Your Biggest Misconception

“She’s what?” I asked with wide eyes as I stared at Amanda from across our usual table at Starbucks.

“She’s giving me a house! My own house!”

“You’re kidding me.”

“No! It’s gorgeous Kali. In a nice neighborhood, close enough to walk to bike to the beach, and it’s got a pool and hot tub.” The way she was speaking about this house made it sound like she had fallen in love with it. Her tone held that dreamy hint that you usually see in high schoolers when they are discussing how a date went.

“And she’s just giving it to you?”

“Yes! She’s paying for the entire thing.”

“Holy crap.”

“I know.”

Amanda sure had incredible luck. While she was getting ready to move into this nice new house, I was still stuck in my shitty apartment with the landlord who didn’t do squat. He was the epitome of laziness in physical form. I firmly believed I could turn him in for neglect of his complex but I doubt it would do any good. It was a poor neighborhood anyway and I doubt the city would pay it any mind just like they never did.

In the past week my water heater had burst, forming a nice hole in my wall that I didn’t know how to fix thus leaving me with cold showers, only half of my stove was now working, and the entire bathroom sink knob had come off meaning it no longer worked either.

“And, it’s near where the guys all live!”

Her mention of the guys gave me shivers down my spine. Zack and I had been talking since the night we kissed a few days ago but I had yet to physically see him again. We had both been so busy that there really was no time we both had free to meet up. He had told me he didn’t regret it happening and he wanted to take me out another time when I was free.

I was still slightly skeptical since he had just come off an engagement but I was willing to give him a chance.

Amanda and Brian had become closer too and I believe they were on the verge of dating officially. They were so sickly sweet around eachother and yet Amanda was more then willing to put up with some of the crap Brian pulled when he was around the rest of the guys. They really could be a handful sometimes.

“So someone has a birthday coming up.” Amanda’s words brought me out of the daze I had been in with my thoughts.

“Oh geez. Don’t remind me.” I grumbled as I took a sip of my iced coffee.

“Why not? Birthdays are so fun!”

“Mine never are, you know that.” I laughed as she shook her head at my pessimistic attitude. It was true though. Every year we made grandiose plans and then they flopped or they turned out to be a nightmare.

“This year is going to be different though! We have a new group of friends to go out with.” She snickered knowing my concerns about going out to party with the guys for a birthday. It was sure to be sheer chaos. Those guys could drink alcohol like it was water.

“Well you have two days to figure out what you want or else I’m leaving it to the guys to make plans.

I knew this was not going to end well.

***

“I can’t believe you let the guys make plans for me.” I grumbled as Amanda pulled me out of my apartment on the day of my birthday.

“Well I kept asking you what you wanted to do and you wouldn’t give me any ideas! Therefore, I let the guys make plans just like I told you I would.”

“So what are we doing then?”

“I have no idea.” She laughed as we climbed into her car and were off. I expected we were going to Brian’s house to meet up with everyone but I could be wrong. Truth be told, I was really excited to see Zack again.

“I hope it’s nowhere expensive.” I mumbled as she drove through the nice neighborhood I knew all too well as Brian’s.

“If it is you don’t have to worry. You won’t be paying since it’s your birthday anyway.” She laughed knowing she was right.

We pulled in front of Brian’s place and I noticed several cars parked out front. I bet his neighbors hated when the street was filled with the cars from all the guys but I suppose they really couldn’t complain since it’s public property.

Brian answered the door once we knocked and he instantly greeted Amanda with a kiss on the lips. This threw me for a loop as I stood there awkwardly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one looking forward to seeing someone again.

“Well hello birthday girl.” He greeted once they pulled away from eachother. I was still slightly in shock, probably because I had never seen them full on kiss before.

“Hi.” I said as I blinked back my discomfort.

“Sorry.” He laughed before he threw an arm around both Amanda and me. “Excited for tonight?”

“Depends.”

He laughed deeply. “I knew you were going to say that.”

