December 15th approached fast and the plans for my birthday party became more and more complicated. This was different than the little kid parties I used to have. If I called one person, I was obligated to call their friend's friend and other friend. At one point, the guest list became so long, I doubted the number of people could fit in my house. Finally, I had enough. I put my foot down.

"That is it!" I raged. "The only people I want to invite on this list are the first four! The rest are just add-ons to add-ons!"

My friend, who was a junior turned to me. "Well, you have to invite all the other people if you invite those people!"

I shook my head. "I don't care if Clary's friend's brother's girlfriend's best friend gets angry when I post the party pictures on Instagram. Nuh uh," I wagged my finger. "I'm just inviting Clary. Not any of the other nonsense."

She sighed. "Your call. I mean, it is your birthday party..."

I laughed. "Okay good. Now I want Clary, Lina, Jessica, and Vanessa. That's it. Make it small."

Sabrina, my junior friend, crumpled up the old paper and jotted down the names I told her. "Yes, Your Highness," she teased. "Anything else?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm inviting Clary and Vanessa for a sleepover and... that's it. Jessica and Lina can't come because their parents are pretty strict," I explained. "Well, actually, Jessica's parents are strict. Lina just can't come because her grades aren't the best right now. As in, not A's."

She nodded, understanding. "And what about me?" she joked.

"Haha," I blandly laughed. "I thought you had another party to go to?"

"Indeed I do." Sabrina slung her bag over her shoulder. "See you Monday! Have fun at the party!"

I walked her to the door and grinned, "Right back at ya!"

She gave me one last smile and walked out the door, which I closed soon after. I walked back into the kitchen and tapped my pencil to my chin. "What to do? What to do?"

My mom walked in, her black hair tied back in a simple ponytail. "Got everything figured out?"

"Well, I'm inviting Clary, Jessica, Lina, and Vanessa," I answered.

My mom pursed her lips. "That's a pretty good list."

I frowned. "Yeah, but I don't really know what to do. I mean, there aren't really any new movies coming out and I don't really see what else we can do..."

"How about I take you all out for dinner?" she suggested. "And then you can all watch a movie at home on Netflix."

I smiled. "That's actually a really good idea!"

My mom crossed her arms. "Why do you sound so surprised?" I grinned.

Soon, it was December 15th, a Saturday, and the clocked ticked by. Each hour passed and took me closer to the party. I looked at the clock. 6pm. They should be here by now!

Finally, five minutes later, the doorbell rang. The sweet sound hit my ears and I bounded to the door. When I reached the door, I stopped right in front of it and took a deep breath, not wanting to seem desperate, and opened the door.

There Vanessa stood, wearing a green floral blouse and dark-wash jeans, along with a cute white cardigan. "Nice outfit," I complimented. She smiled, "Thanks! I love your dress, by the way. Oh, and here's your present." I took the present and placed it on the expensive spruce table.

I was wearing a beige-pink dress with white leggings and a denim vest. I had paired it with pearl earrings and a pearl bracelet, and planned to wear my knee-high gray felt boots.

I thanked Vanessa for the present and left my mom to talk to her mom. I was about to take her into the kitchen when the doorbell rang once more.

It was Clary and Lina. Since both of them lived pretty close to each other, they had carpooled. Clary was wearing an ice blue dress with a cobalt sash and a black North Face jacket. Lina's outfit was by far my favorite- a gray sweater dress with a folded collar that reached knees and black leggings. Her boots were buckled ankle boots that seemed to be made of black leather. "I love your outfits!" I genuinely told them. "And thanks for the gifts!"

Moments later, Jessica rang the doorbell, wearing a purple shirt with a flowery collar and white jeans. I took her present and led them all around the house.

We all walked downstairs into the Home Theater, where we began searching for movies. "Hmmm..." I murmured as I scrolled through the Netflix feed. Unfortunately, we had either watched every single movie or they were children's movies. After fifteen minutes of searching, we found nothing. My mom came down and was immediately greeted by our struggle and suggested, "How about you watch an Indian movie?"

