Chapter Twenty-Seven
Evie
The ballroom is getting pretty full. Brock zips toward the entrance when he notices that Aidan and his family have arrived.
He wastes no time grabbing Lexi’s hand and pulling her to the buffet tables, showing her the food he deems most yummy.
The two of them are so adorable it’s hard not to watch them.
Lexi’s older sister, Skylar, has a guy with her.
I think she befriended him in anime club.
From the way she keeps blushing and looking away when their eyes meet, it’s obvious the kid has a crush on him.
And then Penny and Hannah arrive, each of them with a boy. They told me they were bringing dates, but I don’t know either of the guys. After introductions are exchanged, my friends pull me aside and gush over my dress and my hair and my makeup.
“It’s all my aunt’s doing,” I say.
“Maybe you’ll catch a cute guy’s attention,” Penny says with a squeal.
“Who, exactly? All the people here are my friends and family.”
“More kids from school will show up,” she assures me.
“Maybe,” I say, but honestly? I couldn’t care less about catching a guy’s attention. “Your dates look bored,” I tell them. “You should go back to them.”
“You sure?” Hannah asks. “We can hang out with you for a bit.”
I wave my hand. “I’m sure. I still have lots of guests to greet.”
“Okay. We’ll see you soon.”
As they join their boys, more family and friends come over to wish me a happy birthday. After some time, though, my stomach growls. I haven’t eaten anything in hours.
When I finally get a break between all the hugs and well wishes, I grab a plate and pile as much food as I can because I want to taste everything.
“Feeling overwhelmed yet?” Lily asks as she joins me by the salads. There are so many different varieties and no more room on my plate.
“A little,” I say. “Mostly I’m worried I won’t be able to eat anything because everyone wants to hug me.”
At that moment, a distant cousin walks over and wraps her arms around me, telling me to enjoy my special day because I only get it once.
“Thanks,” I tell her.
Once she’s gone, Lily laughs. “You’d better gobble down your food quickly before you get interrupted again.”
“I know, right?” I stab my fork into meat and am about to take a bite, but my fork slides out of my hand when I see the person who just walked in with his family.
Noah.
Oh my gosh…he’s dressed in a dark suit and his hair is slicked back. And he carries himself with so much confidence. Wow, I didn’t know he could look so sexy in a suit.
“Ugh, am I using that word about Noah again?” I grumble.
Lily glances at me. “Did you say something?” She must catch me gaping at the entrance to the ballroom because her face lights up. “Chloe’s here! Liam!” she calls as she rushes over to her. “Chloe’s here.”
I swallow as Noah’s eyes sweep over the room. Is he looking for someone? Me? Gosh, I can’t believe he looks so dashing. He’s like out of one of those romance books Mom and Lily love so much. I never thought I found guys like that hot, but…
Not that I think Noah is hot. I’m just saying that objectively, one might find him hot.
His eyes finally settle on me, and a smile spreads across his lips. He makes his way over to me, and for some reason, I grab another fork and start stuffing my face with meat.
“Hey, Evie,” he greets with another smile. “Happy birthday. You look really good.”
“Thanks,” I say over a mouthful, then stuff more food into my mouth as though I’m a vacuum cleaner. “You look good, too.”
“What?”
“You look good.”
“Sorry. I can’t understand you. You know, you really shouldn’t talk with food in your mouth. You could choke.”
I swallow whatever’s in my mouth. “Right, sorry. I just said that you look good, too.”
My face heats up as the words escape my lips. I drop my gaze to my plate and shovel more food into my mouth.
“Thanks. I guess you’re hungry?” Noah asks as he reaches for a plate. “I am, too. Didn’t eat much of anything on purpose all day because I was leaving room for tonight. I love Vivian’s cooking.”
“Don’t we all? Try the chicken marsala. It’s awesome.”
“Thanks, I will.”
After he’s done filling his plate, we both stand there and eat. In awkward silence.
“Food’s great, isn’t it?” I ask, then kick myself. We both know the food is delicious because we just established that.
“It’s out of this world,” he says.
Rylee skips over and asks her brother, “Help! There’s so much food I don’t know where to start.”
“Rylee, did you wish happy birthday to Evie?”
“What? Oh, sorry.” She turns her attention to me. “Happy birthday, Evie. I got you a really cool present. It’s a colorful bird that glows in the dark and it also sings—”
“Rylee,” Noah hisses. “You just spoiled her present.”
“So? She’s going to open all her presents later and mine will just get lost with everyone else’s. At least now it’s special.”
“The kid does make a valid point,” I say.
“You’re going to love it!” Rylee says. “It has such pretty colors and the songs are really cool, too. I made Mom swear she’ll buy it for me for my birthday.”
