"We said it was forever and then it slipped away."

-Final Masquerade, Linkin Park.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," they all sang while I stood awkwardly in front of a big cake, "Happy birthday, Jules. Happy birthday to you!"

"Blow them out!" Jordan encouraged while I bent over and blew the candles.

Everyone started clapping and then made a line to give me a hug. After the river, we were too exhausted to do anything else so we came back to the cabin and decided to sing my happy birthday officially. I had no idea they had a cake and all which looked delicious by the way, it had chocolate everywhere. The only bad thing about it? It had several strawberries on the top.

Mrs. Strawberry.

My poor heart clenched at the thought of him. I didn't even allow myself to think of his name, it was just too painful. I didn't want to go there, it was my birthday and my friends made an effort to prepare something really nice for me. I wasn't going to ruin it with my moping and sad smiles. There would be plenty of time for that, I was sure.  

We were eating cake, sitting in a circle on the floor. Apparently, we'd gotten used to sit on the ground since the bonfire. Timidly, Nadia approached me.

"I bought something for you," she said with a smile.

I was surprised, "Oh, you didn't have to."

"I kind of wanted to, well, we both did. I mean, me and Nash."

"You really didn't have to." Nadia extended her hand with a small box. I took it nervously.

"What is it?"

"Check it out." She said enthusiastically. I opened the box and there were a pair of beautiful golden earrings and a necklace with my name on the pendant. The jewelry screamed expensive at the top of its lungs.

"Oh, Nadia, this is too much. It looks expensive, you didn't have to spend so much money on me."

"Money is not something Nash and I have to worry about so let's us spoil you." She grinned at me, "So do you like it?"

"I love it."

"Do you want me to help you put it on?" subconsciously, my hand reached up to the strawberry pendant hanging from my necklace. Another clench for my broken heart. Grasping some courage, I took it off.

"Yes, it's time to take this one off." I pretended a smile. Nadia put it on while I squeezed the strawberry pendant in my hand. I put it inside my jeans' pockets.

"There," she gave me a quick hug, "Enjoy it."

"Welcome to the eighteens," Lau joined us, a big smile on her face. She pretended to have a microphone in her hand, "How does it feel to be an adult, Ms. Jones?" she asked in her best journalist tone.

"Oh, it feels great, my dear." I replied with a polite tone.

Jason crawled closer to us, "You're finally legal to-"

Lau covered his mouth, "to drive, right?"

I frowned, "I am legal to drive since I was sixteen."

"Oh really?" Lau asked, releasing Jason's mouth.

"That was not what I was going to say," Jason protested.

Lau slapped the back of his head, "Just shut up."

"Ow! What is with you two and slapping my head?"

"We're hoping we can slap your brain cells back to work," Lau finished with a small smile.

"That's impossible," Nash chimed in and we all sighed.

Nadia patted his back, "It's a joke, bro."

Jason squinted his eyes at us, "Not funny by the way." 

Helen was kind of far from our little group, I called out to her, "Hey, girl. You're too busy with that cake?"

She beamed at me, "It's delicious."

"Come over here," she obeyed.

"Speaking of delicious," Jason started, "Can I have another slice, please?"

Lau rolled her eyes, "You already had three."

"So what?" Jason defended, "It's not like we have a lot of people here to give it to. It's just us. We should stuff our faces with cake, just saying." Lau and I shared a look.

"I'll do the honors," I said and slapped his head.

"Ow! Stop hitting my head!"

"You're such a whiny baby. We don't even hit you hard," Lau said, shaking her head.

"Where are Jordan and Shane?" I asked, noticing they were nowhere to be found.

"They're upstairs," Lau spoke, "Shane is showing him the house repairs."

After eating so much cake we were probably on the edge of a diabetic collapse, everyone headed to their beds. We were all exhausted and somehow the extra sugar didn't make us hyperactive, it had the opposite effect this time. I sat on my bed and was surprise to see how everyone had already fallen asleep.

That was fast.

Everyone, except one: Shane. He was sitting on his bed which was across the room from mine, facing me. He stared at me openly and I swallowed.

"Good night." He whispered and laid down. I smiled and did the same.  

-

"Home, sweet home." I whispered to my empty house. At least, I didn't live in the middle of nowhere anymore and Lau was my neighbor. She said she was going to unpack and sleep a little and then come over. I knew she was going to ask about Evan and she was giving me time to get ready for it. I went upstairs and opened the door to my room. I loved my new room, it had two big windows and one of them faced Lau's house and I could see her window.

However, as soon as I stepped in my room, there was something out of place in it. Yellow. That color surprised me. On the floor, right in front of my bed, there were many yellow things. I walked closer, frowning: minions. There were many stuffed minions in a circle surrounding a fake bonfire. My heart melt in my chest as I fell to my knees to grab one. Its cute blue jumper had a name on it: Jules and as I checked the others I realized each of them had a name. Everyone was there: Jason, Lau, Jordan, Nadia and Nash, Helen and Shane. Not only that, the minions were different: Jason's minion looked crazy with blue hair, Nash had smart glasses and so on. They were so cute.

I grabbed the note on the fake bonfire and unfolded it to read it:

I realize I've never given you anything,

So this is me giving you something to remember me by.

If you sleep with them, try to be naked and thinking of me.

I rolled my eyes.

And don't think of scolding me for this, friends give each other gifts all the time.

It has nothing to do with the fact I'm crazy about you, minion. Ooops! Sorry.

Enjoy them.

P.S I didn't include your boyfriend, it wasn't on purpose, at all. The stuffing company skipped him, I don't know why.

I couldn't help smiling at his note. He was so... he was just Shane. Excited, I picked all the minions and organized them on my bed next to my stuffed panda. Pedro never had company before so I knew he was as excited as I was.

