Chapter 1: My Birthday at Carly's House

It was the date of my 16th birthday. My best friend, Carly Shay, who was the same age as me, offered to hang out with me around Natrona Heights since she didn't want me at her house. "Why is it just you who wants to spend time with me and nobody else?" I asked Carly. "My parents have a lot of work to do," Carly explained to me. "So much work that they don't care about me, huh?" I then asked. "Oh, I wouldn't say that, Angel," Carly disagreed. "Well then, why don't they want to spend time with me?" I asked again, desperately. "You'll see," Carly told me. We then took a walk around Natrona Heights on the picture-perfect afternoon of my 16th birthday. "It's nice to spend time outside today, with the nice weather," I told Carly. "Uh-huh," Carly agreed. "It sure is." "It's much better than a time when I was a lot younger, when I had friends who were planning a surprise party, and only one of them wanted to be with me on my birthday." We then walked around the curb. "The oldest of the three, James Hiller, drove me around Natrona Heights on my 10th birthday, because his other siblings, Sarah and Henri were planning a surprise party for me, and you wouldn't believe it snowed in Harrison Hills Park." "So, it can snow in April occasionally," Carly then agreed. "I'm glad my birthday is in April," I then mentioned. "Your birthday is 13 days after mine, and Sarah Sobert's is only 8 days after." Carly then got a call from her mom and stepdad saying we could go back to her house. Carly's parents, Sam and Freddie, as well as Carly's neighbor and best friend, Spencer, then surprised me with pizza from Little Caesars, and ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. "Surprise!" they all shouted out. "Wow, thanks, guys!" I then thanked everybody. "You're welcome," Carly then replied. "This is just like my birthday celebration with Sarah, James, and Henri when I turned 10 years old," I explained to everybody. "I took a tour around the neighborhood, while other people surprised me with pizza, ice cream cake, and presents, only Little Caesars wasn't open at the time, so they got it from Pizza Hut instead." I then turned to Carly. "And you, Carly, remind me a lot of Sarah, even though James was the one who took me out on my birthday," I explained to her. "He was my second best friend." "Oh, yeah," Carly then stated. "How do I remind you of Sarah?" "Well, she helped me with girl problems and was more than just a close friend to me- she was like a big sister to me," I explained to her, "especially the times we spent just the two of us." I then opened all my presents and the Shay family wished me happy birthday as we ate pizza and cake for dinner.