Birthday Surprise
The tall blonde boy stopped in the middle of the room, freezing his stance and he waited. Again the noise came from a corner of his room and he dodged across a mound of CD's, a pile of dirty cloths and an old box from the Pizza Place (growing it's own special fuzzy sauce), the noise stopped.
"Come on…" Matt stood still and once again waited, "I know you in here but where…", then he heard it again and dived into the corner, throwing shirts over his head. "FOUND YOU!" he smiled and picked up his cell phone. "Ell.." the phone went down, "Damn it." Matt gave a puzzle look at his cell which kept blinking 'Three miscalls'. Matt sighed and dial his voice mail, proceeding to put the phone to his ear.
"Hey sport," His dad's deep voice came on from the other end, "I know you think I forgot, but I didn't. Honest! This time I remembered and made plans to our favourite place…, which I am sorry but it is booked up until tomorrow night. I'll work late tonight so we can spend tomorrow together." Matt listen to the pause on the other end, "Um, Matt listen. Just think about it, Nancy asked to come along. I know how you feel but you are almost a grown man now and if I can put the pass behind me, I think you should be able to do it also. Let her have one good memory of you as a child before you grow up and…" Matt's father's voice cut off. His father had a worse time explaining how he felt then Matt did. Special when it came to talking to Matt about anything at all that was personal. He deleted the message and waited until the next voice came through on the phone.
"Hey Matt!" It was Tk, "I'm at Tai's place…well we are all and we wondered if you didn't have plans if you cared to come over? It has been a long time since we all were together and…I don't know. I thought it might be cool. It's um…if my watch isn't broken it's ten till twelve. Can you make it at one? Call back!" Matt sighed and looked at his own watched which was heading towards four o'clock. "Guess I'm not making it Tk." Matt smirked, "Starting to turn out like dad already…" Matt sighed and deleted the message and the next voice boomed through his cell.
"Matt you missed it! We all went swimming. You should have seen Sora and Mimi in their suits, man! Hey when did you get so busy that you can't even make time for one day out of the month to spend with friends?" There was an odd pause on the phone and Matt frowned, Tai is never quiet this long, "Matt," Tai's voice finally came through the other end, "Hey I need a friend about now. I…I need help. Someone to talk to and I don't know anyone but you to say this too. Please come over tonight. Kari is visiting gramma with Mom and Dad. Call me back, kay?" The phone went dead, leaving Matt puzzled about the message Tai left him. He started to press nine to delete the message but paused, "On second thought, I think I'll keep you in there." Matt said to his cell phone. He pressed his father's number in to the phone and waited for the voice mail.
"Hey dad, how's work? Sorry about getting back to you so late but I um…lost my cell again. Needless to say, I have found it or I wouldn't be on it this very moment!" Matt stared at the wall, "I'll think about it dad. No promise but I'll think about it."
Next, he dialled Tk's voice mail, it seemed easy to leave messages then actually speak to the person on the other end. "Hey Tk! Sorry I missed all the fun. I lost the cell phone. I'm sorry; somehow, I will make it up to you. Maybe you can take my guitar as a hostage until I do. Talk to you later." Matt leaned his head against the wall, "I must be the worst big brother ever…" He took a deep breath and dialled Tai's number. This time, no messages. This case was special and a simple message won't do. Even though it might be easier to leave messages, once in awhile it was easier to talk to that person on the phone instead of face-to-face.
"It's about time you called," Tai's rich voice came from other other end. "I'm out of milk!"
"Is that was your message was all about? Your parents left you to defend for yourself and you can't go down the block to buy some milk?" Matt rolled his eyes.
"Hey, it's not every day I'm left alone!" Tai sounded injured, "But putting all joking matters behind, can you come over?"
"Tonight?" Matt looked out his window. "It's going to rain."
"I thought you loved the rain!" Tai laughed, "Remember that day we went walking in the rain and our parents were totally…"
"That was because it was the middle of winter and it was freezing rain," Matt interrupted Tai. "Our cloths were wet and sticking to us, our hair was incrusted with ice cycles."
"Come over tonight, if you hurry you won't get rained on." Tai pleaded.
"Is it that important? It's nothing that could hold off until tomorrow?"
"Are you avoiding me?" Tai asked.
