A/N: It's the last chapter! Ever! I'm gonna cry! I swear, I'm gonna cry! I hope you guys enjoy this, and I wanna thank you all for all of the support I had for this story. If I could thank all of your personally, I would, but there's a lot of you, so that's not possible. But still, thank you so much! You guys are what motivated me to keep writing when I got stuck halfway through the story. I hope you liked this story, and I hope you'll like the sequel! Enjoy! 

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They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking in Circles

Chapter 36

Final Chapter!

“Oh, hello,” I muttered to myself with a grin as I craned my neck to get a better look at the worker guy’s butt. Maddie and I had personally hired only cute, young guys to set up for our Sweet Sixteen party— again.

“Naughty, naughty Shay.” Maddie wagged her finger at me and shook her head. “And just around the Christmas season, too.”

“What?” I asked innocently.

“You, my friend, have a boyfriend,” she stated, “a very hot boyfriend, I might add. And you’re checking out other guys? Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

“Hey, I’m not cheating or anything!” I said in my defense. “I’m not buying anything; I’m just checking out the merchandise.”

Maddie, for some reason, thought this was hilarious and began cracking up eccentrically, her head bowed down as she tried to breathe. But the minute this cute, athletic-looking guy that she had picked, by the way, walked by us, her head snapped up and she stared longingly after him, biting her lip.

I raised an eyebrow at her before I got an idea; then, I began to grin. “Naughty, naughty Maddie.” I wagged my finger at her and shook my head. “And just when it’s Christmas-time, too.”

“Wait, what?”

Sigh. Why must all of my friends be so stupid? She didn’t even get it!

I rolled my eyes discreetly. “You have a boyfriend, Maddie,” I told her, grinning at how familiar it all sounded. Except this time, it had just happened five minutes ago, not five months ago. “A very hot boyfriend, too, and you’re checking out another guy? Tsk, tsk, tsk.” I shook my head at her again.

Around the same time Forrest and I hooked up, Maddie hooked up with Paul.

She finally got it after this. “Oh! Oh, come on. Paul knows I’d only make out with him!”

“Just like Forrest knows I’d only make out with him.”

“Oh. I see how it is.” She faked a sniffle and turned her head away from me dramatically as I rolled my eyes at her. And then people wondered why I was so weird. Do you see who I hung out with? Could you blame me?

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and I jumped nearly half a mile. It scared the crap out of me!

“Shay!” my mother screeched from inside the kitchen. I couldn’t see her, but I could definitely hear her. How loud did this lady have to be to get a point across? Geesh. “Can’t you see I’m busy? Go get the door!”

“No, mother, I cannot see you, considering you’re all the way in the kitchen and I’m in the living room,” I retorted, just as loud as she had been, “so I have no way of seeing that you’re busy.”

I couldn’t see her (obviously) but I could hear the glare in her voice as she said, “Shay, if you do not get that door right this second, I will call this whole thing off! I will cancel it! Do not patronize your mother!”

I rolled my eyes. My mother was such a drama queen. “Geesh, mother, could you lay off the crazy pills, at least on my birthday?” I asked but nevertheless got up to get the door.

I could see the worker guys sniggering out of the corner of my eye and I had to stifle a grin. They thought I was funny!

If you had asked me to guess who was at the door, I can assure you I would never have gotten it right. I don’t think anything could have inspired me to guess that it was Lisette freaking Ramona standing on my doorstep.

“What the—?” I muttered, giving her a weird look. “Um…”

“Oh, my God, this is so weird!” Lisette immediately exclaimed as she squinted at me. “It’s so weird seeing you from my eyes, and not in the mirror, either!”

Oh, that was right. Lisette had been in my body. It must have been weird seeing me, I supposed. “I haven’t seen you since the second switch,” I added as I nodded my head. “I mean, I haven’t actually seen you, as in your essence or whatever, but I’ve seen your body and stuff when you were switched…”

 "Yeah, about that whole switching thing…”

I expected her to say more on the matter, but instead, she lunged herself at me and gathered me into a bear hug.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said as she squeezed me. “When that one bald guy told me what you did, I was, like, ‘Oh, my God’! You saved my life! You gave me a second chance, and you sacrificed your own happiness!”

