Three hours later, the guys have said their goodbyes and now it’s just Jade and I. After she puts the plate from the cake in the kitchen she comes back into the lounge and I glare at her, my arms folded stiffly.
“I can’t believe you did that.”
Her face immediately falls and she rushes toward me. “I’m SO sorry. I knew you’d get a little upset, but it was the guys’ idea and they were SO excited about it and-”
“And you couldn’t tell them no?! I told you that all I wanted was to be alone! Why do you think I didn’t even tell Nick about my birthday?! It’s just another day in the year, it means nothing to me okay?”
“But Ali, you deserve something special!”
“I don’t want anything! I told you all I wanted was to go home, and watch movies! I didn’t want to make a big deal!” I yell.
“Come on! You were sixteen! It’s over! That was a long time ago! You can move on now!”
I gasp at the words flowing from her mouth. “Well, you know what Jady? Since I’m just SO good at replacing best friends, I guess I’ll just have to do it again,” I shout, turning around and storming off to my room.
My cell phone rings and I grab it and stomp outside into the garden. I am seriously pissed at Ali for yelling me out over the party.
“Yes?” I answer a little too abruptly.
“O…K. Somebody’s had a bad day,” says Brian slowly.
“It was goin’ just fine until Ali decided to go psycho on me,” I say angrily.
“Uh oh, wanna talk about it?”
“No.”
“It might help,” he offers.
“Fine,” I sit down on a chair and sigh heavily. “It’s Ali’s birthday today…”
“It is? Oh yeah, I remember AJ mentioning it. Well, if you ever decide to speak to her again say happy birthday from me.”
“Huh!” I grunt. “Ok, so the guys find out it’s her birthday…”
“The actors?”
“Yeah, them. And they decide to throw her a surprise party, so I promise not to say anything and let them use the house. She comes back, acts all happy and then when they’re gone, she turns around and totally bitches me out!”
“Why?”
“Cos she hates birthdays! I mean, ok she has a pretty bad track record but…”
“Like what?”
“On her 15th, her best friend committed suicide. Ali found her.”
“Oh my God,” Brian’s voice is almost a whisper.
“So she hates birthdays cos they remind her of it.”
“Understandable.”
“Yeah… So you agree with her?”
“Well, uh…yeah. I think you should’ve said no to those guys when they suggested a surprise party.”
“Oh man! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“I am Jady! You know I am… But, you should’ve thought it through a little. I know you had good intentions and all that but…”
“You sound just like Ali!” I shout at him.
“It’s my opinion that’s all,” he mutters.
“You’re supposed to be on my boyfriend!”
“So I’m supposed to agree with everything you say and do?”
“Well, no but…”
“And think the sun shines outta ya ass?!”
“Hey!” I yell, even more angry than I was to start with.
“Well jeez! All I wanted was a little conversation with my girl and I get you yelling down the phone at me! Just forget it Jade.”
He hangs up and I stare at my phone in shocked anger. Brian NEVER hung up on me. He yelled, walked away, slammed doors and all that but I’d never had him hang up on me before. I pace the garden angrily, breathing heavily. First my so-called best friend has bitched me out and now my boyfriend has taken her side against me. After a few minutes I start to calm down and feel bad about yelling at Brian. All he had done was call me and voice an opinion. And I was acting like some dictator. I also feel a little scared – I had pushed him too far. He was right. I shouldn’t have yelled at him. I dial his number and hope he didn’t turn the phone off. It starts ringing and I sigh in relief. He hadn’t got so mad that he’d turned it off. He answers but doesn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry honey. You’re right, I shouldn’t have taken it all out on you.”
“I’m sorry too. I’ve had a shitty day.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Naw, you don’t wanna know.”
“I DO Brian.”
“Ok…” he sighs. “I go to this mall with Nick and AJ. We’re in McDonalds…”
“Surprise, surprise,” I say sarcastically.
“Yeah. And Nick decides to call Ali. That Australian guy answers.”
“Heath?”
“Yup, that’s him. Nick got pretty jealous and ended up yelling at Ali. She hung up on him and he got even more pissed. So I tried to calm him down and pissed him off even MORE by telling him I knew about the photo shoot. So he says I’m some best friend and storms out of the mall.”
“Oh. I’m sorry Brian. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t made you promise not to tell Nick about the shoot he wouldn’t have flipped out at ya.”
“Well if I hadn’t been so insistent you tell me, I wouldn’t have known so he couldn’t have freaked on me. So, we’re both at fault.”
“Oh man… I don’t know what to say,” I confess.
“Forget them. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. I wish you were here.”
“Ya mean that?”
“Of course I do. I just spent the last 12 hours hanging out with six gorgeous men, and they’re nothin’ compared to you.”
“Good save,” he chuckles. “I was beginning to get offended. We still have two days off…”
“So? You want me to hop a flight back to you?”
“Well, I could do with checkin’ out my house. Y’know, make sure it hasn’t fallen down or sprung a leak.”
“Y’know, that might be a good idea. I mean the fans might have taken all the bricks.”
“And all the grass,” he adds remembering Nick’s problem.
“Yeah,” I laugh. “And bring Nick with you. They need to talk things out away from Backstreet.”
“I’ll drag him along somehow. Ya REALLY want me there?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Ok. Lemme just book a flight and I’ll call you right back.”
“Ok,” we both hang up and I pace the garden until my phone rings again. “Hello?”
“Hi, we’re on the early flight from Houston. So we should be with ya around 10.”
“Ok. Give me a call when you get in and I’ll come pick you up.”
“Ok. See you soon. Ya know what I said about not agreeing with you ‘bout Ali’s birthday?”
“You were right.”
“But even though I disagreed with ya, if Ali had asked me – I woulda backed you right up.”
“Aw,” I chuckle lightly.
“I love you Jady.”
“Love you too B-Bear,” I hang up the phone and walk into the house. Ali is sat on the couch looking majorly sulky. “You still on for the video shoot?” I ask lightly.
“Hell yeah,” she says. “Might as well salvage SOMETHING outta my day.”
“Whatever,” I mutter and head to my room to get changed. I pop my head back out, “Justin said for us to dress casual cool.”
“What the fuck does that mean?!” she yells.
“Whatever you want it to Alicia,” I say coldly and disappear back into my room. I pity any guy who gets told to dance with Ali tonight.
After a long shower and ten minutes rifling through my closet, I’m ready to go to the video shoot. I can hear Ali banging around next door so I guess she has the same problem of what to wear as me. Any other time, we would have been in and out of each others’ rooms but not tonight. She is still pissed at me and I can’t be bothered with the hassle of apologising. I just want to forget it and be friends again. I check myself in the mirror and smile approvingly. I’m wearing a dark red vest with a faded NYC slogan, denim hipsters with the waistband cut off and a thin fake diamond chain threaded around my hips. I pull on my red fakeskin boots and grab a denim jacket before heading out the door. My make-up is pretty natural – just smoky around my eyes and glossy on my lips – and my hair is tousled and loose. I feel pretty good. I bang on Ali’s door as I pass.
“Yeah, yeah!” she yells irritatedly and I roll my eyes. I’m totally regretting inviting her along. I’ll just get her to the shoot and then hide for the rest of the night. I giggle at the thought and grab a piece of her birthday cake.