I grinned. "That would be awesome! Except that they can't understand any of the many Indian languages."

My mom simply pointed to the remote in my hand. "You can just put on subtitles."

So, we searched for only five minutes until we came across the perfect movie- a movie about three bachelors who traveled to Spain before one of them got married and each suggested an activity that targeted one of their fears. The first one was afraid of water, so they went snorkeling. The next was afraid of heights, so they went sky diving. And the final was afraid of dying, so they went running with the bulls.

It was a great movie, full of action and romance. But soon, the credits were rolling and it was over. Next to me on the plush couch, Clary began humming one of the songs. I grinned.

"Good movie, huh?"

She smiled. "Totally! So, what do you guys want to do now?"

Luckily, it was time for dinner, so we didn't have much time to mill around. Grabbing our coats and boots, we headed out the door and into the winter night.

The air was cool and humid, a slight change from the crisp atmosphere of fall. I looked at the grass, half expecting it to be covered with snow, but it was still too early in the winter. I wrapped my coat around me tightly and ran to the car.

"I call shotgun!" I demanded.

Lina reached the door first, but she obliged, letting me sit in front. "Only because you're the birthday girl," she joked.

"A seat is still a seat," I said, smiling. And then we were off.

The restaurant was only fifteen minutes away. It was an Italian place, since Italian food was my favorite outside cuisine. We walked into the restaurant and I inhaled the prominent smell of bread and pasta.

"Mmmm," I said. "I am so hungry!"

Jessica and Clary nodded in agreement, but Lina shrugged. "Not too hungry, but the food smells amazing." I couldn't help but agree with the second half of her statement. I took a deep breath as the waiter led us to our booth. He handed me an adult's menu, which I rejected and replaced with a kids menu. My friends gave me puzzled looks.

"The portion sizes are too big," I explained. "Plus, I want a free drink."

They laughed, and we all placed our orders. I looked around the restaurant. It was rather dim, only lit by a few rope lights on the wall and a single lamp above every table. The booths were a deep red and walls were covered with various paintings that made my stomach rumble.

"So, do you guys know what our next global field trip is?" I asked Clary, Jessica, and Lina.

"I checked the calendar," Jessica admitted. I wasn't surprised. She was always ahead of us and on top of things when it came to field trips. "It seems like the next trip is to Reagan Island and about trees."

I nodded. "We have been learning about trees a lot in Technology for the past few days," I noticed. "Maybe we'll be analyzing tree types."

"That's what it seems like," Clary agreed. I turned to Vanessa, who was looking more than a little left out. "Yeah," I added, trying to talk about something she could be involved in. "Ooh have you guys seen the new Hunger Games movie?"

Vanessa lit up, "It was so good! I can't wait for part two!"

"Me too!" Clary agreed. "I really want to see Finnick and Annie's wedding."

Lina covered her ears. "No no, don't tell me! I haven't read the books." I wasn't surprised. Among the four of us, Lina was the least book-nerdy. She was more of a social-media-movie kind of girl.

We chatted for a little while longer over our pastas, raviolis, and pizzas. Eventually, the silverware clanged on the plates and the napkins were crumpled. My mom paid and we drove back home.

It had gotten pretty late, so Lina and Jessica's parents arrived soon and they left. Clary, Vanessa, and I snuggled into our sleeping bags in my room and began talking.

We talked for so long, I lost track of time. But, suddenly, my mom burst into the room with a cake lit with fourteen candles. I craned my head to see the clock, and sure enough, it said midnight.

"Happy Birthday!" she cheered. Clary and Vanessa sang the birthday song and we all ate a few pieces of cake. I only wished Lina and Jessica had stayed longer. After we ate, we went back into our soft sleeping bags and talked for another hour or so. And with a smile on my face, I finally dozed off into a dreamless sleep.