“Oh, don’t worry, I don’t deserve that much credit,” I told her, wiggling out of her grip. “I did end up saving my relationship with Forrest. It was kind of a miracle.” I grinned to myself at that last part.

“Really? Well, you totally deserve it. I will be forever in your debt!”

“It’s okay, seriously,” I assured her. “Did you drive all the way over here just to say that?”

She nodded. “Yep. It was kinda hard tracking you down, but I figured it out. Well, no, this nerdy guy I know figured it out, but whatever.”

“Then you’ve gotta stay for the party!” I exclaimed. I, personally, would be pissed if I had driven all the way over here just for that, and I had nothing else to look forward to.

“Party?”

“Yep, it’s my Sweet Sixteen tonight,” I replied with a grin.

“Oh, my God, I love parties!” she gushed happily. “I’m in!”

I had a feeling she would. After all, who didn’t love parties?

***

“Girls!” my mother shrieked as she put a hand over her heart dramatically. “It is nearly four ‘o clock! Why aren’t you getting dressed yet?”

It was nearly four ’o clock? Whoops. I guess I spent too much time outside talking to Lisette, who, by the way, went back to her motel to change into something party appropriate.

Jasmine was up in my room, probably pacing the room impatiently as she awaited our arrival. Sigh. I supposed it was time to face her wrath…

***

“Ma-an, do we look good!” Jasmine said as we modeled in front of the mirror.

I was wearing my light blue gown. It had little sequined jewels at the top that were crystal clear and it went in a straight line all the way from the top to the bottom. It was long enough so that you couldn’t see my feet, which was sad for me, since I got a pedicure and bought these adorable silver-strappy heels. But the dress was short enough so that I could walk without tripping every five seconds. I already didn’t have the best coordination. I didn’t need anything to trigger that.

Maddie looked really good, especially because it was so different from her usual look. It was a good different, though. Her dress was hot pink, and it also had a sequined pattern at the top, except the color was brighter and the pattern was more complex. There were little scrunches with little diamonds in the middle all over the dress. It was also long enough to cover Maddie’s feet, but short enough so that she could walk in it without fear of tripping and falling on her face in front of everybody. We had way too much experience with that part.

Even Jasmine went crazy with her look, but she knew better than to try to outshine us on our own Sweet Sixteen. She didn’t wear anything flashy; she wore a simple but amazing green dress. It had a low neckline, but it didn’t show anything. The dress reached her knees, and didn’t have any patterns or anything. It was the kind of dress that was cute even thought it was plain. With her accessories and green pumps, it looked amazing.

“We always do,” Maddie added in agreement.

"Well, it’s obvious why you guys aren’t single, but what about me?” Jasmine asked, checking herself out even more in the mirror. “I mean, I’m awesome!”

She was so vain. But she had a point. She was awesome, and she was really pretty. I had a pretty good idea why she was still single.

“I know why,” I blurted out. I probably should have saved this conversation for some other time, but then again, she could meet someone here. It was up to me, then.

“Why?”

“It’s because of Damien,” I replied simply.

“Damien?” Jasmine looked really confused. “What does he have to do with anything? He doesn’t give me the time of day.”

“Exactly.” She still looked really confused, so I elaborated. “You’re so busy drooling over Damien and wishing you could be with him that you don’t notice all of the other cute and amazing guys that surround you. I know at least three guys at school that have a crush on you, Jazz, but you don’t even pay attention to them.”

“There are?”

I nodded my head.

“I didn’t know,” she said as all of this dawned on her. “You’re right, though. It’s probably time to give it up. Or at least try to, since he’s not dumping Bianca anytime soon, and she’s pretty cool, anyways.”

I grinned. “That’s the spirit! Now come on and maybe you’ll meet your Prince Charming here.”

“Maybe,” she agreed with a grin.

Mental note: walk up to random guys and make them talk to Jasmine.

***

I made sure to head to the guest room before making my grand appearance and Maddie and Jasmine remembered perfectly well why after I gave them a look. Sure enough, when I entered the guest room, my dad and Maddie’s dad were there, laughing drunkenly and taking long swigs of the beer they had in their hands.

