ALLISON'S POV
Okay, that was it. I couldn't sleep any longer.
I opened my eyes in a haze to see my sisters leaning over me, huge smiles plastered on their faces. "Happy 16th Birthday Alli!" they cheered. "We love you!"
I smiled. "Aww, you guys!"
"You're going to love your first gift," Ara beamed. "Dress in something fancy!"
I furrowed my brow but obliged. "Okayyy." The two left me in my privacy to change into my cutest dress: a white knee-length with black dots that intensified near the bottom, and a big bow that went around the waist. When my sisters came back in, they went completely berserk, admiring my outfit.
"We have to do your hair!" Arly said excitedly. They didn't give me time to answer; they just shoved me down in our desk chair and pulled out the curling iron.
Hair takes so long to fix! I had to restrain from fidgeting while they wrapped my hair into ringlets.
All of my restraint soon paid off though as they put my hair up to its finishing touches; wrapping it into a beautiful, curly bun. Ara turned the chair around to face Arly, who snapped a picture and showed me my hair (we have no mirrors).
I gasped. "It looks beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you."
I turned around to see Leo in a tuxedo. My heart beat harder.
Arly squealed. "Your first gift is here!! Who wants to tell her?"
"I will," Leo said smoothly. "Surprise date at one of the fanciest restaurants in California, and a helicopter ride to take us home," he said. "Happy birthday, Allison."
I felt like crying. It was one of the best gifts I could ever get. "Thank you," I sniffed, getting out of my chair and leaping into his arms.
We parted and he linked our arms. "Milady."
I smiled and waved goodbye to my sisters. "See you guys tonight."
***
The ride to the mainland was the same old hydroloop, as Leo explained that the helicopter was already there and he wanted to save it for later.
When we arrived at the restaurant, I was amazed. It was humongous, and as Leo had said-fancy! A crystal chandelier hung delicately from the ceiling and glimmered in the sunlight that filtered in through huge, clean windows. Tables had white cloths and candles in the center. The floor was a polished wood.
I rested my head on Leo's shoulder as a waiter directed us to a table. When we were seated, Leo began the conversation.
"Your dress looks beautiful."
"Your tuxedo really brings out the smooth talk, huh?" I teased. "Leo, just because we're on a fancy date doesn't mean you have to sweet talk me."
"But I want to!" Leo admitted. He took my hands. "You deserve it, with all the crap we've been through lately."
I looked him in the eyes. "Okay. Just...don't forget to add some humor," I smiled.
"Here," he said, reaching down and reaching in this pocket. "Davenport is going to kill me for buying this...but I wanted you to have it." In Leo's hand was a velvety box, which he opened and displayed a diamond encrusted necklace. My breath caught in my throat.
"Leo, it's-it's..." I was at loss for words. I let him walk around and put the necklace on.
"Do you like it?"
"Oh my god, of course I do!" I was still in shock. "Thank you."
He planted a kiss on my lips. "You're welcome."
***
ARA'S POV
"Alright everyone, get moving!"
I couldn't wait for Allison to return tonight to see the surprise party Arly and I were hosting for her. We had completely cleared out the training room, bringing a ton of colorful rugs in to cover the ugly floor up, and right now, Adam and Chase were bringing in a buffet table. Bob was levitating while hanging up the "HAPPY SWEET 16!" banner.
"Everything going smoothly?" Arly asked, coming in the door behind me.
"Yeah. How many people did you invite?" I asked.
"Almost the whole school!" she said excitedly. "Except Cady and her new friends."
"Perfect! Everything is going as planned."
Then, Chase ran up to me. "I have to run to the store to pick up snacks and drinks. Arly, you coming with me?"
"You bet I am!" Arly exclaimed. She then looked at me. "Please?"
"Go ahead," I smiled. "I've got things under control."
She and Chase took off toward the hydroloop, leaving me alone with Spin, Bob, Adam, and Bree.
"Spin!" I called him over. Spin is so adorable. Although sometimes he can be pretty competitive, he has his head and heart in the right place. "Could you go keep guard of the door so that nobody tries to come early?"
"Sure thing!" he agreed. He went off to do the job.
"Bree! How's the DJ setup?"
She leaned forward and to test the mic. "So good so far."
I clapped my hands. "Project Surprise Allison is going great! Thanks for helping me out you guys."
"Anything for the little lady and her sister," Adam grinned.
I groaned. "You're never going to let me live down the fact that I called myself short, are you?"
"Nope!"
I sighed. "Bob, could you string the streamers on the ceiling?"
Bob levitated to the middle of the room and began to do as I said.
This was about as normal as it gets.
***
ARLY'S POV
It felt pretty good to break away from the academy for a while and get some fresh air and a dose of real life.
