Fate's Return (Twisted Fate, Book 2)

Chapter Thirteen

"Saturday?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned to look at me while unbuckling her seatbelt.

I looked at her, surprised. "Your birthday?"

"And here I thought you'd forgotten." Hurrying to get our things, we met on the sidewalk, and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "But I'm so glad you asked."

"I'm going to hate what you are about to say, aren't I?" Looking up and to the side, I studied her, but she gave nothing away.

"Probably." She smiled and nodded.

I laughed. "Just make it quick."

"So, my parents have given me an option this year: have a party or a day shopping with their credit card."

"So, where's party?"

She replaced her hand with her cheek on my shoulder and looked up at me with forlorn eyes. "They're giving me a thousand-dollar limit, Aly."

I whistled. She could buy a lot of barely-there shirts with matching skirts with that amount of cash. "So then where are we shopping?"

She straightened up and replaced the "help me" look with determination. "I want the party and the money."

"Well, see, the thing about options is that you usually have to make a choice—A or B," I said, lifting my hands in the air like a scale to balance her choices. "You can't have both."

"But we can."

I stopped walking and dropped my hands to my side. "What are you talking about?"

She paused, looking up the path to school and back to me, and hitched her bag higher on her shoulder as she sighed. Everybody that passed us looked at her, but never got caught staring. Me? I was the afterthought of their perusal.

"Suzie, your parents aren't going to give you the cash and me the party, or vice versa. So, unless you tell me whatever you're thinking, I'm lost, which means I can't help you."

"Well, you didn't celebrate your birthday at all last year."

"Because David had just died."

"Right. But I was talking with your parents before I left on Monday, and they were thinking about giving you a party. Sort of like a belated Sweet Sixteen since, apparently, you didn't have one of those, either."

"Because you had just stopped being my friend."

"Exactly!" She exclaimed and then winced. "Sorry about that." She shook her head, and in the next moment any remorse she might have been feeling was replaced with a smile. "Anyway, what if I accept the shopping from my parents, and we share the party from your parents?"

It took a few minutes to realize she wasn't joking, and then a few more to quit laughing. It was absurd! But then, if people thought Suzie was throwing a party, they would at least come. It wouldn't be wasted on my parents, Suzie, Deryk, and I'm assuming, Brenan. I had other friends, but most were somehow attached to my friendship with Suzie. Those who weren't derived from our association weren't much for partying. But a thousand dollars?

"What's in it for me?" I asked. Sharing wasn't a problem, but a party? For me? I'd rather get a thousand dollars.

"Huh?"

"If I share my party with you when you have a chance to have your own, what do I get? I know what's in it for you—cash." I shrugged. "I have no incentive."

I began walking again, pausing only to open one of the main doors leading into the dull gray hallways of Royal Academy.

"You'll have a killer guest list," she said, hurrying to catch up. "Plus, you'll be throwing the last exclusive party during our entire four years at Royal."