8/8

Today was THE day, party day. My stomach was in a nervous knot all day. I kept thinking, “Why did I let Sophie plan this, why did I let Sophie talk me into this?” I don’t have a very good answer for that question….I really need to grow a backbone around that girl. But I knew it was too late to make a stink about it, so I did my best to steel myself for all the attention I was going to get. Still, I didn’t eat all day, I was just too nervous….but I drank water like crazy. Nervous stress makes me thirsty!

I got a shocking idea around lunchtime that did nothing for my nervous stomach. Why would EVERYBODY say they were coming? Think about it…nobody’s out of town? Nobody has to work? I realized that several of them were probably coming just to hang out with the famous (for the moment) girl(s) who survived the kidnapping and the flipping car. Ewww. I really hoped there would be at least a few people there who are just my friends. So I started thinking about that……Sophie….Heather….Sammie……Kelly….Jon…..Cooper?……
Tessa…they (and others) all liked me before the flipping car went viral on Youtube, right? Absolutely. I’ll just make sure I’m with one of them all afternoon. That made me feel better. No matter who comes and acts like a jerk or asks stupid questions, my family will be there and so will my friends. Good.

It turned out to be a nice day and a great party….mostly. The party started at about 4, since we wanted to barbeque and the park closes at dusk (and my parents knew I was still tired from yesterday and didn’t want me to totally overdo it two days in a row…..sheesh). Sophie already had the pavilion decorated with two of my favorite colors, hot pink and aqua, with balloons and streamers, paper tablecloths, confetti, and some really cool tissue balls that were hanging from the rafters (I have NO idea how she got them up there). She had put disposable cameras on all the tables for the guests to take pictures for me and also construction paper and markers so they can make silly signs and messages to me, to be in the pictures with them….can’t wait to see those. Mom showed me the cake she had ordered from our favorite bakery…it was a hot pink cell phone with my picture on the screen! So cool! Even better was the flavor, chocolate cake with a peanut butter cream filling….aaahhhhhhh.

Dad started the charcoal, so that could be heating up, and the “partyers” started showing up, some of them from the lake where they had gone earlier to swim. I hadn’t really paid attention to the guest list…..in fact, I don’t remember ever seeing the guest list. That makes more sense now….but I’ll get back to that later. Cooper was one of the first to come, since he was just coming from the snack bar, and he made a beeline for me as I sat in a lawn chair (Mom kept making me sit down, so I wouldn’t get exhausted).

Cooper: (cute grin, eyes dancing) Hey, birthday girl! How are you feeling?
Me: (slight blush under the concealing make-up) Better. I wanted to thank you for the flowers. They were so pretty and they lasted all week. I was kind of loopy in the hospital, and I was afraid that I forgot say thank you. (I make an effort to look right in his eyes and smile)
Cooper: (kind of catches his breath) I’m glad you liked them. Wow, you look great. It’s almost impossible to see any sign of the banged up girl from the hospital.
Me: (rolling my eyes) Lots of make-up (thank you, dear MOM).
Cooper: (head cocked slightly) Did you do something different to your hair?
Me: (smiling gets easier) Yeah, a little something….for my birthday.
Cooper: (squinting, but still grinning) It looks like….well, your hair kind of glows. It’s really nice.
Me: (ducking my head, but I can’t help grinning) Thanks again. So how long do you get to hang out with us?
Cooper: (a mischievous grin this time) I begged and pleaded and Dad finally agreed to let me have the rest of the day off. I’m all yours, birthday girl.
Me: (much deeper blush this time, but I do my best to ignore it) Mine, huh? Okay, birthday slave….go see if there’s anything Sophie needs help with. Nobody will let me lift a finger.
Cooper: (with mock serious face and a deep bow, until those chocolate eyes are level with mine) I’m yours to command, Princess. (I do my best to give him a regal nod, but spoil it with a snicker)

Wow. As he walked away to check with Sophie, my heart was fluttering and I felt a little lightheaded, and I don’t think it had anything to do with the concussion. That boy is just too cute for his own good.

