Unison

Maddy's POV
"No!" I get up from the beanbag chair and cross the room so I'm standing before her desk. "You're the one that doesn't understand. How can you even think she was ever trying to help me?" I'm yelling and I can feel my cheeks becoming red. How is it possible for her to say that I don't understand the fine details of my own past? The stupid yellow owl bobble head jiggles as if only my voice waves were enough force to make it move. Sam just sits there with this stupid look on her face, hands folded beneath her chin and taking in my outburst, but not really listening. Keep in mind she insisted that I call her by her first name because it make our relationship 'more personal'.

I storm out of her office, down the creaky hallway and into a waiting room full of patients, who're looking up from their water stained magazines to see what the distraction is. I make a point of not looking at any of them as I find my way to the door, fishing around for my car keys all the while with my free hand.

I toss my jacket into the back seat and I get into my old VW Bug, slamming the door shut behind me. I take my phone out of my purse, plopping the heavy weight down into the empty passenger's seat and pull out of that god-forsaken parking lot as soon as I've got the engine running. With my spare hand, I scroll through the contacts on my cellphone to find the right number. The ringing agitates me and I'm relieved when he finally answers.

"Maddy!" Alex exclaims in a gravely voice. He must have just woken up. He clears his throat. "How'd therapy go?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Last minute I flip on my directional and cross lanes so I can pull into the Dairy Queen parking lot. An unfriendly driver flips me off and I merely smile and wave. "I'm going to pick up a cake for tonight, okay? What kind do you like?"

"Already taken care of."

"Oh, wow." That's kind of a surprise. "Thanks." I make a U and pull back out and onto the main road. "Who's coming?"

"Anyone you invited, plus Jack, Rian and Zach, obviously."

I roll my eyes at my room-mate's sass. I still haven't really gotten used to everything that comes with living in Maryland, except for one thing. The weather's in its cross over period where it's not exactly winter, but it sure as hell isn't warm enough to be spring. Other than the weather, everyone I met on tour is far away, mostly in California or somewhere else on the west coast. The party is going to be extremely small, like when you're really little and your parents invite mostly your family to your birthday and not really any of the kids your age because you haven't exactly gotten around to making friends yet.

"I'll be home in a few minutes then."

"Alright, I'll start getting everything ready." I agree and we hang up. The digital clock radio in my dashboard says that it's just about seven, meaning I'm running on time.

I resist the urge to stop and get something to eat even though my lunch was cut short because of therapy. Alex has already told me that he's ordering pizza and I don't want to show up to my own party, no matter how small, with no appetite.

It's another ten minutes or so before I pull into our gated community and find our condo amongst all the other identical ones. It feels good to be home after chasing around either screaming or hyper toddlers all day. I take my shoes off by the door and walk across the living room carpet in my socks, turning to my left to head into the kitchen. Alex is busily placing plastic plates at each place around the table. As I suspected, there's a pile of pizza boxes in the center.

"Hey," I greet him, shoving my coat into the closet. "Would you kill me if I had a slice early? I'm starving."

Before he gets a chance to answer, the door bursts open and in come Jack, Rian and Zach. Jack's got a kazoo in his mouth and some party hats in his hands.

"Someone else is here. They don't look very nice." Jack hands me a party hat and then pulls me into a hug. "Happy birthday."

The hug doesn't last very long and I don't have time to greet Rian and Zach, because the door bell rings throughout the house. I smooth out my long gray cardigan as Jack happily blows on his kazoo from behind me. When I pull back the green door, my three co-workers come into view.

"Madilynn! Thank you so much for inviting us tonight. I'm so glad you consider us your friends." Dwayne takes my hand in his and smiles at me, the light reflecting off his glasses.

I remember how I had called him, Marcus and Emily and explained how it was only a few close friend's coming to my apartment tonight. Dwayne took that seriously to heart. In all honesty, I used to think he was gay, and I still would if it wasn't for how his wife showed up at the daycare a few months ago with flowers and a Happy Anniversary card. Needless to say, I was proven very wrong.

I step aside and let in my three friends. I notice Emily's still wearing the soft pink work polo with the little baby lamb sewn into the pocket over her left breast.

"I'm sorry," she tells me in a quiet voice. She looks down as she tucks stray pieces of blonde hair behind her pale ears. "I didn't have time to change. Little Cassady's mother wanted to talk to me about her behavior today and it took up a lot longer than I expected."

I give her a reassuring smile and tell her it's no problem.

"Time to eat!" Alex takes the last bottle of Dr. Pepper out of the fridge and places it on the counter in line with two other bottles of soda and a jug of iced tea.

