I tend to write longer since i have more free time so yeah enjoy! I had fun writing this chapter :)
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When we arrived at aunt Susan's, there were only a few kids. Two of them were playing on the plastic seesaw; the others were on the silde. I saw Lily chasing around with her friends. I was acutally envy her because I wish i could go back to a time when making friends was easy. I sighed.
"What happened?" Jai asked.
"Nothing."
"That's Lily." I said to Jai.
I remembered when Meghan invited me to sit with her friends at lunch, i was happy about that, but when i set with their friends, i just didnt know what to say. It was hard to talk with people when you had nothing in common. I knew there were friends who had nothing in common but they could still be friends and i wondered how it worked. I just ate my lunch quietly when i was with them and tried to think up something to reply. I was really jealous of people who could say something that was interesting. I didnt know about Meghan but Meghan's friends probably thought i was boring so i ended up sitting by myself afterwards. I left this little group just in case they thought i was boring and ditched me first. I didnt want it to happen again.
I saw my aunt and uncle fixing the happy birthday banner which was hung on the gate. They both waved at me and the banner fell down. My uncle held his hand at his side while looking at the banner on the ground.
My aunt walked over and greeted me.
"Its good to see you, Ellie. So is this your friend?" she gave me a hug and turned to Jai.
"Jai, this is my aunt, Susan. Aunt Susan, this is Jai." I said.
"Nice to meet you." Jai said.
"I'll tell Lily you are here. She will be excited." my aunt said.
"So you and Lily are close?" Jai asked.
"Kind of. She is the only cousin that i like."
"Why?"
"She's not anooying like other 5 old kid, screaming and crying all the time. She's...really calm."
"I see. She's just like you and that's why you like her better. You are both calm."
"Me? Wh-" I was cut off when Lily ran to me and put her arms around my waist. She was like half of my height.
"ELLIE!" she said
"It's good to see you Lily!" I crouched down and put my arms around her shoulders. She was cute with her pink princess dress. She looked up and saw Jai. As soon as she saw Jai, her little cheeks went bright red. Aww.
"Who is he, Ellie?" she asked.
"Lily, this is Jai, my friend. Jai, this is Lily."
"Nice to meet you, Lily. Happy birthday! " Jai squatted down and smiled.
Her face was still red and she turned to look at me.
"Ellie, teach me Spanish, teach me Spanish!" Lily said. The last time i was here was months ago, and she asked me what my favorite subject was at high school, I said it was spanish and then she begged me to teach her.
Lily was weirdest kid i had ever known. Other kids in her age spent their entire time watching cartoon or playing toys but Lily...she did watch Sponge bob, but she was not glued to TV. In her leisure time, she also learned vocabulary by using the flash cards by herself. She was a little freak but I liked her for that. I couldn't stand my other cousins, they were annoying most of the time.
Jai looked at me with surprise.
"Do you remember what I taught you last time?" I asked Lily.
"Yesss, sponge in spanish is esponja." It was the first Spanish word that I taught her since I knew she liked Sponge bob. Jai just stood their with his mouth open.
"Okay, let me think..." Today is her birthday so...
"Say 'Feliz Cumpleaños'."
"Feliz Cump..?" she said and I smiled.
"Cumpleaños" I repeated.
"Cumplea....Ellie, I cant say this word, this word is so strange." She said and scratched her head, glancing at Jai again. I knew the ñ was difficult for her to pronounce since she was only five. Sometimes I did forget she was only five because she was just so different.
"It's okay, Spanish itself is weird." I said and laughed.
"Go play with your friends, you shouldn't be learning right now." I said to her and she ran off. I raised up and saw more kids coming in.
"You teach her Spanish?" Jai finally spoke.
"Yep."
"What have you done to her little brain?"
"She asked me to teach her! She's....kind of a little freak." I said.
"Wow, you both have so many things in common." Jai said mockingly.
"Hey!" I nudged Jai slightly. I felt comfortable to be around Jai, and it never happened when i was with other people, I didn't need to try or pretend anything. I could just be me.
I saw a man with a chef hat stood in the front of the yard and all the kids gathered together all of sudden. What thing could draw a bunch of 5 year old kids' attention so quickly?
"What's going on there?" Jai asked. Meanwhile, aunt Susan and uncle Chace stood behind all the children. Uncle Chace was holding a camera, filming.
We both walked over to see what happened. We saw all the kids surrounding a long table with lots of cupcakes, oreo crumbs, sprinkles, marshmallow, fruits, m&m. So they hired someone, I was guessing a pastry chef, to teach the kids to make cupcakes. My mom said when I was a kid, I liked cupcakes a lot and we would go to a cupcake store called 'Sprinkles' almost every weekend. I wouldn't have remembered if my mom had not shown me a photo of me standing in front of the store, with frosting all over my face. But I did remember I was obsessed with frozen yogurt. Good times.
"Kids, see the little bottle on the table?" the chef said and I looked down on the table.
"Yes!" all the kids said it out loud. Each kid had an easy-squeezed bottle.
