I Miss You

Chapter 6

“Sure!” I grabbed Ruby’s hand and pulled her down the hallway to the backyard.

“Oh God, that was a little awkward,” Ruby said, stopping short at the drinks table and reaching for the Creaming Soda.

“Ya think!” I responded helping myself to glass as well.

 As I was sipping my soft drink Ruby nudged me suddenly and jerked her head toward the deck. Adrian was standing there, talking to some guys from the football team and laughing loudly at something. He noticed me staring and I quickly looked away.

Just as Ruby had opened her mouth to speak, Veronica’s voice came out of the speaker.

“Can everyone now please return to their assigned seats for the birthday cake, thankyou.”   

Ruby and I quickly hurried over to our table right at the front, before the crowd came pushing past the drinks table and through the back doors. Luckily Adrian seat wasn’t right next to mine but he was still on our table. To help distract me from having to talk to him while we waited, Ruby began talking loudly to me about the new brand of nail polish she was wearing.  

Once everyone was seated I went up on the deck and stood in front of the small table which held my massive cake. The cake looked amazing. It had four cakes one on top of the other and the icing was hot pink with leopard print. To finish it all off a glittering ‘16’ was stuck on the top and a pair of edible shoes was presented next to it. (Yep, you read right, edible shoes!)

Veronica lit the candles and everyone then began to sing me ‘Happy Birthday’. I smiled boldly at everyone as they sung, and spotted my mother smiling proudly at me from the side. I had seen a lot of girls and even boys at my school become embarrassed when people sung them ’Happy Birthday’, but I was used to this type of attention so it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

Once they finished everyone cheered and the familiar ‘Speech! Speech! Speech!’ chanted through the crowd.

One of the sound workers handed me a microphone and I took it graciously and waited for the crowd to die down.

“Thankyou all so much for coming to my Sweet Sixteen,” I began with the confidence that came with being a part-time model. “It has been an amazing night so far and it’s all thanks to you guys. I truly appreciate everybody who helped with this party, all the caterers, the bodyguards, the DJ, Veronica and especially my mum.” I caught my mum’s eye. “Mum I love you so much and thankyou for making tonight the best night of my life. And Ruby,” I turned to my best friend who smiled, her eyes sparkling with tears. “I’ve known you since forever and you’ll always be my best friend. Thankyou for always being there for me and for picking me up when I’m down, you mean the world to me,” I felt tears come to my own eyes but quickly pushed them back and composed myself.

 I looked down upon all the guests seated on their tables in their own specific groups. There were the cheerleaders, the musicians, the geeks, the sports stars, the jocks and they stared up at me, waiting for me to continue. I guess they were all waiting for me to put a special mention in for Adrian, after all he was my boyfriend… wasn’t he? But I couldn’t force the words out of my mouth. It was like my body had internally decided that it didn’t want to thank Adrian. And just as the silence was becoming awkward, I quickly made a hurried conclusion, “So thanks everyone and enjoy the cake!”

I pushed the microphone away from me as the guests all started clapping and cheering. I smiled graciously at the crowd, careful not to catch Adrian’s eye. Veronica then handed me a large, shiny knife with a bedazzled handle. The crowd all watched as I turned to the large cake and made a decent cut in the middle, still being careful not to make it touch the bottom like I always had been. Everyone cheered once more as I made my way down the polished steps and back over to my seat besides Ruby.