AUGUST 2018 - LOS ANGELES
"No, it's okay... Truly, mom... I'm not alone. I have everyone with me so don't worry about me. I love you both too." Eliana frustratedly sighed while hanging up, abruptly throwing her cellphone on the table.
She gazed around her empty apartment before getting up from the chair and stepping closer to the window. A fog of smoke coating Los Angeles as parts of it burned in flames. The city had recently declared the wildfires as a national disaster and it so happened the weekend of her eighteenth birthday. The weekend where her parents were supposed to come visit and celebrate her becoming an adult before the aircraft's company cancelled all of the flights to Los Angeles, telling their clients it was too dangerous to travel. Luckily, the wildfires weren't near the studios or the apartment block but still, production had strongly recommended for the cast to stay inside. On that note Trinity's parents had decided to let her stay with the rest of the kids, thinking it would be safer for the young girl as Eliana immediately offered to look after the young child for the weekend. The soon to be eighteen year old inhaled a sharp breath, taking in the frightening view before her eyes as she imagined the ones who needed to flee their home, a grateful feeling warming her saddened heart. Since a young age, she had always imagined what her eighteenth birthday would look like and nothing was going according to plan, she was trapped in a building with nothing to do. On the table, her phone repeatedly moved, a buzzing sound throbbing on the varnished wood.
BaiBai:
I need to talk to you, ASAP.
Join me downstairs.
Eliana frowned at the screen, quickly putting on her father's grey hoodie and heading downstairs, to the common room. Her thoughts going back and forth on the reasons why Bailey needed to talk to her, worried that it might have had something to do with her situation-ship with Duane. When the brunette opened the door, she heard a loud pop, causing her to surprisingly scream and soon purple confetti appeared before her eyes. Behind it were the culprits, all of her best friends chanting the birthday song, balloons and garlands messily hanging around the room as they all awaited for a reaction. Eliana was stunned, quickly choking on her words as she repeatedly shook her head in disbelief of the efforts they all had put to surprise her. The girl quickly ran to the group, all of them forming one giant hug as Eliana exclaimed her thankfulness. When finally breaking the embrace, Trinity ran to the table, quickly grabbing a cardboard party hat and tugging on Eliana's sleeve to make her crouch to her level. The black haired girl tugged on the thin elastic and placed the hat on top of the older one's head, a smile both plastered on their faces. Eliana gazed around and noticed that two of her friends were missing: Duane and Filip, she frowned before Jamie decided to answer the questions that hardened her traits.
"Filip and Duane are going to join us later." He simply said, causing Eliana to drift her eyes to him, nervously smiling at the brunette boy. Jamie and Eliana hadn't talked about their kiss, mostly avoiding the topic whenever they would see each other but it was getting harder to act like nothing had happened. You could say that the two teenagers were scared. Scared of what that kiss meant, how it could affect their friendship and probably would if they started acknowledging it. So for the past weeks, ever since they returned from Hawaii, the duo fled, barely talking and even less hanging out but despite everything, Eliana was relieved to see the boy at her birthday party. She wouldn't want to spend it without him, it would have just felt wrong.
"Yes." Bailey stepped closer from her best friend, throwing her arm around her shoulders before excitedly explaining how the rest of the day would go. The curly haired girl had planned a whole day full of surprises to compensate for the absence of her parents. For the past days, it was all Eliana could talk about so Bailey knew she needed to make this birthday even more special, to cheer her friend up and make her forget about it all. The first activity planned was a treasure hunt. With the help of Trinity, Bailey had hidden several clues in the building that led to one final prize, the clues were facts or questions about Eliana. Two teams were made and as a sore loser, Eliana made sure that her team was the fastest. It was obvious for the girl which team would win as no one knew her better than herself. So when she found the opposing team crouched by the prize before her, she was both disappointed and confused.
"How in the hell did you guys finished before us?" Eliana exclaimed, causing Jamie, Trinity and Britain to turn around, the young girl with the final clue in her hand, teasing the older one. Eliana childishly stuck her tongue out to Trinity who immediately replicated her gesture.
"What can we say?" Britain smirked, stepping closer to the group, causing the brunette to roll her eyes at her friend. "We just know you better." Everyone grinned at Britain's words while he started shuffling the girl's hair, messing it all up to tease her even more, knowing the sore loser she was. "But since it's your birthday..." He added while Trinity approached, followed by Jamie, to finally hand the clue to Eliana. The brunette couldn't hide her smile while she unfolded the last piece of paper, Bailey and Jack reading over her shoulder.
"Your final surprise awaits in 5-116118201351420," Eliana paused, her eyebrows knitted together as she confusedly looked to the others around her. "What do the numbers mean?" Britain questioned as Jamie picked up Trinity and they all made their way behind the brunette, reading the clue over and over and thinking out loud. Bailey smiled to the sight of how invested her friends were in her scavenger hunt, it made her heart full seeing Eliana enjoy herself. After several minutes of trying to figuring out the clue, the group was desperate for answers, none of their reasoning seemed to work. So, knowing that it was almost time for the second surprise, Bailey decided to help them get on the right tracks.
"The numbers aren't really numbers." She hinted to her friends, hands nonchalantly locked behind her back as a slight smirk creeped on her lips. It took them a few seconds before one of them figured it out.
"Maybe it's letters?" Jamie thought out loud, his eyebrows mimicking Eliana's before he gently grabbed the paper from her hands. "Like the alphabet. A is 1. B is 2, etc." Eliana's eyes grew wider, realizing how much sense Jamie's words made as she watched Jack get his iPod out, opening the notes application and entering the alphabet with their numbers alongside. After that, it didn't take long for the group to have the answer they were looking for.
"E Apartment." Trinity red on Jack's phone as realization struck the rest of the group, causing them to run upstairs to Eliana's apartment. When the girl precipitated herself to open the door, she was met with a decorated apartment and her two missing friends. Just like in the common room, there were balloons and banners hanging on the walls, snacks displayed on tables and a mattress in the center of it with blankets and pillows. They had prepared a giant sleepover. Eliana gasped to the surprise, tears brimming her eyes as she felt grateful and lucky to have her friends. The girl ran to hug Filip and Duane, both of her arms around each of their neck, repeatedly thanking them like once wasn't enough to show her recognition. Eliana stepped back and gazed at her friends who stood before her, all smiling to her reaction.
"I can't find the words to express how I'm feeling right now but," Eliana stuttered on the next words, her breathing unsteadied by the excitement she felt. No one had ever put this much effort into making her feel this special. Usually, she would spend her birthday with her parents, knowing that her school friends had forgotten and she liked it. But today had felt surreal. She never doubted the love they had for each other but the efforts they had all put for today was proof of it, proof that kindred spirits existed. "Thank you all so much. You guys don't know how much it means to me."
"We love you." Bailey responded, her smile as big as Eliana's. The curly haired girl waved her hands in a rapid motion, indicating them to all come together and form one big hug. When they all embraced each other, that was when Eliana knew that she had found her forever friends, her family.
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@baileybass happy eighteenth birthday to my best friend, you deserve the world 💙
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@britaindalton HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY TO DUMBEST PERSON EVER !! hope the cake was good!
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@jamieflatters it's her day, hope everything you wished for came true.
(yes, she did force me to pick her up to pet a cat)
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@jackchampion happy belated birthday to the one who always steal my charger, I still love you tho 💙
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@misstrinitybliss happy birthday Lili! 💙❤️🥳 my mom finally let me create an Instagram account!
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