(18+) RED (Complete)

Ch. 32: Surprise!

"Are you ready?"

Benjamin grabbed my hands and squeezed them, and his deep azure eyes were beaming towards me. He was way more excited than I was, but that didn't matter. I loved seeing him like this.

"Yes," I giggled.

"Okay. So, pretend to be surprised, because they don't know that you already know they're in there waiting for you. I just wanted to prepare you f..."

"I know, Benjamin. And thank you for that. Now can we please get this over with?"

He suddenly looked confused and slightly disappointed, so I was quick to elaborate.

"With the surprise part. Not the party. I really look forward to that."

Do I really?

"Oh. Good," he breathed in relief.

"We'll be having fun until the early morning sun," I sing-songed, reiterating the same words he'd told me earlier that day.

"Damn right! You look really good, by the way. That red dress is... And those killer heels... God, Mousie."

"Stop talking, Benjamin! Now go! Shush!" I laughed and pushed him toward the door to his house, and the embarrassment was pricking all over my skin.

"And don't ever call me that so they can hear."

I received a solemn nod and watched him zip his lips shut.

"Give us a couple of minutes to get ready. I'll tell them you're on your way."

He winked and I shook my head. What did I do to deserve such a great friend? A bit immature, yes, but the best and most charming anyway. And now he gave me a silly thumbs up before he hurried back into the house to prepare my so-called 'surprise'. It was time for action.

Hundreds of thoughts ran through my head while I kept an eye on the time. Would there be more people than the ones Benjamin mentioned? And considering what he said about my outfit, was I overdressed? Gosh, that would be embarrassing. But what was more concerning; would Ryan be there? Also, would there be cake? Or presents? And Michael... According to Benjamin, they'd talked quite a few times. What if he was here tonight? Was I prepared to see him again? Not the least. Would I ever be? Probably not. But...

There was nothing I wanted more than just that. To see him.

"Okay. Here we go," I whispered to myself. Then I shook the tension off my shoulders and took a deep breath.

I rang the doorbell, and just as planned nobody opened. So I walked in and called for Benjamin, who didn't answer. So I called again. And again. Why didn't they jump out from their hiding places already? But of course, just when I thought Benjamin had fooled me into believing that they were there when they weren't, a loud roar came from people barging out from the kitchen.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I jumped. No matter how prepared I was, all of my senses flipped into high alert, and I felt the intense urge to run away. Yet I didn't. I actually surprised myself for managing to physically stay cool long enough to notice that I mentally relaxed, even though they came over to congratulate me in turn. I got hugs from both Frida and Tim's girlfriend, Ruby, and even Rowan, the rising basketball star. And all of them brought a little gift that I opened in utter awkwardness, before Benjamin surprised us all with a huge birthday cake.

"Oh, my! You've outdone yourself, Benjamin. Chocolate cake is my ultimate favorite."

"Aaaaand... Tada!" he smirked proudly. "A bag of KitKat!"