I noticed he was dressed nice but casual which meant we would not be going anywhere super fancy. For that I was extremely grateful because I too was dressed casual but still nice. I wanted to look good since I was the birthday girl but I didn’t want to go over the top. I heard deep laughter coming from the living room and assumed the other guys were there already.

“Hey! It’s the birthday girl!” Jimmy was the first to exclaim. He jumped up from his seat and leaped over the back of Brian’s couch before tearing me away from Brian himself and embracing me tightly. “Happy birthday lovely!” He all but yelled in my ear making me laugh. “We’re going to get you shmammered tonight!”

“Shmammered?” I asked as I pulled away slightly from the tall, lanky man.

“It’s my new word! It’s a cross between smashed and hammered! Clever right?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the cleverness of his statement. That was a word I rather liked. “It’s genius Jimmy.”

“I know!”

“Happy birthday hun.” Matt stepped up next and gave me a hug. I loved Matt’s hug because he felt like a huge teddy bear you could just cuddle all day with. He was such a sweetheart.

“Thanks Matt.”

“Another year older, eh kid?” I laughed at Johnny because even though I was taller then him, he insisted on calling me kid since he was still older then me. It wasn’t my fault I had a decent height gene in my family.

“I suppose so.”

The guys all returned to their chatter but there was still one guy left who I hadn’t greeted. Zack stepped up to me and grinned. He looked exceptionally good again today like he almost always did.

He gave me a once over which earned an eye roll from me. Typical. When his eyes finally made their way to my own he was grinning slightly. “Happy birthday.” He said in a deep tone that made shivers run down my spine.

“Thank you.”

He stepped forward and grabbed a hold of my hips gently before pulling me in. He leaned down and placed a small kiss against my lips. “I missed you.” He said as he pulled away.

“I missed you too.”

He kept one arm around me as he steered me toward the rest of the group. His hand tucked lightly into my pocket and my head began to swim. While I was slightly confused as to what exactly we were at the moment, I decided to just go with the flow and enjoy tonight.

“Ready?” Matt asked as he spotted Zack and me.

“Where are we going?”

“Duke’s for dinner then to Slidebar!” Jimmy exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together deviously.

“Oh shit.” I laughed knowing Duke’s was going to be fun, but Slidebar was going to be over the top.

“We are kind of taking over Slidebar for your party.” Johnny said sheepishly, knowing exactly what I was thinking. The guys loved Slidebar but if they went without giving them a heads up it always got a bit crazy. They had learned to give them notice so they could control who came in on nights like those. It was a good thing they were friends with the manager of the bar or else they would be a pain in the ass to deal with.

“Oh my gosh you guys.”

“It’ll be fun!” Matt insisted as we filed out of Brian’s house toward the cars.

“Who’s driving?” I asked skeptically, knowing they would all want to drink the night away.

“Me and Brian.” Amanda said with a grin. “We’ll stay sober together.” She laughed further. She really was too funny these days.

I piled into Amanda’s car with Matt and Zack. That left poor Brian with Johnny and Jimmy. I hoped for their sake Brian didn’t pull over and boot the two of them out. They were known to be hand fulls at times but they were best friends so we really expected nothing less.

Matt was ever so kind enough to let Zack and I sit in back together. “Are you excited?” Zack asked me as we drove toward where Duke’s was situated at the base of the pier in Huntington.

“I guess. Usually my birthdays end up bombing so I’m still slightly skeptical.”

“Well this one won’t end up bombing I can promise you that.” He chuckled lightly as he grabbed a hold of my hand.

“Just so you know Mr. Vengeance, we may have made out the other night, but you never officially asked me out.” I teased as I pulled my hand from his. I may really like Zack but that doesn’t mean I’m going to cave into him right away. He still had to work a bit for me.

“Ouch. Burned.” Matt teased from the front as he turned around slightly. Zack too seemed taken aback but he quickly composed himself and must have realized I was right.

“Hmm. Fair enough.” He smirked.

“We’re doing presents at Duke’s too by the way.” Amanda said with a grin through the rear view mirror as we stopped at a red light.

