All of those events occurred in the middle of February. Two weeks after Jenny's birthday, mine was due to come up, right in the beginning of March. One of those weeks was the one where the Boys had been with us. The thought of my birthday hadn't come into my mind at all. But the others in the house of course remembered. It was now three days until my nineteenth birthday. Julie was on the phone, as she had been every day, with Nick.
            "I miss you."
            "Don't get mushy on me Nick...but I miss you more."
            "Oh really?"
            "Yes really."
            "We seem to go through this every day, don't we?"
            "Yes we do," Julie laughed.
            "Hey, your birthday is coming up soon, isn't it?"
            "Not soon, but it's in April. Sarah's is sooner."
            "Really...? When?"
            "The beginning of March."
            "Wow, that is coming up soon."
            "Yeah..." Julie said as I walked in the room.
            "Julie, have you seen my hairbrush?" I asked.
            "Um, no, sorry," she abruptly replied.
            "On the phone with Nick?"
            "Yeah..."
            "Okay, I can take a hint, I'll search for my hairbrush elsewhere," I laughed and left the room.
            "OW!!" Julie heard Nick yelp.
            "Nick...?"
            "Sorry...Brian hit me...he wants to talk to Jenny, is she there?"
            "Sorry our conversation is cut short by this short person...OW that hurt, Bri!"
            "It's okay...I think he learned the hitting from Jenny...hang on..." Julie laughed. She went downstairs to give the cordless phone to Jenny, who was outside with Roky; he was in the middle of his daily training session.
            "Bye Nick...get Brian on, here's Jenny," Julie said to the phone. Jenny looked up to see Julie thrust the phone into her face.
            "Guess who," was all Julie said before she left. Jenny took the phone.
            "Hello...?"
            "Hey, lil' missy."
            "Hey, mister...NO, ROKY, STAY...hang on..." Jenny put the phone on the outside table and ran to get Roky away from the flowers. "Hi again, sorry."
            "Is  Roky being troublesome?" Brian laughed.
            "Yeah, of course! He's a puppy, what would you expect?"
            "True..." There was a pause while it seemed Nick was telling him something. "...Hey I hear Sarah's birthday is coming up."
            "Yeah, actually in about three days."
            "What?"
            "You heard me...three days."
            "And you didn't tell us this earlier?!"
            "I didn't think you guys cared," Jenny joked. "Oh I dunno, it never crossed my mind really to tell you guys."
            "Aren't you going to do something special?"
            "We dunno yet. Our first problem is the presents. She's so hard to shop for."
            "Oh."
            "And I doubt you guys can do anything considering you're always busy and you're nowhere near California..."
            "No, we could do something...just I dunno what..."
            "Put on that thinking cap, Brian...hang on, Roky's in the plants!" Jenny put the phone down. Brian heard her yelling at the puppy to get out of the plant area. He thought it was cute. Jenny went and picked up the phone again. As I walked outside with Darwin, Jenny seemed to abruptly stop her conversation on the phone.
            "Um I'll leave if you want me to..." I said.
            "No, it's okay...Sarah...you can stay out here," she said my name, informing Brian that I was outside with her.
            "On the phone with Brian again?" I asked.
            "Yup," she replied.
            "Mind if I take Roky inside?"
            "No, go ahead."
            "K," I picked up her puppy ad walked back inside, followed by Darwin. 
            "Phew that was close," Jenny breathed into the phone.
            "She gone?" Brian asked.
            "Yeah."
            "K...um, Jenny?"
            "Hmm?"
            "My cousin requests to converse with the soon-to-be-birthday girl...I guess since I cut off Julie and Nick, Kevin gets to cut us off too."
            "Okay," Jenny sighed, "Hang on, I'll get Sarah...SARAH!!!!" Jenny called out.
            "Just ruin my ears," Brian commented laughing.
            "Sorry," Jenny said as she ran in the house with the cordless phone to find me. I was playing with Darwin and Roky in the family room.
            "Roky needs to continue with his lessons," she stated, coming into the room. "And besides, some tall, dark, and handsome dude wants to talk to you," she grinned at me and gave me the phone before left the room.
