American Sweethearts

30

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Sarah! Happy birthday to you!" Quinn and Stacey cheer, clapping their hands together. I laugh at them, leaning forward to blow out the candles. Of course, Quinn grabs her camera, snapping a picture of me in the process. I pick the knife up off the table, ready to cut the cake.

"If you touch the bottom, you have to kiss the nearest boy!" Stacey calls.

"there are no boys here," I laugh.

"Kiss me instead," she winks.

I stick the knife into the cake, cutting it all the way to the bottom. I look up, and give Stacey a quick kiss. My sister-in-law. Well, my soon to be sister-in-law.

"Look at us!" Quinn grins. "A perfect little family!"

"You're so lame," I tease.

"Shut up! I'm just sentimental!" she defends. "Now cut me a piece of cake, will you?"

"She's the birthday girl," Stacey says. "Let me do it."

She slides the cake over to her, and cuts us each a piece. They went out and bought it for me this morning. I only just arrived here, and they had a whole dinner, with dessert, waiting for me. Even though my birthday isn't until tomorrow, we have other plans then. Every year, on our birthdays, we visit our parent's graves. But now that I'm here with them, we're also going out to celebrate Quinn and Stacey's engagement. So, tonight we're having my birthday dinner.

Our trip here didn't go exactly as planned. We left way too late. Lena was passed out on the couch with Steph, and Owen wasn't even home. He'd left the party with a guy and a girl, and hadn't been home since. Tyler managed to get in contact with him, but he took his time returning home. By the time he did, Lena was vomiting. I've never seen her so hungover, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who pukes after drinking alcohol.

Steph eventually sobered up and drove herself home, but not before kissing Lena goodbye.

I must've missed out on a lot last night, but I barely had a chance to talk to either of the girls about it.

Once everyone had taken some pain relief, we started packing. It's only a short trip, but we still needed clothes. We ordered pizzas for lunch, and that's when the arguing started.

Surprisingly, it wasn't between Tyler and I. I wasn't even involved at all. It was Lena, Owen, and Tyler who fought.

They couldn't decide which car to take, and who'd drive. Owens truck only has two seats, so that one was out of the question, but Lena's car is small, and doesn't have air-conditioning in the back, which was a major issue for Owen. Tyler's car doesn't have air-conditioning at all, and is, what Lena called 'a can on wheels'. She has a point there, his Jeep is so old it doesn't have any seatbelts, or safety precautions at all, it seems.

Owen then suggested going with two cars. He and Tyler would go in his truck, and Lena and I would go in hers. That way, we'd have no problems with air-conditioners or safety. But Lena objected to that, claiming that it was a waste of gas, which I agreed with.

Then, they argued about who would drive. Lena had sobered up quite a bit, but Owen didn't trust her to drive. But Lena didn't want Owen to drive, because he has a history of crashing cars. So, Tyler offered to drive. He hadn't had anything to drink last night, so it seemed like a good idea. But then Owen sniffed his fingers, and accused him of smoking a joint this morning. Tyler didn't deny the claim. He just smirked, and shrugged.

In the end, it was decided that Lena would drive us in her own car, but we'd rotate through the passenger seat, so we'd all have time in the cool area. I have to admit, it did get pretty hot in the back, but I don't think it was worth stopping every half hour for.