"No!" Matt said quickly. "Can't you tell me about it on the phone?"
"Nah man. I need to talk to you." Tai said softly.
"What about Sora," Matt asked. "You two are close friends too."
"I can't tell Sora about this! What if she doesn't agree? What if she gets mad at me! Atleast you are always mad, no surprises there!" Tai said in a shocked voice.
"Alright!" Matt said quickly, "I'll be over as soon as I can." He turned the phone off. "Damn it Tai what did you do now." Matt thought to himself as he picked up his jacket and rushed to Tai's house.
Rumbling of a threaten storm filled Tai's small apartment. The sky was growing with heavy clouds and people down on the streets ran for cover, hailing cabs, throwing umbrellas up and glancing up at the sky. Tai pressed his face against the cool glass giving him a hoggish look to his normally handsome features. His friend stood beside him, silent, waiting with him for the last arrival. Tai, with his face still against the window, turned and looked at his friend.
"He'll show," Tai whispered.
"I know, he always does eventually."
"Fashionable late," Tai reminded her.
"This is boring!" Davis said from the table he sat at, "We've been playing this for over an hour!" He was referring to the board game in front of him.
"You are just sore because you are losing," Izzy stated.
"I am not!" Davis replied in a defensive tone but soon gave a deep sigh as he looked at his pile of money. "Alright, I'm losing but I'm not sore about that!"
"Monopoly is a long game," Kari agreed with Davis, "Does anyone actually finish a game?"
"Matt and I use to play it all the time until Matt went bank bankrupt…" Tk paused, "Now thinking about it, I think he went bankrupt on purpose…."
"Then it doesn't count as a finish game TD!" Davis smiled.
"I hate it when it gets all wet out side,' Mimi pouted, looking over at Joe for support.
"I like watching the storm." Tai said softly, "Watching the clouds roll in, how angry the sky gets. It's exciting."
"Mom use to say that Matt's temper was like a storm." Tk leaned against his chair, "She said it was a slow storm that would built up until it went out of control with no warning, then as fast as it came, it would die down and remain calm again."
"She use to say that, huh?" Tai looked over at Tk, "I think her theory still might stick!"
"Here he comes," Sora smiled as she watched a young man cross the now empty wet street.
"Everyone hide!" Tai yelled and squatted behind the sofa. Tk hid in the kitchen with Mimi and Joe, behind the counter. Kari hide in the closet, with Izzy. Davis hide in the bathroom with Sora, who turned off the lights before she ran into the room. After a moment, they heard a soft knock on the door and a pause. Then a few minutes a louder knock came.
"Um…Tai..Matt won't come in if you don't answer YOUR door," Tk poked his head from behind the counter.
"OI!" Tai slammed his forehead with the palm of his hand and ran across the room yelling, "COMING!"
He didn't make it; the rain came down hard, soaking him completely. An umbrella would had done little good against the strength the wind carried, he had even seen a few flying umbrella's fly pass like tumbleweed, unattached to any humans. Finally, he reached Tai's house, with teeth chattering he knocked on the door. No answer. Matt frowned with puzzlement and knocked louder. Still no answer. He leaned forward on the door. "Tai!"
"SHH!" An old woman from across the hall peeked out through her door. Matt gave her a rude grin and pound on the door again.
"Coming!" This time Matt heard Tai's voice through the door. Not long after he also was able to hear a loud crash. "Damn it…" Tai's voice grew louder as he came near the door. Finally, it flew open. "Matt what a surprise!"
"You're surprise?" Matt lifted an eyebrow up, "You invited, no you insist that I came over immediately and you find this surprising!" Matt leaned forward and sniffed Tai, "Have you been drinking?"
"Um…"Tai stood before the blonde, scratching his head, "Um…hey why don't you come in? You look cold!" Matt gave Tai a weird look and carefully walked pass his friend.
"Are you feeling alright Tai?" Matt asked turning around as his friend shut the door. He took off his wet jacket and looked around the room.
"Sure, why?" Tai beamed.
"You're acting strange…" Matt told him, "Your lights are out."
"The storm…"Tai shrugged, still smiling which started to make Matt feel uncomfortable.
"Everyone else's lights are still on." Matt looked through Tai's window at the cities lights.
