Work Text:
Saturday, JUNE 28
Today was my 16th birthday bash, and you'll never guess who turned up, uninvited! That's right! MACKENZIE HOLLISTER!!!! :(
The one person who makes me so mad I could SPIT! At her, specifically. Actually no, that's kind of gross. But my point still stands!
To be fair, actually, this one might be on me for inviting the entire class, because it's not like I can purposefully miss out Mac and Jessica when sending out invitations. That would be a bit mean, especially since I'm not willing to sink to MacKenzie's level just to spite her.
But before MacKenzie's VERY unwanted entrance at my FABULICIOUS ice skating rink (looking annoyingly cute in fur-trimmed ice skates and sparkly blue skirt) - which mom kindly rented out for me for TWO HOURS as my birthday gift BTW!!!!! - everything went CRAYMAZINGLY WELL.
Everyone showed up more or less on time. Chloe and Zoey, the BEST BFFs ever, helped me set up all the snacks we bought outside the ones the ice-rink provided, and then we called the rest of the band for a last minute rehearsal on the temporary stage!
Not to brag, but we all sounded AMAZING. I mean, if I wasn't a part of the band, I'd 100% think 'Actually, I'm not really sure yet' was a professional band, that's just how good we sounded! It helps that Brandon is like, a wizard on the drums, and Chloe and Zoey CARRY the vocals. Alongside Theo's and Marcus's awesome guitar riffs and Violet's magic piano fingers, this might have been our best rehearsal yet!
'So... what do you guys think?' I asked, purposefully keeping my face neutral, instead of bursting into an ecstatic grin like I wanted to. 'Not too shabby, right?'
Zoey and Violet looked downright offended.
'Seriously?! I think that was the best we've ever performed it!' Theodore snickered, and we did a giddy group high five.
Brandon caught my eye. 'Yeah, what he said. Your voice sounded amazing, by the way.'
'Thanks.' I smiled. 'So was your playing. Oh, and all you guys sounded brilliant as well! We're gonna kill this!'
After the rehearsal, it was already 12:00PM, and guests started arriving like CRAZY. Chloe was on gift duty, stationed by Rinkmania's entrance to arrange them on a sidetable, and Zoey and the rest of the band were blowing up the rest of the pink and gold balloons and putting them up around the place.
Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. My two best friends were actually having the time of their lives throwing the balloons back and forth like two targeted missile launchers.
Remind me not to get on their bad side. Zoey's over-arm can KILL.
'Nicole!' André waved at me out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to smile back at him. He looked especially handsome in a leather jacket, and he was wearing gold earrings which matched his gold belt buckle.
'Hey!' I greeted him with a hug. 'You look good!'
'And you look beautiful as always.' He winked flirtatiously, but I knew he was only joking. André's been on a mission recently to win over Brandon's heart, and it seems to be going well from what I've heard. 'What do you think of the gold? I wore it to match the balloons!'
'Very classy.' I smirked, rolling my eyes. Though from what I knew about André's killer fashion sense, he might purposefully have dressed to match the balloons. 'Speaking of balloons, it would be great if you could go and help the others with the decoration! It's been kinda last-minute, so things are a bit hectic!'
I caught Zoey's eye meaningfully and waved over at her before she could launch her missile balloon at Chloe's face. 'André's going to come help you in a moment!'
André held a hand to his chest in mock horror. 'What am I, manual labour?'
But he ambled over happily enough to the group, and tapped Brandon on the shoulder. Brandon turned around with an alarmed expression, and then it softened as he saw André.
Amdré grinned and said something, and then to my surprise he leant down and kissed Brandon's hand. I snorted. André could be incredibly forward. I could see Brandon's flustered expression from all the way over here.
Not to be outdone, Theo pulled Zoey into a sweeping kiss, and Marcus crossed the room to kiss Chloe on the cheek. The sweetness level was off the CHARTS, and I only felt a teensy bit jealous of all the couples. But ONLY a teensy bit, because I could feel a ginormous cheesy grin growing on my face because of my best friends.
As soon as everyone had arrived and made their way around Rinkmania to chat and snarf down those little baked pretzels thingies, Chloe went full business mode.
'LISTEN UP, people!' She yelled in the same manner as an army Corporal. 'The staff are gonna be giving out the ice skates now, so everyone proceed to the reception area!'
With that the crowd STAMPEDED towards the skate racks. I felt really bad for the staff, who looked downright TERRIFIED. But only for a minute, because then MacKenzie arrived and I felt really bad for ME.
I barely had two secs to notice Jessica, her former BFF, wasn't with her, when MacKenzie decided silence wasn't an option :(.
'Nikki! It's wonderful to see you!' She gushed, and I eyed her warily. I had to admit she did look super cute in her shimmering dark-blue thigh-high skirt, with tiny blue and gold jewels were speckling her cheeks and nose like freckles.
