"Pssh," someone shakes my shoulder, trying to wake me up.

"Keith, let me sleep," I mumble and fall asleep again.

"Pssh, Kiara, wake up," someone whispers again. I ignore it, snuggle into the pillow and fall asleep again.

"SPARKLE, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP NOW, I WILL EAT THE CAKE MYSELF," someone shouts in my ear.

WAIT, SPARKLE, CAKE? Keith doesn't call me sparkle.

I suddenly sit up, and I rub my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

I see Reed and Ryder sitting on my bed with a cake in their hands. The cake is beautifully decorated, and there is a candle on the top with the number 17.

"Happy birthday, sparkle," Reed greets me with a smile.

Birthday. It's my birthday, and I am turning 17 today. A huge smile appears on my face.

"Happy birthday, Kiara," Ryder wishes me and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Come on, cut the cake, sparkle. I am very thirsty," Reed says.

What does cutting the cake have to do with being thirsty?

Reed hands me a knife, and I cut into the cake, not wanting to wait longer.

SPLASH.

A water balloon suddenly bursts, making me wet, and I blink in shock. Reed and Ryder burst out laughing, looking at my face.

'Is it wrong to think about murder on your birthday winter?' I ask winter.

'Hey, you never speak to me intentionally. What happened today?'

'Just answer the question,'

'I don't know, I mean murdering means hiding the body, and I am too lazy to think of a good hiding place,'

'You literally exercise. So, I don't think you are lazy to think of a good hiding place.'

'Hey, I need to look good for the boys,'

'You are not even real.'

'Well, you are talking to me.'

Wow, my own mind just won the fight with me. The brothers seemed to have calmed down a bit.

Reed grabs something from the floor and hands it to me. I look at the gift wrapper and excitedly tear open the wrapper, my thoughts about murder long forgotten.

I open the box and find a printed mug. When I look at the picture, a smile appears on my face.

It is a picture of Ryder and me laughing at a pouting Reed from last Christmas when Raven was narrating embarrassing stories of Reed.

"This is from both of us, sparkle," Reed tells me. I throw my arms around them and hug them. They both wrap their arms around me and hug me back.

"Thank you so much. It's beautiful,"

"But I am not cleaning my bed, though," I tell them with a fake glare.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but what is a birthday without pranks?" Reed chuckles.

They both help me clean my bed and then go back to their rooms.

I check my phone and see messages from Keith, Anna and Divya, and I reply to them and go back to sleep.

I wake up in a good mood since it's my birthday. I dance and make my way to the washroom to take a shower. I open the door and

HORNNNNNNNN,

An airhorn suddenly goes off of nowhere. I jump and fall straight on my butt due to the loud noise.

My room door bursts open, and Blake and Raven both come in, and Blake is holding a shoe while Raven is holding a pancake? Is that a pancake?

I burst out laughing. They look at me, and once they see I am fine, they look at each other and burst out laughing.

"Honey, you ok? What happened?" Raven asks me.

"Yep, I am fine. I just got startled by the noise and fell down," I explain.

"Reed placed an air horn, didn't he?" Blake states.

"Most probably," I answer. Reed is the only person who would do this.

"Happy birthday, honey. After school today we will open your presents ok?" Raven wishes me. Blake also wishes me, and I thank them and get ready for the day.

I wear a yellow crop top, pair it with a dark blue jean skirt and wear my sneaker. I straighten my hair and leave it down.

I apply lip gloss and mascara and go downstairs. Reed looks at me and smirks.

"So, how was the air horn?"

"Oh, it was wonderful," I tell him. He chuckles, and we eat breakfast and head to school.

"You look beautiful," Reed says once we near the park.

"Thank you," I say and push my hair in from of my face to cover my blush. After I realized I like Reed, everything he says, makes me blush.

I go to my locker once I reach school and wait for my friends.

"Hey, Kiara," Luke says once he approaches me.

"Hey, Luke," I greet him and wait for him to wish me.

"I didn't study for the test today, so I am counting on you, my dear best friend," he tells me with a grin. My smile falls a bit.

"Do you remember what day is it today?" I ask him.

"Yeah, April 15, why?" he asks me, confused.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" I remind him.

He shakes his head but then widens his eyes. I smile.

"Oh, shoot, I forgot Kate at home and drove to school," he tells me and runs down the hall. I stand there with my mouth hung open.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry right now.

