Rules to Feeling Lonely

Chapter 18

-Happy birthday honey! Hope you have a great time at the party tonight xx- mom

I smiled as I read the text. Finally 17... It was the 26th today, aka my birthday, and yesterday I celebrated Christmas with Michelle and her family. It was sad that mom couldn't be there but it was fun nevertheless.

-Thanks mom. See you in a few days xx –

I sent back and looked back at the people who sat with me around the table.

"Guys, it's just a party.", I said as I saw them all concentrating. They were putting a lot more effort in the party for tonight then I'd originally planned, not that I minded. Sarah, Sophia, Rachel, Ethan and I sat at one of our favorite restaurants after we had spent a few hours shopping.

"We are going to have an amazing party, rather you like it or not", Ethan said and turned back to Sophia and Rachel, finishing the list of stuff we still needed from the store. I shook my head and turned to Sarah who just stared at them with amusement.

"She invited more people than I asked her to, didn't she?" I asked Sarah while pointing to Sophia.

"She invited friends, then all the people that could possibly be your stalker and then people she thought you would like", she explained and I huffed. Of course she would.

"If my house goes down, I'm holding you accountable", I told Sophia who just rapidly nodded and went back to the list.

"So how did your Christmas go?" I asked Sarah.

"Well, we had dinner together but nothing too special" I raised an eyebrow.

"You know that we're not the richest people out there", Sarah reminded me. She had told us the story before. Her mom was pregnant with them and neither of her grandparents were supportive of it, even cut them off completely. Her parents had to built a live from scratch and worked their asses off to give their kids a life. Mad respect for them. I've met them a few times and they're amazing people, really kind and caring.

"We used to struggle a lot more with money so we never really did presents or fancy dinners. The last couple of years we have been giving each other present and had dinner but it was always just simple", she explained further and I nodded in understanding.

"So it was just you and your family", I asked.

"Daniel and Jacob where there too", she said, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Jacob?"

"Daniel's older brother", she said and focused on something Sophia asked her. Didn't know Daniel had a brother.

-You ready for your party tonight? – unknown

I read when my phone lit up from the table.

-Sorta. Are you coming? –

-Of course I am. Wouldn't miss it for the world – unknown

Good to know...

-So I can give you a dare tonight? –

-Yup, you can. I'll be waiting... – unknown

-You better be -

"Okay, we'll go to the mall first and after that we'll go prep the house and get ready", Sophia made me look up after a while and looked at me for confirmation. Oh boy...

Time flew by and before I knew it, people started arriving for the party. Some wishing me a happy birthday and others were clearly just here for the party. Sophia, Rachel, Sarah, Ethan, Oliver, Blake, Matthew, Adam, Michelle, Alex and even Eric, Daniel and Jason. They even wished me a happy birthday when they came in which was more than I expected.