“Manda, you know I don’t need any presents.” I whined slightly. I really didn’t need them. Having such great friends was a great enough gift for me and spending time with them was only an added bonus.

“It’s not a fucking birthday without presents.” Matt said with a laugh, which showed his dimples.

“Right.” Zack agreed.

“You guys are too much.” I said with a shake of my head.

We arrived at Duke’s and saw Brian, Johnny and Jimmy were already there. They were standing out front and Brian was trying to keep his cool while Jimmy had Johnny in a headlock.

As we approached them Brian looked incredibly grateful to see us and I had a feeling it had been a very long drive for him even though it was just down the street.

“Would you two fucking stop? For fuck’s sake we’re in public!” He roared. Jimmy instantly dropped his hold on Johnny but both men stood and snickered at Brian.

“Oh and saying fuck in public isn’t bad at all Brian.” Jimmy teased sarcastically in response to his friend’s outburst.

“Oh shove it up your ass Jimmy.” Brian retorted making the rest of us laugh. “Our reservation is ready.” He added on after to the rest of us. “So help me if you two get us kicked out. Save it for Slidebar.”

“Yes sir!” Jimmy saluted.

“I’m doomed tonight aren’t I…” I said to Amanda as we walked in behind the guys. Johnny had jumped up and gave Jimmy a swift kick in the ass before acting like a perfect gentleman.

“I think we both may be.” She whispered as we finally came to rest at a very long table. All of the guys took seats and it just so happened there were two left; one beside Zack and the other beside Brian. How convenient.

“Beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beeeeeeeeer!” Jimmy sang to himself as he flipped the menu open to the beer page instantly.

“You’re starting already?” Matt asked as he shook his head.

“Damn straight. If I’m not driving I’m going all out.”

It didn’t take us long to decide what we all wanted to order. The poor waitress had her hands full with this table that was for sure though. It seemed as if there was something special about every dish we ordered. Someone wanted no onions on theirs, no tomato on something else, no lemon juice on the fish, and the list just went on. I would be amazed if they got everyone’s orders right the first time around. Not to mention the drink orders and Jimmy’s change in beer order four times before he settled on something.

The chatter was loud and obnoxious on the guys’ part as we waited for our food. By the time it arrived I think the restaurant was ready for us to eat and be gone due to the noise level rising exponentially on our part. The guys tended to bicker about a lot of things but it was all in good-natured fun. Matt was always the neutral party in the argument and Brian and Zack tended to side with Jimmy, although I was pretty sure that was only to spite the shortest member of the group who they liked to tease. Poor Johnny always was the brunt of the joke but he handled it exceptionally well.

“Well now that we’ve all eaten why don’t we do presents!” Brian suggested as he reached his arm across the back of Amanda’s chair casually. She nodded enthusiastically and reached into her purse before fishing out a card that had my name scrawled across it in her neat handwriting.

“Wait! We have to get ours from Brian’s car!” Jimmy exclaimed before standing up and almost knocking his chair over.

“Just get them all Jim.” Matt said as Jimmy left the restaurant with Johnny in tow to help.

“You guys seriously didn’t need to get me anything.”

“We wanted to though.” Matt said, flashing me his dimples.

“And there’s really no arguing with us.” Zacky said as he mirrored Brian’s current position and put his arm around the back of my chair.

“Clearly.” I chuckled as I watched Jimmy and Johnny saunter in with several bags and a few big boxes all piled up.

“Oh you guys! Really?” I asked in shocked disbelief. The two guys stacked the pile onto the middle of the table in front of me. I could barely see Amanda over the big boxes. This was something I was definitely not expecting.

I was suspiciously eyeing a box that was wrapped in pink paper with little rainbow ponies on it and wondered who in the world that one was from. My money was on Jimmy but I couldn’t be too sure. Johnny was a likely suspect too.

“You should open mine first.” Matt grinned as he split the pile so everyone could now see me and handed me a blue and green bag.

“And why is that?” I teased as I grabbed the bag myself.

“Because it’s the most normal of the group.” He laughed as he took a swig of his beer.

