"Finally......it's good to be home." Amber says.
Amber, Michelle and I just got back from working at the restaurant.
We're in front of our apartment door.
It was a really busy day.
All I crave now is to have a nice shower and dive into my bed.
"Finally indeed." I say.
"My shoulders hurts badly from carrying so much meals." Michelle complains.
"Mine too." Amber says.
"Don't worry guys. We're almost there and.....open..." I say as I unlock the door.
Michelle suddenly appears to my front and rushes the door handle to complete the opening of the door.
"Hey! Why the rush?" Amber asks Michelle.
"Surprise!!!!!"
I hear as we enter into our apartment.
What the hell is going on??!!
I see tons of people in our apartment I had no idea how it's so decorated.
"Happy birthday, babe." Says Caleb on approaching us.
Right.....today's Michelle's birthday.
"Oh my God!! Babe, did you do all this for me?" Michelle asks.
Seems like I'm getting it now.
"Of course, darling." Caleb says.
"Thank you so much." Michelle says.
"Anything for you." Caleb says and proceeds to give Michelle a kiss.
"Amber, are you seeing all these?" I ask Amber who's now beside me.
"I'm seeing it.....clearly." Amber says.
"Hey! My beautiful is home." I hear Jordan's voice say.
He just came from behind Caleb.
"Hey.....handsome....what're you doing here?" Amber asks Jordan before locking lips with him.
"Caleb informed me of the party and I couldn't miss it. Hi, Mia." Jordan says.
"Jordan" I call out.
"Oh....Mia, I didn't see you there." Caleb says.
"You didn't need to. Amber, Michelle, come outside with me for a bit." I say.
"She's the birthday girl....she should come and......."
I interrupt Caleb.
"Stay out of this, Caleb. This is between me and my friends. Michelle, Amber, come on." I say, glaring at Caleb who's giving me a jerky smirk.
I turn and walk out.
Outside the apartment.....
"Can someone explain to me what's going on in there?" I ask.
Michelle and Amber utter no word.
"Michelle?" I call out in question.
"Well......Caleb wanted to throw a birthday party for me so that's what's happening now." Michelle says.
"A party.....in our apartment?" I ask.
"Yeah. He wanted it to be a surprise party." Michelle says.
"Okay....hold on....how did he even get into the apartment? There are only three keys to this apartment which was shared between us and each of us take ours to wherever we're going so how did Caleb get in?" I ask.
"I gave him mine.....that was the only way he could get in and do all those stuff in there." Michelle says.
"Michelle!! Do you know how risky that could be? There could be criminals in there, they could ruin something in there....how can you be so careless?" I ask with slight anger in my tone.
"There's nothing to worry about. Caleb said he's got things under control." Michelle says.
"And you trust him so much? Why didn't you even inform anyone about this till now? My gosh!! Michelle." I say.
"This....this that you're doing now is why I didn't inform you. You're never chill with stuffs like this that why I told only Amber and yes, I trust Caleb with things like this." Michelle says.
"What? Amber, you knew about this?" I ask Amber as I turn to face her.
"Well.....we kinda knew you wouldn't approve of a party in our apartment not to talk of it being hosted by Caleb so that's why we didn't tell you. I'm sorry." Amber says.
"God!! You guys are so unbelievable. So now instead of resting from the busy day we had at work, you guys are just gonna party." I say.
"We're gonna party." Michelle says.
"Oh no.....I'm gonna go to my room and rest. You and Amber are the ones who planned it so just the two of you and others are gonna party. I can't be involved in this ridiculous event." I say as I'm about to open the door and enter back into the apartment.
Michelle stops me by standing in front of the door.
"Michelle, get out of my way." I say.
"No, Mia. What the hell's wrong with you?" Michelle asks.
"With me? With you, Michelle." I say.
"Can't you just for once not act like you? My boyfriend decides to throw me a wonderful birthday party and I let him because that's what I want. You should be happy for me and not otherwise. Do you know how long it might've taken him to setup all the stuffs in there? Do you know he and some others missed their lectures for this? All that is left for you to do is just to be happy and grateful on my behalf. I don't even know if it's the party or the host that's pissing you off but I don't care anyway....you can be pissed off for all I care....."
