Chapter Two: "The Cruel Birthday Joke"

"It was my 14th birthday. Which was the same year my father died, but some months before my weight problem and my hair was still blonde at that point." Angela begins. "And well I was just thanking my parents for their gifts---."


"Thank you for the gifts!" Angela thanked her parents and hugged them.

"You're welcome." Mona replied with a smile.

"You're welcome, sweetie." Robert told her and kissed her on the cheek.

Phone Rings

"I got it!" Angela ran into the living room to answer the phone.

"Hello? Oh hi! Um, yeah! Sure! Be there in a few minutes. Thanks, Bye!" Angela hung up the phone with excitement and ran back into the kitchen.

"Mother, Daddy! Guess What? Tracey Marshall just called and asked if I could come over! She's never asked me before, and she lives two blocks away. Can I? Please?" Angela said with double excitement.

"Certainly. Be back in an hour and a half though." Robert said as he began to gather plates off the table.

"Oh, thanks Daddy!" She gave him a huge hug.

"Have fun, honey." Mona responded as she began to help her husband.

"I will… see you later!" Angela announced. She ran out of the room and out the front door.

Angela arrived at Tracey's house to see the lights out. She rang the doorbell and then tried the doorknob. The door was unlocked. So Angela slowly opened the door.

"Tracey?" Angela called into the dark house.

"SURPRISE!"

All of a sudden the lights came on and Angela looked around to see several boys and girls from her grade in the house. Streamers were all over the living room, many decorations and even a banner that said: "Happy Birthday, Angela". But that was only a blur to what she focused her eyes on. Lucy, the new girl in school and Steven, the boy Angela liked, were kissing in the corner of the room. She looked around to see the evil looks on everyone and turned toward Tracey, who had come up to her.

"Happy Birthday." Tracey told her with a smirk.

Angela turned back to look at the couple in the corner. They had released from each other and now Lucy was flashing a ring that was around her neck. Angela's eyes filled with tears and she ran out of the house as fast as she could.

Minutes Later

Angela shut the front door and ran up the stairs to her bedroom, her white paten leather shoes clicking each step along the way. She slammed her bedroom door, flung herself onto the bed and burst into more tears. The minutes passed -- Angela sat up and grabbed some tissues from the nightstand. She then turned on the radio and began flipping through the stations.

"We are back from commercials… next we have sixteen year old Leslie Gore with a new song for this year, "It's My Party"."

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone (Johnny has gone)
But Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he's supposed to be mine?

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

Play all my records, keep dancing all night (dancing all night)
But leave me alone for a while
'Til Johnny's dancing with me,
I've got no reason to smile

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

Judy and Johnny just walked through the door (walked through the door)
Like a queen with her king
Oh, what a birthday surprise
Judy's wearing his ring!

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

Oooooooh
It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

Angela sat up, turned off the radio and wiped away her tears. She looked down to see teardrops on her new baby blue dress. She sighed, got off her bed and decided to do her best to get the recent incident off her mind.