46. Birthday

Vote and comment bc its a gr8 day

Chapter 46 - Birthday 

     My leg couldn't stop shaking. No matter how hard I tried the unstoppable rattling of my leg still continued. The letters on my lap were jiggling just the same. I had four, one for each of the boys and Brenna.

    Alex and I were on our way to her birthday get together. It was just about to be five, and already I was just wanted to get this done and over with, besides, I had homework I could be doing too.

     "Don't worry, angel," Alex cooed. "Brenna was completely okay with you coming, plus, your apology letters are amazing."

    I sighed deeply. I worked hard on the letters, perfecting them to my fullest extent and tailoring them to each of the boys' personalities. I was trying, and at least I could say I did if this whole thing failed.

       But hopefully, it wouldn’t and everyone will accept my apology, and we will be on the road to greater friendships. I needed this to work out, for the sake of Alex's and I's relationship to be stronger and better.

"What if -" I said, until he cut me off.

     "No, what if's. Everything will be okay, and if not, you still have me no matter what." He smiled gently and took my hand into his, squeezing it delicately. 

      I nodded my head. I glanced at my outfit and had my doubts on it. Skinny jeans and a blue sweater were suitable for a birthday event, right? I groaned from my thoughts.

      Alex wore a flannel and work-out shorts, which was insane of him to wear, it was just the end of March, it wasn't like it was summer or anything. But he'll wear what he wants, with the occasional complaining from me.

  "Brenna's turning eighteen, right?" I asked making sure I got my facts correct. It would be more than embarrassing if I had them all wrong.

      "Eighteen, yeah." he confirmed. We took a left turn down a familiar road. We were gaining closer to Jack's house and the nervous bottom in me was persistently growing.

      "I'll be turning nineteen this year." I randomly informed. My eyes were glued to the road, keeping track of how many minutes we had left in traveling.

"Whatcha trying to say? You're sick and tired of hanging around seventeen and eighteen year olds?" His sassy tone caused a giggle to escape from my lips. 

     "Alex, I'm still eighteen and so are you." I chuckled with my eyes rolling. He was sometimes too playful in a nervous wreck situation, and that was why I loved him. 

     Shortly, we arrived to Jack's house. There was a single balloon tied to the mail box, floating in the wind. We parked in the driveway along with the other two cars that were here. 

     I gradually took off my seatbelt cautiously as Alex turned off the engine. It was now or never, and this had to be done. I was having second thoughts; perhaps I could just mail them the letters instead of handing them personally. Sure, it would make me a coward, but it would save me from the borderline panic attack I was about to endure.

    "Are you ready?" he asked, about to get out.

"No," I answer truthfully. "but it doesn't matter at this point."

     I exhale and inhale calmly, trying to maintain a peaceful state. Finally, I opened the car door and got out as Alex did at the equivalent time. 

     We both walked towards the front door hand in hand without saying a word. What was said happened yesterday and was only between Alex and I, now, it was time to confront to the boys.

     I assumed that Brenna must have not known about her boyfriend's little research with his friends because she most certainly wouldn't have been fine with Alex bringing me if she thought I was neurotic. Also, I decided to keep my little discovery to myself with Alex.

    The boys didn't need to know and it would only cause more unwanted intension.

   Finally, Alex knocked on the door while I hid shyly behind him. I felt vulnerable to this situation. There was no going back. The letters in my hand were my only hope for brighter relations with Alex's band mates.

     The door swung open and a happily smiling Brenna appeared. "Alex, so nice of you to come!" She greeted him. "Where's Laila, I thought she was coming too?"

    "What, she's right here- " Alex turned around, reveling my small hiding that wasn't on purpose, it was just me bring extremely nervous.

    I bit my lip as I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed for what had happened. "Hi, Laila," she genuinely smiled

     I admired Brenna a lot. She was so easy with forgiving and then there was me, I couldn't even forgive Kenzie for stealing my Barbie doll one time.

    I shyly wave and immediately handed my letter to her after Alex gave her our birthday gift for her. Before she opened the letter or do anything else, she allowed us in.

    The boys were loudly screaming, something at the television, which led to the conclusion they were in the living room.

My shoulder jabbed Alex's, pushing for him to speak for me.

    He cleared his throat, stopping Brenna from walking back into the living room. "Um, the letter was something Laila had written for you, along with other letters for the boys."

