Not The Perfect Ten

14) Birthday Party.

🌸Sang's POV🌸

After having that argument with dad, Marie helped me to pack my stuff. I didn't really know what we were going to do. But I knew the guys would help us. Marie told me everything that Kota said to her. How they belonged to a different kind of group, that they now considered us a part of their group, which is more like a family. It was all a bit confusing to understand but I could see in her eyes that she trusted them, and if she thought it is right to believe in them, then I don't have a problem. I trust Marie with my life.
We are here at Nathan's house now and it's almost 12:00 am. I couldn't go to sleep. We are in Nathan's dad's room, Marie and I, and Nathan, like yesterday, is sleeping in the guest room. I turned looked at Marie. She was breathing evenly and her eyes were closed, probably sleeping. It will be the first time that we are together on birthday. Because even after living in the same house our birthdays were not celebrated and we weren't wished by our parents.
I should wake her up, I thought. I was just going to say her name but she opened her eyes on her own. She had beautiful chocolate brown eyes and same shade's brown hair. She had many features of my dad. She had a stern face, but she looked very feminine. She could scare people easily by giving that 'mind your own business' look. She carried a confidence I know I never could, maybe because she is quite taller than me. We were very opposite in looks and habits yet we were similar in a way, maybe because of going through the same problems.
"You still awake?" I asked, checking the clock. It was only 1-2 minutes left for 12:00 am.
"Yeah, couldn't go to sleep." She said smiling.
"Me too." I said smiling back. Someone knocked the door of our room and then entered.
"Are you guys awake?" Nathan asked turning the lights on.
"Yeah," Marie said and we both sat up.
"Okay then, come with me, both of you." He said and started to go outside. I touched my lip, not understanding​ what was going on. But then we followed him.
When we entered in the hall, all of the nine boys were standing in a line, their face bright and a big cake was sitting there on the table. My eyes widened, surprised.
"Happy birthday, Sang!" Everyone said cheerfully, even Marie. I couldn't say anything. I was very bewildered and my heart lurched inside my chest. Was this planned?
Everyone was silent, looking at me for a reaction. Nahtan chuckled and said, "Don't look so stunned, Sang. We planned this with your sister. It was her idea to surprise you."
I looked at Marie confusingly, not getting when they planned this all.
She beamed and said, "Don't overthink. Just enjoy the moment, Sang." I felt ashamed of myself. She was doing so much for me and I didn't even think about doing something for her.
She caught the sad look on my face and asked worriedly, "Do you not like it, Sang?" My cheeks burned and I looked down, on the verge of tears. I was angry on myself.
"I really like it, thank you all of you. B-but I am sorry Marie, I didn't do anything for you. I didn't even think about giving you a surprise." I said and sobbed. "It's her birthday too, guys." I explained seeing their confused look. We were born on same date in different years. Like we were some kind of destined babies.
I couldn't look in her eyes. She touched my shoulder lightly.
"It's fine, Sang. I don't want it. I am just happy to have you with me on my birthday. Don't feel bad. Don't cry, please." She said and I hugged her tightly.
"I am sorry, Marie."
"Shh. It's fine. Don't be sorry." She said and removed her hands.
They all were looking at us with affection and sorrow.
"You should have told us Marie, that you, too, have birthday today." Luke said very seriously.
But then he smiled. "But I am glad you didn't​. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to plan a surprise for you too."
The guys parted from the middle and another cake was standing on the table. "Happy birthday, Marie!" They said, almost shouting. I was also surprised by this. Marie just stood there, frozen and stunned.
"Oy, did you think that we were not going to know that it's your birthday today? Well, we are fúcking smart and figured it out, let me tell you that." Gabriel said, smirking a little. I was stunned by their thoughtfulness. What did we both do to get such caring friends? Was this all just a beautiful dream?
"Thank you." Marie whispered.
"Okay, let's cut the cakes now. We have to play games afterwards, right?!" Nathan said excitedly​.
"Just say that you want to eat the cake, Nathan. We will understand." Luke said mockingly.
"You motherfuçker, I am not a sugar addict like you!" Nathan shouted and tried to thump Luke but he ducked down easily, chuckling. Others snickered.