“Okay, Dad, you’ve had way too much to drink,” I said as I walked over to help him out of the room.

Maddie did the same for her dad, and Jasmine just stood there uncomfortably. She should have just been happy that they hadn’t gotten down to business yet. We had stopped them in time.

“Shay, what do we do?” Maddie whispered. “They won’t go to bed willingly, and if we leave them here, they’ll end up going to bed with each other like last time!”

I had an idea, and it was a bad one, but it would work. “I’ve got an idea.”

I set my dad down and walked to the bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet and took out a box of those sleeping pills. Two of those babies each, and our dads would be sleeping like babies pretty soon, and babies don’t sleep together in that way.

As I had expected, they were passed out minutes later.

“Okay,” I announced decisively. “Now we can go!”

***

I was still awed when I got downstairs and saw all of the decorations: the seashell and seaweed covered walls, the blue green strobe lights, and just how everything there made you feel like you were underwater.  It was magical.

Something else that surprised me was the fact that my family members didn’t say the same things. They were along the same lines, though.

“Hello, our wonderful guests!” my mother greeted in her society-woman way. “I am Shay’s mom, and because I promised her I wouldn’t do too much damage, there’s not that much to say.” People laughed and I shook my head at her. “However, I do think it is okay to say that I am so proud of you, Shay. You have grown up to be a stunning young woman, even though your lack of manners drives me off the edge sometimes.”

“Hey!” I protested. That was offensive! This was my birthday, here!

People in the audience laughed.

Maddie’s mom was worse, though, so I couldn’t complain. She called Maddie ‘her little slice of heavenly pumpkin pie’. I am not even kidding.

Damien called both Maddie and I special again (whatever that means) and I still got to hold Bianca to her promise to take me out to get drunk one night.

Maddie’s dad and my dad were absent, of course. They were asleep.

Ceci’s was memorable, I supposed. There were lots of memories with the two of us, or the three of us, or the four of us. “Whew, well, Shay, there’s a lot to say. You’re without a doubt the funniest person I know, and the best sister in the world. I can’t believe you’re really sixteen already! I remember when we still watched the Teletubbies. And you know what makes you unique? The fact that even when you’re told to grow up or whatever, you don’t, because that’s just who you are: you’re a kid on the inside. It’s what sets you apart from everyone. Don’t you dare change that, ’cause that’s what I love most about you! Happy birthday, Shay!” She turned to Maddie. “Don’t think you’re off the hook, Maddie. Since you and Shay have been best friends forever, you’ve been one of my best friends, too. And even though you’re, like, the weirdest person I know, like Shay, you’re still the person to call when I need cheering up, and Shay and Jasmine are in jail for trying to kidnap Orlando Bloom. Again.”

Jasmine had a nervous look in her eyes when Ceci said this, as did I. That was told to her under confidential circumstances! And she said it twice!

She decided it was her turn for the microphone after that. “No, no, no, don’t think you’re gonna get away with forgetting about me!” she sang, grinning. Uh-oh. This wasn’t good. She had changed her mind since the last time! Crap! “You two are my best friends, no doubt about it. You’ve been there for me through it all, and I love you guys, even though I had to bail you out of jail that one time for trying to jump Chris Pine at that movie release thing.”

Everyone laughed and Maddie and I shared panicked looks.

“Oh, fine, I won’t mention any more, even though there’s plenty. The point is, I love you two, and I hope your birthday is awesome!”

Forrest and Paul were next, and Forrest went up first. “Well, Shay, I haven’t know you that long,” he began, shooting me a meaningful look that told me loud and clear that that was a lie and he had known me for quite a bit by then, but he couldn’t say so in front of all the guests. “But trust me, the time I’ve known you is enough to realize just how, as Damien put it, special you and Maddie both are.” He turned to look at Maddie, too.  “You’re the most amazing girl I know, Shay, and I love how you don’t care what people say or think. You don’t limit yourself just because of other’s opinions. You are completely and totally yourself, and that’s what makes me love you the most.”