Her blond hair was tied back in a low pony by a gauzy bow, and had blue highlights. She was carrying a shoe-box underneath her arm which I assumed were carrying her custom fur-lined skates. She'd probably ordered them just for this occasion.
Just great.
'Hi, MacKenzie. Thanks for coming.' I plastered a smile onto my face, ignoring the nerves which were causing my heart to thud anxiously in my chest. It felt like a swarm of really RABID butterflies had taken up residence behind my ribcage, and they were gnawing away at it with their, um, proboscis thingies. I just internally willed MacKenzie not to start any drama on my birthday.
'I just love what you've done with the place! Those pink and gold balloons are so adorable!'
Now I was DOUBLY wary. MacKenzie... complimenting me? I knew that girl like the back of my hand, and I was 100% sure she'd rather adopt one of the quote unquote 'rabies-infested' puppies from Doggy Daycare than willingly hand me a compliment.
'Thanks!' I said anyways, wondering what she was playing at.
Her eyes flicked up and down my outfit, and I braced myself for a creatively framed insult with a sigh. Obviously the Ice Queen had been saving up her limitless reserves of deadly fashion-themed insults which she was now going to unleash like a venemous SNAKE.
I had chosen to stick with the birthday colour-scheme, with a soft pink top mom had got me recently and a matching pleated pink skirt with gold beads sewn onto them in the shape of flowers. I had put my hair up in a high pony tail, but let some longer strands curl downwards to frame my face. Finally, I applied one layer of Krazy Kissalicious, and I was ready to go.
Chloe and Zoey had squealed in excitement when they saw it. They had both worn matching outfits, except Chloe's was a soft baby-blue and Zoey's was a brilliant gold.
But instead of mentioning one of the obviously MANY things wrong with my outfit, MacKenzie's cheeks seemed to go a bit pink. 'Your outfit looks nice - pretty.' She rolled her eyes and looked away like she was bored of the conversation... EVEN THOUGH SHE APPROACHED ME FIRST???!!!
...Wait, WHAT?
Did MacKenzie... just... compliment me, AGAIN?
I was so darn FLABBERGASTED that I just stood there blinking at her in pure befuddlement, mouth wide open.
'Careful, you'll attract flies.' MacKenzie muttered, and the Ice Queen was back.
I rolled my eyes at her. 'Whatever, MacKenzie.' I turned away, still feeling confused and butterflyey, and I SWEAR she looked a little disappointed.
'You look nice too, I guess.' CRUD. Now I felt really mean :( and it was MacKenzie!!! Why did I care?
'Don't hurt yourself.' MacKenzie sneered, and sashayed away. Ever since she stole my precious diary, MacKenzie's been sashaying so often that I'm pretty sure she's gonna bust her hip one of these days.
Whatever. MacKenzie wasn't my problem anymore.
I headed back to the others.
'What took you so long? Chloe tilted her face in confusion, while the rest of the band messed around with the remaining balloons. Theo seemed to be inhaling helium to try and make Zoey laugh. Like, I love my friends, but DARN are they unproductive.
'Oh, I was just greeting everyone. Hey, the strangest thing happened just now? MacKenzie came up to me, and, uh.' I wasn't entirely sure MYSELF what just happened.
Chloe instantly looked murderous on my behalf. 'Do you need me to slap her for you?' She asked immediately, gearing up to fight. I shuddered. Chloe in fight-mode was like the final boss in one of those Princess Sugar Plum movies Brianna is always going on about. Deadly, terrifying, and covered in glitter.
'No, actually.' I frowned. 'It was weird. She told me I looked... pretty?'
Chloe stared at me. 'She WHAT now?' She asked faintly.
'I know, right?!'
RIGHT?!
?!?!??!?!?!?
'Huh. That's... weird.' Chloe pondered, stroking her chin with her index finger and thumb. I am NOT joking when I say she looked like she was doing a really bad impression of Sherlock Holmes.
'Weird?' I prompted.
'Venus is visible tonight...' she said mysteriously, looking into the middle distance for a long moment before snapping out of it. 'No, no, it's nothing.' Well, THAT was weird. Note to self: Call Chloe later and ask if she's feeling alright.
'Well, looks like everyone else's got their skates and headed over to the rink. Guys, shall we get ours?' I asked.
We'd already set aside our own skates in a show of brilliance and forward-thinking. With my black skates on, I wobbled my way through the double doors and to the rink.
I could feel my steps becoming more confident and less Bambi-like as I went along, but who knows, maybe that was just my imagination.
I still remembered the ice skating competition Chloe, Zoey and I had done last year though, and how we had completely EMBARRASSED ourselves infront of our audience in those darn clown costumes.
