Hayden

Chapter 2.

I drove Grace, Braxton, and myself to my house. I already knew my parents would be waiting there with a cake. Not to mention, Uncle Isiah and Aunt Charlotte would there too. They've never missed one of my birthdays.

Uncle Isiah and I were actually pretty close, it's kind of crazy to say or think. Every time he had tickets to football game, or anything really he always invited me. I've never said no, especially since spending time with him also meant hanging out with Braxton. I never really thought about it, but maybe that's the reason Brxton and I are close. Jacob always wondered why I was friends with him, since he was barely a sophomore and we were seniors. Even though we weren't related through blood, everyone knows him as my cousin. I was proud of having a cousin like him, and Uncle like Isiah as well. Growing up, I've seen him as my second Dad. No matter what it is, if I need something he's more than happy to help. I admire that about him. I hope that when my sister's have their kids, I can be that good of an uncle to them as well.

We pulled up to my house, and I quickly recognized Uncle Isiah's car. I knew they'd be here. I parked the car outside on my drive way, and I unbuckled myself.

"Okay, let's get our story straight," I started to say. I turned around to face Braxton, and I faced Grace as well.

"What story?" Grace asked.

"Look, neither of our parents wanted us to go to that party. If they ask we went to dinner, and we watched a movie. We can tell them the movie ran later than we thought," I said to them. Grace rolled her eyes, I could tell she wasn't happy about what I was asking from them.

"Hayden, it's eleven at night. They're gonna pissed no matter what," Grace pointed out.

"Exactly, which is why we need to tell them we were at a movie. We don't need them to be more upset, than they already will be," I explained to her.

Grace crossed her arms over her chest, she looked annoyed at the plan. Grace didn't like when I brought her into my lies, which is more than a few times. Usually she has to cover for me when I sneak out, which is almost every weekend. I'm not a bad kid, I just like to have fun. Also, when you have friends like Jacob, and a girlfriend like Savannah you can't expect to stay at home.

"Fine, let's just get this over with. I just want to sing happy birthday, eat cake, and sleep," Grace said.

Grace quickly got out of the car. I grabbed the present Avery got me, and followed behind Grace. Braxton got out of the car as well, and I could tell he was looking nervous. He was probably scared that we would get caught with our lies, but I think we would be fine.

Grace opened the door, and both Braxton and I followed her inside the house. Sitting in the living room were the rest of my family. Even though we weren't home early like they wanted to, they still seemed to be having a good time. Uncle Isiah and Aunt Charlotte were sitting on the couch with me.  They were laughing about who knows what, but they barely even noticed us when we walked in. It took for Grace to walk in, stumble a little bit and sit next to Hope.

"Hey, where were you three?" My Dad asked.

Braxton went up to his parents, and gave them each a hug. It's like they hadn't seen each other in a while time, but we were only gone for a few hours. Either way, I sat down in between my parents. I leaned all the way back on the couch, and just placed my hands behind my head.

"We went to dinner, and we watched a movie," I answered him.

"Happy birthday, son," Uncle Isiah said to me. He stood up, and I did too. He walked over to me and gave me a hug, and I returned it.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," Aunt Charlotte said after Isiah. She also gave me a hug, and I smiled.

I sat back down on the couch, and so did my aunt and uncle.