"Hm…maybe it's only our building," Tai shrugged.
"The hallway lights were on and the elevator worked," Matt told him walking over to the light switch.
"OKAY!" Tai said loudly, "Here's the deal. I was trying to plan you a surprise party! Happy now!"
"Is this what the phone call was about? I hate surprises and I had to come out in the rain!" Matt clenched his jaw.
"I know you hate surprises, that's why I told you…" Tai smiled and yelled "NOW!"
"SURPISE!" Everyone came out of his or her hiding places. Davis squirted Matt with funny string.
"See, I told you the about the surprise party so you wouldn't get mad during your surprise party!" Tai beamed. Matt gave Davis an annoyed glare and strolled calmly to the light switch, shining light into the little apartment.
"I thought something was wrong with you!" Matt glared at Tai. "You sounded as you gotten into trouble again…and you made be feel like a lousy brother!" he turned his attention on Tk.
"You are a lousy brother," Tk shrugged.
"Oh relax!" Sora gave Matt a kiss on his cheek and a long hug, "We all planned this for months!" Matt wrapped his arm around her, very much enjoying the treatment.
"And we all knew how much you hated surprises," Mimi smiled and she too gave Matt a kiss on his cheek.
"You came too?" Matt glanced down at Mimi.
"I wouldn't miss you getting pissed at Tai in a million years," Mimi smiled.
"We all made it," Kari smiled; she too planted a kiss on Matt's cheek.
"I can't wait until it's my birthday!" Davis winked at the girls.
"You don't have too, Davis," Tai smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek, "I made your day already!"
"Yuk!" Davis wiped his cheek with the sleeve of his shirt. "I didn't want it coming from you!"
"If my kiss isn't good enough then it's clear that Kari's will never be!" Tai smirked.
"Um…" Davis was left confused.
"Can we have some cake now?" Joe asked.
"Yeah!" Tk pulled at his brother's arm leading him to the Tai's table, "Keep your eyes close!"
"Who made it?" Matt asked.
"Not Mum!" Tai grin happily, "Tonight, I eat real food coloured sugar!"
"Okay," Tk pulled a chair out for his brother and pushed him down on it.
"We have to light the candles…"Tai, muttered, "Anyone got a lighter or any matches?"
"I thought you had some? Who doesn't keep matches in their kitchen?" Joe asked.
"Maybe if we rub two sticks together!" Davis smiled.
"Great idea!" Tk beamed, "Go fetch us two sticks from the park, would you?"
"Sure!" Davis smiled and ran to the door. "Opps, forgot my jacket!" He went to the Coat Rack, "Hey remember when Matt was handcuff to Izzy's coat rack?"
"Um…that's the day you took Izzy's laptop hostage," Mimi took Izzy's hand to give him moral support.
"It was the worse day in my life," Izzy wiped away a stray tear.
"HEY!" Davis came back into the kitchen, "Why do I have to go clear across town to pick up sticks!"
"It was your 'bright' idea," Tk reminded him.
"Oh," Davis frowned, "its dark and it's storming and…."
"Tk was being sarcastic towards you," Izzy told him.
"TN!" Davis slapped Tk in the arm.
"Davis!" Tk mocked and slapped Davis back.
Davis hit Tk a little harder.
"HEY! Don't even start!" Tai yelled at them, "I haven't had food coloured real cake in a hell of a long time and you will not ruin this night for me!"
"Thanks Tai," Matt sighed, still having his eyes close. "I have a lighter in my back pocket," he told everyone. He stood up and held out the lighter.
"Surprise! The birthday boy came prepared," Sora gave a little laugh as she took the lighter from Matt's hand. She and Mimi spent all day making the cake, well actually three cakes. The first one burnt, the second one fell on the floor and even though they tried to dust it off and pass it as THE birthday cake, Davis and Tai ate it. Since Tai picked off all the icing balloons, the name, and the boarder, the girls decided to redone the redone cake. Tai had been on a sugar kick all afternoon. She lit all seventeen candles and slid the lighter back into Matt's back pocket. She blushed as Mimi gave her a wink, putting both hands on Matt's wide shoulders, she pushed him back down on the chair, "Okay open your eyes and make a big wish!" she whispered in his ear and with out thinking brushed a stray hair away from his forehead.