            "Hello?" I took the phone.
            "Hey, Sarah, it's Brian...Kevin wants to talk to you, just tell Jenny bye for me, k?"
            "JENNY! BRIAN SAYS BYE!" I yelled.
            "TELL HIM BYE FOR ME TOO!" she yelled from the backyard.
            "She says bye too," I said.
            "As if I didn't hear either of you," Brian laughed. "Here's Kev."
            "Hello?" I heard Kevin.
            "Hey. You wanted to talk to me?"
            "Yeah."
            "About?"
            "Just to talk."
            "Oh how sweet."
            "You know me."
            "No...I thought it was Howie who was sweet."
            "Fine just believe the magazines."
            "I will!"
            "Funny. So what's happening?"
            "Nothing much...I was looking for my hairbrush but gave up and decided to give my dog some exercise...Cathy's walking Kezia, Jenny's training Roky, Julie's in the den, and Chin and Hannah are in their room."
            "Thanks for the full report."
            "You're welcome," I laughed. There was a pause as it seemed Brian was telling Kevin something.
            "So I hear that--("Noo!" I heard Brian)--hang on," Kevin said.
            "Umm k." I waited. Brian had told Kevin about my birthday coming up. Kevin was going to mention it to me, but Brian pulled him aside and told him not to, that he'd explain later.
            "Hi again."
            "What was that about?" I asked.
            "Nothing..." Kevin simply said.
            "Tell me!"
            "Nothing!"
            "Meany."
            "So?"
            "Hmph."
            "Don't be mad."
            "Well maybe I am."
            "You don't sound mad."
            "Then why'd you tell me not to be mad?"
            "Preemptive strike."
            "Well then."
            "Not that you get mad often..."
            "Are you trying to hint something?"
            "No."
            "Then what?"
            "I can't win, can I?" Kevin laughed.
            "Nope, I'll always find fault in what you're saying," I joked.
            "Hardy haha...Hi, AJ...What?...Now?...Why?...Fine...Sarah?"
            "Hmm?"
            "AJ wants to talk to his 'bestest friend in the world that's a girl'...Chin..."
            "Oh k..hang on, lemme find her..."
            "But I thought you knew where she was."
            "Yeah I do smarty...in other words, I gotta kinda maybe possibly tell her she's wanted on the phone, ya know?"
            "Oh."
            I found her in her room as expected. Hannah was reading on her bed and Chin was at her desk writing a birthday card for me (though I thought she was writing a letter).         "Yeah?" Chin looked up, shoving the "letter" out of my sight.
            "AJ wants to talk to you," I gave the phone to her.
            "Hello?" Chin took the phone.
            "It's Kevin...tell Sarah bye...I'll get AJ on."
            "K...SARAH! KEVIN SAYS BYE!" Chin yelled to me as I was walking down the stairs.
            "Damn, you got a set of lungs on you."
            "Why thank you, Alex."
            "Welcome...so what are you doing right now?"
            "Writing Sarah a birthday card."
            "It's gonna be sAH-rAH's bday?!"
            "In three days, yeah..."
            "And you didn't tell me about it till now?"
            "I am required to?"
            "I thought so."
            "Well you thought wrong."
            "AJ doesn't think wrong."
            "What was with the emphasis on her name?"
            "You don't remember?"
            "Um no..."
            "OH..."
            "What?"
            "Sorry...when we first met her, Julie, and Jenny in Disneyland, Jenny made it a point that we said Sarah's name right...and just to bug her I'd copy how she said it, with extra emphasis..."
            "Ummm....k."
            "I guess I should drop it, huh?"
            "That would be nice."
            "Or I could keep it and bug you!"
            "Ummm...whatever, Alex..."
            "You somehow always call me Alex every time we talk, don't you?!"
            "It's a gift."
            "Oh really?"
            "Really. CRAP!" Chin said. AJ heard a thud. "Ow..." Chin whimpered.
            "What happened?"
            "I fell."
            "Pppfftt..." AJ laughed. "Why?"
            "Thanks for the sympathy. I thought Sarah was coming back in and I had just brought out her present to wrap..."
            "It's not clicking."
