Cara led the blind folded Dani into the house. Dani could hear the sound of people, but she didn't know where she was. The people were quiet, waiting to shout surprise. Dani was seated in the chair by the large birthday cake Cara and Chris had made a few days prior to today's big event. Everyone waited in anticipation for the guest of honor to have the blind fold removed.. .. ..

"SURPRISE!" the whole room shouted.

Dani looked around with her eyes wide. It was dark, so she couldn't see well. The glow of the candles shown in everyone's eyes, but Dani had a glow of happiness brighter than the candles shinning in her eyes. People around her started clapping and singing happy birthday to her.

Cara jumped on Chris's back, and he laughed as they both sang. Cara looked around the room with the small video camera she was holding in her hands. She saw Neyda and Nick standing next to each other. She smiled because they were two of her great friends. Nick had his arm around Neyda's shoulders, and Neyda had her arm around his back.. she was a bit too short to wrap her arm around his shoulders. They were being silly and rocking back and forth, laughing at each other. She turned a little and saw Justin and Alicia. Justin had his arms around her waist, and they were both swaying. Joey was standing next to Danielle, and they were both singing. She looked a little close by to where she was and saw JC standing with his brother, Tyler. She smiled to herself and felt her cheeks warm as she looked at him. She turned then, looking for Lance. She found him by Nick and Neyda. He squeezed his way in between them, so that he could sway and be silly with them. Cara smiled again, and turned the camera back on Dani.

She blew out the candles, and everyone cheered.

"Happy Birthday, Dani!" Cara shouted.

Dani had a cheesy smile across her face as she cut the cake. She laughed as she looked down at it. The icing was sloppy, and it was pink. It had sprinkles all over it, sloppily thrown around. It looked like it was made by kindergarteners, and in reality, that wasn't far from the truth. She knew exactly who was behind this mess that was called a cake, and she loved it all the more because of it. There was a little drawing on the top of it. The words said, "Happy Birthday Dani! We love ya!". There was a picture of a guy, and a girl with the names "Chris" and "Cara" written above their heads. Chris was on the left side, and Cara on the right. They were the cutest little stick figures. But right in the center, was one that looked like a princess, and the words were around it. She looked over at the two with questioning eyes and they both smiled.

"Why, that's you, of course!" Chris replied to her questioning look.

If it was possible, her smile grew bigger. She stood up immediately and ran over to the pair, and gave them a hug.

"You are the best! I love you so much!" she squealed.

Cara fell off Chris shoulders with a thud, and looked up on her butt. "Dang, woman. That hurt."

Dani looked at her with worry, as she picked up the camera, "Aww, I'm so sorry!"

Chris laughed, "Ha, you fell!"

Cara got up and smacked him playfully, "Don't make me beat you in front of these people, Chris!"

They both laughed as Dani walked around hugging people. She sat down and opened up presents as everyone continued partying and talking to each other. They would walk over and tell her happy birthday, and how they loved her. Dani was starting to get teary from all the wonderful attention she was getting. Cara and Chris took this opportunity to make her feel even more loved.

"Aww Dani, I loooooove you!" Cara squealed as she took off at a fast pace and jumped into her friend's lap.

Dani made an "oof" noise as the air escaped her lungs. "Excuse me, but you are heavy girl, get a friggen diet!"

Cara laughed, "But I just love you so much!" She wrapped her arms around her neck and squeezed.

Dani hugged her back and smiled. She sniffled a little bit, getting somewhat emotional from all the love she was feeling. At that moment, she was on top of the world. She didn't think anything could possibly take her off that top. At least not for awhile anyway .. ..

She didn't know how wrong she was.

Neyda and Nick were talking in their little weird languages.

"Only on Saturdays, Nick," Neyda said with a smile.

"Only on bingo nights, Neyda," he replied with that same smile.

Lance watched the two in their childish discussion and laughed. He looked between them, and continued laughing. They had to be weirder than Chris and Cara were. And that was amazing, even to him.

They continued talking strangely to each other, and Lance continued laughing. Cara walked over and sat down next to Lance. She noticed how he was watching Neyda, and she made a mental note of it. She also noticed how Neyda occasionally looked over at Lance out of the corner of her eye. Cara smiled a bit. She knew that they seemed to have a small thing for each other probably even before they did.

