Anne, Diana, Jane and Tillie were getting ready for Ruby's 17th birthday party in Diana's room.
They had just put on their dresses, and were doing their hair.
Tillie was wearing a green dress.
Jane had stepped a bit out of her comfort zone, and was wearing a dark red suit.
Diana was wearing a dark blue dress.
And Anne was wearing a black dress.
Tillie styled her hair in a high ponytail, and Jane just combed hers and kept it wavy. Anne asked Diana to help her curl her hair a bit. She felt ready for that now, and it was fun for her to make herself look extra fancy sometimes. Then Diana asked Anne to put hers in a fish-tail braid down her back.
They giggled and talked as they started putting on make-up. Tillie did a full face, and Jane just did her eyebrows and lips. Diana did a more natural look, with just a bit of blush.
"Can one of you put some of that sparkly stuff on my eyes?" Anne asked tentatively.
Jane laughed a little, but not in a mean way. "You mean eyeshadow?"
Anne nodded.
"Here, I'm really good at it, let me help you." Tillie smiled and opened up a container of gold eyeshadow. Then she gently applied some to Anne's eyelids.
Anne opened up her eyes and looked in the mirror.
"I love that!" She said happily. "You are really good at it!"
"Okay, we'd better get going." Said Diana, checking the time on her phone. Then she stopped and looked at the 4 of them. "We look good."
"Damn right we do!" Said Jane as she grabbed her stuff and walked down the stairs after the 3 of them.
Anne felt good. She didn't even worry about her freckles or hair this time, she actually liked them now, thanks to a certain someone.
Minnie May poked her head out of her bedroom door. "Are you going in a limo? Or in your "normal car"?"
"Be quiet, Minnie May!" Diana glared at her little sister, embarrassed.
"Can I come with you to the party?" Minnie May ignored her.
"Shut up!" Diana whisper shouted.
"When you're older, Minnie May." Anne smiled at her before running down the stairs after her friends.
Minnie May groaned and rolled her eyes dramatically.
They got in Diana's car and turned on the radio. The song 'OKAY, OKAY' by Alessia Cara came on, and they all started singing along to it.
They put the top down and Anne threw her hands up in the air, enjoying the gentle breeze that blew their hair behind them.
She looked around at her friends, dancing along to the music and laughing together.
"I'm so grateful to have you all as my friends." Anne said quietly.
"You're so cheesy!" Jane groaned.
"We're glad to have you as our friend too, Anne." Diana chuckled and shook her head.
"I don't need friends, they disappoint me." Said Tillie.
After a few seconds of silence they all burst out laughing again.
'Should see me in a sun-dress,' they carried on singing along to the radio until they got to Ruby's house.
Pink balloons, streamers and decorations were everywhere, and there were fairy lights hung in the backyard, where the party was taking place. Most of the music playing was Taylor Swift, obviously. There were long tables of food on one side, with a big strawberry frosted cake in the middle. A ton of people from their school was there, hanging around near the food tables and bopping around the patio, which had been transformed into a dance floor. There was a karaoke machine, but most people stayed away from it, terrified someone would force them to sing.
"Hiiiii!" Ruby ran over to her friends and hugged them, excitedly.
She was wearing a maroon dress, with a rose headband over her long blonde curls, and silver high heels.
"Happy birthday!" The girls hugged her and complimented her outfit.
"This is a really nice party." Said Jane, looking around.
"I know! I wasn't able to have a Sweet Sixteen last year, when we went to go visit my grandma in America, who was sick, so this year my parents let me have a way bigger party!" Said Ruby.
"Your headband is absolutely exquisite!" Said Anne.
"Oh, thank you!" Gushed Ruby. "Cole made it for me! He's the only other one in the squad who's already here."
Cole waved at them from the snack table.
"Here's your gift from us, Ruby." Said Diana, handing her a bright pink envelope.
Ruby opened it, looked inside, and suddenly closed it again.
"Is this what I think it is?" She asked, wide eyed.
They nodded.
"She's shook." Tillie whispered.
Ruby opened it again and squealed.
"I can't believe you got Taylor Swift concert tickets!" She started jumping up and down. "This is the happiest day of my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Well, we wanted her to perform at your party, but she was busy, so we thought this was the next best thing." Anne said, glad to see one of her best friends so happy.
"I think I might cry." Ruby pulled everyone in a group hug again and tried to compose herself.
After a few minutes, Charlie, Moody, Jerry and Gilbert arrived.
They were all wearing jeans and nice shirts with converse, except Jerry, who always wore Nikes.
Gilbert was wearing an indigo coloured shirt with black jeans, and Anne thought he looked very... nice?
'That's a normal thing to think, right?' Anne questioned herself. 'The others look nice, it could be a platonic thin- I mean it is a platonic thing, because we're just friends! Yeah.'
"Hi, Anne." Said Gilbert, almost breathlessly. "You look really pretty."
'Becoolbecoolbecool... Yeah, this is totally a friend thing,' Anne said to herself in her head.
"I suppose you look okay." Said Anne casually.
Gilbert smiled, as if he knew her true thoughts.
"Wow, that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me," said Gilbert, pretending to be emotional and sincere. "I think I might cry."
"Ha ha, very funny." Anne rolled her eyes.
Ruby cleared her throat.
"Oh yeah," Gilbert turned to her. "Happy birthday, Ruby."
"Thanks." She said flatly.