“Thanks, Rylee.” I hug her. “And you look so cute in your dress.”
She beams. “Thanks! Me, Chloe, and Mom match.”
I glance between all three of them and notice that they indeed match. They’re all wearing peach-colored dresses. “So cute,” I tell her.
“Where’s our first Musketeer baby who just turned eighteen?” I hear Kara’s voice ask, though I don’t see her in the crowd of people gathered at the tables for food.
“Over here, Mom!” Rylee calls.
“Excuse me. Sorry. Just trying to get to the birthday girl... There you are!” She and Chloe appear before me and Chloe hugs me, wishing me a happy birthday. Then she joins Lily, Liam, and their friends at the buffet tables.
The next second, I’m in Kara’s arms and she sways as she cries, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re eighteen now!
Where have the years flown? I remember when your mom got us all together to tell us the good news.
Feels like it was just yesterday.” She presses her lips to my cheek.
“You’re all grown up and ready to conquer the world. ”
“Um…not really…”
“And soon Noah will turn eighteen, too.” She sniffs as she grabs his hand. “And then Chloe and then Rylee and then…”
“Mom,” Rylee whines. “You’re so embarrassing.”
“It’s okay,” I assure her. “My mom was the same. Though she blames you.”
“Well I blame Brayden,” Kara says. “He was getting all teary-eyed at the thought of Noah graduating in a few weeks and then leaving for music school. We’ll have him to ourselves only for the summers.”
“Mom,” Rylee groans.
“You’re right. Sorry.” She wipes her eyes and straightens up, putting on a smile. “You kids are growing up and we all can’t wait to see what wonderful lives you’ll lead. Rylee, did you eat something?”
“I don’t know what to pick. There’s so much stuff.”
“And everything is super delicious,” I tell them. “I think you might have to try a bit of everything.”
Rylee’s eyes go wide. “Can I, Mom?”
“Let’s start with a few options for now,” she says as she leads her away. Only to almost collide with Charlie and the rest of the Parks.
“Charlie!” Kara flings her arms around Charlie. “You and the gang are here. Can you believe our first Musketeer baby is eighteen?”
Mia waves to me and wishes me a happy birthday before saying to Rylee. “What did you eat?”
“Nothing yet. Mom’s supposed to help me pick.”
“Let’s do it ourselves! Where’s Zoey?” They scurry away.
“Happy birthday, Evie,” Willow says as she hugs me. “You don’t have the latest phone, do you?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
I gasp. “Did you buy me the latest phone for my birthday present?”
She puts on an innocent face. “Why would you think that? If you don’t mind, I think I just spotted my boyfriend.”
“Oh tell Colt the design for his game is going well. I’m more than halfway done.”
“Sure. He’ll be so thrilled to hear that.”
After more people hug me, I release a huff and turn to the table, where I stashed my plate overflowing with food. But it’s not there. “What the…?”
“Looking for this?” Noah holds it out before me. “I kept it safe for you.”
“Thanks!” I take it from him and dig in, sighing happily as the incredible flavors explode all over my tongue. “I think you might have just saved my life.”
“No problem. Always looking out for my wifey.” He nods in the distance. “The guys are here.”
“Yo, birthday girl!” Wyatt sprints over and throws his arms around me. “Thanks for inviting us. This place is wild.”
Mateo and Elliot wish me a happy birthday and hug me as well. Then Dad calls for everyone’s attention. It seems he and Mom want to make a speech. Everyone stops what they’re doing and gives them their undivided attention.
They talk about how proud they are of me and how I’ve enriched their lives and changed them for the better.
It’s quite emotional and brings tears to my eyes.
Mom manages to compose herself throughout the whole thing.
I know public speaking is hard for her, but having Dad by her side helps a lot, even though public speaking isn’t his favorite thing, either.
When they’re done, everyone claps and cheers, and I struggle to hold my tears from bursting out of my eyes.
Dad nods in my direction. I assume he’s talking to me, but then Noah says, “We’re up.”
“What?” I ask.
He, Wyatt, Mateo, and Elliot leave the ballroom and return a few seconds later with their guitars. Then they start to sing and play the happy birthday song, with Noah’s voice shining over the others.
Okay, I wasn’t expecting that. They play it in such an edgy tune that has every single person in the ballroom dancing and cheering. And then Mom and Dani wheel in an easel with a painting of my family, one I painted a few months ago.
I don’t get it. Why did they bring one of my paintings here?
Mom laughs when she catches my expression. “Looks pretty authentic, huh?”
I gape at it. “Are you telling me that’s cake?”
“Yes!”
“Oh my gosh. It looks amazing!”