Unexpected

Chapter 37

Chapter 37 (Niall's POV)

Maddie's 18th birthday is coming up this week on Friday and I want to do something special. I called Bree and Max over to my house to talk about what we could do. They both suggested ideas, but I shot each one down. Then, a lightbulb turned on in my head.

"A surprise party!" I declared. 

They agreed with my idea.

"We could do it hereat my house. She'll have no clue!" 

Bree stood up to grab a piece of paper and a pen. 

"Who should we invite?" Max wondered aloud. 

I turned to Bree. "There are some people at school that Maddie is good friends with," she said, writing down the names Eleanor, Danielle, and Perrie. She also wrote Zayn, Liam, and Louis.

I tensed at the male names. "Who're they?" I growled.

Bree groaned. "Niall, they're her friends! And besides, each boy has a girlfriend."

I just glared at her. She went back to the guest list and added 10 more people. Thankfully, all were girls. I thought for a moment. There were some of my friends that I introduced Maddie to before. She seemed to like them. 

"Can I have that?" I asked Bree.

She nodded, passing the paper and pen to me. I wrote down the names Will, Noah, Danny, Zack, and Joey. All my best mates. We then talked about the food, music, and most importantly how we were going to stall Maddie. 

"I could take her out to get our nails done," Bree offered. 

It was settled. While they were off doing that, Max and I would be setting up my house. I sent out a text invitation to my mates, and Bree did the same to the girls and Louis, Zayn, and Liam. I tried to get them off of the list, but Bree insisted that they would be there. Apparently, they're Maddie's best 'guy friends.'

                                          ****

I wandered through the mall, trying to find a good birthday present for Maddie. I went through 5 stores already. Nothing I saw really popped out. As I walked down the aisle in the 6th store, I spotted a nice photo frame. I picked the frame up and noticed that on the edge, the word love was engraved into it. I knew it wasn't the fanciest gift, so I also stopped by another store and bought her a nice purse. 

I soon returned home. The items were taken upstairs and into my room. I rummaged through a stack of pictures on my nightstand. Each picture was of Maddie, or both of us. I picked out my favorite one. It was the two of us at the beach. We had taken it in the Caribbean. We both smiled at the camera as Bree snapped it. The picture was placed in the photo frame and I put the both gifts in a bag. I hid them in my closet until I would take them out of Friday. 

I swore under my breath as I looked at the time. I grabbed my keys, rushing downstairs and out to my car, driving to work.