Walking into the ice rink room, I could see the entire place looked FABULICIOUS, and I took a moment to admire my friends' and my hard work. Pink and gold fairy-lights were draped from the ceiling almost to the floor, swaying gently in a non-existent breeze.
Gold gleaming confetti was spread in shallow clusters on the black and white tiles, and they caught in the light of the HUGE disco ball which rotated slowly above the rink.
The sound of excited screams and laughter filled the air as people started filing onto the ice.
Chloe, Zoey, Violet, Marcy and I glanced at each other, then grinned wickedly.
'Are you guys ready for two AMAZING hours of non-stop ice-skating?'
The question was met with resounding cheers.
We each made our way onto the ice, Marcy pushing Violet's wheelchair. Brandon wobbled on the ice.
'I think I'll stick to the railings for now,' he steadied himself bashfully, and Theo made a huffing sound of agreement just before he fell on his butt on the ice. Zoey burst out laughing at him for a whole minute before helping him up.
'Ah, non, that simply will not do!' André tutted, wagging his finger back on forth, gliding around Brandon in a perfect circle.
Brandon scowled at him, cheeks pink.
'I will help you.' André offered, taking his hand. Chloe and Marcus had already zipped off, Marcus being a pro on ice and Chloe with one of those four-wheelers that my grandma uses sometimes when she goes shopping, while Marcy clutched Violet's wheelchair to steady herself.
'If you say so. Don't let go.' Brandon muttered, and André's grin widened.
'I would never, mon amie. See, you move like this...' They went off into the distance, Brandon waddling like a penguin.
I had to choke back my laughter. I wished I had had the foresight to film that entire moment. The two would thank me later anyway, when they were looking for cute videos of them to celebrate their anniversary.
I turned back to Marcy and Violet. 'You guys having fun?'
Marcy smiled shakily. 'I think we'll probably stick to the railings.'
'Hey, no problem. Do what makes you guys feel comfortable.'
'You know where to find us!' Violet joked, then sniggered at her own joke. I snorted. My friends could be so goofy sometimes.
I made my rounds around the ice, occasionally finding my rhythm and more often than not holding onto the rails. An energetic pop song playlist was on, and I recognised the sound of Justin Timberlake's 'Can't stop the feeling!' anywhere.
At some point during the hours, slow music that could only be called romantic started playing over the speakers. I skated over to the group, who had met up in the centre of the rink.
'May I have this dance?' Theo asked, and Zoey giggled. Marcus followed suite with Chloe, and then it was just Brandon, André and I.
Wordlessly, André held out his hand to Brandon, who took it shyly before turning to me. Nevermind, it was just me. 'You alright if I, uh, go with -'
'Go ahead.' I interrupted Brandon, smirking. 'I can dance with myself.' Still, it took a whole lot of insisting for them to finally go and get lost (in each other's eyes).
I sighed happily, clumsily stumbling my way to the rails. I love my friends, and how SWEET they are.
Just then, a figure in blue glided effortlessly past me. MacKenzie.
She looked like she was floating on the surface of the Ice.
It was like now that we weren't busy fighting or competing against one another, I could finally see her years of experience and appreciate how it had made her better than I could ever hope to be.
She was SO much more elegant than Chloe, Zoey and I had been even after our, ahem, extensive training.
MacKenzie dipped into a delicate twirl, her hair coming untied and falling loose around her shoulders as she did so.
She straightened up looking annoyed, but continued to move over the ice, looking every bit the evil Ice Queen presiding over her icy domain.
I almost found myself calling out to her, but didn't.
I blinked out of my daze to find her staring right at me for what seemed like FOREVER. And then she wrinkled her nose as though she had smelled something rancid on the back of her shoe.
I rolled my eyes, and saw to my DISMAY that she was gliding over. I tried to subtly scoot away using the railings, but it was too late :(
'Nikki. What were you...' MacKenzie almost looked confused.
Well I was as WELL! >:(
'Oh, h-hi!' My voice came out in a squeak. This might have been my fault for staring at her watching her to make sure she didn't get up to one of her crazy little schemes.
MacKenzie flipped her hair like she was in one of those perfume adverts. 'H-hi.' She parroted, raising her eyebrows.
The butterflies were eating through my stomach lining, or whatever it was we learnt in Bio. She was DEFINITELY planning something.
MacKenzie sighed, as though I had said something so mind-bogglingly stupid it wasn't even worth replying to. 'I can't believe you won that ice skating competition', she muttered, and then she grabbed my arm and started skating to the MIDDLE. OF. THE ICE RINK.
'What are you doing?' I panicked and tried to get free, but ended up pathetically scrambling against the ice. Suddenly the railings seemed impossibly far away, and my gut SANK as I realised this must be MacKenzie's evil scheme!
'Relax.' MacKenzie rolled her eyes yet again. It was like there was a record for the number of times she could roll her eyes in a minute that she was trying to beat.