Sounds of resent came from almost everyone else, at least everyone other then Jimmy and Johnny and that made me laugh to myself. I knew I could count on them for a laugh. I was in for it with their presents I’m sure.

I pulled the tissue paper from the bag and reached in to pull out a small box and what looked to be a photo album. It was bright blue and on the front was a photo of our entire group the day we had the beach bonfire. Upon flipping it open I saw it was filled with various pictures from not only that bonfire but other times we had all spent together. There was a photo of Zacky and I walking to Brian’s car one time, and a photo of me and Amanda posing in our bikinis on the day of the surfing competition. The album was filled with photos but it was void of decorations.

“I figured you would want to decorate the album yourself. I’m not too keen on that sort of thing.” Matt said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Upon glancing at the box I noticed it was a camera box and inside was a slim black camera. “And I figured you would need something to add to it with.”

“Oh Matt, I love it! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed in awe of the thought he must have put behind this gift. I know I never spent a lot of time with him but I knew he was always there for me and he was someone I considered to be a very close friend of mine.

“I figured you’d have fun with it.”

“Oh I will!”

“Me next.” Brian said as he shoved a medium sized box toward me. It was wrapped in blue sparkly paper and somehow I figured Amanda had told him blue was my favorite color.

As I tore off the paper and lifted the lid from the box my eyes widened. I picked up the piece of material inside and as I lifted it up I gasped. It was a new full body wetsuit. “Are you serious Brian?” I asked with wide eyes as my jaw dropped. These things were not cheap.

“I know you only have a shorty and that water gets damn cold in the winter. I figured then you could come out and surf with me in the winter.” He explained logically with a smirk. “I had some help with the sizing of course, but it’s your size.” He explained further as he nudged Amanda.

“Did she also tell you how I complain about being cold in my shorty suit all the time?” I laughed as I set the suit back in the box and replaced the lid.

“Only a million times.” He chuckled which earned him a smack in the arm from Amanda.

“Thank you Brian, you have no idea.”

“Me neeeeeeext!” Jimmy yelled, startling us all. He grabbed the box that was wrapped in little girl paper and plopped it down in front of me.

“I had a feeling this one was from you.” I chuckled as I tore at the paper.

“Damn, you know me well.”

I could only shake my head at Jimmy’s craziness. It was very much appreciated though. I adored him and his sense of humor. He could always make the best of any situation and he was good to have around in stressful times.

As I popped the lid off of the box I couldn’t help but start laughing hysterically. The rest of the guys leaned forward to see what was inside the box after seeing my reaction. I reached in and pulled out a handful of rainbow colored devil rubber duckies like you would put in the bathtub. The box probably had at least twenty of them in a variety of colors. All were situated so their eyes were staring up at me as I looked inside.

“Now you’ll never have bath time alone again!” He exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together. “One always needs proper company in the bathtub.” He said as if this were a well-known and accepted fact.

“You are one crazy fucker.” Brian told Jimmy as he looked at him as if he was off his rocker. Jimmy may be many things and I’d argue off his rocker was a good description from time to time.

“But you still love me!” He replied as he wrapped his arms around Brian and planted a big kiss on his cheek. Brian cringed away as everyone laughed at the tall, lanky drummer.

Johnny quietly handed me his box but I noticed there was an incredibly sly grin on his face. He may be quiet sometimes but he was still devious and just as cunning as Jimmy was.

Johnny’s box was just wrapped in plain happy birthday paper but it seemed he had gone a bit tape crazy. I ended up taking my steak knife and cutting it off because it had probably five layers of tape on the end of it. “Seriously Johnny?” I laughed as he shrugged and folded his arms over his chest.

“I like tape, what can I say?”

“Kinky.” Jimmy punched him in the shoulder, which earned him a retaliation punch in return.

“What the hell?” I questioned as I brought out what appeared to be a paintball gun. Now thoroughly confused I picked up the box that accompanied it which I soon realized were glow in the dark fluorescent green paintballs. Attached to the small box was a note written in Johnny’s chicken scratch.

