Shelly's World

Chapter 7: The Birthday Party

It was the day of Ann's birthday party. Shelly woke up in a chipper and bright mood as she sang while putting on her clothes. She wanted today to be the best day here at Mineral Village, so she dressed up in her best outfit: Her black spaghetti strap shirt with the words, "I know, I know... I'm gorgeous" and her blue bellbottoms, which had sparkles on them, so it made them even prettier. Shelly then put a white headband into her hair as her hair moved all the way behind her ears. She took out her CD player and unzipped the CD holder that she got out too, and took out her Michelle Branch disk. She popped it into the CD player, as it began to play her favorite song, "Are You Happy now?". She sang along with the words:

Now, don't just walk away,

Pretending everything's okay,

And you don't care

About me.

And I

Know it's just no use

When all your lies become your truths

And I don't care, yeah, ye-e-a-ah!

Shelly put her head back against the bed as she continued to listen to the song. Ann then walked into Shelly's room as she listened to the song as well.

"Ooh, what's this pretty song?" Ann asked.

"This is Michelle Branch's 'Are you Happy Now?' song! It's my absolute favorite!" Shelly commented. She then continued to sing:

Would you look me in the eye?

And tell me that you're happy now?

Would you tell it to my face,

Or have I been erased?

Are you happy now?

Ann closed her eyes as she sang the whole song to the end. She then opened her eyes and looked at Shelly.

"That was so beautiful!" Ann remarked. "You should become a singer someday!"

Shelly blushed. "Thanks, Ann, I didn't know it was that good." She then giggled a little bit.

"You've inspired me to do a Karaoke sort of thing! You know, like when everybody gets on stage and sings a song! We could use your radio and CD's with your permission!" Ann brainstormed.

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Shelly replied. The two giggled at how creative they were.

"Come take a look downstairs! I decorated the whole house... with my dad's help, of course!" Ann said and smiled. She opened the door as Shelly followed her out. The two walked down the steps, as Shelly noticed the handrails were decorated with green and blue papers. When the two reached the very bottom, Shelly's eyes bulged with awe. She looked around the whole entire house as she noticed how wonderful it looked. Over the door were the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANN", a whole pile of presents near the left corner, and all the chairs and tables were gone. On the door, long icicles had been stapled to the top, so when you entered, pretty decorations would go flying in front of your face.

"Wow, Ann!" Shelly said, gaping at the decorations that Ann and Doug had put up, "you did a really great job decorating the house!"

"Thanks," Ann replied, "it took a while; we finished four hours after you had fallen asleep!"

"I'll bet! It looks like a professional fixed up the place!" Shelly continued to stare, with her mouth open.

"Close your mouth, Shelly, you're not a codfish!" Ann said, giggling. Shelly shook her head violently as if she had been staring off into space.

"Good grief... sorry," Shelly said, still admiring what the two had accomplished.

"That's okay," Ann said, "but I think we should get some breakfast now, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Shelly agreed. The two went up to the counter.

"I already know what you want," Ann said. "You can come in my room and we can eat in bed! How about that?"

Shelly grinned. "Sure! I'll meet you up there!" She then left Ann's side and walked up the stairs to Ann's room. When she reached her room, she opened the door to find a room full of blue, green, and yellow all over it. The wallpaper looked like an outside view with clouds, the carpet was a light green with little blots of red, and her bed had the most beautiful bed covers she had ever seen, not to mention the fact that her bed was a canopy bed. The bedspread was white and blue, it looked as if it had been tie-dyed along with the pillow. The blanket that went over the top of her bed was filled with hand embroidered flowers which were filled with all types of colors. Shelly's eyes opened even wider as she saw how beautifully her room had been made. She then heard the door open as she turned around to find Ann with two trays in her hand. She was wobbling, trying to carry the trays.

"Help me," Ann said, balancing the two trays. Shelly ran over and grabbed one of the trays. Ann stopped wobbling.

"Thanks, Shelly," Ann replied. She set her tray on the bed, as she sat down and patted a spot right next to her. Shelly sat down. She then noticed that Ann's room had a television. She gaped at it.

"You have a television?" Shelly whined as she took a bite of her food. "You're so lucky! You never told me you had a TV in your room!"

"Yup! I do!" Ann said while she began to eat too. She picked up the remote control and pressed the power button. The television immediately turned on as a show of "Friends" appeared on the screen. Shelly gasped while a big grin spread across her face.