Matt opened his eyes and saw the worse cake in his entire life. Even his father, who had trouble making toast, was able to come up with a better cake then this on his first try! The icing was drooping down towards the bottom of the cake, there were huge blue blobs on the cake Matt thought might resemble balloons or clouds, he wasn't sure. The letterings said, " appy ird y!''. The candles were pressed deep into the cake and the cake itself looked unbalanced. Matt took a deep breath and blew out the candles.
"What did you wish for? Mimi's mum to…" Davis started to say but was giving a very harsh slap across the back of his head by Mimi.
"Finish that sentence and you will never see your next birthdays or anyone else's!" Mimi hissed.
"Look magical candles!" Tai smiled as the candles relit themselves. "I picked them up at the joke shop…cool huh?"
Matt frowned, looking at the candles.
"Guess your wish won't come true now," Mimi, sighed.
"Of course it will…if wishes really do come true. He did blow out all the candles," Izzy told her.
"You get to blow them out again!" Tai slapped his friend on the shoulder.
"Why?" Matt asked.
"Err…well because someone needs to blow them out," Tai scratched his head.
"But they are going to relit again," Matt reminded him.
"Yeah, isn't it cool?" Tai beamed.
"You can't eat cake with burning candles," Matt shook his head.
"Oi!" Tai slapped his forehead and blew out all the candles. As fast as he could, he picked all the candles out of the cake and threw them in his cup of water. "There…now we eat cake!"
"Matt receives first piece!" Soar smiled at Matt and gave him a huge piece of cake, "Me and Mims made it ourselves…" She frowned looking at the cake, "We tried to keep him away but Tai managed to pick off some of the letters."
"I picked the colours!" Mimi grinned.
"I made her pick blue balloons," Sora pushed Matt's plate in front of him. Sora watched as Matt waited for everyone to receive their cake, Tai started drooling at once. Even Kari had started to lick her lips; it has been so long with out any sweet treats in their home. Matt gave Sora his best smile and took a mouth full of cake.
"NOW WE DIG IN!" Tai crammed a half the cake into his mouth and close his eyes as he chewed.
"It's good!" Matt laughed; he paused in his chewing, as he felt something crunchy. An eggshell? Not just a little chip of an eggshell, this was a large chip! He crunched some more, but he couldn't swallowed it. There was no way he was going to eat an eggshell that big! He made for a fake cough, grabbed his tablecloth and spit the cake into the napkin.
"You okay!" Sora pounded his back.
"Went down wrong," Matt, explain with a smile, as he reached for his drink.
"Wait!" Tai went to the kitchen and handed him a cup of cold beer.
"Where did you get this?" Matt asked.
"My brother,'' Joe shrugged, "We had to pay him double for his 'troubles', but we got a few cans."
"We made some hamburgers and other food too!" Sora rushed to the kitchen and brought back a platter of hamburgers. Kari stood up and helped her and soon the table was covered with food, some even seem to be edible! With Tai and Davis among the guest, it didn't take long for the dinner to disappear. The girls, Izzy and Tai helped clear the table as the other's finished their conversation.
"Gifts!" Mimi pulled Matt to the sofa and handed him a pink box with a huge bow on top of it. "This one is from me!" Mimi beamed. "I wrapped it myself…well the department store wrapped it but I paid for it by myself!" Matt gave her a smile; he hated the awkward attention that was being thrown at him.
"Here is my present then!" Tk put his gift near Matt's leg.
"And here's mine!" Tai smiled, "it's a CD rack!"
"TAI!" everyone shouted.
"What?" Tai frowned, "I didn't say what it looks like!" Soon everyone put their present near Matt and Tk even started to help him unwrap his presents.
"Why does Tk get to help?" Davis frowned.
"Here, you can open this one," Matt handed him a present.
"Ohh! I want to open that one!" Mimi pointed to a present that Matt gladly gave her. Soon everyone else, besides Matt found himself or herself opening one of HIS presents. His uncomfortable pressure worn off as they each unwrapped the other's gift.
"Hey you got a CD rack!" Davis yelled reading the card, "It's from Tai!"
"Mimi got you a picture…"Tai held up the black metal frame, "Of her."
"I signed it!" Mimi smiled, "To my dearest Matt. I hope your dreams lead you far!"