Amber interrupts.
"Michelle.....that's enough....."
Michelle interrupts.
"I'm so fucking sick of you acting like a boss that you're not. You're the youngest among us and you don't own this apartment. The three of us paid the same amount of it and either of us can choose what we wanna do with it and the person or people we wanna let in. How'd you feel if I started hating Jace the way you hate Caleb?" Michelle asks.
"Michelle, you're crossing the line now." Amber says.
"At least, he's not a jerk. The music shouldn't be too loud. Enjoy your party and once again, happy birthday." I say.
I brush Michelle aside and enter into the apartment.
I really don't know how to define Michelle's behavior right now.
*****************
Michelle's POV.......
"At least, he's not a jerk. The music shouldn't be too loud. Enjoy your party and once again, happy birthday." Mia says.
She brushes me aside from where I'm standing in front of the door.
I don't think an introduction from me is necessary now. It's pretty late for that and I'm pretty sure y'all know who I am already.
If you don't, it's Michelle Torres.
My boyfriend, Caleb, had planned to throw me a birthday party at the apartment I share with my two best friends, Amber Williams and Mia Johnson. I had given Caleb the key to the apartment to help him set things up but I didn't inform Mia 'cause I know she wouldn't let it happen.
She hates my boyfriend and the idea of a party in our apartment.
I told Amber 'cause I know she'd be cool with it.
I had just said some harsh things that I shouldn't have said to Mia.
"What did you do that for? Why'd you say those things to Mia?" Amber asks.
"I don't know....I just got angry." I say.
"You just got angry?" Amber asks.
"Yes. I really feel bad about Mia's attitude towards all these. It doesn't seem fair." I say.
"You do realize that this whole arrangement is not so cool and you know Mia may be right. You can't totally blame her for her attitude towards it and even towards Caleb. We both know Caleb is a jerk and that Mia can never be cool with jerks. You shouldn't have said all those things you said to her." Amber says.
"But what do I do now?" I ask.
"You should go and apologize to her and also convince her to join the party because with the way things just turned out, I'm not sure Mia is gonna take part in this party and it'd only make you feel worse if your best friend misses your birthday party that's going on few steps away from where she is. Apologize to her and persuade her to participate a little in the party." Amber says.
"Will she forgive me though?" I ask.
"Even if she doesn't, it's still worth a try. Now come on, let's go and apologize to Mia 'cause I owe her one too." Amber says.
"Okay.....sure....let's do it." I say as I open the door to enter inside the apartment.
I hope Mia forgives me for being such a bitch few moments ago.
***************
Mia's POV...........
On reaching my room, I see my door not so open but not closed like I left it before.
Let it not be what I'm thinking.
I enter the room and see a guy and a girl making out, almost stripping themselves....on my bed.
Exactly what I thought...
They see me and pause.
"Get out." I say with a stern voice.
They both stand from my bed and makes their way to the door. I bang the door after them.
This is insane.
My room had just turned to a room for strangers to come and run their private businesses.
I walk towards my bed and stretch out the part where the couple had scattered. I sit on the bed and bury my face into my palms.
I guess I was fortunate enough to come into the room before things starts getting serious between those two.
I suddenly hear my door open.
"Whoever you're....get lost. This isn't a room to come and start stripping yourselves." I say without looking up.
"Mia...." I hear Michelle's voice call out.
I lift my head and see both her and Amber at the door.
"What're you doing in here? Shouldn't you be partying by now?" I ask.
"Mia, I didn't mean to say all those things. I'm really sorry." Michelle says.
"Can you please close my door? The music is not really helping my ears." I say.
Amber closes the door.
"Thanks." I say.
"Mia, I'm very....very sorry. I didn't inform you about this whole thing. I know how rigid you can be when it comes to some stuffs that's why I didn't wanna tell you." Michelle says.