"Oh my gosh, Ann! Keep it on this channel! I love this show!" Shelly screamed.

"Me too!" Ann replied. "That's why I keep it on this channel! It's the only one I'll watch!" She then giggled. "You see how obsessed I am?"

"No way," Shelly replied. "I am much more obsessed than you are!" The two had a fit of giggles. Shelly looked up at the embroidered blanket that Ann had on her canopy.

"Hey, Ann, where'd you get this blanket?" Shelly asked.

"I didn't get it anywhere... I got it from my mom," Ann said, the smile wearing off from her face.

"How come I've never met your mom?" Shelly said, her voice trailing off. She soon regretted what she'd said.

"...B-because she's dead," Ann said. "She passed away two years ago."

"How sad," Shelly said. She frowned along with Ann. The room all of a sudden became silent as the two continued to watch the television. Just then, the silence broke with a cheerful Ann.

"Oh well! C'mon, let's go wait for some people to arrive!" She said. Ann grabbed Shelly's wrist and the two ran downstairs waiting for some people to come. Shelly sneaked away while she put her present along with the other ones that Ann had received.

"Any minute now, at least one guest will be coming," Ann said, sure of herself. Just then, the doorbell rang. Shelly looked at Ann and started to snicker.

"See, what did I tell you?" Ann said, walking to the door. When she opened the door, a huge grin came upon her face.

"Karen!" She squealed. Ann then gave Karen a hug while Karen just stood there with a smile on her face.

"Hey, girl, how's the party doing so far? Am I fashionably late or what?" Karen said, smirking. Ann and Shelly looked at each other and began to crack up.

"Oh my gosh, Karen, you're the first to arrive!" Ann said between gasps because she was laughing so hard. Karen frowned.

"Aww... that takes all the fun out of that," she mumbled. Karen began to walk to the pile of presents and placed hers down. She stood up and grinned.

"I got you the best present ever," Karen remarked. She smiled as Ann thanked her for coming.

"Rick should be right be-" Karen started before she heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" Ann shouted. She walked to the door and opened it. There stood Rick.

"Hello, Ann! I'm glad I could make it!" He said, walking into the Inn empty-handed. Ann eyed him.

"And where's my present?" She said, grinning.

"The present that Karen brought is hers and mine... we made it together," Rick said, blushing.

"Ooh," Ann said, grinning, "wonder what it could be!" She giggled while she looked at the two. Rick put his arms around Karen's shoulders as Karen smiled and put her hand on his chest. Shelly looked at the happy couple in awe.

"Looks like they really love each other," Shelly thought sadly. "If only I could see Cliff and me like that." She then drifted off into another world. Ann snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Shelly! Earth to Shelly!" She said, now waving her hand in front of Shelly's face. Shelly blinked her eyes and looked at Ann.

"Blah... sorry, Ann, I don't know what came over me," Shelly said. She put her hand over her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Ann asked concerned. She put her hand on her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine, really," Shelly replied. She grabbed onto Ann's hand and pulled it off gently.

"Okay, just making sure," Ann said, smiling at her friend. The doorbell then rang. Ann walked to the door and opened it.

"Hi Gray! Hi, Mary!" Ann said happily. She greeted the two with a sweet little hug.

"Hey, Ann! How are you today?" Mary said in a giddy voice because she was so excited.

"I'm doing great! Thanks so much for coming you two!" Ann said.

"No problem," Gray replied. "I wanted to come to your party anyway! They're always so much fun!"

"Aww," Ann said blushing, "thanks, Gray!" She then giggled. The doorbell rang once again. Ann ran to the door and there stood Cliff. Ann smiled.

"Hey there, Cliff! Come on in!" Ann said cheerfully. Cliff walked into the Inn, avoiding eye contact with Shelly. Shelly looked away as well.

"Thanks for inviting me, Ann," Cliff said shyly. Ann giggled and grinned.

"No problem! Thanks for coming!" She replied, and heard the doorbell ring. She ran to go get it, and there stood Popuri and Kai, holding hands, along with Tim and Elli.

"Hey there, Ann!" Elli and Popuri said at the same time. They giggled.

"Hello!" Ann said nicely. She shook hands with Tim and Kai. "Nice to see you two here as well!"

"Glad we could come," Tim said.

"Definitely," Kai said, "I love parties." He then winked at Ann, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh, brother, Kai! What am I going to do with you?" Ann teased.