            "Does it ever?" Chin laughed, "Basically, I tried to hide it in two seconds...and fell from the chair."
            "It's called balance, hon."
            "No kidding...hey, who gave you the right to call me 'hon'?"
            "I gave myself the right."
            "Well I take away that right."
            "You can't do that."
            "Says who?"
            "Says me."
            "What authority."
            "Now I'm hurt."
            "Poor Alex is hurt..."
            "AJ, hon..."
            "ALEX, hon."
            "Now you've started with 'hon.'"
            "If you can, then so can I."
            "Fair enough."
            "This conversation is going nowhere."
            "Does it ever have direction?"
            "I dunno. But we have nothing to talk about, have you not noticed?"
            "Is that a hint to end this conversation?"
            "Possibly," Chin laughed.
            "Why?"
            "Cuz I have better things to do." Chin tried to keep serious.
            "You're so nice."
            "Of course...But I'd better finish this card soon and wrap Sarah's present before she actually does come back in this room."
            "Either that or you'll THINK she's coming in again."
            "Very funny... now I gotta go."
            "Okay okay I can take a hint."
            "It takes you awhile though."
            "Haha...Funny."
            "I know."
            "Bye," AJ sighed.
            "Bye," Chin said. She looked at Hannah, reading on her bed. "Hey Hannah, wanna go horseback riding or ice skating or something when I'm done with this? I finished my paper for class, and I assume  you're free..." Hannah looked up from her book and bit her lip, getting a pained look on her face. "OH! I'm sorry!" Chin exclaimed, once she realized it reminded her of Lance and when we all had done those exact activities about a week ago.
            After we had gotten home from the airport, Hannah had gone by herself to her room, only emerging later in the evening when Chin begged her to come and have dinner. Ever since then, she had been mostly silent, reading a lot, using the computer more than usual,  or arranging, rearranging, and sorting her old stamp collection, or diving into her studies...basically not wanting to go out.  We were getting worried about her.  Each one of us tried to talk to her, and sometimes she seemed to fake happiness. She seemed stuck in a quiet mood. Lance had called several times since he had left, but she'd always find away to be busy, saying she'd talk to him later.

            The day of my birthday, I was woken by a chorus of "Happy Birthday" that had been off-tune on purpose, and breakfast in bed. I was half-conscious when I sat up...Chin, Cathy, Jenny, Hannah, and Julie shoved presents in my face. They were huddled on my little twin bed, ohhing and ahhing on each other's choices of presents. Then the phone rang. Jenny ran to pick it up.
            "Hello? Just a second," she grinned and handed it to me. All of them had big smiles, come to think of it. I looked at them oddly before putting the phone to my ear.
            "Hello...?
            "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Saaaaaarrrrraaaaaah, happy birthday to yooooooooU!
            "...And Scooby-Doo on channel two..." AJ added.
            "...and Frankenstein on channel nine..." Kevin laughed.
            "...the WB on channel three..." Nick said.
            "...and there's heaven on channel seven..." Brian finished.
            "Why thank you," I was giggling.
            "So how does it feel to be nineteen years old?" Kevin asked.
            Mmm, I dunno."
            "Nice answer," Brian commented.
            "How'd you all get on?"
            "It's the same line, we're just each on a different phone," Howie explained.
            "Whose birthday is next?" AJ asked excited.
            "Julie's..." Nick said.
            " -- who's here right now so drop it," I warned as the girls looked at me, still smiling.
            "We should do something, man," AJ said.
            "Yeah," Nick agreed.
            "How's about you guys talk about it...and get back to us, minus one, later? It looks like these girls are getting impatient...I think I'd better go," I said.
            "Okay okay...but we WILL think of something..." Howie said.
            "And we'll get back to y'all, minus Julie," Brian laughed.
            "You guys need try to think of something too," Kevin said.
            "Yeah, yeah...okay, I gotta go now, bye! Thanks guys!" I heard a chorus of bye's before I hung up.
            "Long conversation," Jenny commented.
            "Yeah...Yooou guys knew that they were going to do that, didn't you?"
            "Who, us?" Cathy asked innocently and grinned.
 

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