Renee's River | √

51. birthdays & surprises

"You're a good friend," she let out a breath before giving me a hug.

"Bubbles! Happy birthday!"

I turned to see Logan and I smiled, "Thanks Logan," I suddenly remembered Kaleb. "Actually, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," he sat beside me, before his gaze dropped on Harper, "Hey."

She gave him a light smile, nodding as she brought her eyes to mine, "I'll be right back."

"Okay," I looked back to Logan who had a smirk on his face, "She's cute."

"Shut up,' I chuckled. "So—"

"Wait," he stopped me. "I got something for you," he reached into his bag and brought out a box, but I didn't need anyone to tell me it was a chocolate hamper. But there was something in there I couldn't figure out. It felt soft, though.

"Oh my, Logan you're so sweet," I gave him a hug.

"I know, I know," he cockily shrugged. "But what's up?"

"Uh so," I cleared my throat. "It's about Sydney."

He ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah?"

I nodded. "Do you... do you—"

"One thing you should know is, I don't like Sydney. She's hella forward. Plus, she tried to get with Aiden, and then Cameron, and then she tried way too hard to get Kaleb, which she did. But I think she just wants to be that girl who dated the basketball dude in high school."

"So, like, she doesn't take her relationship with Kaleb serious?"

"Something like that," Logan shrugged. "She knows how girls would want to date a basketball or football player, so she went for one. Why are you asking?"

I went ahead to narrate what had happened with River and he chuckled in the end, "I'm sure that wasn't her first time trying to get with some other guy. Kaleb's a fool for her. That's it."

"Can you maybe... tell him about it?"

"Why don't you tell him about it? You guys are like DJ Khaled and yelling. Inseparable," he laughed at his own joke.

I couldn't hold back a chuckle but I sighed and told him, "I'm sure you've noticed this. Me and Kaleb aren't speaking—"

"You always make up. Remember that one time in 6th grade when you had that fight over spaghetti," he laughed loudly.

"Yes, but that was food. Food I thought was mine but was actually his. This is over a girl he really likes. We're not speaking but I still care loads about him. I can't tell him. Someone else has to."

"So, you want me to be the one to break my man's heart?" He feigned shock.

"That sounded wrong, but yeah, he'll believe you, I'm sure," I nodded.

He thought for a while, "Okay, I will."

"Thank you, Logan." I smiled.

"Anything for you," he smiled back, nodding. "I'll see you later, okay?"

I watched him leave before turning back to face my food. Harper returned with a can of Mountain Dew.

"Do you feel better?" I asked her.

She nodded, a smile on her face. "I actually do. I'm sorry I had no idea it was your birthday today, I know it's small and it's something you can get for yourself, but I hope it's okay," she handed it to me and my heart melted, "Happy birthday, Renée. I'm glad you're my friend."

*

It felt weird. I felt weird.

This was the first time ever that I didn't see or hear from Kaleb on my birthday. I hated this. So much. On days like his, he would come over to my house, singing the birthday song terribly before going ahead to give me what he had gotten for me, and when he did this, he would explain why he got that particular gift. On weekends, we would go out for dinner, and on weekdays, we would stay in and binge on ice cream and grilled chicken his mom would have made.

But today, I didn't see him at all.

I bit my lip and pushed the door to the bakery open and my eyes widened as the biggest smile on my face came up.

*

Authors Note

Hey guys! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I was going through a writer's block.

It's that time of the semester where there's so much work to do, and I just haven't been the feeling the best.

Let me know what you think about this chapter!