"Happy birthday to you! You live in a zoo!" I was cut off by Melody as I sang to her happily in the Student Council room, her hand up in my face, but herself giggling.
Nathaniel swatted at me with some papers, scolding me to be serious and nicer. I just stuck my tongue out at him, smiling happily. Then, I looked back at Melody and hugged her. "Seriously, happy birthday!" I kissed her cheek, being told to go away as I tried to love on her like a freaky owner and her dog.
"Ah!" She quickly pushed me away, seeming flustered. "I know this is late, but here!" She pulled out an envelope and put it in my hands. "I'm inviting you and the other girls if they can come to my birthday party for a sleepover tonight. I completely forgot about it until now!"
"Oh! Well, I should be able to come!" I exclaimed happily.
"Really? Your parents won't mind?" She asked, digging around her bag as she talked to me.
"Uh... No, they're out of town again. But, since it's not a school night, and I have no homework, Auntie shouldn't mind," I smiled. "Have you asked the others yet?"
She shook her head. "No, I'll go find them and give them their invitations."
"I can help, if you want! Like, I go give a few, and you go give a few!" I stood. "It'll go quicker that way!"
She nodded, giving me invitations for Kim, Violette, and Iris. "Thank you! Oh, and please don't say anything to Peggy... She writes down everything she thinks is a 'scoop', and I don't want to hurt her feelings by her knowing that she wasn't invited."
I nodded, putting the invitations in my bag. "Got it. I'll be as discreet as possible!" I gave her an army salute, then walked out, finding Iris right away. How could I always find her so easily? Must be the hair.
I ran up and hugged her from behind, giving a happy "good morning!" to her. She laughed a little and greeted me back, watching me as dug around my bag for her invitation. "Here you are my dear! For tonight!"
She glanced at it, then reacted to something by freezing. She was probably feeling the same thing as me: a pair of watchful eyes. I glanced to see Peggy and quickly told Iris to hide the envelope. "It's for Melody's birthday!" I whispered. "Don't let Peggy know about it, alright? I'll be in class in just a bit. Let me find Kim and Violette real quick." I went off quickly, knowing where I'd find Violette.
She was doodling in the Gardening Club, in her own world until I stepped up in front of her. "Oh, good morning, Elle," she smiled as she greeted me, setting her stuff aside. "What is it? We still have a bit before classes, right?"
"Yeah, but Melody wanted me to give you this," I pulled out her invitation and gave it to her. "It's for her birthday party for tonight. I know it's last minute, but if you can make it, that'd be great!"
She looked it over, nodding. "I think I can make it. It sounds like it'll be fun!" She looked at me with a soft smile. "Please let her know that I can come if you see her before I do!"
"Got it! Don't be late for class, alright? We still have about ten minutes, but you can't be late again," I winked, walking off to find Kim. She was actually just walking out of the gym, making it so convenient for me when it came to walking.
"Hey!" I waved excitedly, hurrying up to her. She stopped and gave me her small grin.
"What's up, shorty?" She placed a hand on her popped out hip, looking down at me with her nuclear-green eyes.
I gave her the envelope. "I need to hurry to class, but it's for Melody's birthday party for tonight. Can you let her know if you can make it?"
"Yeah, I'll talk to her later. See ya," she called when I hurried off to class.
"Um... Elle?" Violette's hand grabbed my shirt as I walked out of class for lunch. "Can I ask you something?"
I went to the side of the hall, nodding. "Yeah, what's up?" I smiled as she turned red, looking away.
"Well, you see... When I was little, my dad gave me this stuffed rabbit so that I could have a friend with me," she got quieter as she spoke, getting as red as her voice died off. "And, well, I bring it to school, and I... lost it."
"Really? I can help you find it. I have all lunch," I agreed, fixing the strap of my bag. "What does it look like?"
She smiled widely, seeming a little relieved. "It's purple and one eyes is cracked... Thank you so much!" She suddenly quieting again. "Um... please try to make sure no one sees it?"
I nodded, "of course. I'll meet you in the hall, alright? I have an idea of where it could be," I grinned, knowing her too well. I went off to the courtyard, heading to the section of the Gardening Club. Sure enough, there was a little stuffed bunny just laying there.
This would make sense, since she's always here drawing. Not that hard to figure out, I thought as I tried to get it in my bag, slowly heading to the hall, trying to make sure that an ear wasn't poking out or anything.
"Hey, what's this?" Amber. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap...
"Hi, Amber!" I greeted in a high-pitched, perky voice. "What's what?" I asked as she looked at my bag. She reached for where I was trying to keep the bunny hidden. "Hey, what are you...?!" I trailed off as she pulled the stuffed animal from my bag.
"Aw! You carry around a little animal?" She sneered at me. "How cute!" She looked at it as the two girls laughed.
