Chapter Sixteen
160 days until graduation
“I’ve never seen someone freak out so much over a birthday party,” I tell Logan as I walk down the stairs, stopping halfway down. He’s standing in the foyer, trying to decide between pink or blue balloons.
“This is my best friend’s eighteenth birthday; it needs to be special,” he grumbles, continuing to hold up each balloon one at a time, examining which one looks better.
“I really don’t think that balloons are the biggest factor of party enjoyment.”
Logan ignores my statement, instead holding up both colored balloons. “Pink or blue?” He asks, then adds. “Or both?”
I grimace. “Both would look like a gender reveal, so unless you want to suggest you think she’s pregnant, I would stick with one.”
Logan nods, making the same face I did, probably at the idea of Winnifred being pregnant.
I sigh at the look of anguish on Logan’s face. And this is just from having to pick out balloons. “You want my actual advice?”
His eyes light up with relief. “Please.”
“If you want to do blue, then do silver too and turn it into a winter wonderland theme. But in all honesty, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Winnifred not wearing pink, so I would do pink with gold.”
The pieces seem to come together in Logan’s mind, like he can see a vision for what Winnifred’s party looks like.
“Could you go get gold balloons?” He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. “Maybe like five hundred of them?”
“You want five hundred gold balloons?” He cannot be serious.
“Not enough?”
“Logan, you are taking this birthday party planning thing a little too far,” I say calmly, making my way down the rest of the stairs. “What else do you have to do today?”
“The decorator is coming at three, and the caterer is coming at four. I’m quite sure Genevieve and Eloise are getting here between four and five to help with the rest. Then, they’re leaving to bring her over here at seven.”
It’s currently ten a.m.
Last night, Logan informed me Winnifred’s birthday party will not be a ton of random people from our school coming over to drink and have a fun time.
He said that Winnifred would hate that, so he opted for a more classy-casual setting—as he described it.
The paradox of classy-casual doesn’t make sense to me. All I know is there won’t be a beer pong table in the middle of the living room.
“How do you plan on all of this transpiring without Winnifred seeing from her bedroom window?” I ask, realizing that having decorators and caterers filtering in and out of the house all day may tip her off.
“Winnie’s not self-centered enough to believe that we would throw her a party.” I can tell Logan is annoyed by the fact but uses it to his advantage anyway.
“Okay.” At least he’s thought this through. “I will go get the gold balloons.”
“I’ll see if one of the girls can drive you.” Oh, how great that will be.
An hour later, I’m standing in the middle of the town party store with Genevieve, wondering how in the world I got here.
As it turns out, Genevieve was the only person available to drive me into town since Eloise is with Winnie, and obviously Winnie can’t know about this shopping trip.
Shockingly enough, we’ve been civil with each other since I got in her car, and I’m wondering if it’s only because we’re working for a common cause, one that doesn’t revolve around us. We’re helping my best friend throw his best friend a birthday party. There’s not much to fight about on that front.
“Did Logan seriously say to get five hundred?” She asks, looking at all the different gold balloons.
“You don’t understand the extent of everything he’s doing for this party.” I tell her. “Before I left the house, I heard him on the phone asking how quickly he could get a pink bouncy house.”
“Logan throws us parties every year, but he’s never done one for Winnie because he never thought she’d want one,” She responds.
“Why wouldn’t she?” I ask.
“She’s not big on attention, I mean, none of us are, but Eloise and I didn’t really care about the attention. We were just there to have a good time with our friends.” She picks up a pack of gold balloons, examining their sizes. “But back then, Winnie would have never been able to get over the anxiety of that many people celebrating her long enough to have fun.”
“Are those the ones you want?” I motion toward the balloons she’s picked.
“Yeah.” She looks at the count of the package. “There’s only twelve balloons per package, so how many packages do we need?”
“For five hundred?” I calculate it quickly in my head.
“Forty-two.” We both say at the same time.
When I look at her in shock, she’s smiling at me. “What?” She asks. “You’re not the only one who”s good at math.”
“Great, let’s buy them and get back to the house.” I say, grabbing every pack of gold balloons off the shelf.
“I don’t know who Logan thinks is going to be blowing these up, but it damn well won’t be me.”
I laugh, because I’m feeling the same way now that I’m looking at how many balloons we are holding between the two of us.
“Do you even think Winnifred will notice the balloons?” I ask, genuinely curious to how Genevieve thinks her friend will react.
