The next day, the girls got up early and left to go to Six Flags. They were all gone before the guys woke up.
Nick went downstairs to get some food and saw Howie and AJ sitting and talking in the kitchen.
"Hey guys." He said wearily.
"Hey, how's everything going?" asked AJ.
"Well, I've got the decorations, today I need to order a cake. What do you think it should say on it?" asked Nick getting himself some cereal.
"Hmm, how about "Julie I love you and I'm sorry I've been such a jerk Happy Birthday." Suggested Howie grinning. Nick nearly chocked on his cereal.
"What, does the entire world know that I love her?" he asked.
"Yeah pretty much." Said AJ. "It's kinda hard not to know. It's like written all over your face. See right there? I love Julie." He added pointing to Nick's forehead.
"That obvious huh?" Said Nick. "So do you think Julie will ever stop hating me?"
"I'm sure she will, because if she doesn't, it's going to be really tough keeping you happy." Said AJ. "I mean, you're completely miserable now, I'd hate to think what would happen if you lost her."
"Yeah, so would I, I don't think that I would be able to handle that." Said Nick thinking about Julie. "Ok, I only have one more day to do everything, so I'm going to go to the store to order a cake, anyone wanna come with me?" he asked.
"I'll go." Said AJ.
"So will I." Said Howie.
"Great, let's go." Said Nick getting up and putting his empty dish in the dishwasher.
They all went to a large store, which sold tons of birthday cakes, any kind that you can imagine. After about an hour of looking, Nick finally decided on a large cake with flowers of different colors made out of frosting on top, and inside layered chocolate. On top, it would say "Happy 18th Birthday Julie". He ordered the cake to be delivered on Saturday afternoon. Afterwards, the three guys tried to decide what to get Julie for her birthday. Since Nick was giving her a separate present, and so were the girls, the four remaining guys had to come up with something too.
"So Nick, help us out, what can we get her?" asked AJ.
"Um…how about a gift certificate to one of her favorite stores?" suggested Nick.
"Ok, and what is one of her favorite stores?" asked Howie.
"I have no idea." Said Nick. "Why don't you call Angela and find out?"
"Good idea, I hope she didn't turn off her cell phone." Said AJ taking out his phone and dialing his girlfriend's phone number. "Hey hun." He said when he heard Angela pick up.
"Hi, what's going on?" said Angela.
"Well, we're trying to figure out what to get Julie from the four of us and Nick suggested a gift certificate to one of her favorite stores. So the question comes up, what's Julie's favorite store?" asked AJ.
"Well when we went shopping a few days ago, she liked stuff from Sears, the Gap, and I think Bloomingdale's. So there you go." Said Angela.
"Ok, thanks, you've been a big help." Said AJ.
"No problem, glad to help." Said Angela and then put down the phone.
"So?" asked Howie.
AJ said what Angela had told him and so the guys headed over to the stores to get the gift certificates. By the time they got home, it was already after 5 o'clock. Kevin and Brian had picked up some take out for everyone, so they began to eat. Soon after they were done, Nick realized that he forgot to ask Christina one important thing to he ran up to his room to call her.
"Hello?" said Christina.
"Hi, it's Nick."
"Hey, what's up? Did you get everything else you needed?" she asked.
"Yeah, I did, but I forgot to ask you something." Said Nick.
"What is it?"
"Does Julie like surprise parties?" asked Nick.
"Well, she's had parties for her other birthdays, but I don't think she's ever had a surprise party probably because she always had a reason to celebrate and make a party herself." Replied Christina, Nick could hear an accusatory note in her voice.
"Yeah, back to me ruining her birthday, I know. So if she's never had a surprise party, does that mean that she can't possibly hate them?" he asked.
"I guess not." Said Christina.
"Ok, good, that's all I needed to know." Said Nick.
"By the way, did you find a present?" asked Christina.
"Yeah, I did. I followed my heart like you told me to." He said.
"And?"
Nick described the necklace to her and Christina said that she was sure that Julie would love it. They chatted for a couple more minutes about some other details of the party and hung up.
*~*~*

