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it was maddys birthday, both of the perez sisters were dressed in black dresses as they sat around the howard's dining room, waiting for cassie to bring maddys cake to the table.
valerie kept a small smile on her face, watching maddy talk to all her friends with a huge smile never leaving her face. val hadn't said it out loud, but she was sad maddy was eight teen and was probably moving out sooner or later.
the two didn't hangout much, and didn't always get along but valerie didn't want to be alone at her house. she loved maddy, and she hated the thought of her leaving, but she knew it would happen eventually.
as cassie set the cake on the table, val playfully scoffed. there was a picture of maddy on it, it was fully lit up by the candles. cassie placed the cake right in front of maddy, and everyone began dining happy birthday to her.
maddy swayed back and forth, looking at everyone until her eyes met valerie's, and she stopped for a second to smile at her. valerie returned the smile, as maddy made a wish and blew out her candles.
every clapped, before cassie handed maddy her present. it was huge notebook, on the front said 'maddy' in big words, and inside were a bunch of pictures of cassie and maddy. maddy looked up at cassie as a tear fell down her face, cassie was crying too and it made valerie feel all sad because of it.
they hugged, the two whispering 'i love you' to each other. after that everyone else gave maddy their gifts, her getting up to hug them right after. valerie decided on a teddy bear that reminded her of when they were younger and maddy had one of them, and a long letter telling her how much she loves her and much more.
valerie smiled into her and maddys hug, not remembering when the last time the two hugged was. "i love you so much, okay?" maddy whispered, tightening the hug. "i love you too, always." valerie replied, it was something she had always said, which made maddy snicker.
maddy wiped her eyes, fixing herself before they all moved to the stairs to take pictures. valerie sat next to lexi, and noticed how she was hiding behind kat, and nudged her. "you look great, lex."
lexi smiled, "oh, thank you."
valerie nodded, leaning closer to lexi, and this caused lexi to finally pose for one of the many photos her mom had took.
lexi began handing out cake shortly after that, valerie didn't eat anybecause she didn't think cake was the greatest. so, as soon as that was over and lexi was cleaning up, the rest was drinking, laughing and enjoying their time. valerie wasn't going to drink, even if she had before, she was young. she could wait to do the stupid things she'd eventually do anyway. but instead of just watching and feeling left out, she was texting ashtray all about it.
eventually, she looked up from her phone and realized cassie wasn't in the room. she glanced around but didn't see her anywhere, making her confused until she saw her walk past outside, stopping the lean against the wall by the window.
