affiee babe, I dedicate this chapter to you because you've literally supported me ever since I started my first book here on wattpad, and you have been continuously supporting me through each story of mine! I have never had anyone who has been so dedicated to reading what I write, THANK YOU TONS! I love you.

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"Happy Birthday sweetheart." My dad kissed my forehead at midnight as he brought a cupcake for me with a candle and I smiled at him.

"Thanks, Dad."

I blew the candle without making a wish. I don't believe in wishes, especially not the birthday ones. Because if they were to come true, I am sure I wouldn't have lived my whole life without a mother. My birthdays are the hardest for me, because they are a continuous reminder of what I have missed in life, of the fact that I was never even supposed to be born in the first place.

After sharing the half blueberry cupcake with him, the doorbell rings and I frown, "It's midnight." I mumble, as I stand up from the bed and Dad shrugs.

"Let me check it." He says but I follow behind him nonetheless.

When we reach the front door, almost immediately, whip cream is splashed on my dad's face and I start laughing, holding my stomach as I look at my friends' face who look horrified when they look at me.

That's when the realisation that they attacked the wrong person hits in, "Shit, sorry Scott!" Evan curses.

"Yes, sorry Scott! We thought Adrianna will open the gate." Breanna grimaces as she takes a look at my father's whip creamed face.

"You look amazing, Dad." I laugh and he shoots me a look.

"I liked it better when you had less friends." He grumbles but I know he doesn't mean it so I laugh harder, "So Cyp, I guess I need revenge for this." Dad starts and I already where it's going so I start laughing even more.

"No!" Evan protests.

"Do all of you know what Evan's middle name is?" Dad asks Chris, Jordan, Breanna and Luke who all give him a questioning look.

"An!" Evan whines as he looks at me for help and I stop laughing as I stare at Dad.

"Dad, don't tease him. Go get cleaned up. I'll entertain the idiots." I tell him and he glares at me but stomps his foot like a child before going to clean himself. Then I turn to everyone, trying to stifle a laugh, "So?"

"Happy Birthday, An!" Evan cries out before coming forward to give me a body crushing hug which I return with equal love because god, it feels so good to be in his arms. "I can give you the birthday kiss later." He whispers in my ear and I gasp, pushing him off.

"I hate you." I tell him but he just grins at me in return, winking.

Pretty sure that my face is flushed as the memory of Evan and I kissing comes back to my mind. It's so strong that I almost feel his lips on mine and it sends my stomach into a crazy mode. I gulp and avert my eyes from him but he's smiling at me like he knows what's going through my mind.

"So, you guys wanna come inside?" I ask the rest of the group and they nod, stepping in.

Everyone gives me a hug, except Chris who doesn't even wish me but I ignore him, trying to stay in a good mood because obviously, my friends are awake at a school night and are here with me.

"You should cut the cake." Luke says and I nod.

They put the cake on the kitchen island and I grin then gesture to Evan to come by my side, "Come on, we are not quitting the tradition." I tell him.

He smiles at me before moving to stand behind me. His arm comes to wrap around my waist as I hold the knife and he wraps his other hand around my hand and I blow out the candles. Jordan takes out his phone to click photographs as Evan and I cut the cake together, which we have been doing on each of our birthdays ever since we have been best friends.

I turn towards him with a piece of cake and he kisses the side of my face, "Happy Birthday, An. You'll be forever be my best friends." He smiles at me and it takes everything in me not to just give into the way he's holding me.

"Thanks, Ev." I smile at him.

"Get ready." He whispers and I frown at him.

Before I know it, my face is being forced down into the cake and I am trying to resist but well, he's a fucking basket ball player. When I come up, I gasp, "Oh, you just did not! Fucking asshole." I curse and everyone laughs, even Chris has a smile on his face so I turn to him.

"Come on, Jay, give me a kiss?" I give him a sly grin and his eyes widen as he notices that I am stepping closer to him, my lip puckering at him.

Jordan laughs loudly, "Go Chris! Birthday girl wants her birthday kiss."

"Clean your face and then we can consider it." He says and I laugh, shaking my head.

"Nope, you're gonna kiss me just like this." I say, even though I don't mean it.

Like for heaven's sake, I cannot kiss Chris! First of all, because even touching him sends my body on fire so the thought of kissing him, it sends my stomach into flutters as I feel fucking butterflies. I am just pushing his buttons because I know he won't do it.

"Alright, come on." He smirks gesturing for me to step in his arms and I gape at him.