"ELLIE! Come here!" I heard Lily's voice but I didn't see her.
"She's there." Jai tapped on my shoulder and pointed.
We walked over and Lily handed me the bottle.
"This is yours, Ellie!"
"Aww, I didn't know you save one for me." I said and smoothed her hair.
"And...this one is for.....Jai." She passed a bottle to me without looking up. I didn't know if Jai would like to make one since making cupcake was a really girly thing.
"Thanks, Lily." Jai said to her and took the bottle but Lily still kept her head down.
She had a little crush on Jai and I thought it was cute. It was understandable. Despite the fact that Jai was really good-looking, he had the most adorable smile on earth. He had the kind of smile which could make girly hearts aflutter. I wish I could have that kind of charm so Jai would like me, not as a friend though.
"Today we are going to create a flower. First, squeeze, letting icing build up to make the flower, twist your wrist slightly, then stop squeezing. Now, lift your hand!" The chef said while demonstrating.
Jai and I took the cupcakes on the table and started to decorate while Lily was going to the other side of the table to find her friends.
The chef walked around to help the kids out. The chef would probably took a long time since making a flower with this tool was way too difficult for a five year old kid. The chef should have asked all the kids put the frosting on without making any shapes.
"You're really going to make one?" I looked up. I was surprised that Jai was really using the bottle.
"What? Afraid Im going to beat you?" Jai said. He was always cheerful and his cheerful spirit started to influence on me.
"I doubt it." I said and continue squeezing my bottle. Some of the kids just ran off and fooled around instead. They just squeezed the frosting on each other's face.
"Kids, i need your attention! Once you finish your first flower, continue doing until the cupcake was covered by the flowers." The chef said as he clapped his hands.
It was difficult but somehow I made it look okay, I was expecting worse. I just made two small flowers on top.
"Hey, Ellie, see what I made!" Jai said and showed his cupcake to me.
"Ewww!" i said. He made the frosting into a poop shape. Boy is boy.
"Wow! yours looks great. Teach me?" Jai said and the corner of his lips turned down, acting like he was sad. I took a new cupcake from the shelf while Jai putting his original cupcake on the table. I held the new cupcake with my left hand. He was holding the squeeze bottle with his left hand so I put my right hand on it. His head leaned in. Even though a part of my hair was covering face my side but I could felt his eyes were not on the cupcake. I actually felt the tingling in my hand right now. I tried to twist my wrist slowly to make a perfect shape but I couldn't. I might start to tremble. I lifted up my head a little bit and in the corner of my eye I found his eyes were really on me. My face was probably red...I wish I could see how red I was, how awkward I was at the moment. I didn't mind Jai being so close to me though, I liked when he held me in his arms and comforted me after he saved me from Kyle at school. I didn't feel that nervous then because I was shocked, my mind wasn't thinking at that moment. But now Im clear-headed...It just made me really nervous when he was so close to me. Suddenly, he lifted his right hand and put my hair behind my ear. His face was so close to mine and i could feel his breath. He was looking at me but i was still staring at the cupcake, I was too nervous to look at him. Ellie, dont faint, dont faint, dont faint, i gulped and this was when I dropped the cupcake.
"Oooops!" I said. I hated being clumsy because you couldn't hold a thing without dropping. And that dang cupcake had to slip out of my hand at this moment.
We both quickly pulled away and squatted down to pick it up. Our hands both touched but I pulled away my hand, letting him to pick it up.
"I guess we cant it this one, unless you want a diarrhea." Jai said. I could feel he tried to act causally when he was kind of nervous now. What the heck? I was the one should be nervous because you put your face so dang close to mine!
"All right, let me see your cupcakes!" the chef said as he walked to the kid next to Lily. I turned around and saw the happy birthday banner was finally up. I wondered how long my uncle took to hang that thing up. Lily was an only child so yeah....i guessed we were somehow alike, we both had caring parents.
"I think we should start decorating with these stuff." I said and pointed at a bowl of oreo crumbs when I was still thinking about what just happened.
"Mmm....I like oreo, good choice." Jai said and used the spoon to put the crumbs on top of his 'poop cupcake'. I put mine with oreo as well, but I added some sprinkles.
"This looks good." Jai said. He looked at his cupcake like he was really satisfied with his work, then he took a bite.
"How does your poop taste?" I asked. I couldnt believe what i just said.
"It's delicious!" Jai said and nodded his head.
"So what are you going to do with your cupcake?" Jai said. I had to say it was sweet that he knew i was not going to eat it.
"Probably not going to eat it. I'll just give it to Lily." I said.
"Wow, this is great!" It was the chef's voice. I didn't realize he stood behind me.
I turned around.
"Oh...thanks."
"Is this your first time making it?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Well done. You have some potential. Have you ever considered being a pastry chef?" I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
"Mmm....I'll think about it." I replied.
"Hope to see you in my shop in the future!" the chef said and walked away. He was a really friendly chef.
The chef walked to the little boy next to me, whose hands were full of blue frosting.
