Chapter 11

"I can't thank you enough for doing this," Rachel said, ecstatic, leading someone to a stage.

"Hey, it's no problem, really," he replied.

"You're so sweet. Ella's gonna freak out., you're everything to her. We're both huge fans of yours. Oh, you're ready, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so. 'Kay, I'm gona get out there."

"Okay. Great." Rachel ran out from behind the curtains, running down the stairs towards Ella, who was blindfolded; Cedric, who was making sure she wouldn't peek; Diane, who was hyper on account of the sugar she had; Delilah, who was waiting excitedly for Ella's reaction; and Kristy, Lizzie, Natalie, and a lot of other friends and family members.

"Come on! I hate waiting!" Ella was complaining.

"Oh, shut up! It'll be worth it, Elly," Rachel declared.

"Can I at least take this stupid blindfold off?"

"No, not yet. And behave, you'll want to look impressive."

"Why? And for what? I already look amazing. Don't roll your eyes!"

"How would you know she's rolling her eyes?! You're blindfolded!" Diane cried.

"Shh! Shush! We're ready!" Rachel called over to the stage hands.

"I can see the lights dimming. . . ," Ella commented.

"Hi, everyone! Today is Ella McAllister's fourteenth birthday, happy birthday, Ella! Your friends were awesome enough to get me over here, they said this would mean a lot to you!" the mystery person said into the mike.

"Oh. My. God. Oh my GOD! I know that voice!" Ella yelled, frantic.

"Can you guess who I am?" the voice asked.

Ella started hyperventilating. "Rachel, please, let me take my blondfold off!"

"Sure," Rachel said, smiling at Cedric. He grinned back. "Do you need help?" Rachel asked Ella, whose hands were shaking too hard to do anything.

"Please?" Ella asked. Rachel counted down from three, and on zero, she untied the blindfold and let it drop. It took Ella a while for her sight to return to her, but when it did, it was soon gone again because she started crying. "Oh my freaking God!" she sobbed. "Dav - David . . . Archuleta . . . how . . . ?!"

"Happy birthday, Ella," David said, grinning.

"He said my name!" Ella skrieked.

"You have Cedric and Rachel to thank, Ella," David called. "They set this whole thing up."

"Rachel?!" Ella shrieked happily. She ran over to her best friend and gave her a tight hug. "I can't believe you! How did you - "

But before she could finish, Rachel pointed at Cedric and said,"Hey, it was all him." Ella spun around to look at Cedric, who waved, then turned around to face Rachel again.

"You picked a good one," she said, wiping her tears away. "God, I love you so much right now, Ray," Ella said, beginning to cry again.

"Love you, too," Rachel said. "Now stop crying and get up there!"

"Wait, what? Me, on . . . on the stage?" Ella asked, bewildered. "With David?"

"Yeah, come on up here," David said.

"Oh - okay," Ella muttered, nervous as anyone could ever be. She walked over to the stage, needing help walking because of her wobbly legs. Walking up the stairs was the hard part, and when she reached David, who had his arms stretched out, Ella burst into tears and ran forward to hug him. Taken by surprise, David almost fell backwards, but held himself, and Ella, up. He patted her back, and might have wanted to end the hug, but Ella could have stayed there forever.

"Um . . . Ella? You might wanna let go now?" Rachel asked, half-laughing.

"No," Ella muttered.

"What?" Rachel asked, not hearing her.

"Nothing," Ella said, backing down. "Thank you so much for coming, David, This means everything to me, you're amazing. I lvoe you so much, I could go on forever - "

"But she won't because we all have lives," Diane yelled. Ella took a seat on the chair put on the side of the stage, where she could see David perfectly.

"Hey, it's okay, no problem. Cedric got his dad to talk his best friend, my agent, to get me to come over here," David said.

"Cedric, you're amazing," Ella called to him, still crying.

"I know," he called back.

"So, should we start the show?" David asked.

"Um, yeah, yes. Yes, let's - let's start," Ella stuttered.

"Okay, so, any requests, birthday girl?" David asked Ella.

"Um, I dunno, I can't think straight. How about 'A Little Too Not Over You?'" she asked.

"Sure." Once the music started playing and David started singing, Ella got a hold of herself and sang along. David, still singing, walked over to to Ella and held her hand while he sang to her.

The night ended with David singing "Don't Let Go," Ella's favorite song.

"David, thank you again so much. I can't say how thankful I am," Ella said, hugging him again.

"Hey! Group picture!" Ella's mom yelled. The kids gathered on the stage, David in the center, Ella holding onto him, Rachel to her left and Cedric to Rachel's left, Delilah to David's right, Diane to Delilah's right, and everyone else everywhere else. "Say 'cheese!'" Ella's mom said. She took about 200 pictures, with lots of just David, David and Ella, Rachel and Ella, Rachel and David, Cedric and David, and Rachel and Cedric.

"Oh! Ella! Don't we always carry around our David Archuleta CDs?" Rachel asked.

"That's right, we do!" Ella exclaimed. "David, stay right there," she said, running to go get her purse and a Sharpie. She brought Rachel's bag, too, in which Rachel kept her copy. David signed both of their CD cases, jackets, and CDs.

"Well, I gotta get going," David said. "Thanks for having me, guys. Happy birthday, Ella," he said, hugging her again and kissing her cheek. "Bye!" was his final word to the group, and he grabbed his jacket, waved at them all, and hopped into his tour bus.

"Ella?" Rachel asked the parylized birthday girl.

"Rachel," she whispered, barely moving, "David Archuleta . . . he did kiss me, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Rachel laughed.

"MOM! Please tell me you got a picture of that!" she shrieked.

"Absolutely," her mom replied.

"Thank God," Ella said. "Get me a chair!" she yelled suddenly. Delilah grabbed a chair and put it behind Ella right as she fainted with exhaustion and shock.

hold on instead of messing with the future children of the sky oh look inside to find a deeper love the kind that only comes from high above if u ever need dont cry no no everything is gonna be alright hold on everyone in the universe

i ran as fast as i can and i swear to the middle of nowhere you're just like a pill you're making me better you're making me ill

kelly clarkson i do not hurt oh 9oh put that bottle down, you're too talented i cant cook no but i can clean up the mess left breeze cuz i can this may not last but this is now to love the one your oh withsweetheart put that bottle down cuz u dont wanna miss out