My stalker

Chapter 18

-Happy birthday honey! Hope you have a great time at the party tonight xx- mom

I smiled as I read the text. Finally 17… It was the 26th today, aka my birthday, and yesterday I celebrated Christmas with Michelle and her family. It was sad that mom couldn’t be there but it was fun nevertheless.

-Thanks mom. See you in a few days xx –

I sent back and looked back at the people who sat with me around the table.

“Guys, it’s just a party.”, I said as I saw them all concentrating. They were putting a lot more effort in the party for tonight then I’d originally planned, not that I minded. Sarah, Sophia, Rachel, Ethan and I sat at one of our favorite restaurants after we had spent a few hours shopping.

“We are going to have an amazing party, rather you like it or not”, Ethan said and turned back to Sophia and Rachel, finishing the list of stuff we still needed from the store. I shook my head and turned to Sarah who just stared at them with amusement.

“She invited more people than I asked her to, didn’t she?” I asked Sarah while pointing to Sophia.

“She invited friends, then all the people that could possibly be your stalker and then people she thought you would like”, she explained and I huffed. Of course she would.

“If my house goes down, I’m holding you accountable”, I told Sophia who just rapidly nodded and went back to the list.

“So how did your Christmas go?” I asked Sarah.

“Well, we had dinner together but nothing too special” I raised an eyebrow.

“You know that we’re not the richest people out there”, Sarah reminded me. She had told us the story before. Her mom was pregnant with them and neither of her grandparents were supportive of it, even cut them off completely. Her parents had to built a live from scratch and worked their asses off to give their kids a life. Mad respect for them. I’ve met them a few times and they’re amazing people, really kind and caring.

“We used to struggle a lot more with money so we never really did presents or fancy dinners. The last couple of years we have been giving each other present and had dinner but it was always just simple”, she explained further and I nodded in understanding.

“So it was just you and your family”, I asked.

“Daniel and Jacob where there too”, she said, making me raise an eyebrow.

“Jacob?”

“Daniel’s older brother”, she said and focused on something Sophia asked her. Didn’t know Daniel had a brother.

-You ready for your party tonight? – unknown

I read when my phone lit up from the table.

-Sorta. Are you coming? –

-Of course I am. Wouldn’t miss it for the world – unknown

Good to know…

-So I can give you a dare tonight? –

-Yup, you can. I’ll be waiting… – unknown

-You better be -

“Okay, we’ll go to the mall first and after that we’ll go prep the house and get ready”, Sophia made me look up after a while and looked at me for confirmation. Oh boy…

Time flew by and before I knew it, people started arriving for the party.  Some wishing me a happy birthday and others were clearly just here for the party.  Sophia, Rachel, Sarah, Ethan, Oliver, Blake, Matthew, Adam, Michelle, Alex and even Eric, Daniel and Jason. They even wished me a happy birthday when they came in which was more than I expected.

 And then Liam came as well…

“Happy birthday”, Liam winked at me when he had spotted me and gave me a big hug.

“Thanks big guy”

“You ready for your present?” he said, making my eyes turn slightly bigger.

“Liam, you didn’t have to”, I said but he just nodded his head no and handed me something anyway. I looked back at him, lightly smiling “You really didn’t have to”.

“Tell you what. If you don’t like it, I’ll take it back”, he said and motioned for me to open the present. I opened and in it laid a beautiful bracelet with something engraved in it. I held it closer and smiled as it read ‘So you think of me when you go travel the world’.

“It’s beautiful”, I looked back up at him to see him satisfied and smiling as well. He took it from me and carefully placed it around my wrist, putting it on.

“You’re the best”, I threw my arms around him, taking him in a tight hug. I might not have feelings for him but he’s still super important to me.

“I’m gonna get a drink, I’ll find you later”, he placed a soft kiss on top of my head and walked away. I felt my phone vibrate and quickly took it out, opening the new message.

-So what dare is it gonna be princess – unknown

Euhm… Well it is my birthday so…

-Surprise me with something for my birthday. You don’t have to go buy anything but just fix me something that make me say ‘Damn, I’ve always wanted that’ –

Ha, good luck with that.

-Not making it exactly easy, are we? But sure, deal. Means I get to give you two presents – unknown

What?

-You already had a present for me?? – unknown

-Patience Clark, you’ll get it soon enough… – unknown

This guy isn’t real, he already had a present for me. And just like that it made me feel all giddy inside. Didn’t like that at all though, it just makes me more eager to find out who he is…

“There you are, I’ve been looking for my partner in crime for a while now”, I turned around and saw Alexander walking up, smugly throwing an arm around me.