Shit! Is he serious?

"Umm.."

"Are you afraid?" Luke gives out an amused smile and I notice that Breanna and him are having the most fun out of this.

"Not even close." I mutter as I close my eyes, well aware that the whole cake is smudged on my face as I step closer to Chris.

He leans down, our bodies not even touching as his face looms over mine. Just as he's about to close the distance between our mouths, I look away and his lips end up on my cheek. Evan and Jordan snicker as they realise that the cake is now smudged around Chris's mouth and I grin.

But Chris actually sticks his tongue out and licks the cake off of my face. Shit! I feel the warmth of his mouth on my skin and it sends tingles down my spine and my skin feels like its on fire.

God, I want to fucking kiss him!

Wait, what? Deep breaths, Adrianna. You don't want to die of a heart attack yet. I pull away from him, passing him a glare but he just smirks at me.

"Happy Birthday, Claire." He whispers and I pass him a small smile with an eye roll.

"Can we skip school tomorrow?" Jordan whines.

"Why? It's my birthday, not public holiday." I say.

"I wish it was." Luke pouts.

I yawn loudly and then look at all of them, "Are you guys staying over?" I ask and they shake their heads.

"Evan and I are." Breanna says so I nod.

"Thank you for coming guys, and yes, that's my way of kicking you out. Because it's a school night and I am tired." I tell them and Chris snickers.

"Bye, Claire." He says and Jordan gives me his two finger salute. Luke gives Breanna a quick kiss before wishing me last time as he leaves.

After everyone goes, I take a quick shower to get the cake out of everywhere while Breanna and Evan wait for me in the bedroom. Dad never came out after cleaning himself up, so I assumed that he slept.

Around one in the morning, I receive a mail and my gut already knows who it is from so with a sigh, I open it.

Dear Adrianna,

Happy Birthday, sweetheart. Every day this year I regret the decision I took eighteen years back, but I am trying to work on it.

I hope you have wonderful people around you who make you happy and your birth day special.

You deserve the best.

Yours,
Cassandra.

"You gonna reply?" Evan asks from besides me and I shake my head, putting the phone down before playing Gilmore Girls.

"Hey, what do you want to do tomorrow?" Breanna asks and I shrug.

But then an idea goes off in my head, "Can we all do a Gilmore Girls play?" I suggest excitedly and Evan groans immediately.

"Oh yes! It will be so fun." Breanna claps her hand and then goes off to explain everything, like who will play who and I laugh.

Evan dozes off somewhere in between and then Breanna and I also decide to get some sleep before school.

But somewhere in the middle of the night, I feel a tingling sensation on my lips as a warm breath fans over my mouth. Due to my sleepy state, I barely register the contact and just moan lightly when the sensation is gone before going into a deep slumber.

____

"I cannot believe that she's making us do this." Jordan whines and I grin.

Everyone's gathered around in my living room after school got over and Chris in particular is the most pissed off one as he keeps on glaring at me.

"I have never even watched the stupid show ever in my life." Chris snaps, making me narrow my eyes at him.

"Uh-oh. Dude, tip for future, don't insult that show when she's around." Evan pats his back and Chris looks confused.

"She made you watch the whole thing, didn't she?" He asks and Evan grimaces.

"Every single episode." He nods.

"Fuck, fourteen years of torture." Chris teases and I smack Evan.

"Respect me, in fact, bow down to me! It's my birthday today, bitches!" I look at everyone and each one of them bursts out laughing.

"Don't worry, shorty. We still love you." Sawyer grins at me and I glare at him.

He came back early this morning because of the trip tomorrow so obviously he's here. So is Adam. They are really good friends and get along more than Evan and Sawyer do, which is saying something.

"You two, no one calls me shorty today." I point at Sawyer and Adam who both give me amusing smiles. "Now Sawyer, come here and gimme a piggy till the kitchen." I command.

He bursts out laughing until he sees that I am dead serious and that's when the whining starts, "God, I knew I hated you for a reason when we were little."

"You were just jealous that I liked Evan better than you." I stick my tongue out at him.

He shakes his head but comes in front of me anyway, "Hop on you monster."

"Queen. You mean queen." I smack his head and he curses under his breath.

"Adam, she's being mean to me." He whines to me.

Adam grins, "Sorry bro, I am not her boyfriend anymore. Can't leash her." He shrugs and I snort.