"So how were you expecting me to react if I come home to see all these? Get into a party mood and join?" I ask rhetorically.
"We're truly sorry, Mia. We just didn't want anything to get in the way of what Michelle wants. It's her day after all, I think it's just nice if she does what she likes....no matter how unreasonable it may be." Amber says.
I let out a sigh.
"Look guys, I know it feels good to get whatever you want on your birthdays but sometimes you've got to think of the consequences. A party in our apartment, hosted by someone like Caleb, what do you think would happen here tonight? Are you ready to clean up the mess this party may cause? Okay, let's say you must have a party here, why leave it to an outsider to handle when you've two best friends who can as well do the same and then you can invite everyone you want. Why do it in such a careless way? I already mentioned that there could be criminals here and of course, rough people that could break things here. I haven't even mentioned that people would get drunk and probably create lots of messes. I just caught a girl and a guy ready to get down in this room....on this bed and it wasn't a pleasant sight. This apartment is not that big enough to handle all those things. These are all the things you'd have thought of....at least as an older person you're." I say.
"I'm sorry. I know this is crazy but I really wanted it and that may be one of the reasons why I didn't think twice before asking Caleb to go on with what he planned to do and giving him the key to the house. I promise not to be so careless again. Please accept my apology." Michelle says.
"Please Mia. Let's not make tonight totally bad. We shouldn't fight on the night that's supposed to be filled with happiness." Amber says.
"Can you guys at least keep me informed about something like this next time? I may not have friends to call but I certainly know how to plan a birthday party. You shouldn't call someone to plan a party in another's place." I say.
"That's an apology accepted then." Michelle says.
"I guess." I say.
"Okay, thank you." Michelle says.
"Thanks a lot, Mia." Amber says.
"You guys are welcome. Now....go and enjoy your party. They're probably waiting for the birthday girl out there." I say.
"You should come out too." Michelle says.
"No, Michelle. I'm tired right now. The party isn't mine after all." I say.
"Oh.....come on, Mia. The party is ours, the three of us living in this very apartment. There's no exception." Amber says.
"I really don't wanna go out there. You guys know how much I hate parties." I say.
"Do you hate this particular party or the host?" Amber asks.
"Mia, I know you hate the fact that Caleb planned this party but I need you to participate, I want you to participate....for me. Can you do that for me?" Michelle asks.
"Guys....I...."
"You know it'd only be odd if you're not at your best friend's birthday party. Think about it." Amber says.
"Ugh....fine, I'll participate but only when it's time for your cutting of cake. I can't just go there and be sitting around drunk people." I say.
"I'm fine with that. Thank you so much." Michelle says as she walks towards me and gives me a hug.
Amber does the same.
"Guys, I won't be able to participate if you suffocate me with your hug." I say playfully.
We all chuckle.
Michelle and Amber finally releases me from the hug.
"You guys should try not to drink too much. We should be at the campus before 8am tomorrow." I say.
"We'll try." Michelle says.
My phone rings.
It's a call from Jace.
"See you out there then." Amber says.
"Sure. I'm just gonna take this call." I say.
"Okay." Michelle says.
They leave the room and I pick up my call.
"Hey Jace." I say over the phone.
"Hey love." Jace says over the phone.
"What's up?"
"Cool. I hear music. What's going on?"
"Umm....Michelle's boyfriend is throwing her a birthday party in our apartment."
"Oh....so there's a party going on there right now."
"As much as I hate to say it, yeah."
"I was hoping to come over to your place."
"What for?"
"I just wanna see you."
"Oh.....you serious? Just to see me?"
"Yeah. I'm already on my way. I'll be there in less than ten minutes."
"I'm guessing that's why you called...to tell me you're coming."
"Yes"
"Okay then, I'll be waiting for you in front."
"Sure, I'm gonna increase my pace so I won't keep you waiting."
"Alright"
The call ends.
I'm glad that Jace is coming here. Maybe I'll feel more comfortable when I see him.
I need to get outside now.