ENTRY ONE
My Fifteenth Birthday:
Happy Birthday to me…. That’s right I’m now fifteen years old. You may be wondering where I have been all summer, since I haven’t written since the day of the Buddy Walk. Well, that last entry filled up my journal. I can’t believe I filled two journals already. I didn’t realize how much I like to write! I kept meaning to get another one, but I have been so busy that I just never got around to it. I have to say, I have really missed writing things down at night. I was so happy when I opened Megan’s present, and she’d gotten me another journal for my birthday. She said it is going to be a tradition, and she promised not to write in this one!
I know I have a lot to write about my summer, but I have to tell you about my birthday party first. I had such a great time.
My actual birthday was yesterday, so I celebrated with the family last night. We all went out to dinner and then they gave me presents when we got home. Mikey gave me some nail polish and Monica drew me a picture of the two of us playing Barbie’s (I think that was a hint!). My parents gave me some gift cards, because I like to pick out my own clothes rather than have them pick them out, and they also gave me a new iPod, which I totally needed. Max smiled at me, so I took that as my gift from him. He is turning into a really cute little guy.
To celebrate with my friends, I wanted to do a BBQ deal at the house and just invite everyone over for a great party. So I contacted my friends and told them to invite their friends, and my dad agreed to man the BBQ and try not to be too intrusive.
I went with pink and white colors, because I just love that combo, and my friend, Cassie, helped me pick out decorations and decide what to wear.
Cassie just moved to Dearborn. She moved in a few doors down from my house at the end of June. Being the outgoing and super friendly person that I am, I went down and introduced myself. Turns out she’s really cool, and we’ve spent a lot of time together this summer. She will be starting DHS as a sophomore with me in a few short days. She already knows Brian and Jimmy, of course, but the BBQ gave her a chance to meet everyone that she will be going to school with this year.
Anyway, it turned into an all-out bash! I was feeling particularly cute (Yoga is making me totally toned!) in my baby doll pink ruffled tank with white shorts and white sandals. I wore my hair in a side braid with pink hoop earrings and this sweet white flower ring that Cassie gave me as a birthday present. Mom kept Monica and Max entertained and Megan wandered outside a couple of times to grab cheese cubes and a hot dog, but was ghost most of the day. Mikey hung out with my friends the most, but it didn’t bother me. He played catch and basketball with some of the guys and stayed out of my hair.
Brian brought Mo along with him, but promised that there wouldn’t be any trouble, and there wasn’t. They’ve had football practice for about a month now to get ready for the season, so they brought some of the guys from the team along with them. Jimmy brought Kasey, Joshua, and Joe, who run track with him, and they brought their girlfriends. I hadn’t talked to any of them very much since my fallout with Layla, but they were all really cool. The others who came must have heard from word of mouth, because I had about fifty people from school at my house. It was awesome!
The biggest surprise came about halfway through my party. I was looking for Jimmy and couldn’t find him anywhere. He’d told me to come find him later, so he could give me my present. Just when I was about to give up, I saw him coming out of my house, and I started towards him. He caught my eye and smiled and then turned to motion to something behind him - and Jess walked out! I let out a “Whoop!” and went running up to hug her. She wasn’t supposed to be home until the day before school, so this was totally unexpected.
“OMG, Jess! What are you doing here?” I squealed, holding her close and not wanting to let her go.
“I wanted to surprise you. Happy Birthday, Mis!”
“You totally did! I’m so happy you’re here!” I said as I led her down the stairs.
“Jimmy, you knew about this didn’t you?” I accused, laughing as I turned towards him.
“Yeah… It was tough not telling you, but I knew it would be a great surprise!” he explained, grabbing Jess for a quick hug and telling her that he missed her too.
She hugged him back and smiled. Then she turned to Cassie, who had come up next to me and said, “You must be Cassie. I’ve heard so much about you. I feel like I know you already! Welcome to Dearborn!”
“Me too! I mean, I feel like I know you too, with as much as Melissa has talked about you. Thanks, and welcome back,” Cassie replied, looking quite stunning. Her hair is a striking red and she has brilliant green eyes. She totally looks like a supermodel and I would hate her if she wasn’t my friend. She would be intimidating if she wasn’t so sweet and friendly.