"So, you are going to give away your perfect cupcake without taking a bite?" Jai asked.
Maybe I would just eat a little, since Jai was now staring at me, I wouldn't want him to think I was weird or something. I meant I made it and so I should eat it, just a little.
I stared at the sprinkles on the cupcake.....I put the cupcake closer to my mouth. I must have acted like someone was forcing myself eating some strange food. i finally bit. It tasted....ugh. i felt there was sugar all over my mouse. I didnt swallow it, i just kept it in my mouth.
"There's something on your face." I was about to wipe my mouth with tissue but Jai reached his hand and wiped away the frosting on my right cheek.
"Umm, thank you." I didnt know what to say. I hoped i was not blushing again. I hated it! But it seemed like all i did these days was blushing....this was so embarrassing!
"Im just going to get some water." I said to Jai and walked inside the house.
I saw uncle Chace holding a camera. He was filming Lily.
"Can i open the presents right now?" Lily asked her father while aunt Susan was handing out the chocolate chips cookies in the living room.
"No, you should wait until all the people leave."
Lily slouched her shoulders. "Okay." she said and sat on her little chair.
I couldnt help but looked at this scene. It was so beautiful. We were this kind of family until my dad....
I almost forgot there was still cupcake in my mouth. I got to the bathroom quickly and spit it out into the toilet. I used some water to rinse my mouth afterwards and looked at myself in the mirror. I wiped out the water on my face.
I went out but i didnt see Jai and there were so many kids running around right now. I looked to my right then I saw a lot of kids were in the bouncy castle but i still didnt see Jai. I looked to the place where we were and i saw he was still standing right there, leaning down talking to Lilly. His back was facing me so i might just scare him. He still didnt know i was behind him but Lily saw me being sneaky.
She tilted his head looked at me with marshmallow stuffed in her nose. What?
"What are you looking at?" Jai said and he turned around. It was one of the most ridiculous things i had ever seen. Jai's nose was stuffed with marshmallow as well. He got panic and quickly pulled them out.
"Wh-what are you guys doing?" I couldnt stop smiling.
"Nothing weird." Jai said and threw the marshmallow away.
"Definitely not weird." I said.
"Lily, take the marshmallows out." I asked her.
"Nooo! It's fun!" Lily said. My hand reached to her face and she ran off. What could i say? She was still a five year old.
"Wait, Lily!"
"Come and get me!" she laughed. Jai and I both followed her to the bouncy castle.
She was inside the castle with at least ten kids.
"Ellie, why dont you come inside?" she already took the marshmallow out and forgot what we were just talking about.
"Nah, you'll go have fun with your friends."
"Please, Ellie?" Lily started pulling my hand.
"All right, all right. Jai, are you not coming in?"
"Nope." he said with his arms folded and smiled. I knew he wanted to see me falling like a fool.
There were so many balls in the castle and i could hardy walk inside.
As soon as I got in, Lily and her friends started to throw balls at me. I tried to fight back but there were so many kids! They were laughing how dumb and weak i was. Okay so there was no clown at the birthday party and now i had to do the job.
"Hey, you guys cant do this! It's not fair!" I said. I threw a ball at this little boy but it didn't hit him. Okay, what the heck was going on? Was I in P.E. now? They became more aggressive and i still couldnt fight back. Suddenly, Jai jumped between me and the kids, putting his arms around me and keeping the other five kids throwing balls at me. I might start to blush again. I looked up to see his expression and he was already looking at me. Normally i would look away, but this time, i smiled back instead. This was just too much for me. I was light-headed right now.
"Stop! Bullying is a bad thing, i need you guys to know that!" Jai raised his voice and somehow they all listened to Jai. I knew Jai just wanted to joke but they all took it seriously. I was 17 and i was 'bullied' by a bunch of 5 year old kids. The kids stopped laughing and jumping. Jai was still holding me even though all the kids already stopped moving and dropped the balls. They actually looked kind of scared and ran out, except Lily and one little boy. Lily was staring at us and now i felt kind of awkward, so i pulled away.
Jai grabbed the boy's arm and leaned down.
"Promise me, dont be a bully at school okay?, what did i say about bullying?"
"B-bullying is a-a bad thing." the little boy looked terrified while Jai and I tried to hold back a laugh.
"Good." the boy ran away and he almost tripped over himself. Lily left the bouncy castle and just stood there.
"You literally scared him!" I said and slapped Jai's arm lightly. He was the only guy i had ever joked around with. If i didnt count Luke in. I didnt know but i just didnt feel comfortable when i was around with other boys.
"It's worth it. The look on his face......" Jai laughed.
"You are so mean!" I said.
"Not as mean as you, you teach Lily Spanish and she is five!"
"Come on, time to blow out the candles!" aunt Susan came and took Lily's hand. We just realized that Lily was there listening during the whole time.
We finally got out from the bouncy castle and followed aunt Susan into the house.
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I want to know how many people are still keeping up with the story so vote thank you!! shoutout to people who have voted the recent chapters, thank you!!! I really appreciate it!