“Well, what kind of crime did you have in mind?” I asked him, my eyes narrowed. He placed his index finger in front of his lips and suspiciously looked around, like no one was allowed to listen in.

“We’re gonna get waisted”, he suddenly shouted, grabbing everyone’s attention and started dragging me outside. This boy…

We walked to the table and I recognized Ethan sitting there, taking a smoke. Told him cigarettes were bad for him but then he hit back with ‘so is alcohol’ so I just shut up after that.

“Oh hey Ethan, wanna play a little game with my girlfriend and I”, Alex said making me raise an eyebrow at him. Girlfriend now huh?

“I would love to play with you and your girlfriend”, he answered, winking at me. The three of us sat down and the rules, explained by Alex, were quite easy. Someone asks a questions, you answer, you’re safe. If you don’t want to answer, it means you have to drink.

“Ethan, who do you think is the most attractive person here in your opinion?” Alex asked and Ethan turned to me with a mild panicked expression before drinking.

“Okay, playing it safe. Answer me one thing though, is it Ella?” he asked curiously to which Ethan shook his head.

“Interesting”, Alex said and rubbed his chin before looking at me for a question.

“What are you most afraid off?” I asked and he looked at the table, thinking for a few moments.

“Dying alone”, he said and Ethan let out a laugh but I saw he meant what he said.

“Wow there Romeo. I thought we were playing with Alexander”, Ethan joked, receiving a playful push from Alex.

“My turn”, Ethan said and turned to me, thinking for a few seconds. Suddenly his eyes slightly widened and a big smile came to his face. Oh no.

“Since you were never too chatty about what went on between you and Liam, how far did you two go?” He’s asking if we had s*x, isn’t he?

“We never had s*x, if that’s what you’re asking”, I quickly said, not wanting to go too much into detail. I might like to gossip every once and a while, but I tend to keep relationships private.

“Is he a good kisser though?” Oh god, ETHAN… Can you not.

“You’re supposed to ask one question, not two”

“Just answer”, Ethan pushed while Alex just watched, smirking at me.

“Fine”, I admitted before continuing “He’s a good kisser but there were no feelings, no passion”.

“Damn”, Alex commented, the both of them looking at me.

“Okay, my turn”, I looked at Ethan.

“If you could be any Kardashian, who would you be?” I asked, knowing it’ll get the focus of the previous question. Plus, Ethan is secretly a huge Kardashian fan, we watch it together almost every Sunday.

“Kourtney all the way. She’s the queen of sass”, he answered and we both chuckled.

“You watch the Kardashians?” Alex asked.

“Only because she makes me”, Ethan nonchalantly explained. Yeah, right.

“So, Ella”, Alex turned to me while thinking for a question.

“What’s something that you really enjoy doing lately?” he asked.

“Probably drinking”, Ethan said and I slightly pushed him, mouthing a quick ‘f**k you’.

What do I enjoy doing tho? Tough question.

“I’d say being outside and just relaxing. I’ve been walking a lot in the park lately. Watching people, feeding the ducks, smelling flowers. That kind of stuff”, I answered. I always thought it sucked that it wasn’t cold enough to snow where I lived but it made it so that some nature was still able to look lively in winter.

“Nice. I’m gonna head in and grab another drink if that’s alright”, Alex said and I nodded, giving him a smile before he turned to go inside.

“So now Alexander’s your boyfriend?”, Ethan turned to me with a smug face.

“Yeah, you jealous?” I said, raising my eyebrows at him.

“You have no idea”, he told me, dramatically putting a hand to his forehead.

“Have you talked to Jason yet?” I asked him, changing the topic.

“Yeah, but he’s quite closed off. You two seem to be getting close tho”, he said, his tone changing with the last part.

“We’re friends, Ethan. I wouldn’t do that to you”, I reassured him and he nodded.

“Let’s get inside, I think It’s gonna rain soon”, he said, holding up one hand that caught a few droplets of rain. We both stepped inside and a few minutes later the rain heavily started coming down. It was cosy though.

“I’m gonna go get a sweater, it’s a little chilly”, I said and he smiled at me “Find me after?”. I nodded and made my way to the living room. I came to the stairs and saw Sophia standing in the middle of them looking at all the people in the living room.

“Hey”, I said when I reached her but she almost fell backwards if I hadn’t caught her hand in time.

“You scared the s**t out of me”, I laughed as she was breathing heavily even tho I was right in her vision when I walked up.

“I was just gonna grab a sweater” she nodded and took a few more seconds before her usual jolly expression came back to her face.

“I can get it”, she offered but I shook my head “It’s okay, I’ll be down in a bit”.