“I think she’s bound to when they are covering the entire house,” she jokes. “Regardless of the amount, Winnie is going to pay attention to every bit of energy that Logan puts into her party.”
Logan and Winnifred’s friendship is very inconclusive when it comes to how I think it will progress. Seeing them together makes me question whether either of them would ever cross a line between friends or something more. Their friendship is so amicable that it’s hard to tell if it’s just that good, or if it’s teetering on the verge of becoming a full-blown relationship.
“Has anything ever happened between Logan and Winnifred?” I ask as we walk out of the party store.
Genevieve almost stops in her tracks, looking over at me with wide eyes. “What?” She sounds as if she’s going to burst out laughing.
“They just seem…” I trail off.
Genevieve actually does laugh “Like they’ve fucked?”
We start walking again. “No, just that there’s something more than friendship happening between them.” Part of me wonders if I’m just reading too much into things, but I also wonder if she feels the same way.
I wonder often if Genevieve thinks the same way I do.
Most times, I conclude it’s my conscience working against me, forcing me to see situations from different viewpoints. Yet almost every situation ends with me predicting Genevieve’s.
“I used to wonder if anything would ever happen between them, but it’s not realistic for them.” We get to her car, and she unlocks the doors.
“Why do you think that?” I ask once we’re in the car.
“Logan and Winnie like each other—that much has been obvious for years. I’m not sure either of them thinks the feeling is mutual enough to risk their friendship.” Unlike me, she doesn’t seem very hopeful for the progression of Logan and Winnifred’s relationship.
“So, why would you laugh when I brought it up like it was some absurd notion?”
“Because it’s Logan and Winnie,” she says, like it’s that simple. “Everyone can see their feelings stretch further than what you can see on the surface, but no one ever announces it.”
“So, you truly think nothing will come of them?” If she says no, I will be convinced that she’s lying.
“I think if it’s meant to be, then it will be.” That was the end of the conversation.
By the time we get Winnie out of her house and over to Logan’s, she is fully convinced we’re going to have dinner with Logan’s family.
She has no idea what’s waiting for her beyond the front doors of the Callaghan house.
Logan knows how much Winnie hates being the center of attention, yet when he’s the one who pushes her out of her comfort zone, she can’t get herself to say no. Which is why this is the year he’s finally throwing her a party.
“I don’t understand why we had to dress up so fancy for this. It’s just Logan’s house,” Winnie scoffs. I’ve heard through the grapevine—Eloise—that Winnie comes over to the Callaghan house for dinner at least once a week. Not that Winnie necessarily hides the fact.
She knocks on the front door, and Logan answers almost immediately, wearing a tux with a cloth napkin draped over his forearm.
“What the hell?” Winnie laughs, still not seeing the full production happening inside the house. All that’s running through my head is please break out in song and dance like in Beauty and the Beast.
“Ladies.” Logan bows, making a spectacle of laying an arm out as we enter the house.
I am honestly impressed beyond belief at how much Logan can get done in less than twelve hours.
Then, I remember this is what he is known for. The Callaghan’s house has been the central party spot of our school since Wren and Kai like to leave town quite often.
The entryway is covered in pink and gold decorations, including the balloons covering the entire stair railing, and a balloon arch that leads into the kitchen. A giant banner hangs from the top of the living room entrance, with the words ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY WINNIE CARTER!’ printed on it.
“Oh, my…” Winnie trails off as she looks around the room, pure awe written all over her face.
Eloise leans closer to whisper in my ear, “And this is only the entryway.”
We laugh as we watch Logan lead Winnie further into the party, pointing out everything he’s done all day in preparation.
Suddenly, Jameson appears behind me in the same type of tux as Logan, with an identical cloth napkin on his arm.
I can’t help but scoff at the sight. “Not you too.”
He smirks. “Logan dragged me into it.”
Eloise and I look at each other, and all she can say is, “Of course, he did.”
Jameson and I have come to a nonverbal agreement tonight—a ceasefire that has been called in honor of our best friends.
I want this night to be special for Winnie, and he wants to help Logan accomplish that.
We both understand one another’s intentions, and it’s relieving to know we have grown mature enough to recognize when and where our arguments and banter are suitable.Jameson’s always had that perspective, it’s me that”s had to grow into it.
