[✓] 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑, 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚗

fifty-five ☆ did we miss something?

MARCH
of twenty-twenty

narrator's pov.

zach picked up elena from school, and asked, "how was your day?"

"same old, same old," elena answered, buckling her seatbelt, "what about you?"

"i was a bit shocked today," zach started, "ellie, you never told me it was your birthday. i had to find out from everyone's instagram posts."

elena shrugged, "i never really liked my birthday. i've never had a birthday party or anything like that. anyways, i took the day off from work today."

"well, i think we should celebrate. just us," zach suggested, "what do you think?"

"sure, that sounds good," elena agreed, "you just have to drop me off somewhere really quickly."

"where?" zach questioned.

"um, st. barbara cemetery," elena answered.

zach nodded, acknowledging the fact that elena wanted to visit her mother. he drove to the cemetery, and asked, "do you want me to go with you?"

"actually, that'd be great," elena remarked, watching zach get out of the car.

the two walked over to elena's mother's gravestone, and took a seat on the grass. elena laid her head in zach's lap as he twirled and played with her dark hair. they sat in silence, and elena was thinking about her mother while zach was thinking about how great the night would be since everybody would be at peace.

"do you want to know why i don't like my birthday?" elena asked.

"sure," zach replied.

"this was the day my mom died," elena answered, her voice so quiet it was practically a whisper, "my dad brought me to the hospital right after school in third grade, and once i got in the car and saw him, i noticed something was wrong. i was so excited to tell my mom about what happened at school and how everyone ate the cupcakes i brought for everyone, but then they told me she was gone."

"oh my gosh, ellie, i'm so sorry," zach sighed, "i guess i understand why you didn't tell me about your birthday."

"honestly, zach, i'm usually sad and miserable on my birthday because all i can think about is my mom, but you made me feel better," elena remarked.

the two stood up from the gravestone, and elena embraced zach. when they released, she stood on her tiptoes to plant a loving kiss on his plump lips, and she held onto his hand while they walked back to zach's car.

-

meanwhile at zach's house, the remaining seven were setting up to surprise elena. presley and rosaline hung up a pale yellow and white banner with the letters of happy birthday, elena! written on each triangle across a plain white wall in zach's living room, and corbyn and daniel set up a table for snacks to be placed on top. jack and june were off to the local grocery store for the snacks and drinks, and jonah sat on the couch while everyone else put in effort for the party.

"jonah, can you get off your ass and help us?" rosaline declared, tossing the tape dispenser to presley.

"you guys are doing everything already," jonah scoffed, "what do you expect me to do?"

"maybe get cups, napkins, and paper plates for the food?" daniel suggested.

"alright, whatever," jonah replied, standing up from the couch to find the essentials, "oh, hey, mrs. herron. hi, reese."

zach's mom and little sister came inside from the backyard, and greeted everyone. myta remarked, "wow, it's so nice having people in the house! it's been a while."

rosaline laughed, "zach organized a small get-together for elena's birthday. they're coming back here in maybe less than an hour."

"aw, you guys are so sweet for doing this," myta gushed, "alright, reese and i will be upstairs. there's extra party supplies in the second room to the left down in the basement."

"sweet, thanks, mrs. herron," jonah remarked, heading downstairs to the basement.

he opened the second door to the left, and saw a giant box filled with party supplies. jonah tried to carry it up the stairs, but it was so large that even he couldn't handle it on his own, "uh, can someone help me?"

daniel snickered, "rose, go help him."

"what, me?" rosaline gasped.

"corbyn and i are putting on this tablecloth, and presley went outside to help jack and june with all the snacks," daniel explained, "you're the only one who can help him."

rosaline rolled her eyes, "i hate you all."

"love you too!" corbyn called out, him and daniel chuckling as they watched rosaline head down to the basement.

rosaline awkwardly smiled at jonah, and put her hands on the giant storage box. the brunet accidentally placed his hands on top of hers, and stuttered, "oh, s-sorry."

"i-uh, it's fine," rosaline replied.

the two carried the storage box up the stairs, and opened it to reveal its contents. there were different colored balloons, tissue paper, food stands, and much more items.

"hey, we can make those pompom decorations out of the tissue paper and hang them up to make a garland," rosaline suggested.

"and let's just pick out the yellow and white balloons to blow up so they match the theme," jonah added.

rosaline and jonah continued to think of more decoration ideas while jack, presley, corbyn, june, and daniel assembled the snacks. after only half an hour, the entire place was set up.

"you know, this wasn't so bad," june declared.

"i'd say we all did a job well done," corbyn remarked.

jack looked down at his phone, and saw that zach texted the groupchat that the two were right near his house, "oh my gosh, they're outside. quick, everyone hide!"

presley scrambled to turn the lights off, and her, corbyn, and jack hid behind the staircase while june and daniel snuck behind the couch, and rose and jonah positioned themselves behind the wall separating the kitchen and living room. the door opened, and elena asked, "yeesh, why's it so dark in here? zach, can you turn the ligh—"

"surprise!" everyone cheered, blowing into their noisemakers as daniel and jack popped two yellow and white confetti cannons.

elena gasped, "oh my gosh, no way! you guys threw me a surprise party?"

"well, technically it was all zach's idea," presley answered, pointing at the brunet standing next to elena.

she turned to zach, "you did all of this for me?"

zach scratched the back of his head, "i thought it'd be nice to celebrate you, and you deserve it, ellie."

elena hugged him, and placed another kiss on his lips, "i love it, thank you so much."

after watching the two kiss, everyone's eyes widened and jaws hit the floor. rosaline asked, "uh, did we miss something?"

"yeah," june agreed, laughter in her tone, "um, since when do you two kiss?"

both zach and elena looked at each other, shrugged, and headed to the snacks table. to celebrate elena, they all watched a movie, played a few games, and simply just talked. it felt nice for everyone to get along.

even if it were just for two hours.

...