She looked over at Lance and tapped him on the arm. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Hey Cara," he said.

"Lance, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked.

"Sure," he said while he got up and walked away, following her.

"Do you like Neyda?"

"Uh, no?"

"Um, I think you do, Lance."

"No, I don't."

"Yeah, I saw you watching her. You like her, dontcha?"

"Cara.."

"It doesn't work for Nick when he does that, so it wont work for you."

"Cara.."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, be difficult."

"Cara.."

"Lance.."

"Cara.."

"Lance.."

"So, it doesn't work then, huh?"

"No, tard."

"Did you just call me a tard?"

"Yep."

"I don't like her."

"Yeah, you do, don't lie."

He blushed, "Okay.. so I do.."

She grinned, "I think she likes you too."

"Really?"

"Let me find out," and she walked back to the pair who were still laughing with each other.

"Umm, Neyd, can I talk to you?" she asked. Lance sat back down in his seat and started talking to Nick.

"Do I call you 'Car'?" she rolled her eyes, "okay, Cara."

After they walked away from Nick and Lance a little ways, Cara continued, "You have a thing for Lance?"

"He's a cutie."

"Uh huh, but you like him?"

"Yeah. He seems sweet, and he's definitely a cutie. I'd like to get to know him better."

"I figured as much. He likes you."

"Really? Okay, cool. Is he gonna ask me out or something?"

"He's too shy to do that. You make some moves, and he'll follow."

"Okay, sounds good to me."

Cara laughed as Neyda walked back over to flirt with Lance a bit no doubt. She turned and looked around. JC was talking with Tyler still. It was good for him to get quality time with his brother as much as possible. She didn't want to interrupt that, male bonding was a special thing. She laughed to herself as she watched them talk. Dani was still all cheesy smiling, and she was walking around thanking people. She loved her best buddy. Dani was such a sweetheart. She looked over to see where Chris was, and he was staring right at her. It was kinda weird, and it made her have a sudden uneasy feeling. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she shrugged it off thinking he was just looking at people like she was. She smiled and walked over towards him.

JC and Tyler were talking.

JC had a serious look on his face, and he looked confused. Tyler was looking concerned, and he had no idea what to say.

"What.. .. what did you just say?" Tyler was stunned.

"Ty, I said I don't know if I'm in love with her anymore."

"Oh, god. You're gonna hurt her. She loves you."

"She's my best friend. I want my best friend back, Ty. I don't want to be my best friend's boyfriend right now. I just don't know if I feel the same. I think we need a break or something. I need to figure this out."

"Figure it out, huh? Figure out if you love her. You're gonna crush her, and I'm gonna kill you. She's my good friend too you know. You're gonna hurt her so bad."

"Ty, shut up. I can't help hurting her. I can't control if I love her or not."

"How could you not? She's your best friend. You know you love her. It's always been her. Pull yourself together, JC!"

"Ty, you're freaking me out."

"JC, okay, I don't know what to say. I love her, and she's like my sister. I'm not thrilled about someone breaking my sister's heart."

"You think I'm thrilled about being the one to break it?"

Tyler frowned, "I guess not."

"No, hell no, I'm not. I love her Tyler. I just don't know if I love her as my girlfriend right now. She'll understand. That much I know, I just don't know how long it will take me to figure out."

"Figure out fast then. You better tell her soon, cause this is gonna be hard for me to keep. So you just hurry okay?"

"I will tonight. I just wanted to know what you thought first."

"Yeah, okay."

JC sighed, "Tyler, I don't want to hurt her."

"I don't want you to hurt her either."

"Do I have any other choice?"

"No, not really. If you were to stay with her that really wouldn't be fair to her. You gotta tell her how you feel. You gotta do what you gotta do."

"Why does life have to be so complicated?"

"Because it would be boring otherwise."

"You're probably right, but I'd like to be bored once. At least then you're happy."

"Not really.. then you're just bored."

"Oh shut up Tyler. Just humor me once, please?"

"But there isn't any fun in that."

"Ugh, shut up."

Tyler watched Cara walk over and start talking to Chris. JC put his elbows on his knees and held his forehead in his hands, looking at the floor. Tyler looked over at his brother and sighed.

"When are you gonna tell her? After the party?" Ty asked.

"No, I can't hold this in that long. It's wrong of me, I know. But I just can't keep this in. I'm already going nuts."