Another slow song came on, and all around us couples started swaying to the beat. Oh, CRUD. It was just my luck that MacKenzie waited until I was alone before taking her chance to...
'Do you want to dance, or whatever?' MacKenzie muttered. At some point she'd moved her hands to my waist, and was basically holding me up so I didn't completely embarass myself by accidentally doing the splits.
'Uh.' I said intelligently.
Something like disappointment flashed through her eyes, and her grip on my waist loosened. I reminded myself of the MacKenzie I had known briefly at NHH, who I had worked with to overthrow the spoilt, bratty queen-bee, Tiffany. I had exchanged smiles with that MacKenzie, joked with her. For a brief time, we had been more than enemies.
'Sure!' I said, quickly.
MacKenzie stared looked at me. She put her hands back on my waist, hesitantly. Her hands were warm, not cold like I'd stupidly thought they would be.
'You're doing it all wrong,' MacKenzie whispered as I stumbled yet again like a total KLUTZ.
Well, SCUSE ME for not having had private figure skating lessons since I could walk! But I just said that in my head, so no one could hear it but me.
'Like this.' MacKenzie took my hand in hers and dragged me along. 'Your legs are too stiff. Relax a little.'
I followed her advice, and was shocked to find that moving was a lot easier. I still wasn't a natural, but I was miles better than I had been a year ago.
MacKenzie was frowning in concentration as she adjusted my posture. I was struck by the fact she wasn't trying to be... mean, of anything. She was just patiently correcting my moves.
'Has anyone ever told you you'd be a good figure-skating teacher?' I blurted out suddenly. ME and my BIG MOUTH. :(
MacKenzie stopped skating, and reached out to steady me without thinking before I collapsed on my FACE.
'No.' She said, looking at me. Her eyes were very blue. They had always looked chilly in the hallways in school. Now they looked softer in the dim light.
The song ended abruptly. I blinked away my shock. Dancing with MacKenzie had been almost... pleasant.
MacKenzie released my hand hurriedly. She looked away. I have no clue what I'm going to say the next time I see her.
Violet's extremely loud whistle pierced the air, which was 'Actually I'm not Really Sure Yet's signal to get the stage ready. I staggered my way out of the rink and unlaced my skates, before making my way to the temporary confetti-strewn stage.
Zoey grinned at me as I stood in front of the mic stand.
'EVERYONE!' I winced as Chloe went back into Manager mode. 'For Nikki's birthday, we thought it'd be cool to sing her a song we wrote specially for her! Everyone, give a round of applause for our birthday girl!'
HUH?!
My best friends wrote me a SONG?!!!!
I felt myself TEARING UP.
'You guys.' I smiled weakly, standing in the middle of the stage and clutching my mic like an idiot.
Brandon winked back, and started counting in. 'One, two, three, four!'
'Yeah, yeah, she's the greatest best friend I could ever ask for,
She's the kindest and the smartest, got me asking for more!...'
Okay, now I COULDN'T SEE because I was crying happy tears so bad. Like, I probably had SNOT dripping out of my nose, THAT'S how emotional my friends got me. Yeah, the song was corny as HELL, and the SWEETEST thing anyone had ever done for me. I LOVED it.
'You guys.' I repeated weakly once they had finished amd the horde of classmates had stopped SCREAMING their applause. 'I don't know what to say, but you guys are like the best friends ever.' Then we group hugged. :)
After that, it was time for our performance of 'Dorks Rule!' You know, the performance I actually KNEW about! :)
My hands were all clammy and gross, and my heart was trying to escape my chest. But then the opening chord of 'Dorks Rule' came in, and all my nerves just dissipated.
While singing, I couldn't resist looking for MacKenzie in the crowd to see her SEETHING about our success! But I was SHOCKED to find that the Ice Queen didn't have steam coming out of her ears! MacKenzie actually seemed grudgingly impressed by our performance, or at least mildly stunned.
'Dork, nerd, geek, freak,
Is all you see...'
She looked up and met my gaze, looking even more surprised.
'But just let them back off,
And let me be!'
I think I actually sang those entire few lines TO HER FACE!!! I still don't really know what I was thinking, but the energy of our performance was hyping me up, and anyway, could you really blame me? The lyrics fit EXACTLY with how she'd bullied me for the past two years, so consider this KARMA! :)
'YEAH!!!' We all yelled, and the crowd roared. I looked for MacKenzie again in the crowd, and found her. I offered a half-smile to let her know I hadn't been attacking her, and her lips quirked up briefly.
She looked pretty.
At that moment, I felt weird, like I was floating.
MacKenzie smiled at me.
Got to go. Mom's teaching Brianna how to make a tuna pasta bake for my birthday dinner, so I need to supervise the demon-spawn my sister to make sure what I'm about to be eating is actually digestible.