collarbones

04 ~ euphoria

Annabelle hummed to herself as she strolled along the pavements, before making a sharp left turn into a crooked driveway. She trudged along the pebbles and stones shakily, the gift bag flailing wildly in her right hand as she tried to regain her balance, before knocking on the mahogany door.

Before she could rectify her dishevelled appearance, Katie – her closest friend – opened the door swiftly, adorned in a beautiful navy skater dress that reached her knees. “Anna!” she screamed excitedly, grabbing Annabelle’s hand and tugging it forcefully, pulling her into a hug.

Anna coughed slightly, her mouth full of Katie’s auburn hair. “Katie, I saw you yesterday at school,” Annabelle chided as she retreated from the hug, entering the house properly and taking off her boots. “Why are you so happy?”

At this, Katie rolled her eyes before grabbing Anna’s hand once more and rushing into the living room, with Anna trailing behind her.

“It’s my birthday Anna!” she exclaimed, flapping her arms wildly. “I’m seventeen! Come on, don’t tell me you forgot?” Katie furrowed her eyebrows as she released Anna’s hand, putting her hands on her hips instead as she looked at Anna intently.

Anna rolled her eyes, fully aware that Katie was joking. “Like I’d forget,” she scoffed, gesturing to the brightly-coloured decorations that were plastered across the room. “You wouldn’t stop going on about this party all week Katie.”

“Humph!” Katie responded, turning her nose in the air dramatically. At this, Anna simply threw the bag she was holding in Katie’s direction, knowing that Katie had been stealing glances at it throughout the conversation.

While Katie opened her present – which Anna had wrapped five times to annoy her – she studied the room. Katie’s fabric corner sofa was in an almost-perfect condition and several bean bags were scattered along the floor for the movie night that Katie had planned for her birthday. The flat screen TV was about 50 inches wide, and Katie’s room had surround-sound speakers because she was a movie fanatic. Anna also noticed that the cream carpet was new – she remembered Katie telling her that they’d replaced it the other week – and Anna slid her feet through the soft carpet, humming happily.

“Oh my god,” Katie gasped as she finally unwrapped the present, her eyes wide in awe. She looked up at Anna in disbelief. “You didn’t.”

Anna grinned. “I did.”

In Katie’s hands was a Canon EOS digital SLR camera, which Anna had put £10 of her weekly wages aside for consecutively over the past year. Anna was proud of her present – she knew that Katie adored photography, but couldn’t afford a camera herself. Although it didn’t seem it, Katie’s family struggled financially sometimes so Katie wasn’t keen on spending ‘unnecessary’ money.

Katie delicately placed the box containing the camera on the table before sprinting towards Anna, tears in her eyes.

She crushed Anna in yet another hug, causing the both of them to fall onto the ground, before kissing her cheek. “Thank you, Anna,” she breathed.

Annabelle chuckled slightly. “You’re welcome.”

The doorbell rang. “Ah, that must be Jeremy,” Katie guessed, bouncing back up onto her feet.

Anna got up from her position sluggishly to answer the door, but Katie waved her hand in dismissal.

“Mum will get it,” she informed.

Annabelle sat on the sofa as more and more of their friends slowly began to arrive, Katie’s living room becoming smaller in the process. Once everybody had arrived and the presents had been received, Katie got up and clapped her hands energetically, her blue eyes shining with mirth.

“Okay guys, the drinks and snacks are being distributed as we speak, and Iron Man 3 is in the DVD player,” she announced. She smirked at them all.

“Let the movie night begin!” Anna declared, picking up a brownie from the bowl that passed her as she got consumed by Katie’s state of euphoria.

She bit into the brownie, her senses overwhelmed by the mixtures of flavours that entered her mouth.

Tonight, she was going to eat.