fragile

24

It was Colton's birthday. He was turning twenty-eight and Mira was invited by his friend, Sammy for a surprise party.

She stood outside, fumbling with the lace sleeves of her blue dress.

Her stomach churned as she stared at the front door, contemplating whether she should ring the bell or not.

Mira didn't want to go inside; she wanted to run away in the comfort of her home. She hadn't been invited to a party for as long as she could remember.

She didn't even know who Sammy was — she had heard of him but hadn't met him personally.

They had never even shared a word to each other, either. Well, not until she received a text from him through Colton.

Mira didn't like the way things were progressing between her and Colton — and in general.

She was good friends with him now, someone she thought she would never see again.

And she was being invited to parties, too and just the thought was freaking her out.

Mira turned to leave when the door opened to reveal Sammy. He looked taken aback as if he hadn't expected her to show up. He then looked over her shoulder before smiling at her.

"You must be Mira. Well, quick, come inside. Colton's gonna be back from the store, soon."

She tried to stutter out an excuse to leave but was pushed inside almost instantly. Sammy shut the door and readied the table with a big cake on it.

Looking around, Mira realised that Colton's house was practically empty apart from herself and Sammy.

"He's a simple guy. He only likes celebrating with close friends and family," Sammy explained, catching the look on her face.

"Oh, um, so are his parents coming?"

"Well, I did invite them." Sammy shrugged, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "So, yeah, they should be coming."

Mira picked up on the fact that it was a subject that shouldn't be touched on so she nodded instead. When the doorknob rattled, Sammy quickly handed her a cone hat and a party popper.

As soon as Colton came through the door, the poppers set off. Mira's lips curved into a ghost of a smile at seeing the grown man jump.

His hazelnut eyes widened as he looked between the two.

"What's going on?"

"Surprise!" Sammy yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Happy birthday," Mira said, a small smile on her face.

Colton shot a glare at Sammy.

"You knew I didn't want to celebrate this year. Casey—"

"—would want you to be happy," Sammy cut in with a glare of his own. "Come on, man. Today's your day and you deserve to enjoy yourself."

Colton sighed and placed down the bags of items he had bought.

"So this is why you had me run to the store, huh?" he said, blankly. Sammy rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly.