Caught

Chapter Forty-Six

"I just realized... today's my birthday," Aidan said out of the blue as he looked around my room, specifically at the calendar hanging on the far wall.

"You just realized?" Alyssa asked, running the hairbrush through my hair once again. I yelped as she tried to untangle the knots in my hair. "We've been saying 'Oh, the formal is on your birthday' for a week now, Aidan. Do you need to get your hearing checked?"

"Yes, I think so," Aidan said. "I keep on hearing this annoying buzzing noise but it's just you talking, Alyssa."

She shot him a dirty look as Jessica, Tyson and I snickered. "Ha ha, very funny," She said, annoyed.

"Okay, but what types of friends are you?" Aidan complained. "Where are the presents?"

"Greedy, aren't you?" I asked. Alyssa was now braiding my hair down the side, pulling tightly on my hair. "What gives, Alyssa? Be gentle!"

"You're hair is so light and long, I have to make sure this doesn't come out." She pulled on my hair again, causing me pain.

"Can't you just leave my hair out? That's probably what I'm going to do by the end of the night," I tell her. She didn't think I was keeping my hair like this all night, was she?

"Why do you girls always take so much time just to work on your hair?" Tyson asked, fixing his tie.

"Because we have to look nice for you boys," Alyssa said.

"Eh," Jessica and I say at the same time. We both couldn't care less on what they think of us. Alyssa was really the only one in the room who cared about this.

It was nearly 7:30 in the evening and there was still no sign of Cole. I forgot when he was picking me up, but he didn't even reply to any of my messages. I looked down at my phone once again, wondering where he could be.

"Why are you guys here, in my room again?" I asked the others. "You know I won't be going to the dance with you, right?"

"We're here to keep you company, Lauren," Jessica said. "And you seem to make our lives more interesting. We're bored, or at least I am."

"I'm waiting for birthday presents," Aidan said again. He managed to find some ball lying around my room and was bouncing that on the wall.

"Stop acting like a seven year old, Aidan," Jessica stated. "You're much older than that."

Aidan made a disgusted face. "Oh, God. I'm seventeen. Where has the time gone?"

"Okay, you want us to celebrate your birthday?" Tyson asked. "Okay guys, on three."

He counted down from three and somehow, all of us knew to belt out "Happy Birthday" from the top of our lungs. I was pretty sure you could hear us from three houses down, or at least downstairs.

"What are you doing up there?" Dad called from downstairs.

"Nothing, Dad. Just being teenagers," I yelled back.

"Keep it down. Couldn't you have gone early with Spencer?" Dad asked.

"I'm waiting for my ride. Plus, Spencer went to help set up. I'd rather not do that."

I get up from my seat and examine myself in the mirror. Alyssa picked out a nice, indigo blue dress for my to wear tonight, along with a matching set of earrings and a necklace. I insisted on wearing the bracelet Cole gave me last week along with the outfit, despite the fact that it didn't match.

"You look really nice," Tyson complimented. "But, aren't the heels a bit too... big?"

"That's what I said!" I turned to Alyssa. "Can I wear sneakers?"