"SURPRISE!" Allie jumped as soon as she took one step inside the cafe. The room was already full of people, with Little Jack and Mrs. Thornton front and center.

"Happy birthday, Allie!" Jack shouted, unable to contain his excitement as he ran forward to give Allie a hug.

"How-" Allie stuttered out, still in shock as she returned Jack's hug. She glanced back at her dad in search of an explanation, but found that he was grinning at her. "Did you know about this?" Allie asked, seeing the look on his face. Nathan just shrugged.

"I'm just returning the favor," he replied, his eyes sparkling.

"But," Mrs. Thornton put in, stepping forward. "It was a team effort." Before Allie could ask what she meant, Elizabeth moved to the side and Allie's eyes widened in shock as Emily, Opal, and Angela stepped forward. Immediately, Allie swung her head around and stared at her dad. What are they doing here? her look said. Instead of answering, Nathan just gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before walking a couple feet away with Little Jack and Elizabeth. Reluctantly, Allie turned back to her friends.

"Happy birthday, Allie," the three of them said together, but their smiles seemed half-hearted.

"Thanks," Allie replied, but she couldn't bring herself to smile. "You guys don't have to do this you know," she said then, before the awkwardness could set in. "It's fine."

"It actually isn't fine, Allie." It was Angela who spoke first and it finally dawned on Allie how nervous her friend looked.

"We know that you overheard us talking in the schoolhouse last week," Emily said, glancing down for a split second before looking back up.

"And we've been trying to apologize to you all week," Angela added. "But you've been avoiding us."

"Not that we blame you," Emily made sure to put in.

"We're sorry that we hurt your feelings, Allie," Opal said then. "We never meant to and we hope you can forgive us."

"But we weren't purposely excluding you," Angela explained.

"Then, what were you doing?" Allie asked, unable to keep the hard edge out of her voice. She crossed her arm over her stomach, as if preparing herself for the worst.

"We were planning a surprise for you," Opal answered and now a small smile appeared on her face.

"Here." Emily reached behind her and grabbed a large rectangular box with a blue bow affixed on top. "Open it." Allie only hesitated for a moment before taking the box from Emily, setting it on a nearby table and lifting the lid. What she saw made her gasp. Inside was an incredibly realistic pencil drawing of Allie and Scout. It was nestled inside a wooden frame that had been painted sky blue and next to the drawing were several lines of what looked like a poem.

"You made this?" Allie questioned, once she found her voice. "For me?"

"I drew the picture and Emily made and painted the frame with some help from Mr. Canfield," Opal said. "Angela came up with the poem and then Emily wrote it out next to my drawing."

"It's beautiful," Allie whispered, still in awe. She gently picked up the frame and held it closer so she could read the poem.

Today's the day

It's finally here

A new chapter's begun

It's your 16th year

The future is bright

Great things are ahead

Adventure awaits

You're going places, my friend!

No matter what this year brings

Or what troubles you might find

You'll make it through

Because you're one of a kind!

Through thick and thin

We'll be here for you.

Happy birthday, Allie!

We love you!

By the time she reached the end of the poem, Allie could feel the moisture building up behind her eyes. She set down the frame and looked up at her friends. "I don't know what to say." She swiped her thumb quickly under her eyes. "Thank you guys so much." And then Allie reached her arm out to bring all three girls in for a group hug.

"And I forgive you," Allie added, once they all separated. "I'm sorry for avoiding you. I guess I was just a little hurt."

"I think I would have been too," Emily agreed with a smile.

"We're glad to have you back." Opal grinned.

"Thrilled is more like it," Angela put in and then all three girls laughed.

"Did you guys do all this?" Allie asked then, gesturing to the decorated cafe around them.

"Yeah, but we had a lot of help!" Opal said.

"It was Mrs. Thornton's idea," Angela explained. "We went to talk to her yesterday because we didn't know how to make things right with you. Your dad was there too and Mrs. Thornton thought that a surprise party might give us an opportunity to talk to you. She and your dad helped us plan it."

"Toby, Cooper, Robert, Timmy, Little Jack, and Sarah helped set everything up this morning," Opal added, looking over her shoulder at the rest of their friends.

"And Mr. and Mrs. Canfield invited everyone," Emily finished.

"Wow, all of that just to apologize to me?" Allie couldn't quite believe it.

"We needed to make things right with you," Opal said with a shrug and a smile.

"And we couldn't wait another day," Angela chimed in.

"I really missed you guys," Allie said, pulling the girls in for another group hug.

"We missed you too," the other three said at the same time. At that moment, Allie happened to look up and over to where her dad was standing talking to Bill and Lee. Nathan, perhaps sensing his daughter's gaze, turned to look at her. Allie smiled at him and mouthed thank you. Nathan just smiled back and winked.

"Well, come on!" Emily exclaimed when the girls separated. "Let's enjoy your party! Angela's mom made the most beautiful cake."

"That sounds good to me," Allie said with a smile. Opal and Emily walked ahead towards where their other classmates were standing and Allie took her place at Angela's side. "This feels right," Allie said, looping her arm through Angela's.

"How's your arm feeling?" Angela asked.

"It's OK," Allie replied with a shrug. "A lot better than it was a week ago."

"I heard you fell off Newton," Angela said. "What happened?"

"I wasn't paying attention and was going too fast," Allie explained. "Honestly, I was upset after overhearing you, Emily, and Opal that morning, so I didn't realize how fast I was pushing Newton. When he took a hard left, it threw me off balance and I fell." Now, Angela's face looked stricken.

"I'm really sorry, Allie," Angela said again, her face falling. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I know," Allie replied, giving her friend's arm a reassuring squeeze. "And you didn't make me fall off Newton. I'm sorry that I didn't give you the chance to explain."

"I'm glad we figured it out though," Angela said, obviously relieved.

"Me too," Allie echoed, smiling a little. Then, after a beat, she added, "I missed my best friend." At this, Angela broke out into a smile.

"I missed my best friend too."
"Maybe you could come sleep over at my house tonight," Allie said, after a second. "We could invite Emily and Opal too. I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind."

"I'd like that," Angela replied, still smiling. Allie grinned and squeezed her friend's arm again.

"Me too." The two of them finally made it over to the rest of their friends and were immediately absorbed into the conversation. Allie couldn't help smiling to herself. I think this might turn out to be one of the best birthdays after all.

Author's Note: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who left a comment on the first part of the Allie Grant Collection saying that they hoped Elizabeth was involved with helping the girls mend their friendship. It gave me some ideas and helped create this story, so thank you! I hope you all enjoyed it! :)