After flying overseas to enroll in a prestigious boarding school, Blake Graham assumes that she can finally catch a break.
Instead, she encounters the boy who she fought with almost every day as a child.
After moving back to England, then over to...
He was about to start making his way towards the lounge when his phone began to buzz with text messages. Reading them, he immediately smiled.
🌚: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🌚: HAPPY BIRTHDAYYHY 🌚: also don't go into the lounge. needs to air out. Clark had an accident. 🌚: BUT ANYWAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLEASE PARTY IT UP 🌚: MAYBE EVEN GET SOME BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY 🌚: BIRTHDAY SEX IS GOOD SEX 🌚: ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS YOUR FIRST TIME
He immediately dissolved into silent laughter. He didn't have a problem with his virginity, and he even joked about it amongst his friends, hence the birthday sex joke.
Deciding to sit on a bench and let his friends do whatever they were up to, he began to once again, think.
Every once in a while, he would just sit and think to himself. He would always say, reflection is the best way to gather your thoughts. Because with every gathered thought can come a decision that changes the course of your life.
How poetic. He wasn't really poetic, just a romantic at heart. His father always would say, 'that's your mother's genes taking over.'
But he was fine with it, it was true. He is a romantic. He always thinks of how wonderful it would be to have someone he would be able to hold close. There were numerous girls that intrigued him, but none as much- no. He couldn't.
It started off as innocent. Just an admiration. Then when small talks turned into full fledged conversations, it became a friendship.
He didn't think anything of it, even going as far as to- along with his best friends- try and get her with their other best friend.
He was happy for them- ecstatic. He wanted them to be together, he knew they were went to be. With every quarrel between the two, he would push them back together. With every long glance between the couple, he would mentally fist bump. With every hug and kiss, he would share glances with his best friends, proud of what they were able to accomplish.
But then with time, along the lines everything began to blur.
With every glance he began to feel his heart beat stop. With every hug and kiss he would feel melancholy. With every quarrel he would feel a small, sickening, sense of hope.
But he knew it could never happen. And he would just try his hardest to ignore these pesky feelings, to not let them ruin a friendship with someone who was like a brother to him. To not let them ruin a newfound friendship with someone who finally was able to share a shred of understanding with him.
He wouldn't let himself fall in love with Blake Graham. That was a promise.
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"Stop it, you're going to ruin the surprise!" Clark swiped his friend's phone, taking it away before he could text the birthday boy. Looking down at the illuminated screen, he groaned. "You don't just text someone 'come to the lounge asap, but take your time. no rush. nothing important or anything' and what kind of message is this? 'the lounge needs to air out Clark had an accident'"
"Why not? Also, because it was funniest blaming you."
"Because," Dominic stepped off the ladder, proudly looking at the banner he had spent ten minutes trying to hang. "Don't you think, if this was you, you'd get even a tiny bit suspicious if someone tells you to come somewhere but to take your time because it's not important? On your birthday?"
"Exactly." Clark pointed to Dom, before going back to carefully adding the seventeen candles to the custom cake. He was making sure not to make any miscalculations, because at the last minute they chose to get the birthday boy's face pasted on edible paper onto the cake.
"Where even is he? I'm surprised he's not in here napping or something." Blake poked her head into the room, taking a break from pumping all the balloons.
"He's probably talking to all the anxious girls and guys who are tripping over to wish him a happy birthday. He has fans, you see."
"Of course he does, but shouldn't he be here soo- oh fuck."
"What is it?" Clark asked, but a chorus of exclamations answered his question.
"Shit!"
"What?"
"Happy birthday!"
"How's it hanging?"
"Surprise?"
The newcomer looked at the group of teenagers with a perplexed look on his face. The room had balloons that were various shades of green (his favorite color) scattered all over. Multi-colored streamers hung on almost every corner, and a paper banner was crookedly hanging on the wall.
But that didn't stop him from grinning widely, the earlier feelings of guilt ebbing away to allow room for elation. All his friends were in the room, putting in effort, and doing different activities that they probably had never done in their pampered lives, just to make him happy.
What made him grin even wider was the assortment of Mylar balloons, floating in the air, attempting to recreate the Macy's Day Parade.
Bottles of cider sat on the counter, along with pies and other festive foods. Even a cake with a zoomed in yearbook photo from freshman year! How they got all of this? He had no idea. But all he knew was that these were the best friends he could ever ask for.
"Merry Birthgiving, Luca!"
And with that atrocious cheer, Luca knew for sure that their friendship was more important than any insignificant unsteady beatings of the heart. Besides, who knows? Maybe there would be someone who would completely flip his world onto its side.
But for now, all he was thinking about was his yearly slice of cake.
