"Samantha, do not touch that."
Sam rolls her eyes. "I'll touch what I want to touch."
Wren slaps her hand away from the shoe box on the floor of his car. He looks at me for help. "Control your friend, Riley!"
"Sam, don't touch Wren's shoe box. It's full of x-rated magazines," I inform her, hiding my smile.
Wren glares at me. "You promised not to tell anyone!"
Sam and I both start giggling, which only ticks off Wren more.
"If you don't stop, I'll drop you off here and you can walk to school!" he threatens.
"Right, because we'd hate to walk an extra two feet to the school," I say and point to the building right at our left.
Wren pulls the car over to a curb. "Okay, smart-ass, get out."
I laugh, "are you being serious?"
"Yes. It's only an extra two feet. Get out of the car, Riles."
My jaw drops. "I lied! It's like a hundred feet which is too far!"
"Then quit making fun of me," he warns and puts the car in drive. "I swear, threatening to make you two exercise is the only way for you to do anything."
"Sorry, Wren. You're super cool and hot and totally not lame," Sam says in a sarcastic tone.
My brother just rolls his eyes and parks the car in the lot. "You can have your little boyfriend drive you to school from now on."
"He usually does," Sam assures, "but there was a chess tournament today."
Wren raises an eyebrow. "Does he realize we have a game tonight? Can't play if you miss school."
"It's not like he was going to play anyway," she mumbles and pulls her backpack out of the trunk.
"Actually, coach likes Harris. I think he might've played him tonight."
"We are talking about Zander, right?" she asks in disbelief. "You know, the awkward and clumsy boy who tripped over his own feet at your birthday party and fell into your cake?"
Wren laughs and closes his car door. "You should have more faith in the kid. He's a fast learner. Next year he could even be first string."
"I have to call him!" Sam says and pulls out her phone. "He won't believe me. You have to convince him to come to school."
I laugh, "while you two are doing that, I'm going to go find the birthday boy."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Sam mutters with her phone ringing on speakerphone.
Rolling my eyes, I head into the school. Usually Asher and Tucker don't show up until almost two minutes before first period starts; however, today is his birthday and I want to decorate his locker before he gets to school. If by chance they come earlier and I haven't decorated his locker yet, I'd be crushed.
There's a small crowd of people by his locker already, and I push past them with a large bag of decorations. I pull out a roll of blue stringers and start taping them to the locker. Tapping on the happy birthday handmade birthday sign, I start to blow up the balloons.
As I'm blowing up the balloons, someone taps on my shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?"
I glance to my left, smiling at Dexter. "I'm decorating my boyfriend's locker! Want to help?"
"This is my locker," he says in a bored voice.
"But-"
"This is your boyfriend's locker." He points to a locker two down from the one I decorated. "Nice going."
I cover my face with my hands and scream. "Dang it!"
Dexter doesn't say anything else. Instead, he steps towards his locker and rips off the birthday sign I made, along with the blue streamers. As if that wasn't enough, he pops the balloon I just blew up.
"Hey!" I whack his shoulder. "You could've helped!"
He shoots me a closed-mouth smile before unlocking his locker and taking out his books. "My bad."
"Yeah, your bad! You have to help me redecorate his locker now, Dex! He's going to be here any second and-"
"Riley!" I feel a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist and lips against my neck.
I pout and push Asher away. "You're not supposed to be here yet."
"What do you mean?" he laughs, glancing quickly at Dexter, who walks away after slamming his locker.
"I wanted to decorate your locker, but I accidentally decorated Dexter's and now you're here and I can't surprise you with your locker and-"
He cuts me off with a kiss. "Thank you anyways. You're the only one who remembered my birthday today."
I raise an eyebrow, not wanting to give away the surprise birthday party. "Seriously? Where is Tucker?"
"He was out all night partying, has a major hangover, and doesn't want to go to school."
I shake my head. "That's none of my business. Are you upset about it?"
He shrugs and opens his locker. "Honestly, I think they're throwing me a surprise party and trying to make me think they forgot."
"Oh," I breathe. "Well, that's quite a guess."
Asher laughs. "I also saw a note on Tucker's mom's fridge that said 'get present for Asher's surprise party.'"
"Secretive," I muse with a laugh.
"So, if this isn't completely ludicrous," he pauses, "will you be my date to my very own surprise party?"
"I'd love to!" I say. "However, I don't know if Tucker will want me to be there."
"Tucker doesn't get a say in who I can or can't invite to my surprise party."
I nod, biting my lip nervously. "Okay, I'll be there, but you're not allowed to try and make Tucker and me socialize."
"Deal."
I hand him the container with the cake I made for him. "Here is this. I'm going to get to class. Happy birthday, birthday boy!"
He kisses me before I leave and rush down the hallway to my classroom. I wave to my teacher and sit down next to Dexter.
"I'm still upset with you for tearing down the decorations," I say.
Dexter glances my way before looking back down at his desk.
"I'm just kidding," I inform him, pushing at his arm. "Have any plans for the weekend?"
"I'll be at Asher's party," Georgia says behind me.
I turn around to face her. "If you want to master the art of eavesdropping, I'd start with not jumping in on conversations randomly."
She waves her hand around. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, do you know if his friend Tucker is single?"
"I do not, but I do know my best bud Dexter is single," I say and wink at him.
He rolls his eyes, a frown on his face.
Throughout the whole class Dexter wouldn't react to my jokes. I pulled some of my best tricks out to get him to smile, but I got nothing.