"Adam, if anyone had a leash around their neck in that relationship, it was you sweetheart. Now come on, we don't want to tell everything we did in bed." I tease him and he barks out a laugh.

"Kinky." Luke comments and I grin.

Sawyer takes me to the kitchen on his back and I open the fridge, take out a chilled water bottle before asking him to take me to the living room.

"Can we at least drink?" Rose asks and I shrug.

Sawyer drops me off at the couch but I immediately put my head on his lap as I stretch my legs forward. He looks down at me so I just flip him off, because I felt like it.

"I have vodka." I say.

"Why do you have vodka?" Breanna asks and I shrug.

"Adam gifted me a bottle last year."

Adam gasps, "I did not! Stop lying."

"Come on babe, I wasn't even old enough to buy it. So obviously, you did." I say.

"Sawyer." Three annoyed voices point at him and I try to hold in my laugh.

"What the hell? I didn't even do anything." He tries to play innocent but I burst out laughing.

Breanna, Evan and Adam are glaring at the two of us but I just have a grin on my face, "It was a birthday gift."

"Stop turning my best friend into a raging alcohol, you ass!" Evan glares at his brother.

"Oh, come on! I was doing her a favour. She was dating this goody shoes at that time." He points at Adam who just gapes at him.

"Hey, he was a good boyfriend. If you wanna say shit about someone, talk about Finn." I tell him and he snorts.

"He wanted to get in your pants, that was the only reason he was with you." Evan says and I groan.

Adam has this far off look on his face and when his eyes meet mine, I give him a small smile. He hated Finn from the core of his heart, and from the look on his face, he still does.

"At least he got something." Jordan smirks and Adam gives me a questioning look.

Well, fuck!

"What does that mean?" Adam asks him and I glare at Jordan to keep his mouth shut.

"Uh, nothing." Jordan says.

Adam's eyes snap to mine, "You told me nothing happened between the two of you." He says, obviously pissed that I hid things from him.

It wasn't even about him, the shit was embarrassing to even say and I wanted to forget about it so pretending like nothing happened obviously helped. If I told Adam, that means I was agreeing that I did something I shouldn't have. I hadn't told anyone until that morning I woke up with a hangover and apparently without a mouth filter.

"Nothing did." I assure him but he obviously doesn't buy it because he excuses himself and goes out, the front door shutting behind him.

"Shit." I curse, closing my eyes before sitting up and glaring at Jordan, "Thanks a lot." I snap at him.

"Why does he even care? It's obviously in past." Chris looks at me, "Unless something is going on in present?" He asks, looking cautiously at me as I stand to go after Adam. "It is, isn't it?"

I immediately shake my head, "No. But trust was never an issue between us, and he obviously feels hurt that I hid something from him. Even if it was in the past, for him what matters is that he was lied to." I explain and Chris nods, but I know he doesn't fully understand it.

I open the front door and Adam is sitting ob the porch stairs so I go to sit beside him, "Hey." I say and he gives me a small smile.

"I overreacted, didn't I?" He asks and I shake my head.

"It's understandable. I didn't lie to you, I just didn't want to accept those things to myself, and saying that aloud would have made it more certain." I explain and he nods.

"You've always thought about things that way, that's why you keep so many things just to yourself." He looks at me and I give him a small smile.

"I guess, still, I am sorry." I apologise and he nods.

"You like Chris, don't you?" He asks and I give him a surprised look before shaking my head, "Adri, the way you look at him says it all."

"Well.." I trail off because I seriously didn't know what to say to him.

"You cannot always hold yourself back because you are waiting for something to happen that never will." He says and I close my eyes, because I know he's talking about Evan without even saying anything.

I nod, "I know." I whisper, opening my eyes.

"Just give this a chance, Adri. I have a good feeling about it." He smiles at me and I return it.

After talking for five more minutes we both head inside and I immediately feel bad for snapping at Jordan earlier. I look at Chris and mouth at him, "Where's Jordan?"

He shrugs as if to say that he doesn't know. I sigh before checking in the kitchen. I frown when I don't find him anywhere and even the bathroom is vacant. So I sigh before going upstairs to my bedroom to get my phone and give him a call.

As soon as I open the bedroom door, I immediately gasp, and then start hyperventilating, "Shit." I curse as my hand comes up to my eyes to stop encountering the scene in front of me.

Holy shit.

Sawyer's arms are wrapped around Jordan while the guy himself is shirtless and his belt is unbuckled, their lips are attached to each others.

•••

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