We continue down the hall, where the entryway opens into the living room on the left and the kitchen on the right. The couches and coffee table have been removed and replaced with dinner tables, making Logan’s living room look like a five-star restaurant, decorated in pink and gold.
“This is absolutely gorgeous,” I sigh, as I take a seat at our group’s designated table near the wall of windows looking out into the backyard.
“Or over-the-top,” Eloise mutters. She’s never been one for the dramatics.
“Oh my gosh, look at that!” I hear Winnie cheer from where she’s standing, looking out of the windows.
In the backyard, the pool is filled with giant floaties and beach balls, and next to the pool is a giant, bright pink bouncy house.
“Guess I know where we’ll be after dinner,” Eloise says as we watch Winnie.
Her happiness tonight is more apparent than it’s ever been—to where she doesn’t even notice the people beginning to filter in the house and take seats at the surrounding tables.
“You guys still seriously think nothing will ever happen between Logan and Winnifred?” Jameson asks as he sits next to us. “I mean, look around.”
Eloise gives him a look, the same look I had given him in the party store parking lot earlier today. “What?” Then, she bursts out laughing.
“Not again.” Jameson sighs before glaring at me.
That causes me to laugh too. Eloise leans into me. “Logan and Winnie? Can you believe that?” This sends us into a whole other fit of giggles. Eloise is definitely a romantic at heart, but not to that extent.
Jameson stands. “You two are ridiculous.”
“And you are a hopeless romantic,” Eloise teases in return. “It’s okay, you can admit it.”
“Whatever.” He rolls his eyes as he walks away.
That’s when Winnie and Logan approach the table, taking their seats.
“What was that about?” Logan smirks, looking back toward Jameson.
“He’ll be back.” Eloise waves him off.
Once we’re done with dinner and everyone’s plates are cleared from the table, Winnie demands we be the first in the bouncy house.
The idea of a communal inflatable makes my skin crawl. “Uh, I think I’ll stay back,” I say once we get to the back door. “You guys have fun.”
“What?” Winnie’s face falls.
Logan steps back, leaning down to my height. “I paid an obscene amount of money to have everything that has been used by other people professionally cleaned,” he tells me quietly. “You have nothing to worry about.”
I’m sure the relief I feel is evident because Eloise looks back at me and smiles. “You coming?”
I stand straighter, a smile beginning to cover my face. “Yeah.”
“This is so great!” Winnie squeals as she enters the bounce house. “I haven’t done this since I was a little kid.”
I look around the bounce house once the five of us are all inside. Jameson zips the opening shut and turns back to face the rest of us.
At this moment, I realize how happy we all are. Winnie’s happiness is radiating onto the rest of us, making us all feel the joy of being here.
We all begin jumping. The boys have discarded their suit jackets to the corner of the inflatable, and Winnie, Eloise, and I are holding the bottom of our dresses to our thighs.
“Evie, this should be your party too!” Winnie shouts as she grabs my biceps to jump with me. “You got into Columbia yesterday!”
I roll my eyes when Logan and Eloise start whooping. “And you got into NYU.” We all got into our top schools.
Well, Jameson doesn’t know yet; Oxford’s decisions come out in January.
“Yeah, but Columbia is way better than NYU.” Winnie furrows her eyebrows at me. “Come on, Evie, this is something to be proud of!”
“I am proud, trust me, but this is still your birthday party. Tonight is about you.”
“Fine,” she sighs. “But we will celebrate properly soon.”
“Looking forward to it.” I smile.
That’s when I lock eyes with Jameson, and although all our friends are standing between him and I, it makes me feel like there is nothing separating us.
I break eye contact. This is not the time to be dissecting every interaction Jameson and I have, or about the fact that I got into Columbia. Tonight is about Winnie.
The sound of everyone’s laughter breaks through my thoughts. It’s times like these where I feel the best: seeing everyone this content, surrounded by the people closest to us, so elated to be alive.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Winnie, happy birthday to you!” The room goes dark as the glowing candles are blown out.
Winnie puts an arm around Logan and I as we stand on either side of her, and she reaches further over me to grab Eloise’s shoulder. “I love you guys.”
She’s teary eyed, looking around at the room full of people. None of them strangers, all of them people who care about her.
“We love you too,” I say fondly, partly because I sense the need to return her sentiment, but more importantly because it’s true.
I love these three people enough to feel it crushing my senses.
And I feel it. I feel it every day, running through the deepest parts of my being.