The whole audience went ‘Aww’ right along with me. He was just so sweet!

***

Geez, the bouncers at this party are strict. They just kicked out this poor old grandma that showed up randomly (yeah, I don’t know) very rudely. True, I told them to help her out of here, but I didn’t mean in that way. She was just walking around, looking confused and muttering about chocolate pickles when I found her.

“Serena!” I shouted over the music, and her familiar blonde head bobbed all the way to where were standing. I hugged her tight and grinned when I pulled away. “Whassup?”

This time she didn’t even have to crash the party, because she was invited. I also invited Bethany, who I was friends with, too.

“Hey, Shayrest,” she greeted with a grin, wiggling her eyebrows at Forrest and me.

I rolled my eyes and retorted, “Hey, Sinn!”

She rolled her eyes right back.

When the next song came on, and it was a fast one, I found myself on the dance floor with all of my friends. At that moment, I knew that even though my life would never be completely normal, and it wouldn’t be perfect, I knew a few things for certain: I would be with Forrest forever and ever. I didn’t care what people said about teenagers being too young to be able to swear to each other like that. They were wrong, and besides, Forrest and I had lived through so much, I hardly considered us to be that young. Two, I knew that I would always have my friends by my side, because they were the best friends a girl could ask for. And three, I knew that in the end, everything would turn out alright, because I had Chucky up there in the sky watching out for me.

And with that thought, I partied until I literally passed out.

Whoo!

*** 

Top 3 Quotes:

1: "OM-FREAKiN-G!!!!!! This story is totally awesome!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!! I'm so sad it will end :( *crying dramatically* but OM-Gggggggggggggggggg there's a sequel!!!!!! Yay!!!!!! It's awesome!!!!!!!! My sister just lusts me off the chair cause I read that chappie like 17000000000 times!!!! Then started screaming when I read the sequel!! Oweeew that hurt!! But it's soooo awesome!!! I have NOOOO idea how you cane up with a such freaking awesome story! You should like totally be queen of the gold-fishes and pillow fights! Totally awesome things!!! I'm addicted to your stories!!!! Omgggggg this is totally as awesome as.... CHOCOLATE!!!!!! You know what would be totally awesome??? Well obviously you don't because I haven't told you.... Is if you had like a random chapter in the sequel or this one about Shay or Skye having a chocolate slide!! Like it's a slip n slide!! Oh and my little cousins name is Skye!!! She's a pain in the butt and nit funny :( so I wish sh was the Skye you came up with the would be so awesome!!!! And stealing the most amazing hilarious words ever!!! I wanna get freaking chocolatey wasted!!!! Goldeneyes will kiss you good night!!! Be sure to leave milk and cookies for santa and carrots for the reindeer!!! Hohohohoho :)" -dancing4hope

2: "Awh..... one chapter left! That sucks monkey eggs man... :'O ________________ A coke ad just came on...I shouted: 'I love the coke ads!!' brother: Yeah! *ten secs later* Bro: Why you shout that out? O.O _________________ A part of my life i thought to share! er............................................yah ;p ZOMG! SANTA'S ON TV AGAIN! THE CORNFLAKES AD!!!! WHAT NEXT....meh...rimmel...I WANT SANTA!!! This had nothing to do with the story... BACK TO STORY!! I like the teaser thingy for the sequel!! I also really like this story!! A lovely love story without the unwanted gory 'details'! I love these stories because they are just so cute!! <3<33-Munni101 

3: "O; Shayrest ;] Tehe xD. They're Got TOGETHER AGAIN :D In The Wierdest Way o.e Do You Think I Could Just Go Up To A Random Guy && Be Like : "DO YOU REMEMBER?!" That Would Be Amazinqq ;D Serena && Finn's Pet Name Should Be : SINN. Get It? Lol ;D ..... Never Mind That Was Lame o.e Only One Chapter Left? What The Fudqie Pops Is That?! We Dont Get To Meet "Shayrest's" (Hehe) WierdAss Babies?! ]; You My Friend Are CRUEL. D: But I Lovedd Your Story-XxLoveAtFirstSightxX