"Yup, I do!" I took it from her and held it close to my chest. "There's nothing wrong with that. I just feel better with him," I gave the three a cute look. "Why? Don't you still have Mr. Fluffs? Your toy hamster?"
"Ugh!" Amber growled, walking away. It felt good to win.
"Elle!" Violette jogged over, gratefully taking the bunny from me.
"Thank you so much! I'm also sorry about Amber seeing you with it! Did you tell her that it's mine?" She turned beet red at the thought, stuffing the rabbit in her backpack.
"No, don't worry. I told her that it was mine," I gave her an assuring smile. "In fact, now I want something like that. It gets too lonely at home."
"You should!" She smiled at me, seeming much happier. "Sorry for interrupting your lunch. You must be hungry..."
"Huh? Oh, I stopped bringing a lunch. I just have a snack when I get home and my Aunt brings dinner over." I explained, probably seeming very relaxed and used to it.
"Really?" She noticed the wave of students going to their classes, starting to turn a little. "We should get to class. Come on," She lead me to the classroom, seeing the other girls there, waiting for us.
"Hey!" I jumped onto Iris who was trying to take a new stuffed animal that I asked Auntie to get for me. (It was a puppy named Bubbles whose best friend is Violette's bunny named Marshmallow)
"But it's so cute! It matches your cute pajamas with the little strawberry print on it's back!" She gave the stuffed animal back to me, giving me a pathetic look.
"I know! But I want sleep with him tonight! He's a snuggle bug~!" I exclaimed, holding it close to me.
"Okay, I have an air mattress that can fit in here, I can share the bed with one other person, and then I have two sleeping bags," Melody announced, coming into the bedroom. "We can wait a little bit, but my parents want it to be lights out soon."
"Okay~!" We sang, making room for Melody in the circle.
"Too bad Kim couldn't make it," Iris commented, handing a soda to Capucine.
"Yeah, this is pretty fun!" I added, starting to play with Melody's hair.
"Hey, Elle," Rosalya started, looking at me as she leaned back. "I have a question."
"Shoot," I grinned at her, braiding Melody's hair. "So cute..." I whispered.
"I know that you're childhood friends with Nathaniel and Castiel, and you'r pretty good friends with Lys-baby," she sounded as though she was explaining my life to me. "Have you developed a crush on one of them?"
I grew as red as Violette normally did, hiding my face in Melody's hair.
"YES?!" She squealed, suddenly lurching forward with interest. "Wait, I want to guess!" She leaned back, pondering. Iris joined her, the two seeming to take this seriously. "You and Nathaniel are cute together, but you seem more like best friends. Not him, is it?"
I shook my head, Iris moving on. "She's very close to Lysander, but he seems to get nervous around her more than she does to him. Is it him?
I shook my head again, knowing that only one boy was left.
"CASTIEL?! REALLY?!" They both exclaimed, causing me to just completely hide behind Melody. Great. Here we go.
"Um... Melody? Can I help you with the air mattress?" I asked shyly, standing with her when she did, following her out. When we were in the hall at the closet, I finally asked her what I was thinking. "Is it weird that I like him? I mean, I don't talk to him often, but when we do, I feel my heart beat faster and I lose my breath..."
"It's not weird at all. You like who you like," she smiled, giving me the box for the mattress, grabbing the sleeping bags. "Besides, you two are cute together. He's tall and quiet, you're short and hyper. You seem to make him more relaxed when you're around." She walked back with me and helped me get everything spread out. I was given the air mattress because of how much Rosalya kept picking on me, and the weird looks Capucine gave me.
It was fun, especially in the morning when we had a sudden pillow fight, and most of us cooked breakfast (most of us because Capucine didn't want to do any of the work).
"Elle, run!" Iris and Rosalya suddenly ran up to me, taking my arms and dragging me off before I could get to class.
"Huh?" I looked at them when we stopped. "What's going on?"
"Amber heard that you like Castiel," Iris started, looking behind us. "I saw her before coming in. She looks like she could kill you. Seriously," she looked at me, almost seeming worried. "Don't think that I'm just being funny. Think of her with the personality of a mad Castiel. I'm dead serious..." She stopped when she caught glimpse of Amber, pushing me behind the wall.
"Guys, it'll be fine," I assured them with a grin. "Go on to class and I'll be there after I stop by my locker, okay?" I got them to go, stepping out to head to my locker.
"Hey," Amber's voice, deep and low, came to the side as I closed the door. I turned and looked to her, seeming normal. "Come with me," she demanded, taking my wrist and dragging me to the courtyard, heading to the empty Gardening Club.
"Hey! Don't just take me wherever!" I protested, taking my wrist back. "What is it?" I growled, staring at her angry features. My reply, a punch in the face strong enough to knock me to the floor.
"You should know!" She yelled, kicking me in the side. What was wrong with her?!