Trip Hazard

Under The Sea

Noah

"It's party time, motherfuckers!" Elijah rushes past me and slams a six pack of beer on the table in front of us. That's the third one in an hour. Our pre-drinks game is strong today. We each grab one and chug the first half.

"And not just any party, but Noah's birthday party!" Sadie yells. Everyone hollers or whoops in some sort of agreement. I grin, to the extent that my face begins to ache. They've already repeated this four times, but it still doesn't feel quite real. I never used to like birthdays, but the thing is when you spend them surrounded by people you love chanting your name, they don't seem so bad.

"Oh my God, I almost forgot to give you your gift!" Alexis shrieks in excitement, and runs out the door. I assume she's gone to her car, unless her gift is her absence during the party. Bold statement it may be, but I'd really prefer if it she was here.

Seth looks up, panicked. "Uh, I thought we said we were doing ours tomorrow morning." He shoots a worried look at Sadie. She laughs easily, a little tinkly noise.

"We did. Alexis' gift has to be given before the party though. She insisted."

"Ah, okay. It wouldn't matter either way, just so you know." He reassures me. "On a completely different note, I have a call to make." Seth shoots a glance at me, and tries to mask his relief as he leaves the room. I get déjà vu from the past five years. For such a logical person, Seth always leaves things until the last minute. You'd think he'd learn his lesson from the first year. But no, every year, everyone in the group gets a last minute present from Seth. And it's usually the best present out of them all, which adds insult to injury, especially if I try. Because I always try.

It doesn't take long for everyone to be sat around, watching me as I open Alexis' present. She can't sit still, she moves position every few seconds, with her eyes never leaving the present. I don't know how I feel. Alexis' gifts are always heartfelt, but can be quite...hit or miss. And she got me a helicopter ride last year, so it's not looking great for 18 year old me.

I wish I could say I was careful with the box, but I really wasn't. I see Lachlan wince at the way I tear into the paper. I always argue that the wrapping is a complete waste. Who really cares about the packaging when there's something super cool underneath. And cool it is, in all its glory.

"Wow, do you want to give his ego another boost? He's an asshole enough as it is, no need to give him another opportunity to show off." Seth nudges Lachlan and they chuckle.

I don't respond, just look down at the camera with a grin. It's one of the professional ones, with the fancy lenses, and a brown leather case with my name branded on.

"Thought we'd get some good action shots tonight!"

"Thanks, Lexi. Truly, you always get such perfect gifts."

"It's cool, Lex, but why a camera?" Lachlan looks slightly confused, as does Seth. Elijah grins.

"Well, I've been planning this for about eight months, Noah mentioned that he wanted some way to remember his final year. Then, two months later he mentioned that photographs were the only way to really remember things, because our memories often betray us." She looks at me. "That was pretty pessimistic by the way."

"True, though," I add.

"And then, last month Noah joked that Polaroid cameras were super lame, because being a hipster doesn't mean you have to take photos with shitty quality, so I got one of the more modern looking ones."

"True, though."

"Then finally, I thought you'd want something to take pictures with when you go travelling with Clara over the summer."