"That ass won't let us leave!" Kellen bellowed as he slammed through the door to residence not ten minutes after he left. People on their way out, stopped to stare at him and the people who were returning behind him. "There's a gate set up at the edge of Waterbridge property and we aren't allowed to leave without a travel pass from Corbis himself."
Jess and I escaped the complaining in the common room and headed back to our room; so much for weekend privileges.
"Some birthday..." Jess mumbled under her breath, crashing into the mess of clothes on her bed..
"It's not your birthday."
"It's Kellen's. They were going to celebrate at Giordelli's"
"Fancy!" I rolled my eyes. It was a hole in the wall pizza shack, where we got free pizza on our birthdays. Thunderbirds had won the rights to Giordelli's last year.
Jess sat up quickly, and dug her hand into her bag. "The bakery, the bakery... what's the name again?"
I scrolled through my phone. "Dulce. Here, it's ringing."
Knowing what she was thinking, I headed down to the guard's office and found out that we were only banned us from leaving, not from getting food delivered.
By the time I returned to our room Jess was wearing a sparkly blue dress and long dangling earrings. "Get dressed, Babe, we're bringing the party." She said in response to my questioning look.
I couldn't help the smile that cracked across my face at Jess' new attitude. I was used to a Jess who, though spunky, lived in her brother's shadow. I was kind of glad that Kellen hadn't sidelined her, because the two of us got to do this together, and I got to watch her grow more confident. Her attitude was infectious and I even allowed her to put me in the outfit she'd already picked out for me that I'd normally never be caught in.
A plain, loose-fitting burgundy camisole, with a back cut so low it covered nothing. The front sat in a V, not as plunging as something Jess would normally wear, so I was thankful. It was long enough that half the black mid-thigh length skirt I wore was covered, and Jess tucked one side into the waistband. I felt too bare and complained till she handed me my black leather bomber jacket and a pair of black stay-ups; at least I wouldn't be doing that God-awful sliding leggings dance that made some girls look like they had itches in unmentionable places.
I'd forgotten that we would have to go back out into the cold, but we'd be in the car so at the very least we'd be warm. But, unsure about leaving my room dressed like that, I tugged a thick baggy cardigan and scarf around myself and we left.
-.-
Jess was a genius. A secret genius. She'd called Giordelli's and ordered several unbaked pizzas, and asked them to please, please, pretty please, pick up the cake from Dulce and bring that over too. While the pizzas baked in the ovens of the common cooking area in the residence building, Jess texted back and forth with Jackson who was with the rest of the Thunderbirds Elite in the lounge.
Armed with pizzas and our party outfits we headed up to Kellen's room. Jess turned the corner into the boy's wing ahead of me, and grinned. "Oh, they're right there. Someone wrapped his door."
It was a silly birthday tradition, in which well wishes were written on birthday wrapping paper on the doors. Someone had done an elaborate job of decorating Kellen's door. From the looks on the Core's faces it wasn't any of them. It had to have been a girl, that's for sure.
Kellen opened the door and stepped in just as Jess and I reached the group. There was a loud pop, followed by a startled yelp and an awkward silence. "No! Nope! That's it. I'm done." Kellen sounded a touch below livid. "Cole, Jess... This wasn't you, was it?"
Jess and I peered into his room and cackled. Opening the door had somehow triggered an explosion of glitter and everything in the room was covered. They had even managed to rig it so that Kellen had taken the brunt of it. The poor boy looked miserable.
Jess deposited her pizzas on top of the ones I was holding and danced past everyone, kicking up formidable clouds of glitter. Docking her phone into her brother's music system, Jess threw a fistful of the sparkles into the air. "Glitterati party!"
"We bought pizza!" I said as I sauntered past Kellen to set the pizzas down on the table. There was a card laying on the surface, which I handed to Kellen with a smirk.
Happy Birthday, Kelly-Bean, hope you like your present. Muah —K
He balled it into his fist and flung it across the room with a frustrated growl, sending a spray of glitter arcing across the room. I couldn't resist ruffling his sparkly hair, giggling as some of it landed on my face. "Relax Fitzy, she bought the club to. you. Enjoy it!"