"That's what it says," Tai muttered.
"Joe got you a book," Tk frowned, "100 ways to protect your home from common injuries."
"Kari gift is a notebook of music sheets," Izzy showed Matt.
"And Izzy brought you a computer….thingy," Kari held up a computer disk.
"It's designed to help play different musical notes back to you in numerous instrumental sounds. Very much like a keyboard except it's in computer form and more in depths with different modes and fundamental stages. It also gives tips from one of the worlds best musicians!"
"All that in this little disk?" Kari looked at the cover.
"Sora got you a…"Joe looked up, "A telescope."
"Window peeking!" Davis and Tai both went to grab for the telescope and banged heads.
"I'm looking first!" Tk grabbed it quickly and ran to the windows, "Turn off the lights!" The lights went off and Tk suddenly felt himself squeezed between Tai and Davis.
"You got me a telescope?" Matt smiled at Sora.
"Of course," Sora smiled, "Did you think that I would forget where your dreams lie?" She patted Matt's leg and went to the window with the others.
Matt picked up his foam cup of beer and looked at Kari, the only one who remain and sat directly in front of him.
"Having a good time?" Matt asked her, hoping she would quite staring.
"We never talk anymore, do we?" Kari sat down her own cup.
"No," Matt took a drink, allowing the warmth of alcohol flow down his throat. "Then again we never really talked, have we?"
"No," Kari shook her head, "Can I ask you something?"
"I guess," Matt shrugged, the uncomfortable feeling started to return.
"How is it that you remain in the spot light and no one knows anything about you? Here we are, your closes friends and you still remain a mystery to us."
Matt gave a shrugged.
"I mean we've been friends for a long time now and I don't even know what your favourite colour is!" Kari went on.
"Then you haven't been reading the magazines that interview me!" Matt joked.
"I have, more so lately." Kari peered up at the blue eye boy, "And they leave me just as empty. I still don't know anything about you."
"What do you want me to say Kari?" Matt shrugged, looking for a way to escape.
"I don't know," Kari, returned Matt's shrugged, "Let's start with your favourite colour."
"I don't know…" Matt started down at the coffee table in front of him.
"And why do you always do that?"
"Do what?"
"When you don't want to confront something you stare at nothing." Kari titled her head down to recapture Matt's attention.
"My sis bugging you?" Tai flopped down beside Matt and put his arm around his friend's neck.
"Not as much as her brother is…" Matt looked over at Tai.
"See that's why we love you man," Tai unhooked his arm from around Matt's neck and reached for his own drink. "Full of calm sarcasm!"
"I don't know what any of your favourite colour is either," Matt reminded Kari, and then looked at Mimi, "Cept Mims."
"Everyone knows my favourite colour is pink!" Mimi giggled finding a seat next to Matt and placing her head on his shoulder.
"Let's go around the room, each asking and answering a question!" Joe told everyone. "First, we'll all answer Kari's questions. What are our favourite colour? Then we can go clock wise, each taking a turn in asking a question!"
"Cool," Tai held up his cup in a silent toast, "My favourite colour is yellow. Because it's bright and cheerful, it shows warmth, and it's familiar to me…an everyday colour!"
"You are a strange boy," Mimi looked at Tai. "Yellow doesn't go with anything!"
"Like pink does!"
"Duh!" Mimi flowed her hand down her body, reminding Tai she wore everything in pink.
"I like blue," Tk told the group. "I don't know why I just do."
"I have to go with yellow," Sora gave Mimi an apology look, "For the same reason as Tai."
"I like red," Izzy told the group. "Just a colour I seem to prefer."
"I have to choose green," Joe told everyone.
"Purple for me!" Davis smiled, "its Kari's favourite colour!"
"You can't like a colour just because I do!" Kari told Davis.
"It's his choice," Sora told the younger girl.
"I don't have a favourite," Matt shrugged.
"Then pink shall be your favourite!" Mimi placed her pink hat on top of Matt's head.
"No, no…" Sora looked at Matt, "It doesn't go well with his eyes."
"Why not!" Mimi frowned.
"I don't want to have pink as my colour," Matt took off Mimi's hat and placed it back on her head. "Besides, no one can look good in pink while sitting next to you!"
