beautiful

chapter 8: surprise

At around four o'clock the next morning, my phone rang. I blinked groggily and reached for it, yawning a tired "Hello?" into the receiver.

"Nina!" Amber greeted cheerily from the other end, "Good morning!"

"Uh, morning," I replied, lifting myself up on my elbow.

"You sound tired," she remarked, and I looked at my clock.

"It's four in the morning," I sighed, knowing that if I was awake now, there's no way I'd be getting back to sleep.

"Oh, I forgot about the time change again," she giggled slightly, then apologized sincerely, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I comforted, "We can talk; I promise I won't fall back asleep."

"Okay! Well I just wanted to fill you in on what's been happening since you left. Apparently Mara and Mick broke up yesterday; poor Mara called me crying, she was so upset. I hope she gets over it soon. I was talking to Alfie yesterday, too, and he told me that Jerome fancies Mara. I think that's so sweet. Maybe they'll get together next term‼ Anyway, Joy told me that Fabian can't stop talking about how much he misses you. How adorable is that?"

I took in a sharp breath when Amber mentioned that Joy had been talking to Fabian, but I don't think she noticed.

"Patricia is going to this concert next weekend that's like this really heavy metal band…I can't remember what they're called, but it sounded scary. How're things in America?"

I almost didn't realize that Amber had switched subjects, but picked up on it quickly.

"Things are going pretty well," I replied, no longer tired. I was sitting up in bed, flipping absentmindedly through an old magazine, "It's been great catching up with my old friends again."

"What are they like?" Amber asked dreamily, and I chuckled inwardly as to how often I've been asked that question over the past couple days.

"First, there's Courtney," I started, "I call her Coco, and you'd love her. She reminds me a little of you. We've been best friends since I can remember, and are still as close as ever. Then, there's Evan. He's like my brother, and he grew up with me and Coco from the start. We're all really close. Jake and Julie are twins, and even though they're identical, their personalities are like two different worlds; they never stop bickering. Finally, there's Victoria, who would remind you of Patricia just by looking at her. However, her personality is like a mix of me, Coco, and of course, some defining qualities that make her unique. We're all really close and went to grade school together; my leaving this past semester was hard, but I think we're gonna be okay."

"It sounds like you've had a lot of fun already," Amber remarked, and I heard a tinge of sadness in her voice, "Are you happy to be back home?"

"Of course I am," I replied without hesitation, "I'm home. But I still miss you guys like crazy, and Anubis House is my second home. I feel at home whether I'm in Baltimore or in England."

"I've always wanted to see Baltimore," Amber sighed, "Daddy's taken me to New York and L.A., but I've heard Baltimore is a really nice city."

"You can come visit any time you like," I said with an air of hopefulness, "I'd love for you to come see my side of the ocean!"

"I miss you, BAF," Amber said suddenly, and I felt tears well up in my eyes.

"Amber, you'll make me cry," I retorted, trying to blink back the moisture, "But I miss you, too. A lot."

As predicted, I didn't sleep after Amber called me. Our conversation ended about two hours later, and I decided not long after that to roll out of bed and get something to eat. My stomach was practically yelling at me by the time I stepped into the kitchen, and I searched attentively for something to satisfy my raging hunger. I settled quickly for toast and almost swallowed it whole once it popped up from the toaster. Gran walked in and laughed as I was stuffing my breakfast in my mouth.

"Hungry?" she asked, and I nodded desperately, moving to my second piece of toast. I realized quickly that I was thirsty, too, and searched in the refrigerator for something to drink.

"Yum, grape juice," I said to myself, grabbing the carton eagerly. Grape juice was my favorite breakfast beverage of choice, aside from hot chocolate in the winter.

After pouring myself a glass of grape juice and chatting with Gran, I went upstairs to change. I didn't expect to go anywhere today, so I just threw on cotton shorts and an old t-shirt. When I got downstairs, however, my friends were waiting excitedly, saying they wanted to take me to roller skating. I dashed back upstairs, changed into something more presentable, and met them downstairs.

"We have a surprise for you!" Courtney gushed, and my eyes widened considerably. I hate surprises.

"Oh, no," I said, looking to my other friends for help. When my eyes met Evan's, he just shrugged.

"It can't be that bad," he attempted to comfort me, and this clued me in that he didn't know what the surprise was, either. They just dragged me out the door, and I silently prayed that the "surprise" wasn't going to end in disaster.

As we were driving, I noticed that Courtney passed the roller skating rink. When I opened my mouth to say something, she interrupted.

"I may have lied," she smirked, "We're not going roller skating."

"Then, where are we going?" I asked, still afraid of what could possibly be up her sleeve.

"I really wanna tell you so badly," Courtney pouted as she said this, "But I can't. You'll see!"

Eventually, we pulled into the parking lot of my favorite restaurant. This isn't such a bad surprise after all, I thought, A nice brunch with my friends. How terrible is that?

I spoke too soon.

We walked in the doors, and my ears were bombarded with shouts of "Surprise!" and "Welcome home, Nina!"

They threw me a surprise party…with everyone I've ever come in contact with in America packed into this one little tiny diner.

"Aww," I feigned gratefulness and a smile, "You guys didn't have to do all this! You really didn't have to."

I practically spat the last sentence at Courtney, who gave me a sheepish grin and a big hug.

"Oh, come on," she tried to cheer me up, "This will be fun! Music, food, friends, what else do you need?"

I sighed, knowing she wouldn't give up until I was enjoying the party. I decided to play pretend.

"You're right," I said with an almost-genuine smile, "I suppose I'll have fun. Thanks!"

She flashed a mile-wide grin at me before leading me through the crowd of people beginning to mingle and make small talk, while I remained the center of attention.

A/N: Happy 4th, my fellow Americans! Here's a present for you ;) I hope you liked this chapter. I'm having a lot of fun writing in Nina's point of view, so I hope you all like seeing life through her eyes. Also, I just wanted to point out, why have I been getting hundreds of hits for this story, but barely any reviews in comparison? I usually hate when authors rant about not getting reviews, but now I understand. Seriously, even if you review in another language (which would be amazing; ¡Hablo español, támbien!) I would love it. Even if you just say "update", that'd be awesome. The sentiment is always appreciated. Unfortunately, I have disabled anonymous reviews mainly because I attract too many trolls/flamers on some of my other fics, and hate dealing with it. I suppose I'm done babbling now. Oh, also, I've thrown out my ten-day rule and I'm going to update every Monday instead—otherwise I'll get too ahead of myself. I don't own House of Anubis. kthxbai.