Chase and I were allowed to wear real clothes, too, so that also felt amazing.
We walked into Wal-Mart and made our way towards the snacks aisles.
"So, what all does your sister like?" Chase asked, taking my hand and holding it.
"Well, for starters, she loves colors, so we should grab her a colorful ice cream cake before heading out," I told him.
"I'll go give them the order, they need a thirty minute notice beforehand," he said. "Stay in this aisle, I'll be right back."
He left me to go make out the order and I stayed behind to look at foods Alli may like.
That's when I spotted the Nutella.
Now, I know it's a food, but I also knew that Allison would love to get it as a gift, to eat it for herself. I put it in the basket.
I found a few additional items for the snack table-Twinkies, muffins, doughnuts-basically all of Allison's favorite snacks. That was when Chase came back.
"Hey! The cake should be done in about an hour, so we're stuck here 'til then. You got everything?"
"Yeah, should we grab some gifts while we're here?" I asked.
"Alright. Lead the way."
We joined hands again and left to head toward room decorating aisles. Our dorm was pretty boring and gray, so I figured that Allison would like to spice up her section and that I could grab some stuff for her, and possibly me and Ara.
"We should pick up everyone else's gifts while we're here," I suggested. "Can I borrow your phone?"
"Sure." Chase handed me the smartphone and I called Bree.
She picked up on the second ring. "What's up?"
"Hey, we're at Wal-Mart waiting on the cake. You wanna have us pick up a gift for Alli in your name?"
"Sure! Here's what I want to get her."
***
ALLISON'S POV
After breakfast (which went past lunchtime), Leo suggested that we take a stroll in the city gardens before taking off toward the academy again.
"Sure," I agreed.
He led me out to the car Davenport had lent us (which I really needed to thank him for everything) and had the chauffeur drive us toward Cinema Garden, which was at the center of the city. (A/N: Yeah, I just made that up. Because guess what. It's my fanfic.)
"Are you enjoying things so far?" Leo asked.
"Every moment," I replied, smiling. "Did you know that this has been the most I've talked in a long time?"
"Your voice is a song that barely gets sung," Leo said.
"That's the wisest thing I've ever heard you say."
***
ARA'S POV
It was already two o'clock, which meant that Arly and I needed to start getting ready and wrap up decorating.
Halfway to my dorm, Bree whooshed in front of me. "Leo wants to talk to you."
"Okayyy..." I took the phone and held it to my ear. "Leo?"
"Ara! I bought you some more time-we're at Cinema Gardens now. How much time do you need?"
I pondered. "About four hours."
"Four hours?" he squeaked.
"Leo, you'll probably be at the gardens for at least two hours! Find something!" I told him. "Kiss her or whatever?"
"I can't kiss her for two hours!"
I could tell he was trying to keep his voice down so Alli wouldn't hear him.
"Well, figure out your plan, dimwit! I have to go get ready now!" I hung up before he could say anything else.
Just then, Chase and Arly came back in the hydroloop, their arms full of food, drinks and presents. It looked like Arly had done all the wrapping for us and added the tags.
"Thanks Arly! Wrapping those was a good idea," I thanked her. "You can put everything on the table and we'll set it up later. C'mon, I've got our dresses laid out in the dorm."
My dress was a light blue knee-length with a drop in the back. On from the ribcage on up, it was silver and sparkly. For my shoes, I was wearing silver heels that matched the top half of the dress. Arly's dress was white but as in went farther down, it faded to black. Her heels were a plain black, but she totally rocked them. Both the dress and heels were pretty expensive, but Davenport had given them to us for the party. We owed him a lifetime for how much he was giving us. We had invited him, but he had politely declined and said he was using the night to go to visit his wife, Tasha, who we had met just a few days ago.
After we had dressed and fixed up our hair (mine in gradual waves, Arly's straightened), we returned to the training room-turned-party room to set up the snack table. It was around four o'clock by then, but on the invitations, we told everyone to show up at five. We still had about an hour to spare.
Adam came in with a semi-dress outfit on-a black button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, dress pants and dress shoes.
And he looked pretty flattering. "Do I have to wear thi-" He cut himself off as soon as he saw me. "Wow, you look...wow."
"Thanks," I blushed. "And even though you may hate your outfit, you look pretty handsome yourself."
He bowed goofily.
"I owe you a dance before the party," he told me. He stepped forward with a grin on his face and took my hands. We swayed back and forth just a little.
"I like this, what me and you have."
***
LEO'S POV
After the gardens visit, I had no clue what to do, and it was only four.
Allison and I walked out of the hedges hand in hand, and headed toward the helicopter. As we climbed in, she pecked my cheek.
"I had a great time today. I just wish it could last forever."
