I really hadn't planned on taking over a month to update. I am trying to get back into a routine with my stories. Enjoy!
"Think you're going to need more invitations, sweetie?" Candice asked her daughter, neatly putting the invites in a stack after addressing them, getting another one to do the same with.
"I'm good, not sure I'll be needing all of these," she said, holding up the stack of them that her mom handed her. "Ten of them would have been plenty," she informed her mom, stuffing the invites into her bag. "I don't understand why I need to invite my friends when you've already done it," she commented. It made no sense to her and a waste of paper to double invite people.
"We can't be rude, Zoe," Candice scolded her. "Don't you want to invite your friends to your birthday party?" Her mom asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't say we were being rude," Zoe replied, grabbing her bag. "Of course I want to invite my friends, but they're already being invited. It's a bit of waste, don't you think?" She asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Not at all," Candice frowned. "It may be your special day, but it will make them feel as if you want them there instead of making them think that they have to come because their parents are coming."
"I hardly doubt any of my friends would think like that," she responded; her old friends from New York would, but her friends here in Bluebell aren't even close to being that conceded. "Does Lemon, Annabeth or Crickett really need a second invite? I highly doubt Wade will show up, unless being forced to do so," she commented, walking to the front door.
"I thought you two were friends, what happened?" Her mom asked, following her daughter to the front door.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Zoe sighed. Wade went about his day ignoring Zoe, unless their friends were around then he made it a point to say more than a word to her. Even when she spent the late afternoon/early evening with the Kinsella's, Wade choose to stick to his room with the door closed unless his mom made him play nice, and then she could feel it was forced.
"I'm sorry sweetie," Candice told her. Zoe shrugged, there wasn't anything she could tell her mom nor was there anything her mom could tell her to make Wade be her friend again. "I've got the day off, after school we can have a few hours for mother/daughter time," she commented.
"I'm going to Lemon's house after school today for our science project," she let her mom know. She had been going to Lemon's the last two days to sort out the project, as they really didn't want to do some lame volcano like the rest of the class. "I'll call to let you know when I'll be home," Zoe told her mom, pulling the door open. Dinner at the Breeland house is hard to get out of.
"Okay, have a good day at school," Candice said, watching her daughter walk across the grass instead of on the walkway to the sidewalk. "It's just us for dinner tonight," she told Harley, having shut the door and entered the dining room to see him sorting through the invitations.
"That is why I made reservations for the night. Zoe will be spending the night at the Breelands home," he shared. He wasn't one for letting his daughter stay at a friend's house on a school night, but he knew that Zoe couldn't get away with anything and would be at school tomorrow. He had no reason to worry about her spending the night with Lemon.
"Is that so?" Candice asked, wrapping her arms around Harley's waist. "And how should one dress?" She asked.
"The fancier the better," Harley smirked, kissing her. "I'll be home about 6 O'clock; I'll call if I'm going to be any later, but I want to drop these off," he informed her, holding up the invites for his family.
"I will get the rest of them delivered," she told him. Harley nodded, sharing a kiss with her. "Have a good day at work," she told him, breaking the kiss.
"Have a good day, I love you," Harley smiled, moving from Candice's embrace to get his briefcase and head off to work.
"I love you too," Candice replied, sitting down at the table to finish off the last few invites.
"Hey Lemon, I'll catch up with you," Zoe told her friend, coming to a stop at the Kinsella house.
"Okay, don't be late or daddy will worry and call Officer Bill to search the town for you," Lemon warned.
"I promise I won't be long, no need to make both our dads worried over nothing," Zoe retorted, climbing the steps. "Oh!" She gasped, nearly running into Earl. "Hey Earl, is uh Wade home?" She asked.
"He's in his room, Zoe," Earl smiled. "I should warn ya he's in a mood and grounded for the next two months," he informed her.
"My birthday party is this weekend, can he come to that?" Zoe asked, wanting to make sure before giving the invite to Wade. The last thing she wanted to do was cause more trouble for Wade.
"Your mom did drop off the invitation a few hours ago," Earl nodded. "It's still being discussed but I'm pretty certain he'll be there," he let her know.
"I actually have an invitation for him," Zoe said, trying really hard not to roll her eyes at how bizarre it sounded to be giving people two different invitations for the same party.
"He might not talk; it might very well be grunts and eye rolls, but you can go on up," he told her.
