A few hours later, the new building that I had designed and constructed last week, which I dubbed "Party Central", for all the events I would throw at school (since having them in the school gym or cafeteria was so not going to happen) had been decorated to look like a Venetian ballroom with the help of the prep clique.
"All right, Payton. We've got balloons, a gigantic punch bowl, and a box of stylish masks. That work for you?" I smirked to myself, knowing full well that the quality of the items exceeded everyone's expectations.
"Yeah, I think we're all set! This is perfect!" Payton chirped.
"Uh, hello? We're not done yet! We still need to get the streamers hung up… and we really need some colored lighting if we're going to get the mood just right!" Julian announced, gesturing at the lights.
"Wow, Julian really got into all of the decorating…" Autumn commented snidely.
Julian's face turned red. "What? No! I… shut up!"
"Aw, it's okay, Julian! You're just getting in touch with your soft, delicate side! Maybe later we can bake cookies shaped like baby animals!" Autumn mocked him, seeing his discomfort.
"Grrr! I'm never decorating again!" Julian exclaimed, his face still flushed with embarrassment. Then a thought came to him. "For real though, are you making cookies?"
"What do you think, Autumn?" Payton asked, gesturing to the decorated Party Central building.
Autumn appeared to be distracted by the screen of her phone as the corners of her lips drooped down in an unflattering pout. Ugh, what was she going to whine about this time?
Autumn looked up. "What? Oh, it's… uh… it's nice. Things look nice," Autumn replied as she went back to pouting at her phone's screen. I rolled my eyes. She insisted on tagging along when no one wanted her here, and now she wasn't even paying attention? What a whiner baby!
"Ahem!" Payton cut in. "Now you'll need to set up an Event page on Facebook for the party. And not just any page. It's got to be funny, cool, and appeal to everyone on campus!"
Payton took out her laptop and showed me a Facebook Event page. "Shirtless guys in party hats is usually a good place to start," she winked, "but let's see what you can come up with."
"Hey, guys, where did Autumn go?" Julian inquired.
"Huh, I don't know… I guess she was acting a little weird earlier," I commented offhandedly. I was already done with this topic.
"Hey, you have Facebook open?" Julian asked, reaching for Payton's laptop. "Let me check something… oh crap! Today's Autumn's birthday! And she must think we totally forgot!"
"Maybe that's because we did?" Payton replied.
"Oh, this is really bad… her dad's out of town. I bet he didn't even call her today." Julian speculated. Hmm, could Autumn have daddy issues? I mused to myself.
"That's got to be why she was checking her phone earlier." I bit my lip to stop myself from smirking at Autumn's misfortune. I couldn't help it, she was just so goddamn annoying!
"She's probably all alone. It's not like anyone at Hearst is gonna celebrate with her!" Julian cried.
"Awww! That's terrible! And really, really true. Most of the people there hate her." Payton replied. I can see why, I thought.
"We gotta do something for Autumn!" Julian exclaimed. "I know we're busy, but a birthday's only one day, man… and it would mean a lot to her if we did. What do you say?"
I had enough on my plate what with planning my school's first ever party and now I had to drop everything for some girl I didn't even like? No way.
"Julian, you didn't know?" I began.
"Know what?" Julian asked.
"Autumn's father has a special surprise planned for her birthday. It's a personal family event," I looked at him innocently. "She didn't tell you?"
I watched as Julian's face changed from determination to despair. I knew what he was thinking. How could Autumn have omitted that detail from him? Was it because they weren't close enough as friends?
"Don't worry about it," I placed my manicured hand on his shoulder, my Juicy Couture charm bracelet sparkling under the ceiling lights of the Party Central building. "Come and help us plan for the party."