"Stop fighting guys." Kota commanded and the room became less noisy. They put the cake with the other one and then asked us to cut it. We both went forward, feeling awkward because of all the attention we were both getting.
Both of the cakes were very beautiful and had our names were written on it in​ calligraphy and 18 on mine and 19 on Marie's​. I didn't have the heart to cut such a beautiful cake. But when Kota nudged me and said, "go on.", I took the knife in my hand.
We cut the cake and everyone sang the 'happy birthday to you' song. Luke and Gabriel were taking pictures from their mobiles.
We all ate cake with each other's hands and at the end my stomach was too full. Marie's face was shining with happiness and I knew if I looked in the mirror, I would look just as happy. Sometimes we wish to stop some moments of our lives. This was the first moment I wanted to freeze. I wanted time to stop right here and live in this moment forever. I never thought​ I will be this happy in my life. Actually, I never thought that a person could be this happy. I felt safe and secure. I knew after this moment, if someone asked me to go back to my parents house and live with them again, I would not be able to do it. I would feel suffocated with them after inhaling this fresh air.
"What do we do now?" Luke asked, after everyone was done eating.
"Gifts!" Gabriel said and some of the guys hooted.
"There is no need! We already got a surprise. No need for gifts. You all have already done too much for us." Marie said and I nodded.
"Chop chop! No one gets to say what we will give you. And don't worry, we didn't do much." Gabriel said.
Victor went inside and then came with two wrapped gifts. He handed one to me and then to Marie.
"Open it." Victor said.
I unwrapped mine slowly and found a box inside. There were two more boxes in that, one small another bigger. The smaller one contained a star shaped pendent with beautiful and delicate cravings inside it. I looked at it closely and found a tiny hidden heart in the star. It was the most beautiful pendent I have ever seen.
"May I?" Victor asked and took the pendent from me. He went and stood behind me, that's when I understood that he was going to put it on me. He lightly shifted my hair aside and then put the pendent around my neck.
"It looks beautiful on you." Victor said after he was done. His cheeks were tinted.
"Thank you." I said and Gabriel shouted - "It was my idea!!" I giggled. He was so sweet and nice. He seemed to be enjoying all this the most.
"Thank you, Gabriel, I really like it." I said and he beamed.
"Your most welcome, sweety!" He said, hugging me tightly. I hugged him back, my heart fluttering with happiness. I was getting used to them hugging me.
"Open the other box!" Luke said cheekily. I opened it and found a phone in it. It was an iPhone.
"A mobile. Now you both will have one. Ever need something, want something, call or message. And don't worry about it's cost, we can afford it easily." Victor said.
"I don't need it." I said.
"Not right now, but you might need it. Trust us." Kota said.
"And also, Marie said that you love reading. So I have downloaded Kindle in your iPhone, you can read any book you want in it. I will show you how it works afterwards." Victor said.
That really excited me. I really love reading books.
"It's Marie's turn now." Nathan said. Marie had one big rectangular box. She also opened the box slowly, taking her time to enjoy opening a gift. There was a diary in it and one scrapbook. A delicate ink pen was also there. I have never seen Marie so happy in my life. She looked up at us, like wanting to say thank you.
"The diary doesn't have dates written, so you can write wherever you want, whenever you what to. The scrapbook is for the photos of your birthday, you can decorate them. This was all Kota's idea." Victor said. How did Kota know that she liked writing, I don't know. But it was a very thoughtful gift.
"Thank you everyone. It's the best one I have had so far." Marie said quietly, staring at her diary with love. I don't know how, but I know she was going to write about all this in her diary. Maybe she'll make another poem too.
I remembered​ that other guys were sitting very quietly, so they might be bored by all this, but when I looked at them, they all were watching us happily.
"Let's play now!" Nathan said, bumping his fist with Luke. Everyone perked up at that
"What should we play? We have girls with us now." Luke asked.
"Maybe something​ girly? What about truth and dare?" Nathan said.
"Hell, yeah! This will be fuçking awesome!" Gabriel screamed in a high pitched girly voice. Some guys sulked. More precisely, Mr. Blackbourne and North sulked. Others looked curious but Luke and Gabriel were almost dancing.
Truth and dare?

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1) Sorry for the late update!

2) Hope you enjoy this one!

3) Hope you are excited for the next one!
Thank you. 🌻