“Don’t roam too far, there’s still a surprise later”, she told me and I saluted before walking the steps.

The surprise, right. She had been teasing me about it for the whole day. Even though I really don’t like surprises, I was quite curious…

I walked up the steps passed some people walking down the hallway. Good thing I locked up my mothers room. I stepped in my room and walked face first into someone.

“Auw”, I let out as my hands immediately went to my nose. That s**t hurt.

“Oh god. I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I opened my eyes to see Oliver looking at me with a worried expression.

“Are you made out of bricks?” I said letting go of my nose, receiving a chuckle from him.

“Does it hurt bad?” he said taking a closer look. I felt a little weirded out by that so took a small step back. I mean, does anyone like it when people look at their nose from up close?

“It’s okay, really”, I told him before I scrunched my brows together.

“Why were you in my room?” I looked around to still see my bed made up, so that was a huge relief. I should have just locked up my room as well.

“I was just roaming around. You’ve got a cute room”, he said, throwing a few more glances around.

“Thanks”, I spoke kind of awkwardly.

“You wanna go have a drink? You still look unusually sober”

“Sure I’m just gonna get a sweater. Be right down”, I told him. He patted my shoulder, giving me a smile before walking out.

And now, for the long awaited sweater. I went up to my desk and grabbed my red hoody that was hanging over my chair. Taking it of the chair, I pulled it over my head and dusted it off. Much better.

I turned to walk out but my eyes quickly turned back to my desk.

I didn’t leave that out? Why on earth would I leave my old dairy out? Unless someone else did…

I confusedly turned back to the door and let out a big sigh. Why on earth would someone read my diary… I looked back at it and focused on the page that it laid open on. My wish list from when I was 14…

I want a drink, right here right now. s**t’s getting too confusing… I roughly threw the book closed and walked out of the room, locking it this time.

I think I have a few ideas of what my second present is gonna be tonight…

I made my way downstairs and suddenly Sophia started clapping her hands, making most of the people turn her way. I went to stand next to Blake and Eric. They both gave me a quick ‘hi’ before turning to Sophia again.

“Dear guest, as you know our little Ella has turned 17”, she said, making some heads turn my way to give me smiles. I just stood there feeling awkward, tightly clasping my hands together.

“As most of you probably know, her mom couldn’t be here today so she left me in charge of her present”, she added and looked at me as she spotted me in the crowd.

“Ella, if you’d follow me”, she smiled at me and motioned for me to come. I made my way over and she made me close my eyes before guiding me somewhere. We entered a room, I presumed was the garage since it’s always freaking cold in there, and made me stand still at a certain spot.

“Open your eyes” I did and gasped widely as I saw what stood in front of me. I turned to Sophia who stood there with a few other people as she excitingly clapped her hands.

“Are you kidding me?” I half yelled as my eyes went back to the beautiful bright red scooter that stood in the middle of the garage. How? When?

“Here”, Sophia handed me a card with my name on. I swiftly turned it around and recognized my moms handwriting.

My dear daughter, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there with you today but I tried to make it up with you this way. I wasn’t sure what to get you and had settled on just taking you shopping until someone suggested me something else. A really nice boy contacted me and asked me to help with you present. He didn’t just help but almost arranged the whole thing. When I asked him his name, he told me a name he said you would recognize him by.

I really hope you like it and have a great time tonight! Happy birthday sweetheart!

Much love, your mom and your prince charming.

I’m speechless… Absolutely speechless. A few tears streamed down my face, cause I’m an emotional f**k, and I felt someone back hug me.

“Happy birthday cousin”, Michelle kissed my cheek and Adam gave me a stupid smile from beside her. This is crazy though…

“Ella?”, I wiped the tears from my face and turned to see Matthew walk in. That wasn’t what surprised me. The roses he was holding did.

“Your second present ma’am”, Matthew winked and held them to me. He got me roses… I started thinking and then I thought back at one of the lines on my old wish list: ‘Receive roses from someone I love’…

“Where the hell did they find roses?” I asked, perplexed by the beauty of the roses.

“He stole them from one of the neighbors”, Matthew laughed and I took them, taking in the amazing scent with them. I went to ask him something else when I felt my phone vibrate. Having already a pretty good idea of who it was, I held the roses in one hand and took my phone out with the other.

-Happy birthday Clark – unknown

-How even? –

I typed, not even sure how to react to this.

-Haha. I’ve seen you complaining about walking home numerous of times – unknown

-Thank you soo much! I don’t even know what to say right now –

-Don’t thank me Clark, I’d do anything do see you smile like that again – unknown