"I know exactly what we could do," Kai said mischievously. Ann gave him the you're-stupid-but-cool-too look.

"So, now that everyone's here, let's play a game of 'Spin the Bottle'!" Ann said, giggling. Everyone got into a circle while Ann ran off into the kitchen to find a beer bottle. When she came back, she placed the bottle onto the floor in the middle of the circle of people.

"Hey, Ann," Kai said, "since today's your birthday, I think you should go first." He nudged her in the ribs. Ann bowed her head bashfully.

"Oh, alright," Ann said. She spun the bottle. It went quickly, and it took a long time to stop. When it did, she looked up at whom it stopped on: Tim. The whole room was full of "ohs" as Ann leaned in closer to Tim and pecked him on the lips. The guys were laughing as the girls giggled and congratulated Ann.

"Okay, Tim, it's your turn!" Ann said. Tim twirled the bottle lightly so it didn't move much and it landed on Elli. Everyone sighed, because they all knew that Tim and Elli were already a couple. Tim grabbed onto Elli's face and started to kiss her, but soon the kissing got stronger as Shelly noticed that it involved a little tongue. She cringed.

"Okay, you two, that's enough," Ann said nervously. Tim and Elli broke apart.

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Elli said, sighing. She made an effort to spin the bottle as quickly as she could, but unfortunately for her; she didn't do any better than Tim had. It ended up landing on Shelly. Shelly's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw that the bottle landed on her. Everyone began cracking up, even Cliff, who was almost crying because he found it funny. Shelly whined.

"Do we have to kiss on the lips?" She complained.

Ann sighed and smiled, "I guess not... but have it at least on the cheek." So, Elli drew in closer contact to her, and felt her lips touch her face. When Elli pulled away, Shelly thought that it wouldn't have been so bad, hence the laughing.

"Now it's Shelly's turn," Ann said. The whole room became silent as Shelly grabbed a hold of the bottle and spun the bottle, praying that it may land on Cliff. Her fingers were crossed behind her back as she closed her eyes. As soon as she heard everyone "ah", she opened her eyes and looked at the bottle and up to whom it had landed on: Kai. Shelly stopped crossing her fingers as the two almost kissed, but a voice interrupted them both.

"Shelly, why are you crossing your fingers?" Karen replied slyly, as she snickered.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't land on Cliff," Shelly lied as everyone looked at Cliff and chuckled a little bit. Cliff managed to make a little bit of eye contact with her, but only sneered. Shelly smirked back as she felt two hands go onto her cheeks and her lips locked up with Kai's. Shelly, never having experienced a kiss before, felt a sudden rush of blood go to her cheeks as she could tell she was blushing. Pretty soon, though, she felt a tongue slithering into her mouth and she pulled away.

"No way," Shelly said. "That's so not how I hoped my first kiss would be."

"Aww, why didn't you say something? You didn't have to kiss if you didn't want to," Ann said smiling.

"First kiss?" Kai said shocked. "You're too pretty to have only one first kiss!" He grinned slyly at Shelly as he winked. She grunted and rolled her eyes.

"She's too bitchy to have any kiss," Cliff said coolly. She felt everyone's eyes on her as her lower lip began to quiver. She then felt tears forming in her eyes as she ran upstairs, crying. Ann gasped.

"Cliff, look at what you did to my best friend!" Ann said as she glared at him.

"Well, I can't help it if that's the way I feel about her," he snapped. "Everyone has their own opinions, you know."

"Well I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself," Ann said icily. "And while you're at it, you should go upstairs and apologize to her too." Cliff then rolled his eyes as he stormed upstairs into his and Shelly's room. He opened the door.

"What are you doing up here?" Shelly said angrily.

"Nothing that concerns you," Cliff snapped back. He sat on his bed as he pulled his diary out from beneath his bed, grabbed a pen, and began to write. Shelly just ignored him as she got out her radio. She clicked the switch from off to on as it started to play some weird music that she had never heard of before. Shelly gave her radio a weird look as Cliff looked up from his diary and over to her.

"What are you doing?" He asked coldly.

"I'm trying to play my CD," Shelly barked. "Leave me alone." She continued to fidget around with the buttons until she came to one button. She clicked it and the volume turned up to its maximum as she and Cliff both covered their ears.

"Turn it down!" Cliff hollered over the excessive amount of noise.

"What?" Shelly yelled.

"Turn it down!"

"Okay!" She clicked the button again as the volume went back to normal. Cliff took his hands off of his ears.