    At first, she knitted her eyebrows as she processed the words until she finally understood. "Oh, you didn't have to do that." she ushered.

    "Well, Laila felt the need to and wanted to apologize. I won't say anymore it’s basically all in the letter of how she feels." Alex nodded his head, and we carried on with walking to where the boys were settled at.

     They hadn't noticed our arrival as they were glued to the television set in front of them. Some game was on ESPN on the wide screen. 

      Now, my hands were sweating uncontrollably and my head felt like it was spinning. The room was nice just like the rest of the house. There was pizza on the brown coffee table including soda and other drinks. 

   "Boys, Alex and Laila are here." Brenna hummed joyfully. 

      Immediately, their attentions were on us, their eyes now couldn't be taken off Alex and I. Jack had a disgusted look sewed on his face as for the other boys, they were just caught in surprise.

    "I thought they weren't coming?" Jack bluntly said.

    "Well, I decided differently, it’s my birthday anyway." Brenna bit back at her boyfriend, crossing her arms as she did so. "Besides, Laila kindly wrote letters for you guys."

     "She did?" Rian perked up, raising his eyebrows.

     Zack was the only one who hadn't said anything, which another spike of anxiety in my stomach from not knowing what he was thinking.

     "She did." Alex cleared his throat once again, finally speaking up.

    Shakily, I walked over to where they were sitting as silence dawned over us. I was thankful for the television for breaking up the awkward tension. My hands were endlessly unbearable with each time I handed the letters to them.

      Already, they were reading them and it was now the final countdown. It was do or die whether they would accept my apology. Even Brenna was reading hers, which was the most important one. If she didn't accept the apology, then no one else would. But already, by the looks of Brenna, who was nodding her head with her lips pursed, everything was going accordingly to plan.

     I glanced around the others anxiously to see how their reactions were coming along. Jack was expressionless, Rian looked pleased, and Zack was nodding his head in approval.

    "Apology accepted." Brenna spoke up, a wide smile show casing on her lips.

    Relieved, I returned the smile. The great pressure on my shoulders loosened up from her acceptance. Most of my muscles relaxed. My other muscles were still up-tight, waiting for the rest of the reactions.

     Zack was the next to speak up, nodding his head with his lips pursed. "I like that you took time to write each of us letters."

     He stood up much to my surprise and gave me a quick hug. It was small and sweet. It was another acceptance, which I was thankful for. 

    Zack sat back down to his seat and continued to watch the game playing. Alex and I both shared a nervous glance. Rian and Jack were taking their time reading their letters. I didn't anticipate it to take this long amount of time, especially being this nerve wrecking to the point I wanted to pull out my hair and call it quits.

      Finally, Rian finished reading his and slowly folded it back to its original state when I first handed it to him. His eyes looked straight into mine. It was moment of truth.

    "Thank you, Laila, this was greatly appreciated." He held the letter in his hand, gesturing to the paper before he shoved it into his pocket.

     Brenna, who sat next to Jack, nudged him with her shoulder. Jack lips were into a thin line and his cheeks were hollow. It was an unnatural expression to see Jack with. I missed his old goofy self and I was the only one to blame.

       After a second that seemed like it was a life time, he sighed and finally broke out into a smile. "I have to admit, you have a pretty strong punch for being a tiny girl."

      I, of course, chuckled along with everyone else in the room. His goofy smile lit up the room and released all the burdens within me. I was now in the clear with all of the guys despite I was very much aware of their research, but at this point, there wasn't much I could do or was going to do in the first place.

    "Come on, have some pizza." Zack opened the pizza box that was on the coffee table. Immediately, Alex and I took a seat on the couch and grabbed a slice.

   For the remainder of the day, we hung out. All of us ate birthday cake and Brenna opened up her presents. Everything had went soothingly swell and I could finally relax a little but knowing they all thought I was neurotic put a doubt in me of what was coming towards us.

______a.n

yay for me for posting this two days early (that deserves a vote) 

Also!! A Groupie's Hit List is up, I decided to post it earlier than expected. A prologue, chapter 1, and chapter 2 are already up. Please go check it out, vote and comment too xx

- Kc [p.s ya girl and real life Brenna might go see All Time Low live (including Tonight Alive, Issues, and State Champs)! and have ya'll heard the new single?]