That's when an idea crossed my mind. "Maybe it can. For another two hours, I mean. Do you want to take an air tour?"
She smiled. "Sounds great."
***
ARLY'S POV
Luckily, Leo and Allison hadn't shown up yet. Thank god.
"It's five o'clock!" Ara announced. Finally!
Either by the ones or in groups, students began to show up in their best attire they could find. Soon, they were all talking to each other or dancing together out on the dance floor.
"I just called Leo," Ara said to me. "He and Alli are heading here now. They should be around five minutes."
"Alright."
Chase wandered over to me. "You guys really outdid yourselves."
"She's our sister," I beamed. "We'd do anything for her."
"I hear the helicopter!" I suddenly heard Spin shout.
"Everybody hide!" Ara ordered.
Everyone took their places and the place got eerily silent. We then heard Leo's voice.
"C'mon Alli, we should go get food."
"But the cafeteria's this way," I heard Alli tell him.
"Trust me, there's food in here."
The doors slid open and everyone jumped up. "Happy sixteenth birthday Allison!"
She covered her mouth to hide a grin as Ara gave her a flower crown. I joined the two. "Happy birthday sis."
"We're so proud of you," Ara said.
She gave us a big hug and then turned to Leo and gave him one too. "Thank you, guys."
"Now, let's get this party started!" Ara exclaimed. "Bree, turn on the song!"
Bree nodded and me and Ara rushed to grab microphones.
"This is for our lovely-now older-sister Allison. I hope you had a great one," Ara said.
"Yeah, we're proud to call you our sister," I smiled.
Bree tapped the key to turn on "Rotten to the Core", which was a song from Allison's new favorite movie, Descendants.
Ara and I took turns singing the verses, which were originally meant for four people, but we made do. Allison was now smiling uncontrollably by the snack and presents bar and dancing along.
ALLISON'S POV
I couldn't believe what my sisters had done for me. It was simply amazing.
I was standing next to the snack bar by myself and eating a little. I would've stayed away from the food, but I hadn't eaten since breakfast. You understand, right?
Anyways, I was just minding my own business when another student came over.
"That's a cute dress. It matches your legs. Speaking of which, will you open them for me?"
I was taken aback. Who their in right of mind would say that to somebody?
"Um, no thanks," I told them, turning around. That's when they smacked my ass. "Stop!" I snapped.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I heard Leo yell.
"Just giving the little lady her birthday gift," the boy said nonchalantly.
"She doesn't want it. Go away."
"No."
Leo blasted him with his plasma ball. "I said leave."
The teen stood up, and with a huff, he left.
"Thanks Leo," I sighed.
"He was getting handsy. Anyways, I not only came over here to shoo him off, but I wanted to know if you wanted to dance?"
In all the sudden drama, I hadn't noticed that Love Love Love, by Of Monsters and Men had came on and everyone was slow dancing. Chase and Arly hand the hands-on-hips and hands-wrapped-around-neck position and were both smiling at each other, while Ara had her head resting on Adam's chest.
"Of course," I smiled at him gently. We took to the dance floor and began to slow dance.
And then, the unthinkable happened.
Cady and her friends burst in.
***
ARA'S POV
"Oh hell no," I mumbled when I heard the door open and had looked to see who it was. Cady and her group, who we had tried our best to avoid inviting, was here.
"What's wrong?" Adam asked.
"Guess who's here."
He turned around and then immediately turned away. "It's not real, please tell me it's not real."
"Don't worry, I'll fix it." I walked away from him and up to Cady. "I'm sorry, I don't believe you got an invitation."
"Have I ever been known to follow the underdogs' rules?" she sneered. "Where's birthday girl?"
"Did you not hear me? You're leaving, right now."
I shoved her back out of the training room.
"You don't tell me what to-"
I pressed the button to shut the door and locked it. "Well, I solved that pretty fast." I turned around to face the crowd. "Who wants cake?!"
An approving "yay!" went throughout the crowd and we gathered around the snackbar.
As soon as Allison was seated, we began singing happy birthday to her.
"Make a wish, sis," I whispered.
She smiled at me. "I already have it."
And then she blew out the candles.
***
Alli had been so exhausted when it was time for presents that she decided to open them with us in the dorm. As we settled in with our pajamas on, she began to open them.
From Ara, she got a new bed comforter with a matching pillow. From me, she got a few Descendants posters and some wall stickers. From Bree, she received a picture of all of us together. From Adam, she got a stuffed dog, and from Chase she got a few gift cards. I had a feeling that he had to have Arly's help to get something not too nerdy.
After hugs and many thank yous, we all settled in to fall asleep.
"This was the best birthday ever," Allison whispered.
And then we all fell asleep.