One week.

It's been one whole week since I've talked to Liam.

He's been avoiding me since he dropped me off at home after school the day a smoothie was poured on me and my painting was ruined.

And I don't know why.

One minute everything was fine between us, and then all of a sudden it's like we never even knew each other.

In class he sits on the opposite side of the room, at lunch he's nowhere to be found, and whenever I try to talk to him he just pretends like he didn't hear me.

I don't know what I did wrong.

The only good thing about being ignored by Liam is that Danielle and her friends haven't been bothering me as much. The only thing they do now is insult me from time to time, which I can easily brush off.

I sighed as I pushed the school door opened and walked into the hallway. The last place I wanted to be today was in this hellhole.

All of a sudden an arm shot out of a classroom I was walking past and pulled me inside.

"What the -"

"Shhhh." A deep voice whispered, and my stomach flipped.

I turned around and looked at Liam, my eyebrows pulled together in confusion. What is he doing? Why is he suddenly acknowledging my existence?

"Happy birthday." He finally said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

My heart warmed at the fact that he remembered. But why would he wish me a happy birthday if he's been ignoring me for a whole week?

"Uh, thanks." I finally replied, shifting my weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. What was his intention for pulling me into this classroom?

There was a long silence between us before Liam finally spoke.

"Look, I want to expl-" He began but stopped when high pitched squealing sounded in the hallway outside of the classroom.

The voices of Danielle and her friends was unmistakeable.

Without warning Liam gently grabbed my arm and led me out of the classroom, cutting off Danielle as she was about to walk by.

"I want you to leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you okay?" Liam turned to me and snapped, taking me completely off guard.

I opened my mouth to ask why he was suddenly so angry but he cut me off.

"I don't want to hear it. Just leave me alone." He told me, loudly, but not quite a yell, and then he stormed off.

"I guess he got bored of you pretty quick." Danielle commented in that sickly sweet tone of hers as she walked past me.

What just happened? One minute Liam was finally acknowledging me again, and being nice, and then like a switch was flicked he was suddenly mean Liam again.

What did I do?

And what confused me most was that he didn't even look angry when he snapped at me, his expression was just blank. And that concerned me the most. Maybe he doesn't think I'm worth showing his emotions to anymore.

The bell ringing ripped me from my thoughts and I groaned at the fact that I was about to be late to class.

I hate my birthday.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •

"How was school today?" Dad asked when I stepped into the house.

Lisa and Steph dropped me off at home after school so dad didn't have to come get me.

"School was boring as always." I replied as I slipped off my shoes.

After the weird mood swing Liam had this morning, everything went back to normal. He ignored me, Danielle and her friends left me alone for the most part, and everything was the same as it's been all week.

"Are you ready to start our movie marathon? I already set up all the snacks and the first movie." Dad said, and I smiled at his enthusiasm.

I'm so lucky to have a dad that really cares.

"I'm ready to get my snack on." I told him, and my stomach growled in agreement.

Two hours later we were done the first movie and practically in food comas.

"Oh I guess I can give you your gift now." Dad suddenly spoke up.

I lazily sat up on the couch and smiled in excitement as dad left to retrieve the present. I've been wondering what he got me since he mentioned it last week. He seemed excited about it.

A minute later dad was back and carrying a small black box wrapped in a neat golden bow.

"Happy birthday." He said as he handed me the present.

I carefully untied the bow and lifted the lid of the box to reveal a beautiful gold heart necklace that looked oddly familiar.

"It was your mom's. Her mother gave it to her on her seventeenth birthday, and your mom wanted to give it to you when you turned seventeen." Dad explained.

I smiled from ear to ear as I looked at the beautiful necklace, and tears welled up in my eyes as the faint memory of mom wearing it.

"This is perfect. Thank you so much." I told him, gently putting the box down before giving him a hug.

This necklace is better than any present I could've asked for.

As we pulled out of our hug dad's phone rung on the coffee table and we both looked over at it.

Work flashed on the screen and when I looked at dad I could tell that he really wanted to answer but didn't want to work on my birthday.

"Answer it." I gave him the permission he didn't want to ask for.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his expression guilty.

I nodded, "You made my birthday perfect. It's okay."

He gave me a grateful smile as he reached for his phone and quickly answered.

I watched as he listened to the voice through the phone, and noticed his face drop, even though he tried to cover it up.

"I'll be right in." He said before ending the call.

"I'm so sorry Emma, it's urgent." Dad explained.

"It's really okay. I had a great birthday." I reassured him.

He smiled, "You're the best daughter I could've asked for."

I rolled my eyes and shooed him away to work.

Once dad had left I looked around the living room and sighed. I have nothing to do, not even homework.

I almost wished that Lisa and Steph had invited me to a party so I would at least have something to do.

My phone buzzing with a text caught my attention and I quickly opened the message, eager to have some entertainment.

From: Lisa

Put on something cute, we're picking you up in 15 minutes.

