Living It Up

Chapter Three

"Saturday morning

Jumped out of bed

And put on my best suit

Got in my car

And raced like a jet

All the way to you... "

"Ughhh put if off," I yelled out, waking up and almost falling off my bed because of the music blasting out from the living room.

"Sorry I woke you up!" Taylor called out, reducing the volume thankfully. "Actually I'm not sorry. It's eleven o'clock already! You both need to wake up. I've made pancakes for you," She called out.

I immediately got up, picturing the mouth-watering pancakes Taylor is famous for making. I finished my shower and all within ten minutes, racing into the kitchen, my stomach growling. Oliver was already sitting at the table, sleep still in his eyes but stuffing pancakes into his mouth in a very disgusting manner.

"So I was thinking we should head to the mall today. I need to finish my Christmas shopping before leaving for the wedding," Taylor said to me.

Our finals for this semester got over yesterday and our Christmas break officially started today. That reminds me, it's my birthday tomorrow. I cheered a little inside my head, before realizing the circumstances and felt my good mood slip away.

The twins were heading to France on Monday, where their cousin was getting married. I was a little envious of them, I had to admit. They had asked me also to go with them, but I'd declined the invitation as I didn't know their cousin, or any of their extended family, to be honest. It would be very awkward, especially given the fact that I am extremely socially- disabled when I'm outside my comfort zone.

"Hello? Earth to Lex," Taylor waved a hand in front of my face, bringing me out of my depressing thoughts.

"Yeah sure, let's go to the mall." I replied. Their cousin wanted them to leave today itself, but they postponed it to Monday as they didn't want to miss my birthday. Sarah and Blake were also heading to their homes to spend Christmas with their families but they were also leaving only after my birthday.

I on the other hand, was stuck here in this lonely apartment for the whole Christmas break. My parents both ran a huge firm, and were always busy with their work. They were currently in Canada for some business deal I had no interest in knowing anything about, while my brother Jason was in med school in London. I'm not really close to my family.

After Taylor got ready, we headed to the nearby mall. Sarah also decided to meet us there. We spent the afternoon shopping in the stores which were too crowded, thanks to the Christmas season luring in too many customers.

I was exhausted by the end and would have been in a really foul mood had it not been for the awesome Christmas decorations and carols blasting throughout the mall. I am not a big fan of shopping and spending my day in the mall, but the holiday atmosphere was infectious.

After visiting at least fifty stores and trying out hundreds of outfits, Sarah and Taylor were finally done with shopping for their clothes and Christmas gifts. Well, even I finished my shopping, but I could have finished that in just an hour instead of the whole day. I sighed in relief as we walked back to my car, lugging all the bags.

"So guys, I need to tell you something," said Sarah, as we got into the car. She paused uncertainly, fidgeting with the bag in her hands. "Yesterday at the party, I umm.. well, Oliver and I kissed."

"Whaaaat?" Taylor spluttered out the water she was drinking. "Ewww he's my brother, and you're practically like my sister. Thanks Sarah, now I'm getting disgusting images in my head of you both."

I stared at Sarah with my mouth open, before bursting out laughing. Taylor just made a gagging expression.

"Stop laughing, it's not funny! It was so awkward," Sarah glared at us. "We both talked about it and have decided to never speak about it again. We don't want to ruin our friendship. I just had to tell you about it, but please please do me a favor and forget I said anything," she pleaded with big eyes.

We just nodded, not trusting ourselves to open our mouths. We reached home in ten minutes and went up to the apartment to find the guys playing Call of Duty. And that's how we spent the evening, taking turns against Blake, who liked to call himself 'the God of COD', cue eye roll. He and Sarah headed back to their dorms after a while, and Oliver cooked dinner for the three of us.

★☆★☆★

I was lying on my bed, trying not to think of the lonely and depressing week ahead. I tried to remember the chords of some song on the guitar to distract myself when there was a loud banging on the door and it flew open. I had a brief vision of all my friends in the doorway, wearing hilarious clown hats before they all rushed to me, engulfing me in a group hug, shouting, "Happy Birthday, Lexi!"

Honestly, what would I do without these guys? They always knew how to cheer me up. We spent the night watching movies and chatting happily.

We went out for an early dinner on my birthday night. I wore a cute black dress that I bought at the mall the other day. After dinner, I dropped them all off at the airport, and they all went off on their separate flights, after a lot of tears from Sarah and hugs from Blake and the twins.

I drove back home slowly, listening to my favorite Beatles' songs, and trying to keep my mood happy and positive.

On reaching home, I immediately changed into my pajamas and was about to turn off the light, when the phone rang. It was my mom. I sighed, before picking up the phone.

"Happy Birthday, Lexi," my mom said.

"Thanks, mom. How are you?"

"I'm good. Canada is great. You should have come here for college, you would have loved it."

"Mom, we've already been over this. I like it here," I said, running my hands through my hair.

"Oh well, anyway. Talk to your dad, he wants to wish you," she said, and I heard the phone being passed to my dad.

"Hello Lex. Happy Birthday! How are things going? I hope you're studying hard," my dad said.

"Yes, dad. I'm doing great."

"Good. I'll talk to you later then, Lexi. Got an important meeting to attend now," he said, before hanging up.

"Of course you do, dad," I muttered, throwing my phone onto my bed.

I got into bed and sighed heavily. I lay there, staring at the ceiling and trying my best to fall asleep soon.

★☆★☆★

Hey guys,

Let me know if you find any mistakes. And it would mean A LOT to me if you could VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE :)

  >>>> Picture of Blake to the side :)