Chapter Fourteen
"For she's a jolly good fellow! For she's a jolly good fellow! For she's a jolly good fellow...that nobody can deny!"
I looked around the room at the community center that I was usually in for meetings. It was decorated with streamers, balloons, and a banner. There was even a piñata in the center of the room hanging from an exposed wooden beam.
I walked deeper into the room and accepted hugs from almost everyone around me. In the corner, I spied a table filled with chips, sodas, and boxes of pizza. There was another table next to it and the table was filled with presents.
Presents for me I thought, getting excited. I couldn't remember the last time I had a party to celebrate my birthday. Walking over to the table filled with drinks, I grabbed myself a cup and filled it with Pepsi, watching the people around me.
Everyone from group was there, smiling and bouncing up and down. They broke up into groups of two or three, talking amongst themselves. Bailey was in the corner talking to Rebecca and Jacob. Ethan was standing with them but he didn't seem to be involved in their conversation. Instead he stood quietly; drinking from a solo cup filled with God knows what. His eyes were glazed and unfocused; he looked like he was lost in his own world.
Bailey broke away from my sister and Jacob and walked over to the huge boom box in the corner. He pressed a few buttons and soon music filled the room. Everyone cheered and started swaying. Bailey walked up to me and held out his hand.
"A dance for the birthday girl?" Bailey asked me and I nodded as I put my hand in his. He pulled me into the center of a circle that was made, and then pulled me close, putting his arms around my waist. "Your face was priceless," he told me as we danced together. The music was slow and the woman's voice was sultry. "I don't think I've ever seen you so surprised."
"That's because I've never been this surprised," I said to him. "You honestly tricked me. I thought that this was a regular meeting...I never expected...this." I used my one hand to gesture around me. "It's too much, Bailey."
"Not for you," he said. "Not to celebrate your sixteenth birthday. This is a big one, Amber, and it shouldn't be ignored." I shrugged and then grinned when Bailey twirled me around. I fell back into his arms, dizzy, as everyone around us clapped. "You've been through a lot...I wanted to do something special for you."
"Thanks," I said, "But you've been through a lot too...when is someone going to do something for you?"
"I don't need anything," Bailey told me. "I'm strong, I'll trudge on." I knew that Bailey was telling me the truth. He almost never let anything bother him, ever. Nothing slowed him down, not even when Madison disappeared. Some of our friends saw that as him being a douche, but I saw it for what it really was –his way of coping. Bailey had the uncanny ability to grieve and move on at the same time without anyone noticing. "So, do you like the party?"
"I love it," I admitted. "I didn’t expect anyone to remember that it was my birthday, let alone celebrate it." The song ended and Bailey moved his hands from my waist.
"Give her a birthday kiss!" Someone from the crowd cried out. No one except Rebecca and Jacob knew that Bailey and I had a history. They all thought we met in group and just became really close. Though I tried not to listen, I heard whispers from people wondering whether the two of us were dating. So it was no surprise that they wanted to see a kiss. "Come on, plant one on her!"
"You heard the masses," Bailey said, his mouth close to my ear. "Care to indulge them?" I glanced around until my eyes met Ethan's. He was still holding the cup but his knuckles were white and the cup was folding under his grip. His eyes were burning through me.
I hadn't spoken to Ethan since the day that we watched the movie. I didn't ask him again about the lying and he didn't admit to it. When we saw each other we were polite, as if we were strangers again, and kept the conversation superficial. But now he stared at me waiting to see what I would do; what Bailey would do.
"Uh," I said as Bailey nudged me. He used his one hand to turn my face to him and gave me a crooked smile.
"Are you okay?" Bailey asked me. He glanced over to where I was standing. "Oh, I see," he said as he pulled me close again. His hand went to the small of my back and he ran his knuckled over my spine. "We better not give anyone any ideas." I glanced over at Ethan again and I felt myself