Unexpectedly Bad

20: Happy Birthday, Mickey

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"Dude, I'm so excited for the prank." I heard Ray said from behind me. "God, I'm so genius."

"Tell that to Jackson. He'd be excited as hell too." It was Tristan this time. I turned to face them who were sitting behind me in History.

"What prank?" I asked.

"Birthday parties and surprises are overrated, so we prank him every year on his birthdays instead. It's kind of our tradition." Ray grinned.

"By we and our, he meant him and Jackson who does that willingly, and me who do that by force." Tristan said.

"Oh, come on. It's just our way to show our love to him." Ray said that earned a scoff from Tristan. "Yeah, right."

"Who's birthday?" I asked.

"What, you don't know? It's Aiden's." Ray said.

"It's Aiden's birthday today?" I was shocked. I had never knew his birthday. Usually, the popular people in this school would throw a birthday party to celebrate their birthdays. Ray, Jackson, and even the quite Tristan did that too. But, Aiden had never done that. I didn't think anyone but his friends know his brithday.

"No. Tomorrow." Ray said. "Hey, do you want to join us, The Pranksters Squad?" I shook my head.

An idea appeared on my mind. He never had a birthday party before, it would be awesome if we surprise him with one. "I want to throw a birthday party for him. Can you guys help me?"

"He doesn't like birthday parties for himself. He hates the crowd." Tristan said.

"Well, we don't have to invite everyone, just you, Jackson, Alyssa, and me." I said.

"Who the f**k is Alyssa?" Ray asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"She's a little friend of mine...and Aiden's."

"Well, maybe we should do it though, it's not like he has someone else to do it for him." Tristan said. But, what was that supposed to mean? "Thanks a lot, Luna, I've been wanting to get rid of their stupid pranks." Ray smacked the back of his head and rolled his eyes.

Tristan and Ray agreed to the plan. Ray had texted Jackson, he said he was down for it. Ray suggested that we could have the party on Aiden's backyard. He also said that his mom wouldn't mind. She would also be helping us with the food and cake, while the boys would be the one to take care of the properties such as balloons and everytning. I would be in charge of decorating the party, but, since that would be too easy and unfair, I would be helping in the kitchen as well.

I called Kate earlier to inform her that Alyssa would be coming with me with a friend's birthday party. She was really happy about that since she had extra working hour tomorrow, so she wouldn't have to worry about Alyssa.

I was suddenly distracted by the thoughts of what would be a good present for Aiden. It was kind of hard since I didn't really know him. Watches, shirts, or shoes were too mainstream. I wanted something special for him.

Later that night, after dinner I sat on my balcony while drinking a hot tea. I was still thinking about the present. A sudden idea came up to my mind. It was not something fancy or expensive, but, it meant a lot for me. At first, I was not sure of should I give him that or not. But, after I thought about it once more, I was finally sure that it would be a great present for him. I really wished he would like it.

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Jackson and Ray skipped last period so they could prepare for the party and being the goody-two-shoes that I was, I couldn't even skipped a class. Tristan would be the one to hold Aiden back for a while until the decorations, food, and everything were done. I would go straight to his house after the bell rang, so I could help his mom and the boys.

At three thirty, I was arrived in front of his house, no, his mansion. I started helping the others decorating the swimming pool area where the party would be held. After we were done, a smile appeared on my face. I was satisfied with the work. The presents were placed on a special table.

I told Ray to text Tristan, telling him that it was the time to bring Aiden home. A couple of minutes later, Tristan texted Ray that they were around three minutes away. We were rushed into our planned position; Ray was holding Alyssa in his arms, Alyssa was holding a pink balloon with white polkadots, I was standing beside him with a cake on my hands, and Jackson was on my left side with a camera in his hand to record the moment. Aiden's mom, Rebecca, refused to be present on the event. She said she had a schedule with her clients, along with Aiden's dad.

The door to the swimming pool area burst opened. Tristan rushed to stand next to Ray. Aiden stood still on the doorway, blinking a few times when we all yelled, "SURPRISE!". A smile appeared on his face, and it got even wider when his eyes met mine.

"Happy birthday, Aiden!" Alyssa shouted while she wriggled out of Ray's arms and ran to hug Aiden's legs.

"Thank you, princess." Aiden ruffled her hair carefully so he wouldn't ruin the plastic crown she was wearing. She held Aiden's hand and lead him closer to where we stood. "Make a wish!" Alyssa said while jumping excitedly. Aiden stared into my eyes for a couple of seconds before closing his eyes and blew the candles. Alyssa clapped while giggling, followed by the other boys.

"Happy birthday, bro." Tristan did a guy handshake with Aiden.

"Happy birthday, man." Jackson did the handshake as well, followed by Ray.

"I'm so disappointed I didn't get to prank you this time." Ray squeezed Aiden's shoulder and I laughed at that.

It was my turn now. "Happy birthday, Mickey." I smiled shyly at him.

"Thanks." We stood there looking at each other's eyes for God knows how long before he broke the silence. "So, where's my birthday hug?" I smiled and hugged him. His body stiffen at first, but then he relaxed and hugged me back.

