"MAX!"
I jolted upward, knocking my head on the bottom of my lamp and cursing loudly. Whoa, talk about déjà vu.
Suddenly, a second voice joined the first, screaming, "MAXIE MAXIE MAXIE! MAXALICIOUS! THE MAXSTER!"
Only Tess.
Then, in a flash of neurons, I realized that Tess's voice…meant she was nearby…meant she was…in my house?
"Tess?" I called out confusedly, rubbing the bruise that was forming on my forehead.
I heard feet pounding on hardwood, then my bedroom door was flung open and Tess burst in and leaped on the foot of my bead. At least, I think it was Tess. It was more of a Tess-colored blur.
"Why are you here?" I said bluntly, looking at where she was perched, grinning like she was holding back an ecstatic squeal.
"You don't know?" She deadpanned, a few hundred notches higher than was necessary.
"Er…no." I replied.
"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!" She squealed, bouncing up and down and clapping like a preschooler who had just gotten a pony.
Tess has a certain fetish for birthdays. Last year, it was a badly kept surprise (don't tell her, she'd be heartbroken) where we went to the beach. That was really awesome. Year before that , she nabbed us tickets to a basketball game and reservations at a great pizza joint.
She thrust something toward me, not bothering to hide her excitement. Further examination revealed that it was a small pink disc, lined with silver sequins, with various ribbons, feathers and other "fabulous" substances jutting from the sides. She had written Birthday Girl! in her neat, even handwriting with a silver sharpie in the middle.
The birthday pin. That was another tradition.
"I made it myself." She informed me proudly. I glanced at Ella in the corner, who was shaking erratically trying to contain her laughter. Thanks a lot, sis. Really.
"It's very…" I paused, looking for the right word. Last year it was special, the year before that unique…"flamboyant. It's very flamboyant."
She beamed, and then threw something red and soft at me. This time, it was a red T-shirt that said, It's my birthday! and had a picture of a smiling cupcake with a smiling candle on top.
That was new.
"You have to wear it." She explained, the smiled and added, "Because it's your birthday."
"Er…yes. We've established that." I replied uncertainly.
Suddenly, Ella decided to become a part of the conversation. "You need to get dressed and come downstairs; they really can't wait any longer."
"They?" I asked, but Ella was already dragging me out of bed and propping me up on a chair. She crouched down so that we were eye-to-eye and said evenly, "You get dressed now in your exclusive birthday apparel. Then, I will come in to do your hair and makeup."
Before I even began to protest, the door was swinging shut behind her. She could really be fast when she wanted to.
I pulled the birthday shirt on, fastening the "flamboyant" pin over the inexplicably happy cupcake and putting on a pair of jeans. Then, just to get Ella's goat, I mussed up my hair with my hands and put on a practically antique Led Zeppelin baseball cap of my friend's.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I called, and she raced in, pushing me unceremoniously into a chair a ripping the cap off my head, running a brush through my hair.
"You…do…this…on…purpose!" She grunted as she worked on a particularly menacing snarl, finally breaking though and smoothing my hair with her palms. She swept all of my hair over my left shoulder, divided it into three parts, and started to braid.
"That tickles," I remarked, just to break the silence, and she mumbled something incoherently. Finally, she tied it off with a cupcake patterned pink ribbon, slammed a pair of plastic birthday sunglasses on my face, put on my Birthday Princess sash, and pulled a party horn necklace over my head.
"There!" She announced proudly, and steered me to the stairs, where I looked doubtfully at my getup in the hall mirror.
"Oh, forget it, you look fabulous." She said, exasperated, and practically shoved my down the steps. The second I set foot on the floor, a tumultuous roar echoed through our living room. Well, as tumultuous as it gets with about eight people.
I looked around; Iggy and Fang were both draped on the couch, Gazzy at their feet; Nudge was talking animatedly with Arianna in the corner and Sam had struck up a conversation with Iggy.
Wait, Sam?
My sister is messed up.
And there was Tess, in the middle of it all, grinning. Everyone moved toward me, talking.
"So now you're 17-" Iggy and Gazzy began, probably about to persuade me to buy some caustic substance for him he wasn't old enough to legally buy yet.
"-and then you need to have yellow boots-" Nudge said excitedly in between when I was tuning her out.
"I like your sash," Said Arianna innocently, as usual.
"So, now you're 17?" Sam inquired, a little slow on the uptake apparently.
Tess was squealing incoherently and Ella was complimenting herself on my outfit. Fang, looking amusedly at my apparel, said, "I see it's your birthday."
"Apparently so," I replied dryly, and hollered, "OKAY, SHUT UP NOW!"
They all quieted, except of course Nudge, who continued rambling about how great Joe Jonas would look in a sweater vest. Or something along the lines of that.