"What's wrong?" I ask as we're walking through the hallway.
"Please don't talk to me in public," he mutters.
I laugh, "you jokester. Hey, you should come to Asher's surprise party tonight."
"No."
"Why not? It'll be really fun! And I don't want Tucker Phillips to have the last laugh."
"So it'd be a laugh if I came to a party. Yeah, riley, I'll have to pass."
I gasp, "no! That's not what I mean! Tucker thinks my friends are lame and won't let me invite you guys, but he's just an a-hole who can't get away with that."
"I'm not your friend."
"Funny one," I say and nudge his shoulder. "Come to the party, Dexter. I promise you'll have fun."
He doesn't say anything else before disappearing in the halls. I sigh, hoping that he decides to come to the party.
Honestly, I don't know if Dexter has any friends. Well, except me of course. He's just shy.
After school, I meet Asher by his truck. He's on the phone with someone, but still waves to me as I approach.
"Alright, Lain, see you then." A pause. "Yeah." Another pause. "Goodbye." A longer pause. "I love you too." An even longer pause. "Okay." One last pause. "Bye."
I laugh and climb into the passengers seat. "What was that about?"
"Lainey invited me over for band practice." He shakes his head. "If only she knew how many people told me they couldn't wait for my party tonight."
"You still have to act surprised," I order. "They put so much effort into it."
"Yeah, I know."
My phone buzzes in my backpack, and I pull it out to answer the call from Sam. "Hello."
"Hey, Riles. Just wondering, do you want to just go to the game when Zander and Wren go? They have to be there a half an hour before, so I don't really think waiting will be that bad. What do you think?"
I groan. "Damn, I totally forgot about the game. I can't go! It's Asher's birthday."
"Riley, you have to come to the game! Zander could be playing! This is a huge day for him. How could you not come?" Sam asks in disbelief.
I sigh. "I want to, but I have Asher's party and-"
"Just go late to his party. You have to be there for Zander."
I look at Asher. "Just give me a second. I'll call you back."
"Riley, don't hang up on-"
I hang up.
"Hey, would you be upset if I came to your party late?" I ask, rubbing his arm.
He shrugs. "Not really. What's up?"
"There's a game tonight. Zander might play," I explain. "It's a really big deal for him and I should be there."
"Yeah, you should. You guys can come after the game." He kisses my hand that rests on his upper arm. "As long as I spend some of my night with you, I'll be happy."
"Perfect."
I stay in Asher's car for an extra twenty minutes, parked in my driveway the whole time. We talk about silly things, just to waste useless time.
"I'll see you tonight, okay? Have fun at the game!" he says as I hop out of the car.
"You have fun at band practice," I laugh and kiss him through the rolled down window.
"It won't be any fun until you're there," he jokes. "Goodbye, my princess."
"Goodbye, my birthday boy."
Stepping into my house, I hear the loud bickering of Sam and Wren. They're in the kitchen, nearly clawing each other. Luckily, Zander is there to keep some peace.
"Hey, Riley!" Zander says excitedly. "Guys, look! Riley is here!"
Sam and Wren stop fighting to turn to face me. Sam smirks. "Did you have fun making out with your boyfriend in his car? We watched you for the first five minutes."
I roll my eyes, covering my face. "Shut up. We only kissed like twice."
"Right," Sam laughs. "But those two times lasted a really, really long time."
Ignoring her, I ask Zander, "you nervous, bud?"
"Psh!" he snorts and leans casually against the counter. "I'm as cool as a cucumber."
"Good for you."
He slides too far on the counter and ends up falling to the ground. Jumping up from the ground immediately, he pops his collar. "As cool as a cucumber."
Sam kisses his cheek. "You can tell us if you're nervous."
"I'm not," he promises, his eyes moving to Wren.
It's obvious he's just trying to impress my older brother. Sam and I can both see this, so we don't push him any farther.
"We should get going," Wren says. "I'll drive."
"Shot gun!" Zander calls and rushes out the door to the car in the driveway.
"This kid," Wren laughs and follows him outside.
Sam stops me, grabbing onto my arm. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay," I say slowly. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm worried about what you're planning tonight," she starts.
I squint my eyes. "I don't get what you're hinting at."
She lets out a deep breath. "It's just.. you're not planning on doing anything with Asher for his birthday, right?"
"What do you mean?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. "Are you asking me if I'm planning on having sex with for his birthday?"
"Basically," she mumbles. "I'm just looking out for you, Riles. I don't know if you think it's a good idea or not, but I definitely don't think it is."
I'm kind of offended that she'd ask me this. First of all, it's my decision. Second of all, I wasn't really even thinking about it.
So, yes, maybe it crossed my mind. I'm a teenager; it's what happens. But Asher knows I want to wait and he respects that.
"And why not?"
"I mean, you don't even love him," she assumes.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because I'm your best friend and you would tell me." She grabs my shoulders. "This is nothing to get angry with me for. I'm just being a best friend."
"You're acting more like Wren than anything," I say in annoyance.
"Usually I would be offended by that, but I don't see how protecting you is a bad thing," she argues. "Riley, were you thinking about having sex with him? Is that why you're so defensive?"
I let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through my hair. "I think it's because.. I might be in love with him."
~~
AN:
once in seventh grade my friends decorated the locker next to mine on my birthday
next chapter will be full of drama drama drama
happy birthday if it's your birthday
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