"Hey, Kiara, what's up?" Noah asks me once I reach his locker.

"Nothing much. What about you?" I shrug.

"I have an important guest coming home today, so I am nervous," he tells me.

Noah? Nervous? They don't belong in the same sentence. You can always count on Noah to brighten your day. He can make any situation funny.

"Hey, Kiara," Ava greets me with a hug.

"Where are Luke and Kate?" she questions, looking around.

"He just ran down the hallway after telling me he forgot to drive Kate to school..?" I say, but it comes out more like a question. Actually, saying it loud sounds how stupid it is.

"Oh no, not again," Noah mumbles.

"Sorry, Kiara. I am going to give Luke a good lecture," Ava says.

"And I am going to stop Kate from murdering him," Noah says, and they both take off without waiting for my reply.

I let out a sigh and head over to class, not wanting to think about how my best friends forgot about my birthday.

I was unable to talk to any of my friends due to having class. It's lunchtime, and as I wait for Andrew, Luke sent me a text saying that there was something that Kate, Noah and Ava had to do so they won't be eating lunch.

"Hey, Kiara." Andrew greets me once he sits down. I hand him his food, and before eating, he gives me a box from his backpack. I raise my eyebrow, and he grins.

I open it and find a statue carved out of wood. I start crying. It is a statue of me, my parents and Keith from my tenth birthday. My father has me on his shoulder while Keith is hugging my mom, and we are all laughing. I hug Andrew without thinking, and he stiffens. After a few seconds, he carefully places his hands on my waist and hugs me back.

"Happy birthday Kiara," he tells me, and before I can thank him, he speaks.

"I am not a stalker. I got this photo from Kate," he tells me, and I chuckle at his words.

"Thank you so much, Andrew. It means a lot to me," I tell him, and he smiles.

"I didn't know you were good at wood carving," I tell him.

"Yeah, I am not good, but I can carve stuff," he tells me while rubbing his neck, which he does when he is embarrassed or when someone compliments him.

"Well, this is perfect," I tell him with a smile, and soon the day comes to an end, and I wait for my friends in the parking lot.

"Kiara, we are really sorry, but my cousin is coming from London, so Luke and I are going to pick him up. Noah and Ava have detention. Seems like they were caught trying to prank the principal," she tells me and walks away.

Ava, getting detention? When pigs fly, that is when Ava will get detention. She is a perfect student. I meet Reed at the park, and we head home.

My best friends forgot my birthday. I sigh and enter my room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIARA." I hear shouts from all across the room.

I switch on my light and see all my friends and Ryder standing near my bed. I gasp when I look at my room.

It is beautifully decorated. There are a lot of balloons and chocolates, and decorations all around the room.

"Bu... but how? I thought you guys..."

"Forgot," they reply in unison.

"Nope, we just made you think that we forgot," Luke tells me, hugging. Everyone wishes me, and we all head downstairs to open presents.

Reed gives me a prank set since he knows how much I love them.

"Kiara, these are for pranking others and not me," he warns me, and I smirk.

"I will regret buying you this, won't I?" he asks himself, and I nod. Ryder gave me one of those sparkling pillows with my name on it. All my friends got me shoes, makeup, a new straightener and other accessories.

"Kiara, we all know how much you wished for this. So, here you go," Raven tells me and hands me a small box.

I open it and find a key. My eyes widen when I recognize the key.

"No, no, you didn't," I tell them and run to the garage. I quickly open it my mouth falls open.

There stands before me my favourite car, Chevrolet Camaro. It is bright red in colour, and I walk around the car inspecting it.

"Guys, I don't know what to say. You didn't have to do this," This car is expensive.

"Don't worry, your brother pitched in too," Blake tells me. I hug both Raven and Blake and thank them a thousand times.

"Come on, we are going somewhere," Luke tells me and blindfolds me. Throughout the car ride, Kate was scolding Luke because he forgot to pick Kate from my house before school since she was decorating my room, and they left again during lunch. When my blindfold was removed, I saw an ice ring before me. I hug my friends and start jumping, feeling very excited.

I always wanted to learn how to ice skate. We enjoy the rest of the day and eat dinner before going home. It was hands down the best birthday ever. I thank Keith for the car. I thank God for giving me a wonderful life and, fall asleep with a smile on my face.

               __________________

Hey guys. Here is another chapter. Let me know what you think. Remember Jesus loves you.

Love😍
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