“Happy birthday, Georgia!” a crowd of people erupts as soon as the light floods the living room.
You have got to be kidding me.
I force a smile as Lily bounces beside me. “Thanks.” I chuckle sheepishly, not knowing what else to do. A surprise party is my living nightmare.
“I know your birthday was three days ago, but I just wanted to throw you something big, because you don’t even realize how special you are.”
“Oh…” My voice trails off as the people erupt in chatter, and I start scanning all their faces. I donothave this many friends. Ilook at Lily as she drags me forward into the crowd. “Where did you find all these people?”
“Your contact list in your phone!” She answers me proudly, like she didn’t totally invade my privacy. “I invited everyone on the list. You only had like two hundred contacts, and so I figured not everyone would come.” Her warm brown eyes hold mine. “Some of them didn’t even know who you were.”
Embarrassment floods my system, as I try to rack my brain for the last time I even went through the list. She could’ve invited the guy who mows my grandma’s lawn for all I know.
This is so bad. What a fucking disaster.
“Thank you all for coming!” Lily calls out over the crowd, continuing to pull me by the arm toward the dining room. “It means so much that you all came to the party.”
“Happy birthday, Georgie,” someone pats my shoulder.
“Oh yeah, thanks,” I say to my third cousin, Irene, who I haven’t seen in nearly a decade—and I’m pretty sure just got out of prison for a drug charge. “Glad you could come.” I force a smile and wonder how long this is going to last.
Once we make it to the dining room, Lily drops my arm, and I take in the sight of a massive white sheet cake, with aHappy 25thBirthday, Georgiascrawled across it in pink icing.
Yikes.
“Wow.” I glance back at Lily, who’s just freaking beaming from ear-to-ear and watching me carefully. “This is really sweet of you,” I say, because honestly, the sentimentisnice. “But you totally didn’t have to do this. I bet this was so much work…” I take in the gaudy balloons and streamers hanging around the house.
“I know, I know.” Lily holds up her hands in a low surrender. “I just wanted to do something nice for you. You workallthe time, Georgia. You deserve to have a little fun. I was shocked at how many people decided to come.”
I nod, my eyes flicking back to the crowd. “How many people are here?”
“I don’t know.” Lily places a purple fingernail to her chin. “I think there were only like fifty people who RSVP’d.”
“That’s more than I expected,” I admit, breathing out a long sigh. I run my hands over my white blouse, and then cringe. “I think I’m going to go change really quick. I don’t want to reek of perfume.”
Lily laughs. “Go ahead. I got plenty of drinks to keep everyone entertained for awhile.”
I nod and then slip off down the hallway. I walk into my bedroom, greeted with the familiar, comforting sight.I can’t believe she did this. Does this mean I have to talk to all those people out there?I chew the inside of my cheek as I mull it over, wishing I could just lock the door and stay in here until they’re all gone.
I kick off my heels and black slacks, and tear the white blouse over my head. My ponytail catches the collar and is pulled loose, but I just let it be. I know for certain if the only people on the contact list are the ones who are here, then I have no one to impress.
I sweep up my work clothes and toss them into the hamper, and move to my closet. I grab a pair of dark wash jeans, a black sweater, and my Vans. I get dressed in a rush and stop at the mirror to double-check my messy blonde hair falling past my shoulders. I run my fingers under my smeared mascara to clean it up a little.
I shrug a shoulder. “Meh, good enough.”
I slip out of the bedroom and head back to the dining room.
“Here she comes!” Lily shouts over the noise, throwing her hands up in the air. “I think it’s time for some cake! What do you guys think?”
The whole crowd cheers, and I raise my brows.
Lily clearly was born to do these kinds of things.
“Okay, come here, birthday girl.” She motions for me to walk behind the table, where she has everything all set up, complete with a shit ton of candles.
This is so overkill.I swallow the nerves pumping through my chest as I join her behind the table, and the crowd of people I don’t care to see all crowd around.
“Lighting the candles,” Lily narrates, flicking on the lighter. She strategically lights all the candles on the cake, which there definitely aren’t twenty-five of, but still too many. She looks up at me, her eyes glittering with excitement. “Ready?”