"You're right!" Mimi gave Matt a huge kiss on the cheek, "Thanks for being so honest Matt!"
"So full of shit…" Tai glared at his best friend.
"My turn!" Joe smiled and thought for a moment, "First crush, who was it?"
"Kari!" Davis yelled aloud.
"What a surprise!" Matt joked.
"Mrs. Vanderhelsin…" Tk sighed.
"Who?" everyone asked, except for Matt.
"Our babysitter," Matt grinned. "You must have seen her through foggy eyes, my brother…."
"Why?"
"She was old…older now I'm sure!" Matt reminded him. Tk just shrugged.
"Who was your first crush?" Tk asked his brother.
"Honestly?" Matt lifted an eyebrow, "Mimi's…"
"I knew it!" Mimi smiled.
"Mother." Matt finished.
"WHAT!" Mimi looked at Matt.
"I thought your mom was hot! I remember all of the pool parties, your mom would come out in the smallest…"
"ENOUGH!" Mimi covered her ears. "YOU WILL NOT BE CHECKING OUT MY MOTHER AGAIN YAMITO!"
"I have to go with Mimi's mom too…," Tai smiled, his eyes started to glaze, as if he was seeing something his eyes could only view. "Oh yeah…Mimi's mom has the best set of…"
"I HATE YOU!" Mimi slapped Tai with her hate. "And you too!" She punched Matt on the arm.
"Ow.."The boys said together.
Izzy moved away from the angered girl, "I too found Mimi's mom to be…"
"Wait!" Kari stood up, "Who thinks Mimi's mom is hot?" Kari watched as all the boys raised their hands.
"You all are sick!" Mimi wailed. "You're supposed to crush after me!"
"Aw, come on!" Tai rolled his eyes, "Mimi you were fla….never mind."
"I was what?" Mimi dared Tai.
"Forget it Mims," Matt glanced at Tai.
"No. I was what!" Mimi demanded.
"You were um…" Tai shifted in his seat.
"Undeveloped at the time," Izzy said from his safe place.
"Undeveloped?" Mimi looked at Izzy, her face growing red from anger.
"You didn't have anything…interesting!" Joe told her.
"WHAT!" Mimi glared at Joe.
"Except your personality, that's always has been interesting!" Joe hurried on.
"Please boys, you are digging your six foot grave ten feet too deep!" Sora laughed.
The night continued, each person taking a turn asking a question. Eventually everyone found themselves in silence, listing to the rain bounce against the building, lulling them to sleep. Tk had fallen asleep with his head resting on Kari's lap, her head leaned against Davis' shoulder. Davis was hugging the remote control in a very tight inbrace. Mimi snuggled in Joe's jacket as she rested in a curl position on a recliner. Joe spawled out on the love seat, his feet hanging from the side. Izzy slept on the floor near Mimi. Tai occupied the sofa, his head rested on Sora's lap. She played with the spikey hair near his ear, as she leaned into Matt as close as she could get. The alcohol had slowly left them sleepy even leaving a few snoring loudly.
"Matt you wake?" Tai whispered.
"Yeah," Matt snuggled his body closer to Sora's for warmth.
"Did you have fun tonight?"
Matt thought slowly and smiled, "Yeah I did Tai. Thank you."
"Hey Matt." Tai said yawning loudly, "Next time, lets give me a surprise party."
"Okay Tai," Matt grinned. Sora looked up at Matt and rolled her eyes. Matt close his eyes, listening to the beat of raindrops as the storm raged on. He was almost had drifted to sleep when he heard a large snore coming from Tai, proceeded by a hic-up. He open one eye and looked down at Tai. Sora patted the brunetts head firmly.
"Stupid Tai," she said softly with affection behind in her voice. Matt gave her arm a squeeze and she looked up at his face.
"Did you even make a wish?" Sora asked, "When you blew out the candles?"
"No," Matt shook his head.
"I didn't think you would," Sora shrugged against him, "I thought you wouldn't believe in wishes."
"It's not that I'm not a believer, Sora," Matt said softly, "It's because I have nothing to wish for. I'm very lucky, everything I care about having is already in my life. There's nothing more."
"Really?" Sora blinked sleeply.
"Really," Matt smiled down at her and tugged at her hair. "I have everything and more…"
The end……..