28 | At The Bottom Of Everything

                                    

                                          
"Happy birthday darling. We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much." - At the Bottom of Everything
                          
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"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Avery. Happy birthday to you!" The dozens of voices sang, standing around me in a circle. A small was stuck on my face as the chorus flowed through my ears. 
                          
"Make a wish," Sophia whispered quietly in my ear, once they all began cheering at the end. I closed my eyes took a few moments to visualize, before blowing out the candles on the cake in front of me. A round of applause broke out from around me leaving a permanent blush on my face.
                          
I can't lie, tonight has been the best night I've had in a long time. 
                          
Even though I didn't know 95% of the people here, the small percentage of people I did know were making sure I was having the time of my life. 
                          
Of course, Sophia, Drake, and Seth were here. Ethan came as well, but he brought Wyatt with him, so he was busy hiding from his brother and Drake for the majority of the party. It was extremely amusing watching Drake and Seth trying to corner the two, and epically failing because they were dealing with a boy genius. So far they've only reported seeing glimpses of Wyatt's face, and I didn't want to be the one to tell them that's all they were going to get because it'd ruin my fun. 
                          
Dancing was a little difficult with a crutch and injured arm, but I was making it work. I started the night of dancing with Sophia for the most part, but eventually, Marisol showed. Dancing with Marisol has always been a treat because she makes it a point to do dances that did not match the music. She made me salsa while rap was playing, and slow dance when techno came on. We got a lot of weird looks for it, but that was Marisol's goal from the beginning. She never passes up on an opportunity to freak people out. Eventually, she saw a girl she thought was pretty, and I haven't seen her since. 
                          
The best part about tonight was that neither Chris nor his friends were here. I already knew Chris wouldn't show, Sophia made it a point not to invite her ex. But I was still worried about any of his friends coming in his place. Luckily, Sophia had the soccer players acting as security for the party and watching for anyone who looked like they had bad intentions. 
                          
It was nice not having to check behind me every four seconds, and even nicer when I realized not everyone is as awful as Chris. A lot of people even brought me gifts and had been extremely nice to me the entire party. I figured out that everyone was (rightfully) a little terrified of him, and acted the way they did so that they wouldn't cross him. It definitely didn't excuse them letting me get abused for three and a half years, but it was nice to have an actual reason behind everything. 
                          
"Can I please get everyone's attention?" Sophia suddenly spoke into the microphone, standing midway in the staircase. The room immediately fell silent, and I resisted the urge to snort at their obedience. 
                          
"Hey everyone! Are you guys having fun?!" She exclaimed, and the room erupted into a burst of cheers. 
                          
"No." Drake and Seth muttered from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see them with matching pouts and crossed arms. I rolled my eyes at their dramatics and turned my attention back towards Sophia. 
                          
"I'm glad," Sophia responded with a smile, and then cleared her throat. "I wanted to thank all of you for coming out and celebrating Avery's birthday with us. She means a lot to me, and I'm glad that I could her big day worthwhile." Her eyes caught mine as she spoke, and my cheeks turned even redder than they already were. 
                          
"I actually have an announcement to make concerning Avery and I," Sophia spoke, and my heart immediately dropped. The floating heat in my chest turned cold, and my throat turned dry. All I could do is pray that she isn't about to do what I think she is because that would be a problem.