Meanwhile, Julie was actually having fun in Six Flags.
"See? I told you you'd snap out of it." said Jessica when the girls were standing in line for a water ride.
"Yeah, you were right." Said Julie smiling. "But I still miss Nick." She added.
"Well, don't think about him right now, you came here to have a Nick-free time, and that's what you're going to have." Said Jen. They all got into a round boat and were off on the ride. They came out completely soaked but happy.
"That was so much fun!" exclaimed Jessica.
"Definitely." Agreed Jen, Julie, and Angela.
"Let's go on that." Said Angela pointing at a high roller coaster a few feet away.
"Uh, I don't know, I'm not very crazy about roller coasters." Said Julie slightly backing away.
"Don't worry, it'll be fun." Said Angela and the girls dragged Julie towards the line.
"Ok, but if I puke, it'll be all your fault." Warned Julie, but she was smiling.
"Sure, whatever." Said the girls.
They went on a few more rides and then started to head home. They didn't get to go on all of the rides that they wanted since the lines were so long, but they all agreed to come back soon. They got home at almost midnight and all went to bed exhausted.
*~*~*

The next morning Julie woke up and saw something large next to her bed. She opened her eyes fully and realized that it was a giant birthday card, which everyone signed. She laughed when she read what everyone had written and then put it near her dresser since it wouldn't fit on top of it. She came out of her room and heard:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" everyone yelled. Julie almost had a heart attack but started to laugh.
"Thanks you guys, but you scared me half to death!"
"That was the idea." Said Jess, and then everyone gave Julie one big hug. She noticed that Nick wasn't part of the group.
"You seem to be one person short." She said looking around.
"Yeah, we know, Nick has something planned just from him." Said Brian smiling mysteriously.
"Does everyone know something that I don't?" asked Julie looking from person to person.
"Yep, but don't worry, you'll find out soon enough what it is. But right now, me, Jen, and Angela are taking you to the salon to get your hair, nails, and make-up done, and then we're going with you to buy a fabulous new outfit!" said Jess excitedly.
"That sounds great, but first of all, why do I need to do that when I'm not doing anything special today and second of all, I don't have that much money left over." Said Julie.
"That's where we come in." said AJ. He then handed Julie an envelope. "This is from me, Brian, Howie, and Kevin." He added.
"Thanks." Said Julie and smiled. She opened the envelope and found a gift certificate for $250. "Wow, this is a lot of money." She said.
"You're worth it, Happy Birthday!" said Howie.
"Thank you so much." Said Julie and then gave each guy a hug.
"And this is from us." Said Angela giving Julie a box. Julie opened it to find the perfume set that the girls had planned to buy.
"Thank you, I love this!" she said and gave all the girls a hug.
"Good, so now get dressed so we can go." Said Jen.
"Ok, and thank you again." Said Julie before going back into her room.
"Good, she doesn't suspect a thing, well, except for the part where we all know something she doesn't." said Brian.
"Ok, so as soon as we leave, you guys start putting up the decorations and setting everything up." Said Jess. "Which reminds me, where IS Nick?" she asked.
"He's not here, he went to order flowers for Julie." Said Brian.
"Oh, well, it looks like this is going to work, the party I mean." Said Jess. "I just hope that Julie forgives him, even though what he did was pretty bad."
"I'm sure she will, she doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would hold a grudge for this long." Said Kevin.
"I hope not." Said Jen. Then they all went back to their rooms to start getting ready.
A half an hour later, the girls left to go to the salon and the guys took out all the decorations. They decided to put the main decorations in the living room seeing how it was the largest room in the house. They moved all the furniture out of the way, and were hanging the "Happy Birthday" sign when Nick walked in.
"So, did you get the flowers?" asked Howie.
"Yeah, they'll be delivered during the party." Said Nick. He then proceeded to help blow up the balloons and put up other decorations. When they were done, the living room was completely transformed. Along one wall, there was a long table filled with all kinds of food and drinks. Right above it, was a large sign that said Happy Birthday. Balloons were hanging all over the place and crepe paper was everywhere. Overall, it looked like a definite party room. They guys stood back and looked around.
"Ok, I think that about does it." Said Kevin.
"Yeah, everything looks great, thanks for the help guys, I could've never done it without you." Said Nick.
"No problem, when are the guests supposed to arrive again?" asked AJ.
"Um, in about an hour." Said Nick looking at his watch.
"Then we all better go change." Said Brian. Everyone else agreed and went up to their rooms to change their clothing.


chapter 9 chapter 11