Karen laughed. “That’s because you’re disgusting and kinda ugly.”
My jaw dropped to the floor.
“Yeah, we all knew you were weird, but we had no idea how weird,” Suzie chimed in.
I seethed, speechless. I wanted to come up with a witty retort but my brain was mush. I was too hurt to think straight.
“Hey, c’mon, guys,” Anika chimed in. Sacha didn’t utter a single word to defend me — what a bitch.
I stormed out of Sacha’s room in tears, and retreated to my room, and breathed. I performed my calming ritual, which involved long breaths, in and out, at specific intervals. Cocking of the head in opposite directions, repeated five times. Flicking of my fingers, ten times. And finally, closing my eyes and meditating for about five minutes. When I was done, I was no longer furious, but I was still so upset. I seethed until pizza.
I had requested pineapple on half of one of the pizzas because I love it. The lot of us were opening the pizza boxes, inhaling that delicious smell. Of course, that bitch, Karen, fell upon mine. “Yuck… who likes pineapple on pizza?” she snickered.
“Me,” I said. “You have a problem with that?”
“No… I like pineapple… just not on pizza.” She picked one of the pineapple pieces and stuck it in her mouth.
I watched her, not believing my eyes as she did it again. Sacha laughed and joined in, and soon enough, all her friends joined in and ate all my pineapple.
“You girls are such jerks,” I scoffed.
“Watch your language, young lady,” my mother warned. “Try to behave. It’s your sister’s birthday.”
I inhaled a long breath, and decided to let it slide.
I was good while we all enjoyed our pizza and soft drinks, while they jabbered on about their stupid shenanigans. I had a brief, very satisfying fantasy about throwing my glass of Coke in Karen’s face. In an attempt to keep my cool, I stared at the table’s centerpiece; a pretty arrangement of white daisies I had made earlier.
My nerves already piqued, what came next did not help matters. A loud popping sound startled me as I was helping my mom clean the kitchen. It was followed by laughter, and then another pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
I’d worked so hard on not only blowing up those balloons, but carefully placing them just so, at certain spots of the house. They were tied with ribbons to stair posts and door handles in groups of three; two lilacs and one yellow balloon, accented with white daisies.
I ran into the living room, struggling to steal balloons from their hands and save them. I shoved and wailed. “Stop it, guys. I worked really hard on those.” Even Sacha was in on it. Pop. Pop. Pop.
I tried to get my mother to restore the order but she complained that she was too exhausted to get involved and that it was Sacha’s birthday, and if she wanted to pop her balloons, it was her right.
I ran to my room again, and performed my ritual once more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay in the comfort and security of my pink room because before long, it was birthday cake time. My spirits lifted because I’ve always loved cake. I was pretty excited to see Sacha’s reaction when she saw the beautiful tiered display of white cupcakes and butterflies.
Sacha’s smile was priceless when I presented her with the cupcakes, and in that brief moment, I forgave her for everything. We all sang the birthday song, and she closed her eyes for a few seconds while she made her wish.
“I bet she wishes to hook up with Matt,” Suzie chimed in.
At that, everyone laughed and Sacha blew out her candles. She got most of them, but two were left with a flame.
“Does that mean she doesn’t get her wish?” Suzie asked.
Anika smiled. “No, it just means she has two boyfriends.”
“Oh, interesting… and who could those be?” Karen asked, her voice shrill.
“These look so good,” Sacha said. And just as she was about to reach for one, I stopped her.
“Wait up.” In all my haste, I’d forgotten to snap a photo of the beautiful cupcake display Mom and I had created. “I just want to take a pic. Going to fetch my camera.”
When I came back shortly after, my heart sank. I was completely devastated — the girls had all picked the pretty paper butterflies out. “What?!” I snapped.
“What? No one’s eaten one yet,” Karen said, not quite getting it.
“I told you guys I wanted to take a picture,” I scoffed.