"Jeez, took you long enough," he remarked.

"Oh, like you could do it quicker," Shelly said sarcastically.

"Yeah, probably could," he replied. Shelly continued to mess around with the radio until she threw her hands up into the air and gave a frustrated sigh.

"That's it," she said angrily. "This thing is too damn annoying!" She screamed.

"Want me to help you?" Cliff muttered.

"I can do it," Shelly said. She pressed another button. The music reset itself. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?"

"Here, let me try," Cliff said. Before Shelly could say anything, Cliff was already over to where she was. The two were searching for random buttons to press that looked like the right ones. Pretty soon, she felt a hand touch hers. She quickly moved her hand.

"S-sorry," Cliff mumbled.

"Whatever," Shelly answered. She continued to search for the button. When she finally found a button, she pushed it, and saw the top of the CD shoot up. She looked inside the CD player and noticed that there was no CD.

"Now I know why it didn't work," Shelly said.

"Why?" Cliff said smiling weakly.

"Because there was no CD in it!" She giggled a little bit as she noticed that Cliff was laughing as well. She looked at him as a smile twinkled in her eye. Cliff's eyes smiled back at her. She coughed a little bit and stopped laughing as she looked for a CD to put in her CD player. When she came across the Michelle Branch disk that she and Ann were listening to earlier, she immediately took it out from the CD holder and put it into the player. Then, with a press of a button, the music began to play. She then sat down on her bed as the intro of "Are you Happy now?" began to play.

"This is a really pretty song," Cliff said softly.

"Yeah..." Shelly replied, "this is my favorite song ever."

"You have good taste.... You know, this song sorta describes a friendship between me and a special someone." Cliff said, stuttering a little bit.

"Oh really?" Shelly said, smiling.

"Yeah," Cliff said, getting up. "You don't mind if I lay down here with you, do you?"

"Go ahead, it's a free country, remember?" Shelly said as Cliff got onto the bed with her. He laughed quietly.

"So, tell me what you were saying?"

"Oh... well, yeah, this song represents a friendship between me and someone... yeah," Cliff said. He then coughed.

"And who might this 'someone' be, hmm?" Shelly said playfully.

"It's yo- err... Y-yo...landa! Yeah, Yolanda!" Cliff said. The music stopped.

"Who's that?" Shelly asked suspiciously.

"You don't know her," Cliff said, blushing. Shelly didn't believe him for one second.

"It's because she doesn't exist," Shelly said, smirking. Cliff panicked, not knowing what to do.

"F-fine... you're right," Cliff admitted. He sighed.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Shelly said, playing with his mind as the same song played over again. "So, who do you like?"

Poor Cliff was trapped. He knew this was the end of his life, and when he told her, she would laugh her head off and rush to tell her friends who would laugh as well...

"Well?"

Cliff thought of something to say that would get her to believe him. He thought and thought and thought until he thought he had used all of his brainpower. Just then, the perfect thing for him to say popped into his head:

"You don't know her... trust me," Cliff said looking into Shelly's eyes, his eyes smiling. Shelly smiled at him, and then Cliff looked away.

"Hey, Shelly, I need to tell you something," he said nervously.

"What is it?" Shelly asked concerned.

"Well, I umm... I-I'm sorry," he mumbled. Shelly said nothing, not knowing whether to express how she felt, mentally, or physically. She decided physically as she scooted closer to him, pulled his face to where he was looking at her, and forced him closer to her. When their lips touched, Shelly felt tons of blood rush to her face, more blood then when she had kissed, or French kissed, Kai. The kiss was cut off, though, when the two heard a loud screech come from downstairs.

"Cliff! Shelly! What are you two doing up there? You've been up there for twenty-five minutes! Don't you want to play Truth or Dare with us?" Shelly could make out that it was Ann. Cliff and Shelly pulled apart (without making the kissing noise thing... err, yeah, so basically, they didn't kiss really) and walked downstairs to where the rest of the gang were playing "Truth or Dare".

(A/N: Hey, all! Sorry for the long wait! ^__^ I've been planning out all my chapters and such, so yeah... it'll be a while when I finish, but I'll finish, don't worry. And also, I'm trying to make my stories look more... professional by using bigger words and stuff Because... it sounds better? So, yeah... that's basically it! Well, TTYL, all, and please, please, please review! =D Your reviews mean a lot to me! XD

~*~*Fairy Friend*~*~