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Caroline did not show up to school on her birthday, which rendered all of Clementine, Bonnie, and Elena's hard work useless. They'd decorated her locker and got her a crown to wear all day, but she never arrived.
Meaning they had to go to her.
Caroline wasn't home when they got there, so Matt dug out the spare key and let all of them inside. And they made sure to hide with their balloons and party hats and signs. It wasn't long at all before Caroline made it home, and they jumped out to surprise her.
"Happy Birthday!"
"What are you guys doing here?" Caroline asked, her eyes wide.
"Well you blew off school and missed our work of birthday art, so..." Elena took the fuzzy pink crown off her head and put it on Caroline's.
"Hope you don't have lice," Clementine couldn't help but say, making Elena smack her arm as the others laughed.
"Change into warmer clothes, we are going to the Falls. S'mores, campfire," Bonnie told her.
"Cake!" Clem added. "Like when we were little and I was still here. I've got seven of your birthdays to make up for."
"Except for the tequila this time," Matt said, waving a bottle around.
But Caroline was clearly bummed out. "Thanks, guys. Really, um, I'm just not feeling my birthday this year."
"I'm sorry, what?" Bonnie asked in disbelief. "You've already claimed your birthday as everyone's favorite day of the year."
"You once called the hospital and asked that I be let out of my school work for the day because it was a national holiday — they didn't let me out," Clem reminded her.
Caroline just sighed. "Yeah, and now, it's just a reminder that technically, I'm dead. Look, I didn't even like seventeen. And the only point to being seventeen is to get to eighteen. It's a filler year; I'm stuck in a filler year."
"You're not stuck, Caroline," Elena told her softly.
"Yeah, I am, but it's okay," she said, forcing a smile. "You know, it's all good, I'll be fine. But I just need some time to wallow in it."
Elena thought for a moment before glancing at Clementine, the resident living dead, an idea coming to her. "Okay, well I think I have another idea.
☽︎
"There it is!"
Everyone followed Elena through the woods, and she had a grip on Clem's hand so that neither girl would trip in the dark.
Bonnie looked at the crypt before entering it, a skeptical look on her face. "This is creepy, even for us."
"No, Caroline was right," Elena reasoned. "Technically, she's dead. Sorry. But you don't need a birthday, you need a funeral. You need to say goodbye to your old life so that you can move on with your new one."
