'cut off' by the saber wins.

Robot had started opening up the rest of his gifts, while Amber had gotten the VHS player up and running. As it turned out, she had gotten Nightmare on Elm Street. Halfway through carefully ripping open another present that contained a new, extra large t-shirt, the automaton had heard a thud, and all looked up to find Mikey, laying full ragdoll on the floor. Soon after the first brutal slashing, the red-headed nerd let out a pitiful moan and became limp, slipping out of the basement armchair and hitting his head on the table just in front of him, his face landing smack in the slice of cake that fell out of his hands when he dropped. Both Amber and Cubey ran up and scooped the skinny teen up in their arms with little effort, hoisting him back in the chair and trying to revive him while Socks dialed his father to come pick him up. Bowtie Boy had had enough excitement for one night.

A little less than a half hour later, lit up in the spotlight of the driveway, the party guests gathered outside to watch Mikey's rather impatient father drive the frosting-crusted child home. "He's gonna miss the lightsaber battle," Socks noted, in a pitying way.

"That's okay. I think the little dude's had enough partying for the rest of high school," Mitch said, sounding like an older brother.

"Speaking of which, I think it's dark enough now," Amber said, excitedly, holding up the glowing green toy. "Can we?"

"Yeah! Who's first?" asked Cubey. "Now that Mikey's out of the bracket, I guess I'm going up against Mitch."'

Mitch turned and folded his arms with a grin. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Come on, let's set up in the backyard!" Socks called out, ushering everyone around the right side of the house. All except Robot trickled through the fence between the front and back yards. The automaton stayed in front of the home a moment longer beneath the starless suburban night before slipping back inside the home, and back down to the basement.

He wasn't in the mood for a mock lightsaber battle. Given his new size and the added strength and clumsiness that came with it, it didn't sound like a wise idea. Even before the upgrade, he still had more than enough strength to bust one of these thirty dollar toys on accident, not to mention potentially harm his opponent. He didn't wish to tempt fate.

And besides that, he still felt terrible. It was his birthday party, and it was all he could do to resist looking miserable. After a failed attempt at finding Shannon after she'd run off earlier, either in or around the house, Robot noticed her car was missing in the driveway, and realized she'd left the party. Shannon had abandoned the party she herself had thrown, and it was all his fault. He felt like such scum, like he wasn't someone deserving of the good things that did occur in his life.