Why would they be picking me up? We didn't plan to do anything tonight, and they probably have a party to go to.

Unless-

Oh hell no! I'm not going to a party! When I wished they invited me to one I didn't really mean it! I was just being dramatic!

I started tapping out a strongly wondered text on how I wasn't going to a party when I got another text.

From: Lisa

And I'm not taking no for an answer. Go get ready.

I sighed in defeat and made my way upstairs to pick out an outfit.

What do girls even wear to parties? I don't have any slutty clothes like in the movies, and I wouldn't wear that anyway.

I looked through all of my clothes until I came across a pair of high waisted black skinny jeans that were ripped at the knees, and decided to wear those and find a top that would look okay with it.

Why does this have to be so difficult?

I dug though my closet and was on the verge of giving up when I found a shirt crammed at the back that Lisa gave me last year. A white, off the shoulder long sleeve shirt.

This could work, and Lisa would approve since she gave me the shirt.

I quickly got dressed in the clothes I picked out before I second guessed myself, and once that was done I pulled a brush through my messy red hair.

What could I do with my hair in no time? The girls are going to be here any second.

Before I could even decide what to do with the mess on my head, the doorbell rang.

Crap, I'm out of time.

I rushed downstairs and opened the door, revealing Steph and Lisa looking beautiful as usual.

"Cute outfit, but we have to do something with your hair." Lisa commented.

"Soft curls?" Steph suggested, and Lisa nodded in agreement.

Twenty minutes later my hair was done and we were on our way to a secret location.

I don't know why they won't tell me where we're going. I don't have a choice either way.

"We're here." Steph sang as she pulled into the driveway of a beautiful, and very large, house.

"And where is 'here'?" I asked, air quoting the word here.

"C'mon, lets go in." Lisa said, completely ignoring my question.

We all got out of the car and walked up the driveway towards the big modern door that was oddly intimidating.

"You go first." Steph said when I stopped at the door.

I sighed, why do I have to go first? What's going on?

I decided to just do as they said instead of arguing, and opened the door without knocking.

"Surprise!" People yelled all around me.

I looked around in shock at all the familiar faces smiling at me.

A bunch of people from school where here, including Leo, Garrett, and Liam.

Wait, why is Liam here? And why is he walking right towards me?

"Happy birthday Emma." He said for the second time today.

I gave him a confused look and turned around to face my two best friends.

"Did you throw me a surprise party?" I asked.

"This is all Liam." Steph answered.

I whirled back around to face him.

"But I thought you hated me, why would you do something so nice?" I asked, trying my best to come up with a logical explanation for this, and failing miserably.

He shook his head, "I don't hate you, not even close. I just needed Danielle to think I did so she'd leave you alone."

That would explain why his mood suddenly changed when he heard Danielle earlier at school.

"Now enough about all that, it's time to celebrate your birthday, and forget that today is anything other than the day you were born." Liam changed the subject.

I smiled and looked around at all the people that were here for my birthday. Not one Halloween decoration or costume was in sight. It actually felt like my birthday.

"Thank you, this is really amazing." I finally said, my tone soft and sincere.

Liam smiled back at me, "You deserve this."

"Let's get this party started!" A random guy suddenly yelled, and everyone cheered as loud music started blaring from the living room.

"Let's go dance." Lisa suggested, reminding me that her and Steph were right behind me.

I nodded in agreement and the three of us started toward the living room when someone caught my arm to get my attention.

"Save me a dance?" The culprit asked when I turned my head to see who they were.

"Of course." I agreed, giving Liam one last smile before walking off with Steph and Lisa.

"Can you believe that Liam set this whole thing up?" Steph asked as we got to the living room and began swaying to the music.

"You two should just date already." Lisa added.

I rolled my eyes, "This was really nice of him. But we're just friends."

The girls both rolled their eyes at me.

"So how's Leo?" I asked Steph, changing the subject.

Her cheeks heated at the mention of her boyfriend.

"He's really great. I like him a lot." She answered, a goofy smile taking over her face.

She looked so happy just talking about him, I'm glad they're together. Steph deserves a nice guy.

"Now we just need to find me a guy." Lisa chimed in.

We all laughed, Lisa could get any guy she wants, it shouldn't be hard to find her someone great.

After that we dance for what felt like hours, until Steph checked her phone for the time and dragged me into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" I asked as we entered the kitchen. She didn't even give me an explanation as to why we left the dance floor, she just took my arm and brought me here.

My question was immediately answered when everyone started singing happy birthday and Leo brought a cake over to me.

I stood there awkwardly as they sang, not knowing if I should sing too or just wait until it was over, and thankfully it ended quickly.

I closed my eyes, made a wish, and blew until all the candles were out as Lisa yelled "Make a wish!"

Everyone cheered and their excitement was infectious. I smiled from ear to ear as the cake was cut and distributed.

I can't believe I'm having a birthday party, and enjoying it.

At the beginning of the day I thought for sure today was going to be awful. I couldn't have been more wrong.