"I expect cake!" I demanded, slamming my fist on the coffee table. Mom entered, carrying the cake, and said, "Only if you ask nicely."
"It's my birthday, you should make allowances," I told her, then ran to the kitchen and grabbed a green Happy Birthday! paper plate and coordinating napkin and silverware. Mom set the cake down on the kitchen island, and everyone clustered around.
"All right, one, two, ready, and!" Tess cried from next to me, conducting an imaginary band, and they all launched into an off-key and altogether unpleasant rendition of the birthday song. Fang pointedly said "…dear MAXIE…", just to get back at me for calling him Fang, so I elbowed him in the stomach.
The song ended, and I huffed and puffed on the 17 candles. After two minutes or so of this, Gazzy wordlessly pulled an empty trick candle box out of his pocket and held it out to me, pulling the candles out of the cake and snuffing them on a wet paper towel. I sighed heavily, but decided to let the matter be what it may.
"I get first piece!" I cried, and this seemed to be some sort of cue; everyone heaved forward and shoved my face into the cake, holding me down until I whipped my head back, overpowering them.
"TRAITOR!" I cried, glaring murderously at Fang, who I knew was the culprit because of the way he had kept subtly smirking. In a sudden moment of intelligence, he burst out of the kitchen, me on his tail. Finally, he reached a dead end and turned around to face me, hands held up.
"You're lucky the house is full of witnesses," I muttered darkly, shaking my fist at him and swiftly returning to the kitchen, him following dazedly. He probably couldn't believe his luck, to come off that one unharmed. Yet.
When I got back, Mom passed me a plate of chocolate cake-awesome-and Reese's ice cream-awesomer. Once everyone had gotten one, I trailed into the living room where I had seen packages earlier.
"Presents for Max time!" I called. I should really be able to say that every day.
Everyone clustered around the coffee table, balancing plates and cups of red Kool-Aid (my favorite) on their knees.
"Mine first!" Tess cried, picked a small, rectangular box from the pile, and tossed it to me.
It was wrapped in metallic silver paper, with a black bow; the same as all her presents to me had been since I've known her.
I tore open the paper and pulled out an old-looking paper box. Inside, a green leather bracelet was nestled among purple tissue paper, with an embossed brass plate reading, TO THE MAX.
"I mad it in Trinidad," she explained. "They had leatherworking and embossing workshops on Saturdays."
I thanked her and gave her a hug, then snatched a random gift bag from the pile.
"Whose is this?" I called, holding it in the air, and Arianna and Gazzy raised their hands. I smiled at them.
"All right," I began, pulling white tissue paper from the blue bag and pulled out a crudely painted picture frame. It was the same blue as the bag, with white clouds, a smiling sun, and a rainbow in the corner.
"That's from me!" Arianna yelped, and I gave har a big hug. "It's very nice. I'll put our picture in it." I told her, smiling.
"Mine's in the bottom." Gazzy added, and I dug my hand deeper abd pulled out…Justin Bieber trading cards?Iggy, sensing the slience, roared with laughter, and Gazzy beamed.
"Iggy told me it would be funny." He explained as I whacked the aforementioned imbecile upside the head.
"Only if you're exploding it," I replied, glaring daggers at Iggy.
Next was Ella's; a promise booklet including hair, makeup, and wardrobe, which promptly earned her a smack; then Sam's, a $25 iTunes gift card; and Nudge's, a "fab kit" containing hair doodads, makeup, and a pair of black heels, until only Fang was left. His was small and rectangular and, characteristically, all black.
He stared at me, really hard, as I tore open the paper, like my reaction was really important to him. Finally, I lifted the cover of the box, and gasped.
There, nestled among black tissue paper, was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. There were two of them, actually; two little pieces of paper that fulfilled my highest dreams.
Skillet tickets.
"OH MY EVER-LOVING GOD, FANG!" I screamed, tackling him in a huge hug. "AREN'T THEY LIKE…LIKE… THIRTY GAJILLION DOLLARS?"
"My mom has contacts," He replied, smiling a little.
"You're coming with me," I informed him sharply, and he nodded obediently. I turned back to them, little slices of heaven purchased on Ticketmaster, and read, AMERICA WEST ARENA.
"Isn't that in Phoenix?" I wondered aloud, and he nodded again. "Road trip!" I exclaimed, giving him another ginumbo hug.
"I think I love you right now," I mumbled in awe, staring at and worshipping the tickets.
"Does that mean I'm off the hook?" He asked hopefully.
"For the moment," I replied. "But after…"I searched the ticket, and read, "October 10th…only four days!…you best sleep with one eye open."
"That's not very appreciative!" Tess cried, affronted.
"You take what you can get, Tess, you should know that by now." I replied, and looked back at the tickets.
October 10th. America West Arena. 8:30.
I'll be there.