There was a clicked of camera. We both pulled away and there stood Ray with a camera on his hands and a grin on his face. "Okay, lovebirds, time for the cake!"

It was a round triple chocolate cake with fresh strawberries and chocolate sticks on top of it. 'Happy Birthday, Aiden!' was written with vanilla-flavored cream. And the first slice was given to Alyssa.

By the time we finished our cakes, Jackson turned on the music. I changed into my floral patterned black bikini and changed Alyssa into her sparkly pink one while the boys got changed too. Ray did a back-flip into the pool which earned an "Again! Again! Again!" from Alyssa. She squealed whenever the cold water splashed her. I didn't hold her the whole time, the others were also helping me taking care of her. Although, Ray played the biggest part of it since him and Alyssa got along pretty well.

We were having a lot of fun, judged by the laughters on everyone's faces. We would come out of the pool to eat some snacks before we jumped back into it.

Aiden was laughing along, so did the the others, including me. His laughter was getting louder everytime. It was rare to see him happy. I realized I was observing him too long when he turned around and our eyes met. He smiled. It seemed so genuine. He reached out, I took his hands and he pulled me a little bit closer. We were standing next to each other, our arms were touching. It was so close that I could feel the heat from his body.

I turned to see Alyssa who was on Ray's back, her tiny hands were circling his neck. The next thing I saw was Jackson jumping to Tristan's back and caught him off guard. "f**k! You're heavy, you i***t!" Tristan groaned.

"Hey, watch your language, there's a five year old!" Jackson messed Tristan's hair.

I chuckled and shook my head. I turned to face Aiden. He was already facing me and grinning. "What?"

"Hop on." He motioned to his back.

We were bumping to each other. The first team who falls was the loser. My team, Aiden and myself, decided to be allies with Ray's team, him and Alyssa. Ray's team distracted Jackson and Tristan, while Aiden and me came from behind them. I tickled Tristan on his sides and they fell together almost instantly. Who would've thought Tristan Mason could be that ticklish?

We laughed in victory. "Dude, what the heck?" Jackson splashed water to Tristan.

"Why the heck are you blaming me? I'm not the one who weighs like an elephant."

The music was still playing while we continued the game. Aiden-Luna Vs. Ray-Alyssa, although it wasn't fair since my strength and Alyssa's were totally different, but we played along anyway. We went easy with Alyssa since I was afraid if I pushed her too strong, she might actually fell and drowned.

Tristan and Jackson, being the idiots they were, decided to went all cheerleaders on us. It was Jackson's idea, he forced Tristan to do it since their team lost because of Tristan. Jackson's words, not mine. Tristan was supporting my team which meant Jackson was supporting Ray's.

"GO RAYLYSSA! GO RAYLYSSA!" He faked dancing. Did you get that? He even made a ship name for them.

"Come on, guys." Was all that Tristan said to support us.

Aiden were shaking when Alyssa splashed water into his eyes. Ray bumped to us from our side which caused Aiden to lost his balance and we both fell into the water.

"Yaaay!" I heard them cheered when I made it to the surface. The three of them, Jackson was included, were high-fiving each other.

"Well played, princess." Aiden walked closer to Jackson who was now holding Alyssa and started playfully tickling Alyssa on the stomach.

"Kids! It's getting dark." We turned to Gretta who was standing by the pool. "Get inside. Dinner is ready."

We got out of the pool. We wrapped ourselves with towels and ofcourse I helped Alyssa. J and T were showering on the small bathrooms by the pool, A was on his own bathroom, R was on the living room's bathroom, while me and Alyssa shared the guest bedroom's bathroom.

We had dinner later that night after having hot chocolates made by Gretta. Gretta's cooking was amazing. It tasted like the food on a fancy five-star restaurant.

We relaxed on the living room after that and talked about a lot of things. Most of them were about soccer and other sports, I didn't quite understand, but I felt so happy to see the boys so happy. Alyssa was eating strawberry pudding while enjoying her cartoon TV show. She was so focused on the show, her eyebrows were furrowed as if she was trying to understand it. She was not even listening to the conversations at all.

It was eight when we decided to call it a night. Aiden, me, and Alyssa were standing on his porch, waiting for the boys to come out. "My present was nothing fancy. I'm telling youso you won't be expecting much."

"I already loved it." He smiled.

"How do you know you do? You don't know what's inside."

"I just know." He smirked.

"I think my present would be the best! You should open mine first!" Alyssa said, tugging the hem of Aiden's shirt.

"Will do, princess." He ruffled her hair.

The boys came out soon after. Tristan drove me and Alyssa home.

Today was great. I found new friends. They were fun and almost always loud. We got along pretty fast and well. Soon, as we got closer, I believed that we would make a really great friends. Even family. Although, if Hailee was there, it would be a lot more fun. Too bad, she couldn't make it today.

Having more friends weren't as bad as I thought it would be, after all. It would be a lot more than just Hailee and me. There would be a lot more interesting and adventurous experience. And I couldn't wait for it to happen.