It Started In August

Chapter 12 (Part Two)

The pizza that Roman had ordered came shortly after Shannon and Clyden arrived. He ordered two boxes, and I was wondering if we could eat them all. Then I looked at Alexa, and it gave me the answer I needed.

"I made something for you guys," Roman said from the kitchen. He closed the fridge door using his hips as both his hands were holding the big bowl of the concoction that he made. When he reached the living room table he put it beside the cake that I baked.

Shannon, who was sitting comfortably on the couch, looked at it for a moment then shook her head. "Can't believe you mixed alcohol with fruits," he gave her a chuckle. "Why don't you try it?"

"Shan, you're the oldest one here. The rest of us are still seventeen, so you should go try it first," I encouraged her. She heaved a sigh of defeat. "Okay fine, I'll try it."

Upon those words, Roman quickly got some glasses from the kitchen. Then he used a ladle to pour the contents in a glass, then handed it to Shannon. She stared at it for a moment, studying the fruits floating in the glass. "Well, here it goes," she took a sip.

Her face went from doubtful to delighted, she even covered her hand while staring at the glass. "Is this sprite?"

Roman's lips formed a smirk. "With alcohol," he gave me a wink and that made me roll my eyes jokingly. Shannon unexpectedly took the ladle from his hand and refilled her own glass. She then gulped it down along with the fruits that came with it. "Holy hell Godfrey. This tastes like ambrosia," Shannon said with her muffled voice. Roman let out a chuckle. "You're welcome," he made a little curtsy.

"Wait, aren't we here for Aster though?" Clyden turned to me. "I brought candles," he took out three small candles from his pocket, and I was surprised it didn't break the whole time.

"Thanks Clyde," he put the candles on top of the cake and it signaled Roman to light them up with his match.

Alexa's eyebrows knitted at Clyden. "Uh, is this supposed to be an advanced birthday celebration?" her response earned a laugh from Clyden. "Sorry, I kind of predicted that she's going to bake a cake."

My chest swelled with pride looking at them. I could never find people like these anywhere else. Especially him, who was sitting on the cushion in front of us, looking like he had just finished cooking breakfast for his siblings.

"Hey, you can take the apron off now. You're not going to do the dishes again," my remark made him look at the apron he was still wearing. "Oh, yeah right," he removed the apron and placed on the couch's armrest beside me. "Here, thanks."

Alexa took the cake and handed it to me. "The celebrant's speech is needed before we start," I looked at the cake then at her, her face evident with happiness and pride. The candlelight added to the happy feeling that has been swirling inside me since earlier.

I smiled then took the cake from her hands. I awkwardly cleared my throat before I spoke.

"First of all, thank you guys for coming here."

"You don't need to thank us dummy. You know we'll always be here for you," Shannon butted in, and Alexa glared at her. "Shush, it's our Aster's moment," Shannon kept quiet, but a tiny smile stayed on her lips.

"Well, for the record, I'm guessing none of you knew I could sing. Even Shannon, whom I lived with for a long time. Sorry for keeping it a secret," I looked at them and I did an awkward smile.

"And if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be happy with my friends right now," I averted my gaze towards Roman whose eyes seemed to be staring at me the whole time. I could see the candlelight being reflected in them, and it made my tummy swirl in an inexplicable way. "Godfrey, thanks for helping me out in preparing, and for telling the whole class that I could sing," I added sarcasm in my voice to ease the weird feeling in my stomach.