Chapter 29

The day after the rally was my seventeenth birthday, or it would have been if I wasn't dead. I didn't really do much that day. Grandma had finally finished decorating my room on Saturday while I was gone, so I had plenty of time to admire that. She had painted the walls purple, and there was now a desk and a dresser in the room. Grandma had also added a bookshelf, and I put all of my books there. I had read about a third of them by this point. I liked some of them, but other ones weren't as good. I had discovered that I wasn't a huge science fiction fan. Realistic fiction was what I liked.

Maya knocked on my door during the middle of the day. "What is it?" I asked as I opened my door.

"I got you a present," Maya said. "You know, since it's your birthday and everything." She handed me a medium-sized box wrapped in bright blue wrapping paper. I took the box and began to unwrap it. It was a CD of The Black Parade. "Uh...thanks Maya," I said as I placed the CD on my dresser. "That was really thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome, Ivy!" Maya exclaimed. "I knew that you'd like it! Your grandma said that you wouldn't, but she was just being silly. Everyone likes The Black Parade!"

"Yeah, thanks Maya," I said. I took out my phone and saw that I had gotten a message on Angel Wings.

BlackhawksForTheWin: Ivy, meet us at Jack and Henri's house. We have a surprise for you.

MochaKitty5: Who r u?

BlackhawksForTheWin: Raj.

MochaKitty5: And where is Jenri's house?

MochaKitty5: Did I really just say Jenri? Maya is rubbing off on me. >:(

BlackhawksForTheWin: Yes, you did just say Jenri. Jack and Henri's house is literally next door to yours. I don't know how you don't know this.

MochaKitty5: Oh ok. I'll b there in 5 min or so.

I put away my phone and went into the living room, where Grandma was reading. "Hey Grandma," I said. "I'm heading next door. Henri, Jack, and Raj invited me over."

"Okay sweetie," Grandma said. "See you soon."

I opened the door and walked over to the house next door. It looked somewhat similar to ours, but there were a few subtle differences. I knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it.

A woman who appeared to be around forty came to the door. She was a few inches shorter than me, and she had dark brown hair and eyes that were the exact same shade of green as Jack's. "You must be Ivy," she said. "Come on in." I entered the house, and she said, "I'm Jack's mother, but you can call me Jodi."

"Nice to meet you Jodi," I said.

"The boys are in the basement," she said. "Let me know if you need anything."

I went downstairs into the basement, and I overheard Jack, Henri, and Raj talking from the staircase. "Hey Raj, did you text Maya yet?" I heard Jack ask. "She should come too."

"Not yet, but I don't want Ivy and Maya arguing," Raj said.

"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't invite Maya," Jack said.

"When is Ivy going to come?" Henri asked.

"She said that she was coming," Raj said. "Hopefully she'll be here soon."

"I'm here," I said as I went down into the basement. Henri and Jack were sitting on a couch near the TV, and Raj was leaning back in a dark blue recliner.

"Hey Ivy," Raj said. "Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday Ivy!" Henri exclaimed.

"Did you know that you share a birthday with the composer Modest Mussorgsky?" Jack said.

"No, and I don't really care," I said.

"I care!" Henri interrupted. "Mussorgsky is one of my favorite composers. Then again, I also like Strauss and Stravinsky and Berlioz and Vaughan Williams..."

"Well, at least someone cares," Jack said.

"Should we give Ivy her present?" Raj asked.

"No," Henri said. "Let's do cake first."

"There's cake?" I said.

"I bought a cake from the bakery," Henri said as he went over to the refrigerator and took out a cake. "It's chocolate, of course."

"Thank you so much, Henri," I said as my eyes scanned over the cake. It said "Happy Birthday Ivy!" with little rosettes made out of frosting on it.

"You're welcome," Henri said. He cut the cake, and once he did, he handed pieces to Raj, Jack, and I.

I took a bite of the cake, and found that it tasted just as good as it looked. The frosting was sweet and creamy, and the cake itself was just amazing. "This is so good," I said.

"We thought that you might like it," Raj said.

"So what have you guys been up to?" I asked.

"Not much," Jack said. "I've been working in Soul Analysis, and that's fairly enjoyable."

"How was Washington DC?" Henri asked me.

"It was alright," I said. "The rally got a little bit out of control, and I still have a lot of pictures to sort through."

"What happened at the rally?" Raj asked.

"Some of the protesters tried to break into the Celestial Bureaucracy building," I explained. "I got a lot of good pictures though!"

"I wish that I could travel around like that," Raj said. "That would be so cool."

"Traveling is fun," I said. "Oh, by the way, you would never believe what Maya gave me as a birthday present."

"What did she give you?" Raj asked.

"Some My Chemical Romance album," I said. "You would think that she would have caught on by now that I don't listen to emo music."

Jack laughed. "Typical Maya," he said. "She gave me a poster of Gerard Way once."

"Who's Gerard Way?" I asked.

"The lead singer of My Chemical Romance," Jack said. "You know, I can name all of the members of My Chemical Romance, but I've never actually listened to them. How is this possible? It's quite simple. I'm friends with Maya."

"Can we give Ivy her present now?" Raj asked.

"Sure," Jack said. He went upstairs and came back carrying a large, flat box. He gave the box to me and said, "This is from all of us. Happy birthday Ivy."

I opened up the box and smiled. "Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. "You got me a computer!"

"We thought that you could use one," Raj said. "I already installed a few games that I thought that you might like."

"Thank you so much!" I said. "You guys are the best."

"You're welcome, Ivy," Henri said.

I put the computer back in the box, so I could take it with me when I went home. I was just so glad that I had such wonderful friends. "You know, we could watch the Blackhawks game," Raj said. "I can still watch sports games from Earth on my phone."

"No, let's watch Doctor Who," Jack said. "They made a whole bunch of new episodes that are only available in Heaven, and I want to watch them."

"That's too nerdy," Raj said.

"Says the guy who owned Darth Vader's glove in life," Jack replied.

"Star Wars is awesome!" Raj argued.

"So is Doctor Who!" Jack said.

Raj sighed. "I don't want to argue with you," he said. "We can watch Doctor Who."

Jack was just about to turn on the TV when we heard a huge crash. I immediately ran upstairs to see what the commotion was, and the boys followed me.

I looked out the window, and I could barely believe what I saw.