“There’s a threat on your life the next cloudy night so you had better be prepared.” I read aloud. The note was followed by a smiley face that was winking.

“A threat on her life? By you? Like you could do any harm to her shortshit.” Matt laughed.

“Just you wait and see.” Johnny narrowed his eyes at his friend and stuck his tongue out very immaturely.

“I’ll have you know I played a great deal of airsoft back in high school. Bring it anytime Johnny.” I said as I motioned with my hands toward Johnny, taunting him in a friendly manner. “Thank you.” I added in with a sincere smile. Paintball was something I had always wanted to try but had never gotten the chance to. Now I had a reason to be prepared.

“And then there were two.” Zacky finally piped in as he handed me a small box he had pulled out of his pocket earlier. His arm was still around me and I found that comforting. I was, however, slightly concerned that he had been so quiet so far tonight. He was usually joking around and laughing with the guys but he had kept the witty comments at a minimum, which was odd.

The box was velvet and black but it was square and slightly larger then a jewelry box would be if it were a ring. I opened it and let out a small gasp as I stared at the contents. Inside was what I knew to be one of his famous Vengeance University ‘V’ blade necklaces. The only difference was that this one was silver and had diamonds embedded into it.

“I know you like things with a little bling.” He teased as I took it out of the box and held it out to him. He took it in his fingers and undid the clasp. I turned slightly and his arms crossed in front of me so they could bring the necklace around.

Once it was around my neck I turned and wrapped my arms around him. “I love it Zack.” I whispered in his ear before I planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”

He returned the kiss but his aim ended up purposefully on the side of my lips. “You’re welcome.”

The entire table let out sarcastic ‘awws’ which led to Zack rolling his eyes. He returned to having his arm wrapped around me and gave everyone a death glare. “Shut the fuck up.” He laughed.

Amanda was the only one not poking fun at us. Instead she was sitting there holding her card envelope with a grin on her face.

“And we saved the best for last.” She teased as she handed me the card.

The guys all erupted with complaints insisting that their gifts were the best. She was quick to shush them though and they must have known what it was she was giving me because when I started to open the card they all got very quiet.

Inside the card that had a puppy on the front was a picture. It took me a minute before I realized the picture was what looked like an empty room.

“I think I’m thoroughly confused.” I said after a moment of trying to figure out what exactly my present was.

“That’s your new bedroom… in the house my mom got me. I want you to be my roommate. As for rent, there is none, courtesy of my mom so you can’t pull the ‘I can’t afford it’ shit.”

I sat there speechless as she explained to me about the picture. I know the guys were all remaining silent because they wanted to see my reaction. The thought had never even crossed my mind that Manda might need a roommate in her new house. It was definitely too big for only one person but I never thought it would be me. I mean yes we are best friends but I hadn’t even thought of living with her before.

My apartment was so run down that this was actually a great time to move out. The idea of not having to pay rent was so lost on me that I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around it. “Are you serious? Amanda I can’t do that. There’s no way I can live in that house and not pay rent.”

“Yes there is and my mother insists on it. You’re already working your ass off at her café so she said it’s the least she could do.” The grin across Amanda’s face told me this was a non-negotiable offer. I was moving in whether I wanted to or not. She knew just how bad my apartment situation was and there was no way she was letting me out of this deal.

I looked at her and all of a sudden we both started squealing. “Roomies!” We chanted as we stood up and hugged eachother. The looks on the guys’ faces were those of sheer amazement. That’s what happens when you’re best friends and have been for years though. You finish eachother’s thoughts and sentences and this time was no exception.

“You guys are scaring me.” Jimmy said with wide eyes.

“Well that’s a turn of the tables if I ever saw one.” Amanda said to him as she stuck her tongue out. He retaliated with the same expression.

After I released Amanda I went down the table one by one and gave each guy a hug and a kiss on the cheek in thanks for the gifts. They truly were grander then I expected them to be.

“Time for Slidebar?” Matt asked.

“Time for Slidebar.” Zack affirmed with a nod of his head.