That was really sweet of Shane, I had to give it him that. I'd never thought he was capable of doing something like that. He was Shane Mason, ex-popular jerk in school. The hottie all the girls chased after. The idiot who deflowered Melissa and made a bet about it. He was a jerk, I'd never expected him to change, even less for me. Nevertheless, I didn't want to think about romance at all. I needed to be alone for a while, ever since I met Evan, my love life had been active and constant, draining my energy. I needed a break from him.

I needed a break from love.

Letting myself fall down on my bed, among my stuffed minions, I stared at ceiling. And for the first time since I'd fought with Evan and I let myself think about him.

Where are you, Evan?

What are you doing?

Are you thinking about me?

Are you as heartbroken as I am?

Are you with Jane?

That last question made my stomach twist in repulse. Was he with her? I really hoped he wasn't but after everything, I felt like I knew nothing about those two. I rubbed my face. Thinking of them together made tears filled my eyes. They had sex, he gave his virginity to her and he lived with her. That was a lot to take in. In Jane's eyes, I was the intruder not her. They knew each other intimately before me.

I picked up my laptop and entered wattpad. I couldn't resist checking Evan's profile. It was the same as usual, no recent messages on his board or status. His profile picture was still blank. It reminded of the first time I visited his profile so long ago, he was so mysterious. The rude darkpoet_001 made its way into my heart. I reread our conversations in private messaging and tears rolled down my cheeks. It was pure torture so I closed my laptop.

I held my minions tightly to my body while I cried myself to sleep.

"Ms. Jones? Ms. Jones?" I came back to reality. Mr. Hyden stood in front of my seat, "Can you give me the answer to question five?"

"Yes, sir." I rushed to look for the questions on the book.

Mr. Hyden rubbed his chin, "There is no question five, Ms. Jones. Why aren't you paying attention to my class?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I-"

"She caught the flu last weekend, sir." Lau intervened, "And the meds make her sleepy. We told her she shouldn't come, you know, her mother is a doctor and all but she insisted. Her dedication to school is really inspiring." Lau spoke so seriously, I believed her.

"Oh," Mr. Hyden said, "I got the flu two weeks ago. It's really bad. Okay, I'll let this pass but try to pay more attention, Ms. Jones."

"I will, sir." I sneezed, just to make everything more believable.

"Since when are you such great liar?" I asked Lau as soon as we stepped out of class.

"Since my best friend has been spacing out in almost every class today." She retorted, passing an arm over my shoulder, "Are you okay?" I'd told her everything the night before after I'd woke up from my nap.

I shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

"I know it's hard but it will get better with time, I promise."

"I know. It's just... that I'm scared."

Lau scowled at me, "Why?"

"I'm scared of not being able to forgive him, of not being able to move on from the whole Jane thing. I'm so disappointed in him, in love. I just... feel like... I don't know."

"Only time will give you the answers. Take your time, no one is rushing you. He hasn't texted you?"

I shook my head, "No."

"See? He's respecting your choice. He's giving you time."

"Or he's too happy with Jane to care."

"Jules," Lau protested, "Stop torturing yourself."

I sighed, "Did you fix your car or we're leaving with Jason?"

"I fixed it." She beamed at me, "Well, Jordan did. I had no idea he knew about fixing cars."

"He's full of surprises." I whispered, "How are you guys doing?"

"We're good. Actually," Lau stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, "We're considering... you know," I frowned, "You know, having... sex." She mumbled the last word.

"What?!" my scream echoed through the hallway, some students snapped their heads towards us.

"Shhh!" Lau looked embarrassed, "Be quiet!"

"Then don't tell me this stuff here, oh my God!" I held my head with both hands, "Are you sure? Are you really, really sure? Is he pushing you to it? You don't have to do anything you don't feel sure of, Lau, you-"

"Hey," she held my shoulders, "It's fine. No one is pushing me to anything. Besides, we're merely considering it."

"From considering it to doing it, there's a small step."

"Stop freaking out." She chuckled.

"I'm sorry but I have to ask," she gave me a look of knowing what I was about to ask, "Are you sure of your feelings now? No doubts? And what about Jason?"

She gave me an honest smile, "Everything is clear here." She touched her chest, "I love Jordan. I think I've loved him since the first moment I saw him so concentrated on drawing in my art class." She smiled at the memory.

"Then why were you so unsure of your feelings?"

"I was scared," she admitted, "I was scared of my own feelings so I pretended they weren't there at all."

"I'm happy for you."

"Me too."

"But you don't have my permission to lose your V card." I started walking away.

"What? Jules! Wait!"

"Buy me a bag of Ruffles and I may consider it." I said over my shoulder.

"You're gonna make me go back to the cafeteria now?"

"Yes, if you want to..." I winked at her.

She glared at me, "Fine." She turned on her feet.

"I'll wait for you in the car!" I sang heading to the exit.

That was an easy way to get free Ruffles.

Pleased with myself, I stepped in the parking lot. I was checking my phone because Jason was texting me about visiting my new house later.

"Jules." I heard from behind me, freezing me mid-step. That voice...

That sexy, throaty voice that hunted my mind. I turned around to face the last person I expected to see that day.

With my heart racing full speed, I met those endless dark eyes, "Evan." I whispered.

—

A/N: -Suspense drums- What's Evan doing there? Muahahaha Cliffhanger! It's been a while without a juicy, wanting-to-kill-the-writer cliffhanger. You cannot kill me, guys, remember that —winks-

Hugs and pink oranges,

Ariana.

P.S If you want to know about updates, I'm always on twitter Arix05 and Instagram ari_godoy plus, I post photos of Evan naked —raises an eyebrow- I bet you want to follow me now, huh? Well, I was lying about the Evan's photos but still follow anyway because I just made you smile :D