Colby was leaning against his locker, surrounded by his group of friends. They were all laughing and joking around, waiting for the last bell of the day.
" Dude your Sweet 16 is gonna be sick," said Travis, playfully punching Colby.
Colby was turning 16 on Saturday and he was so ready for a party. He had just finished inviting all of his popular high school friends.
" Yeah man, I can't wait," said his other friend, Chris.
Colby's last friend Micheal spoke up. " Hey, check it out guys," he said pointing to a blond kid coming down the hall. " There's that nerd Sam."
Colby shot his gaze to the new kid that had started at their school a few months ago. Colby had only ever seen him in a few of his classes, other than that, he kept to himself, he was super quiet. Just then, Chris had an idea.
" Hey Colby," said Chris. " You know what would be hilarious, if you invited Sam to your party."
" No way man," said Colby. " I can't invite a nerd to my party, it's a Sweet 16, are you trying to make me the uncoolest person ever?"
" I wasn't finished," said Chris. " Invite him, and then Saturday, we'll all get him at the party."
" That would be so funny!" said Travis.
" Yea, c'mon man, do it!" said Micheal.
" Okay,okay," said Colby playfully.
Colby casually walked over to Sam as he was putting his books in his locker.
"Hey," said Colby. Sam stopped rummaging through his locker and looked at Colby.
" Uh, hi," said Sam.
" I'm Colby," he said. " You're new here, right?"
" Yea, I moved to Leawood a couple months ago," explained Sam.
" Cool," said Colby. He hesitated awkwardly, looking back at his friends as they discreetly gave him a thumbs up.
"Listen," said Colby. " My Sweet 16 is on Saturday and I'm having a party at my place Saturday night, I would love for you to come."
" Really?" said Sam.
" Yeah, totally," said Colby. " What do you say?"
" I'd love to," said Sam, a big smile coming across his face.
" Awesome," said Colby.
He politely told Sam his address and said the party started at 7. Sam then happily waved goodbye. Colby returned back to his friends as Sam walked away.
" Dude, this is gonna be sweet," said Chris.
" I'll bring the silly string," said Travis.
" And I'll bring the camera," said Micheal.
They all laughed together as the bell finally rang, then they waved goodbye to each other.
When Saturday came, Colby was patiently waiting for his friends. He had spent the whole day preparing for the party, putting up decorations, putting out the food, and choosing awesome music. It was almost 7pm and no one was there yet, he figured they were probably on their way. He had tried texting them earlier, but none of them answered. He figured they were out "preparing" for the party. Colby played on his phone while he waited for his friends. He looked at the time, it was after 7 and still no one had arrived. Colby waited half an hour and texted his friends once more. None of them answered, and that's when Colby figured it was time to clean up. Colby would be lying if he said he wasn't upset, he thought at least one of his friends would show up. As he was cleaning up, there was a knock on the door. Colby set down the plates and went to open the door, when he did, it was Sam.
" Hi," said Sam. " I'm so sorry, I got lost and mixed up your address and I didn't have your number so I couldn't call you. I'm so sorry I'm la-."
Sam saw the house behind him, it was completely empty. " I must be later than I thought," said Sam.
Colby smiled. " Actually, you're right on time," he said. " Do you like pizza?"
" Who doesn't like pizza?" said Sam happily.
" Come on in," said Colby.
"Thanks," said Sam. "This is for you by the way." Sam handed Colby a gift.
" Thank you," said Colby.
Sam and Colby spent the entire night together. They ate pizza, played video games and listened to music as they got to know each other. They talked and laughed and hung out for hours, like they had known each other their entire lives. None of Colby's other friends did end up coming, but at this point, he didn't even notice or care. He hadn't laughed this hard with anyone in his life. At around 10 pm, Sam's mom showed up and he said good-bye to Colby.
When Monday came around, Sam and Colby began hanging out at school everyday. Ever since Colby had found out that his popular "friends" thought it would be funny for only the nerd to show up to his party and not tell him; something they had apparently planned way in advance, Colby decided he was done with those people. He didn't need them, he had Sam. The last person he thought would ever end up even being his friend ended up being his best friend, and he realized now, that one true friend, was all he would ever need.