"Thanks," she smiled, heading into the house. "Jackie, it smells like heaven in here," she smiled breathing in the deep chocolate smell that wafted through the house.
"Do help yourself, sweetheart," Jackie told her, pointing to the cooled off brownies on the table, as she tended to the tray of cookies she pulled from the oven. "I had the urge to bake, and I couldn't decide on what to make," she laughed. "I'll have some ready for when you go," Jackie informed her.
"You don't have to do that," Zoe protested, swallowing the bite of brownie she had taken.
"Nonsense, I want to do it; my boys do not need this many sweets in the house," Jackie waved it off.
"I simply can't refuse that," Zoe smiled, finishing off her brownie and heading upstairs to Wade's room.
Entering his room, she took a deep breath, pulling her school bag off to dig through her stuff to find the invite for Wade. She placed it on his desk, seeing as he wasn't going to take it from her when she held it out to him. He sat on his bed with a scowl on his face glaring at her.
"I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you hate me," she told him, turning to leave his room.
"I don't hate you," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know you well enough to hate you," he told her. "Or like you, for that matter."
"We can change that," she told him, turning around to face him.
"We can, but I don't see the big deal in doing so, I've got my friends, and you wouldn't fit in with them," he smirked.
"Lemon and George are your friends, and I fit in with them just fine," she retorted, rolling her eyes at him.
"Yeah well I've known them since I was in diapers, it's different," he shrugged.
"I can't help that I wasn't born here to be your friend," she sassed at him. "Maybe you're right about not fitting in with your so-called friends, Wade. I wouldn't want to be friends with those juvenile delinquents any how," she retorted.
"They're better than your judgemental self," he hissed, grabbing a comic book from his night stand.
"Come or don't come to my party, see if I care," she told him dropping every emotion from her tone as she shouldered her bag and headed back downstairs.
"He's going through something," Jackie sighed. "He'll come around," she said, hoping it to be true and that her son wouldn't be this self-centered for the rest of his life.
"I sure hope so," Zoe shrugged. "I should go the Breelands are waiting on me," she informed Jackie.
"Alright, take care," she told Zoe handing over a small container of brownies and cookies. "Enjoy them," she smiled, walking Zoe out.
"I will, thank you," Zoe smiled, rushing down the front steps.
"You're welcome, Zoe," she called after Zoe shutting the door, looking up the stairs deciding against having the same talk with her son, she's had numerous times at the moment. She had faith, he would sort it out himself before it got worse.
By the time they had cake and ice cream, Zoe found herself having a blast with her friends and her cousin Vivian, plans for Halloween were in the process of being made between them. She did keep an eye out on who showed up. She did feel disappointed that she had yet to see Wade show up despite his family being there. She really tried to push it away but after everything and time spent with Wade she cared about him as a friend, she couldn't turn it off as easily as Wade could. She didn't understand why he kept pushing her away for. Everything she did was to help him out; she did it because she wanted to do it, not to hold it over him for the rest of time.
"Candice and I would like to thank all of you for coming and celebrating our daughter Zoe's birthday," Harley started to say getting the attention of everyone at the party. "We," he smiled, taking Candice's hand while smiling at her. "Didn't want to take away from Zoe's day, but we would like to announce with Zoe's permission that is," he said, sharing a look with Zoe.
"We do need another reason to keep the party going," she laughed, getting curious looks from her friends. Her parents had sat down with her the night after she spent it at the Breeland home, and she's happy for her parent's and ready to start this next chapter in their lives. She may have e been mad at her mom for lying to her about who her dad is, but she could see how much better of a fit Bluebell happened to be for them.
"One cannot take the city out of the girl," Candice teased.
"That may be so, but we're all a little country," Harley laughed. "Getting back on topic, we're getting married next summer," he announced.
Long after presents were open and rounds of congratulations ended, Zoe finally found her way to bed, feeling dead on her feet. She would find places to put the gifts in the morning. She frowned walking to her bed seeing a present in the middle of it. There wasn't a name, so she had no clue as to who left it for her. She gasped seeing the mainly black-and-white drawing of the New York skyline morphing into the waters edge of Alabama. The only color in the picture is of the sun setting with purples and oranges casting a reflection on the water. She didn't need to see the name in the corner of the drawing to know that it came from Wade.