Chapter 2.11 - Party Time, Part I

“Um… Dad?”

“Yes, Jade?”

“What’s going on in here?”

“Beckett didn’t tell you?”

“I haven’t seen Beckett since this morning. What is there to tell?”

“Beckett wants to have a party for your birthday. You can invite people too, of course.”

Jade was confused. A party? Not just a little get together with the family and some of Dad’s friends from work, but an actual party? They’d never had a birthday party. And… “Does Alaric know about this?”

Her dad was entirely focused on decorating. “Not yet, but I can’t imagine he’d have a problem with it. Like I said, you can all invite people if you want.”

“The only person I want to invite is Eve, but you should probably talk to Alaric before you do too much more decorating.”

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“A party? What kind of party?”

“Like I said, a birthday party. I’m letting you all invite up to two people apiece, because I don’t think our house will hold much more than that. Beckett’s bringing a couple of his friends from soccer, and Jade just wants to invite Eve. Who do you want me to add to the invite list?”

Alaric was extremely annoyed. He hadn’t wanted a party, and he couldn’t stand Beckett’s soccer friends. They thought they were better than the mere plebeians like him, and why? Just because they could kick a ball around on a field? That didn’t make them special. And now he would be forced to spend at least a few hours standing around while they looked down their noses at him. If only there was some way to make this party as unpleasant for them as it no doubt would be for him.

As he stared at Jade’s Detention Hall poster, the answer occurred to him. What did the middle-school royalty hate above all else? Being forced to socialize with people they saw as unworthy. He wasn’t quite at that level (he was an overachiever, not a loser), but he did have a couple of invites to spare… “I’d like to invite Marc Funke and Danica Avendale.”

His dad raised his eyebrows a little bit. “Okay.” He took a breath, as if to say something, then stopped. “Okay.”

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“It’s so weird that Beckett’s throwing a party. Remember when we were little and he was obsessed with fish? And now he’s like, a soccer god. It feels weird.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” Jade appeared to be perfectly focused on the TV, but her mind was almost entirely engaged in the conversation. She’d seen this episode a million times, and she could practically recite it in her sleep. She sighed. “It kind of makes me sad sometimes. Like you said, Beckett’s become a soccer god, and Alaric’s on the fast track to valedictorian, and I’m just sort of… there. Nothing special.”

Eve turned to look at her cousin. “Come on, Jade. There are lots of things that you’re good at.” She gestured at the TV. “Obsessively cataloguing the plots of cheesy soap operas, for example.”

Jade didn’t crack a smile. “That’s not what I meant. My brothers are both practically famous at school, my dad is a hero, your mom does all those stories, you’re a genius, and then there’s me.” All I have is sticky fingers. She didn’t tell Eve that, though. She hadn’t told anyone about her unfortunate habit of walking out of stores with a little something extra tucked in her pocket, and she wasn’t about to start now.

“Jade, you’re great. I wish you wouldn’t put yourself down like this.”

Jade wasn’t listening. “Shhh! The part where Lance tells Liana that he’s in love with her is coming up!”

The two girls sat and watched the melodramatic confession scene, and by the time they started talking again, neither remembered what their previous conversation had been about.

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“A birthday party? And I’m invited?”

“I wanted to have one. And of course you’re invited. Who am I better friends with than you?”

Madeline blushed. “It’s really sweet of you to ask me. I’ll definitely be there. Who else is invited?”

Beckett smiled at her. “I’m inviting Ted, I think Jade’s inviting our cousin Eve, and I honestly have no idea who Alaric wants to be there.”

She frowned. “Your brother is really weird.”

“He’s not that bad,” Beckett defended automatically. He didn’t really like Alaric, but that didn’t mean he was about to let other people pick on him. Then something occurred to him. “I didn’t even realize you two knew each other.”

Madeline shrugged. “We’re on Student Council together. He’s always proposing weird ideas for how we could make more money. Like, I’m all for more money to spend on the eighth grade formal-” She paused and gave him a significant look. He was oblivious, so she sighed and moved on. “-but that doesn’t mean I want to start charging a fee to students who want to turn in their homework late.”

“That sounds like Alaric, alright. Don’t worry, though. He can be a little bit weird and slightly obsessive at times, but he’s harmless.”

Madeline smiled, but there was concern in her eyes. “Yeah, I guess…”

Author's Note: I'm finally back! As you might know if you're on the MTS thread, my computer died on Saturday. I got everything saved, and I managed to get a new, nicer computer, but when I tried to start up my save, it didn't work. I have all the significant characters for the triplets' stories, but this legacy will probably be moving to a new town sometime after generation four is born, since most of my town didn't save. I'm not entirely finished setting up my save, but you will know as soon as I am. The pictures in the first half of this chapter are from my old computer, and the pictures from the second half  are from the new computer. You can tell because my graphics aren't turned up as high on the new computer. Also, please ignore the change to Beckett's hair. He cut it for soccer season (read: I lost it in the Great Computer Move). The triplets are teenagers next chapter, so I figured there was no point in trying to find the old hair again. It might take a little while to get the next chapter out, but after that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I should be able to get chapters out quickly again. Next time: the party!