Seruno's birthday

The Birthday

"HELLO FRIEND SENOR. IT IS SERUNO CUMPLEAÑOS"

"Hi Seruno" you both said quietly

"YOU BROUGHT GIFT FOR SERUNO????"

"Here" Seruni passed him the envelope with watermelon seeds

"It's money. Sorta. Don't eat it all at once"

"MUCHAS GRACIAS PRIMO SERUNI"

"You're welcome" said Seruni looking down, scared of what would happen if he met his eye level

"I will keep this with the others. Come inside primo Seruni and his Amigo" he said, walking back in

You both took a long pause, mulling over the pros and cons of this decision for the billionth time of your walk here. And like the last billion, you both sighed and walked inside anyway with a heavy heart

You both looked around. Absolute pandemonium so far. Condiments sprayed on the walls, toilet paper hanging from the ceiling fans, plastic chairs littered around. Everything was a mess, especially Seruno's friends. It seemed his parents had managed to convince him not to invite that many of his friends, god bless them. There were about 5 of them all huddled together with Seruno staring at the screen while Seruno played some racing game. Seruni started biting his nails. Even if they were just 5, this would be scary.

There at the corner, near the table with snacks, ontwo kids were hunched up, a pink haired girl and a super nervous, quiet boy. You both recognised them as your friends, it could be no one else. As you both walked to them, you realised the trauma on their faces. Wide eyes, shivering shoulders, their noses and mouths hidden in their clothes, they were trying really hard to make sure nobody came near them. If their hair had started turning white, you wouldn't be surprised

"What's up here" you asked once you got close

"W-we both came early. Ou-our mother made us." The pink haired girl spoke in hushed tone, her teeth chattering.

"Dear lord, you two look like you've seen a ghost" Seruni said

" I would've preferred to see a ghost" the boy said matter-of-factly "I'm slowly losing my marbles here. A guy came here and started singing twinkle twinkle little star but to the tune of Humpty Dumpty. I swear some of these people are mentally insane"

"Ok keep it in. We'll be out before you know it" you said

"Why did I even come here" the girl lamented, hiding her face in her palms. "How many others are coming?" She asked Seruni

"Not many. From what I heard, there's only gonna be like, 2 more. There were supposed to be more, but they decided they had better things"

"Ok. Show of hands, who really wants to be here?" The boy spoke up.

No one raised their hands.

"So why are we even here?"

"What else are supposed to do?" You said

"Let's run away. Call the others who're coming, tell em it's cancelled. We'll go hang somewhere till we've to go"

"That's... That's actually a good idea" Seruni said, thinking about it. "We'll all leave one by one, slowly. No one will bat an eye"

"Not all of us. Someone should stay back, so they don't smell a rat" the pink haired girl said

At this, everyone got cold feet. Nobody wanted to bell the cat.

Realizing this, you sighed and volunteered "I guess I'll do it"

Seruni looked at you surprised "You sure about this?"

"Sure. It's ok" you answered, with a heavy heart

"Well, I guess it's decided then"