A New Beginning

Surprise

"No peeking, Shane!" Shania giggled as she led her blindfolded boyfriend into The Pizza Shoppe where all his friends were waiting. It was November 17th, Shane's sixteenth birthday, and she had been keeping this from him all week.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Shane asked, reaching under the handkerchief that covered his eyes.

"You'll have to wait and see," Shania replied. "Hey, leave that alone!" She playfully slapped his hand. She guided him into the shop and towards the table where Adam, Will, Brandon, Nathan, Onya, Amy, Abigail, and Savanna were eagerly waiting. Savanna had even brought her new boyfriend, Connor, along. "Okay," Shania said. "I'm ready!"

Shane reached up and tore the handkerchief off his eyes. As soon as he did, all his friends shouted "Surprise!" at once.

"Woah! Where did you guys come from?" Shane looked around to see his smiling circle of friends. "You didn't have to do this for me!"

"Of course we did!" Shania exclaimed as she and Shane took a seat at the table. "It's your birthday!"

"Ya, well that doesn't mean any--"

"Yes, it does, Shane," Shania interrupted. "It's your sweet sixteen! And plus, we wanted you to know how special you are to us."

"Aw, thanks guys," Shane said, smiling gratefully at his friends.

Just then, a waitress brought two large pizzas to the table. "Enjoy!" she called as she walked away.

"Yes!" Adam cried. "Chow time!" He started helping himself to the pepperoni pizza, and everyone else joined in.

As everyone was busy eating and chatting, the door burst open and in walked Trip Turner and Lorie Braxton.

"I spy trouble," Adam muttered under his breath.

"Oh, great," Savanna rolled her eyes. "The last thing we need is them ruining our party."

Shania watched nervously as Trip and Lorie approached their table.

"Well, well! Look who we have here!" Trip smirked mischievously. "A little pizza party going on! Mind if we join?" Before anyone could protest, he scooped up a piece of pizza from their table and took a gigantic bite.

"Hey! That's our pizza!" Adam shouted. "Get out of here!"

"Yeah!" Will joined in. "You weren't invited!"

Trip chewed his bite of pizza loudly. "I invited myself," he stated coolly. "Me and my lovely girlfriend." He put his arm around Lorie as she grinned widely.

"Get out of here!" Shane yelled. "You can't just come and invade our party!" He picked up a fork and started to throw it at Trip, but Savanna quickly grabbed his wrist.

"Stop it!" she commanded. "No throwing things in the restaurant!"

As Shane put the fork back on the table, Trip snickered. "You can't do anything about it, can you?" He laughed as he snatched another piece of pizza and walked away with Lorie by his side.

"Oooh, that nasty boy!" Amy cried. "He likes to come along and ruin everything!"

"Just wait until I get my hands on him!" Shane snarled, clenching his fists.

"Will you calm down?" Savanna ordered. "Fighting with him is only going to make things worse!"

"Will you just shut up?" Shane retorted. "You act like you're the boss of me!"

Shania knew that things were getting out of hand. With Shane's fiery disposition and Trip Turner close by, she could see a fistfight brewing. Thinking quickly, she put a hand on Shane's shoulder. "Let's step outside for a minute," she suggested, getting up from the table.

"Whatever," Shane rolled his eyes as he reluctantly followed her.

When they arrived outside, Shania sat down on the bench in front of the Pizza Shoppe and Shane joined her.

"Look," Shane began. "I'm sorry I lost my temper. Trip was just really getting on my nerves, okay?"

"Relax," Shania tried to comfort him. "I just didn't want things getting out of hand." She sighed and continued, "I feel terrible about what happened. I tried to plan a fun party for you, and then Trip had to come along and ruin it all. I'm the one who needs to apologize." She rested her chin in her hands and stared at the ground sadly, holding back her tears.

Just then, she felt Shane wrap his arm around her. "Shania," he stated. "It's not your fault. You can't control what Trip does, and I know I have anger issues. So stop blaming yourself, okay?"

Wiping a tear from her eye, Shania looked up at Shane's face. He seemed much calmer than he was earlier. "Thanks, Shane," she replied gratefully. "I'll try."

"Good deal," Shane said. "I'll try to control myself better from now on," he added, looking at the ground. "Again, I'm sorry I got so worked up."

"Don't worry about it," Shania reassured him. "It happens."

"Yeah, it happens way too much," Shane sighed. He got up and headed back inside.

Shania wished she could help Shane with controlling his temper. I can tell he wants to change, she thought. He realizes he has a problem, but he's too stubborn to ask for help. She stood up and crunched a few leaves on the ground with her feet. Maybe Shane would be willing to let Shania help him if she thought up some kind of challenge for him? She knew her boyfriend liked challenges and always strived to win. As she joined her friends in the pizza shop once again, she hoped that Shane would eventually come to accept the support she had to offer.