People started showing up for real, and almost everyone came up to me right away to say “happy birthday” and ask how I was doing. I made a game of saying something different to every person, so I wouldn’t be boring or get tired of saying “fine” or “better”…..How are you doing? Marvelous, fantastic, fabulous, great, pampered, spoiled, improving, getting stronger, getting cabin fever, happy to be alive, glad to be here today, enjoying the fresh air, etc…..Sophie actually did invite almost everyone I know, including those friends of Jon and Gray’s, Evan, Matt, and Chase (the ones we hung out with at the mall….seems like forever ago). A bunch of band friends, some church friends, some general school friends, a few sets of parents that are good friends with my parents. When Heather showed up, we talked for a few minutes and I signed her cast. We figured out pretty quick that the two of us sitting together attracted even more attention from the general public (the word spread quickly who was having a party, and people from the beach would “casually” stroll by, craning their necks to get a glimpse of either one of us), so without really planning it we kind of kept our distance from each other for a lot of the party. I was able to mostly tune out the extra unwanted attention.

Once Dad started cooking the burgers and dogs, Sophie had a few games for the rest of us. First she said we were going to play “Ain’t no flies on me”…..never heard of it. Each of us got 3 stickers, with a picture of a fly on each of them, stuck to our shirts. We had to try to get rid of our stickers by catching someone else saying the “taboo” word, which was “birthday”. When you caught someone saying the taboo word, they had to take one of your stickers. We had until the presents were opened to play the game and anyone who got rid of all their stickers would get a prize. Sounded easy enough! Cooper immediately started saying “first appearance day” and Jon was using “date of arrival” (as in, “Happy Date of Arrival, Carly!”). They’re a crack-up.

The next game was an ice breaker, where everyone (but me and Heather) had to take off their shoes and put them in a big pile, then when Sophie blew the whistle everyone had to find their own shoes and put them back on. The first person to accomplish it was the winner. That was total chaos, and so funny. I think Jon won, because his feet are so big and he was wearing bright orange flipflops….easy to spot!

The last game was called “Clothing Relay”. We had 3 teams with 8 people each (Heather still couldn’t play this one with a broken arm, but Mom let me do it….and Sophie wanted to play too, so Heather was the referee). Each team was given a bag of six clothing items (one of them being a tube of lipstick….hehe) and the first person had to put on all the items as quickly as possible, take them off again and put them back in the bag, then hand the bag to the next person on their team. The first team to finish wins. The parents stood around and took lots of pictures, which is probably the best part. I don’t know where Sophie found the clothes she used, but there was a BIG baggy pair of pants in one bag, with a clown wig and size 18 shoes (at least). Another bag had a large leotard and a tutu with a set of angel wings and a tiara, among other things. The third bag was cowboy themed (thanks for that little reminder, Sophie), with a 10-gallon hat, a vest, chaps, a leather belt with a huge rodeo belt buckle. This is the bag our team happened to get (not sure if that was a coincidence….doubt it).

I didn’t pay that much attention to who was on our team, other than the fact that Cooper was standing right in front of me on my team. I was last, but Sophie said there was one more coming who’d get behind me. Heather blew the whistle, then it was noisy pandemonium. I was holding my sides with tears streaming down my face watching everyone trying to get these weird and awkward pieces of clothing on and ending it with red lipstick on their faces….then stripping it off as quick as they could and stuffing it back in the bag. Of course, the guys were funniest, but Tessa was a riot. Every time she’d mess up, she’d give this little squeak which would make us all laugh even harder. By the time it got to Cooper, our team was in the lead (barely) so I tried to stop laughing long enough to watch how he got the stuff on and off again. My turn came, and I had a particularly hard time, since I’m so small. The chaps and the belt were so big I had to spread my legs way apart to keep them from falling off while I put on the other stuff. People on my team and the other two were laughing their faces off. Finally I got the lipstick on and started to take everything off, shoving it back into the bag as fast as I could. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the other two teams neck and neck with me and knew it would be a real race among the last three people. I grabbed the bag and whirled around, shoving it into the stomach of the person behind me, and looking up, I stared into a familiar face, with a pair of mossy green eyes and a very sweet smile with one dimple. Gray Weber was home.

Oops, my new CELL PHONE is ringing…..BRB.