Hip-checking him into the group of people bouncing in his living room, I swiped my phone camera on. As I raised my phone, a glittering monster charged at me and I snapped a picture in surprise. I braced myself for the inevitable crash of his body against mine, but instead he grabbed my arm and swung me around him into the dancing.
The hot and infectious atmosphere of all of us letting go and being crazy, had me eventually ditching my jacket. When Jess and I went to get the cake I noted that every inch of me was covered in a sweaty glittery sheen. People we passed in the hallway stared, but I found that it was hard to feel uncomfortable when I was having so much fun.
Kellen pulled the two of us into a weird headlock hug, as soon as we set the cake down in his room. "You two made my night!"
"Awww Kelly-Bean!" I crooned with a teasing smile.
"What did you call him?"
"Ke—"
"Shutup!" To make sure I did what he said, he jammed a handful of cake into my mouth.
-.-
The impromptu party was over by Friday curfew; 11:00 pm. It was tame by most party standards, no booze, no drugs, no hook ups or break ups or fights. But then again, it was to be expected while we were still on school grounds, with a new guard watching us. The childishness of our party was not lost on us, and by the morning, we would all act as if it had never happened. As if we had been under the influence of alcohol and not just glitter and music.
For old time's sake, Jess and I were there first thing in the morning. Jess sang loudly to the music blaring in her ears as she danced past Kellen and nudged her still sleeping brother with her toe. They'd slept in the common area, and had attempted a clean up; a pile of glitter was swept off to one side of the room. Not that it made much of a difference.
"We came with breakfast and cleaning supplies!" I thwacked a vacuum into Kellen's hand and a bagel into the other and shooed him to the corner with Jackson and began dusting all the furniture off. Eyeing them as they finished eating, I issued a warning. "If you move and drop sparkles anywhere that I've already cleaned, I will force feed you every last piece of glitter in this room."
Kellen grumbled that he'd ingested enough glitter already, a little more wouldn't hurt, but they obediently stayed put.
"Okay. Seriously, one of you smells like a barn!" Jess wailed as she passed them.
"Go on." She ushered her brother into the bathroom. "Don't come out until the smell and sparkles are gone."
When he sauntered out, squeaky clean and smelling fresh, Jess prodded Kellen in with the end of her broom, like she was indeed prodding a farm animal into a pen.
"Thanks girls," Kellen said as he emerged from the bathroom with a steamy pine scented cloud.
Ignoring the way my eyes wanted to linger on his bare chest, I slammed the door shut behind him. "No! Moisture is glitter's ally in battle. Moisture equals stubborn unmoving glitter!"
He chuckled, shaking his wet head at me and then disappeared into his room to get dressed. The TV turned on and settled on a channel playing Saturday morning cartoons, and I eyed Jackson in annoyance.
"Nuh uh!" Jess threw him a rag. "You are not just sitting there, while we do all of this."
We worked in sections, taking turns sweeping, wiping and suctioning the offending twinkling bits of dirt. The boys fell into their best friend language, as they discussed their options for revenge, and I once again felt like a fly on the wall, until they pulled Jess and I into the conversation.
Surprised that Kellen asked me what I thought, I wondered aloud, "What does she hate?"
"Me."
"What are her peeves? She got yours covered with the glitter and that awful nickname. What pisses her off outside of here? Other than you."
Kellen dropped down onto the couch, a pensive expression settling on his features. He reached down under the front of the couch, dug out a marker and tossed it at me.
Jackson pointed to the frame that hung to the left of the TV; a makeshift white board. I wondered why I was the one writing, and then realized with mild irritation that I was the one standing closest. I uncapped the marker and waited for the ideas to start.
I jotted the ideas down and looked at the list thoughtfully. "None of this is going to be as big as turning your room into an episode of My Little Pony—Sparkle Princess Edition. You got anything other than hairy things, spiders, the color orange, being woken up too early and the Lion King song?"
Kellen grinned a terrifyingly menacing grin in answer. "I've got it! Jacks, call Leon."