Moody tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around.
"Yes?"
"Hey, I um, got you a gift." He said, handing her a pale pink velvet box.
"Thanks." She smiled sweetly.
She opened it up and took out a pink and silver charm bracelet.
"Is this...?" She gasped.
"The bracelet you lost at my birthday party when you were 10? Yeah." He said shyly. "Apparently our dog burried it in our back yard, and I found it when my mom was doing some gardening this spring. The clasp was broken, so I fixed it and kept it for a while so I could give it to you for your birthday and, yeah... is it okay? I'm sorry it's not anything fancy or expensive, I should have-"
The song 'Paper Rings' by Taylor Swift had started playing in the background.
"It's perfect!" Ruby squealed, wiping her teary eyes. "Thank you so much!"
She wrapped her arms around the slightly-taller-than-her boy in a hug, much to his surprise. He stiffened in shock for a second, then relaxed and hugged her back tentatively.
"You're welcome." He whispered as she pulled away, both their cheeks turning red.
"Enough talking, let's do some singing!" Said Jane, pulling her friends over to the karaoke machine.
"Nooo..." They protested, but some of them secretly wanted to do it anyway.
Jane finally persuaded Anne and Ruby to sing 'Dancing Queen' with her - "because we're 17!" - and Ruby kept laughing when it was her line, which made Anne and Jane laugh when it was theirs. They kept messing up but they were having such a fun time that they didn't really care.
Diana started dancing on the patio, and to some of their surprise, Jerry joined her. She giggled as he took her hand and spun her around, her floaty skirt swishing around her. At the end he dipped her gracefully.
Gilbert, who had been staring at Anne the entire time, smiled to himself. Seeing Anne so happy made him happy too.
"Could you be any more obvious?" A voice said behind him, making him jump.
"Oh, hi Cole. I didn't realise you were there." Said Gilbert.
"If course you didn't, you were too busy giving Anne heart eyes." He teased.
"Heart eyes, mothe-" Tillie started to say, but was interrupted by Gilbert.
"Um, no I wasn't! What are you talking about?!" He said, slightly panicked.
"Why you always lyinn'?" Sang Tillie.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I think that's enough Vine references." Said Cole.
"The limit does not exist... for any kind of references, but okay, fine." Tillie crossed her arms.
"Look, we all know you have a crush on Anne, why don't you just ask her out?" Said Cole, somewhat exasperated.
"No I don't!" Gilbert scratched the back of his neck. "We're just friends."
Cole just sighed.
"Besides, even if I did, she would say no. I'm not saying that I do! But if I did she would still say no." He tried to hide the sadness behind his eyes.
"Anne clearly likes you, too! How can you be so oblivious?!" Cole face-palmed.
"Can we please just change the subject?! She's coming over here!" Gilbert seemed more panicked, so Cole finally dropped the issue.
"You're a good singer." Gilbert blurted out.
"Thanks." Anne smiled, she was starting to like Gilbert's compliments.
"Can we please eat the delicious cake that I made now?" Said Charlie.
"Yes!" They all laughed and made their way over to the food table.
The rest of the party went well, they all had a good time hanging out and eating food. Eventually, the party came to a lull, and people started to leave. Some of the squad stayed to help clean up, but in the end it was just Anne, Diana and Cole.
"Well, I've gotta go now." Said Cole, finished with tying his shoelaces.
"You said that 20 minutes ago!" Cried Anne. "Aunt Jo was right, you do take a long time to leave the house!"
Cole shook his head and smiled, before saying goodbye and walking out of the door.
Diana, Anne and Ruby flopped down on the couch, exhausted.
"That was fun." Said Anne.
"It was," Diana agreed. "But I wish I'd worn more comfortable shoes."
"I think I have come to a... a... what was that word you like to use, Anne? Revelation?" Ruby said, sitting up.
Anne nodded curiously.
"I don't have a crush on Gilbert any more." She said all in one breath.
"What?" The other two girls gasped.
"I think my feelings for him have been slowly disappearing over time, but I didn't want to admit to myself that I'd really just fallen in love with the idea of a person. I can't even picture us together now, we're just not compatible! He's a great guy, just not for me." Then Ruby looked pointedly at Anne, who was oblivious to the point she was trying to make.
"I'm so sorry, Ruby." Said Anne, as she and Diana initiated a group hug.
"I'm sure you'll find someone else one day." Said Diana.
"But that's the thing, I already have! This whole time I've been obsessing over Gilbert when Moody's always been right there for me! He's so sweet and handsome, and such a great friend, and we actually have conversations! He makes me laugh, and he's so thoughtful - did you see the gift he got me? I actually think he likes me back." Ruby gushed, her eyes lighting up.
"That's wonderful, Ruby!" Exclaimed Diana.
"You two would make a really cute couple!" Squealed Anne. "I ship it!"
"So would you and Gilbert." Said Ruby with a knowing look.
"Exactly!" Said Diana.
"What?! No we wouldn't, we're just friends." Anne said, slightly panicked.
"But friendship is the foundation to a good relationship, right?" Said Diana eagerly.
"So? I have lots of friends in the squad that are guys, that doesn't mean I'll date them!" Said Anne.
"But you don't look at your other friends the way you look at Gilbert." Said Ruby.
"That's... not true." Said Anne lamely.
Was it?
Maybe. Maybe not. It would take Anne some time to work that out for herself, but she would eventually. Someday.