The Boy Next Door

"Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Sydney. Happy Birthday to youuuuuuu!" Lexi sang the next morning when I got in her car.

I just scowled at her. Matt and I didn't get back until one a.m. and then I couldn't fall asleep until three. Resulting in a whole two and a half hours of sleep. "Could you please not talk so loud?" I asked.

She pouted. "Someones a sour puss."

"Sorry, it's just I hardly got any sleep last night. I'm exhausted," I explained while buckling my seat belt.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can drive to school today." She offered. I raised my eyebrows. "Only residential streets, of course. You do only have your permit."

I jumped out of the car and hopped in the drivers seat. "Thanks Lexi. This is going to be so much fun!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't kill me. I do have a little person in my belly." She smiled at her stomach and started to rub it.

"How is Baby Sydney?" I asked.

"I'll fill you in when we get to school." She said. "You just keep your eyes on the road."

I continued to drive, pretty well I might add. Once we got to the main road, we pulled over and switched sides. I told Lexi about my present from Matt and she suggested I show it to Sophie. But I decided it would be best not to.

Five minutes later, Lexi pulled into her parking spot. "Okay, spill." I ordered.

She leaned over and pulled something out of the glove compartment. "Here." She handed me a small piece of white paper. I turned it over and saw a little blob in the middle of the page. It was a sonogram. "That's my baby." She whispered, more to herself than to me.

I looked up at her and noticed her eyes were starting to water. Seeing my best friend like that was horrible. "Lexi it'll be okay. You have Shane, me, your mom, and maybe even your dad," I assured her. "Have you talked to him yet?"

She shook her head yes and let out a sob. "He... said... that... it... was... my... problem... not... his." She managed to say between sobs. I wanted to cheer her up. I wanted her to be her bubbly-self. Lexi is the strongest person I have ever met, yet here she was, balling her eyes out. It broke my heart.

I hugged her and she started to cry into my shoulder. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say. I didn't have the slightest clue what she was going through.

Ten minutes later, she stopped crying. "I'm sorry, Sydney. It's your birthday, I shouldn't be putting you through this."

"Don't worry about it." I told her. "Let's just go and get today over with."

The rest of the day was boring. Well, until I got to lunch. Allie and Josh went to sit with Sophie and Lexi and Shane were M.I.A. So only Derek and I were left. I should have been excited. I had a number of reasons to be excited, actually. It was my sixteenth birthday, the guy I'm in love with got me an amazing gift and I was siting alone at lunch with my almost boyfriend, but I couldn't find it in me to be happy.

"Happy birthday!" Derek greeted me. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

I blushed a little. "Thanks." I said.

"So about Saturday," He started. "I was thinking that maybe it could be a Valentine's date." My heart skipped a beat. Valentine? Did he just say the V-word? I forgot that was even coming up. "I know the actual day is Friday, but you said you weren't free until Saturday so-" He continued.

"That sounds great." I interrupted.

"Cool. That's when you get your birthday-slash-valentine's present to." He smiled at me. I smiled back and we continued to eat our lunch and talk
about our weekends. I didn't share my story about my late night trip to the park, though.