So, the party was pretty much perfect after that. My mom even gave me a letter from Ben, which she’d saved for me, since he wrote “Happy Birthday” on the front of the envelope. In fact, I have been saving it and didn’t think about it until now, so I’m going to sign off now so that I can go and read it. I’ll write more later to fill in the blanks about my summer vacation!
Ciao
ENTRY TWO
More from the Party:
Hey… So, I read the letter from Ben last night, and it was super sweet. We’ve been “pen pals” since he left for basic training. I’ve never written so many letters in my life, but it’s kinda fun, especially when I get one in the mail from him. It was a birthday card that said he wished he could be here to help celebrate with me. He mentioned a little bit about his training and how hard it has been, but he really seems to love it.
Okay, so, more about my party. I reread yesterday’s entry, and I realized that I didn’t even mention Giovanni, although I did sign off Ciao… lol!
Giovanni is from Italy… He’s totally hot and has that sexy accent going for him. He’s here for the next year doing a sort of foreign exchange thing. His aunt and uncle live here, and he came to experience America for a year. He is a junior at DHS and has been hanging out with the football team to learn about American Football. His aunt and uncle live over by Brian, so that’s how we all started hanging out with him. He is super cute! All tall, dark, and handsome… And that accent! It’s enough to make you weak in the knees.
Anyway, he always says “Ciao,” and it is oh so cute, so I just had to use it to close my journal entries.
No… We are not an item or anything. I mean, no doubt he is drool-worthy, but I have enough boy drama, I don’t need another guy. I can, however, appreciate how fine he is, and I love to hang out with him and ask about Italy. I totally want to go there some day.
The real fireworks started when he met Jess! I thought Dad was going to have to turn the hose on those two.
After she showed up and met Cassie, she was going around saying hi to everyone and I introduced her to Giovanni. I had mentioned him to her on the phone, but a mere conversation can’t prepare you for the full on experience of meeting Giovanni in person!
“Giovanni, this is my best friend, Jess.” I barely got the introduction out, before he got to his feet and grasped her hand in his. She had to look up when he reached his full height, and I could see the blush starting across her cheeks, as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
“Buongiorno, Jess. Piacere di conoscerti!” Giovanni said smoothly, his dark eyes scanning every inch of her flushed face. “What I mean to say is… it is nice to meet you! My pleasure!”
Jess let out a giggle, and Jess never giggles, “It is nice to meet you too, Giovanni,” she said his name like it was a breath of fresh air… Oh, boy!
Those two hit it off! The rest of the party I mingled and enjoyed the celebration. I tried to spread my time equally between everyone, but of course I always wandered back to my core group: Brian, Jimmy, Jess, Cassie, and Giovanni, who were all sitting up on the deck for most of the evening.
At one point I found myself sitting in between Brian and Jimmy, and it kind of mimicked the way we have been all summer. We spent quite a bit of time together, hanging out and doing stuff. Usually, Cassie would come along too, and sometimes it would be a big group of us going to the movies, or to play putt-putt golf or something, but at the center of it all was me, Brian, and Jimmy.
No, I never started dating either one of them. How could I make that decision? It just seemed too difficult. We never talked about it; we just all hung out as friends. Sitting there last night, I looked over at Jimmy, who was talking with Cassie about a book they had both read recently. He looked so cute, with his wonderful smile and golden skin and hair. His hair had grown out quite a bit over the summer and he looked really handsome. I could tell Cassie thought so, with the way she was hanging on his every word. Hmmm… I don’t know how I feel about that.
Then I looked over at Brian, soooo freakin’ handsome! He was laughing at something Giovanni and Jess were saying, and I felt the familiar butterflies dancing in my stomach. I’ll always be interested in Brian, but I just don’t know if I can forget about everything that went down last year.
So, I decided to forget about the boys, and I went over to my dad and gave him a big hug and kiss.
“Thanks for doing this, Dad! It has been the best birthday ever!”
Ciao