It takes everyone a few minutes to pour themselves a drink and then sit. Marcus ends up beside Jack, which puts me on edge since Marcus doesn't exactly find lack of formalities, or dick jokes, humorous. It's too late to do anything about it now because we're all sat down and taking turns grabbing slices of pizza.

The only reason why I invited him tonight is because Emily can't keep her mouth shut. She would have gone blabbing about the party and he would have came around asking why my 'favorite boss' wasn't also invited. From what I understand, they've known each other for years and Marcus landed her a job at the daycare last summer after her assistant principle boyfriend broke her heart. Her and I have always tolerated and only semi-liked each other since we're both lonely and in need of friends. Alex has been dieing to meet people from work, and it would have been embarrassing to tell him that I didn't have anyone there that I actually really click with.

Dwayne turns the pizza box towards me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "So Maddy tells us you're in a band?"

"The second box is veggie," Alex tells me quietly as Jack begins his rant about playing guitar in All Time Low. He and I exchange smiles from across the table. Veggie is my favorite.

"So you play rock music, then?" Marcus intervenes. His pizza sits on his red plastic plate as elegantly as a slice of greasy pizza could possibly sit. I watch as he reaches for a napkin that's not there and then I quickly retrieve the stack on the counter behind me. He thanks me before Jack continues.

"I guess you could call it that."

I bite into the pizza and it tastes so good despite the grease that sort of pools up in the center if I squeeze the sides together too hard. I watch as the conversation plays out and silently pray to myself that opposites attract in this situation.

"We've never really had any problems," Jack goes on. "Well, I mean, there was that one time...."

"What happened?" Emily asks curiously.

I go to kick Jack under the table, but I miss and end up kicking the hard leg of the chair instead. I wince and everyone turns towards me, my toes bent painfully as pain shoots through them. "Sorry," I mumble.

"Some girl's parents weren't too happy with us," Jack laughs as he remembers the story. "His little panties were in a bunch because I publicly announced that Alex has a small cock."

Alex snorts and then laughs from where he sits to my right. I can't help but notice how Marcus sits wide-eyed and how Emily shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

Jack goes on, not noticing that his story is only found amusing by two people in the room, one of them being himself. "I mean," he begins again with laughter evident in his voice, "the guy was more upset about me saying Alex has a small cock then Alex has ever been when I mention his small cock."

No one says anything, but Dwayne nods his head and I can tell it's just a gesture to remain polite. I change the subject to something that will hopefully shut Jack up. The daycare.

"So I think Heidi's really coming out of her shell," I say.

Emily perks up and looks towards me with a small nod. "Yes, she really has. She wasn't as clingy with you as she usually is."

Jack laughs. "The kids actually like you?!"

"Don't sound so surprised," Dwayne tells him. "Maddy's actually really good with kids."

I think of Vic. Mike and I are guilty of secret phone calls now and then just to check up on each other. Apparently Vic got together with this girl about a month or so after they got off Warped going on two summers ago. I can't remember her name, but she got pregnant the spring after and out came little Jamie Fuentes nine months later. Apparently things really started to change for Vic after he became a father. Mike's been trying to snap me a picture of Jamie, now that's she's getting bigger, without Vic noticing, but it's hard because he's always got one eye on her. So my old bedroom back in San Diego has been remade into a nursery. Only Alex knows that I still periodically talk to Mike, but he doesn't know about Vic's daughter. I figure whatever Mike tells me stays with me and vis-versa.

When I look up from my plate, everyone's looking at me. "What?" I ask.

"Jack was just enlightening us on your many talents," Alex informs me with a mischievous smile.

"Kids aren't the only thing you're good with." Jack winks suggestively towards me and then raises his eyebrows a couple times. "Am I right?"

My stomach drops and I'm sure my emotions can be seen on my face, because Alex suddenly stands. "I think it's time for cake," he says, changing the subject at the same time I tell the other awkward three, "he doesn't know what he's talking about."

The tension around the table is high and I get up to take the boxes to the counter and wrap the extra slices in foil. Emily offers to help me and I eagerly agree since cleaning up has never been something I enjoy. Meanwhile, I hear Dwayne and Marcus talking about Dwayne's wife, who's on a vacation with her sister.

Alex and Jack head downstairs to get the cake out of the mini fridge in the basement. They put it there because they didn't want me to see it before it was time for me to blow my candles out. Although me seeing it ahead of time was very unlikely due to the hours I've been working lately. Either way, they come up the stairs a minute or so later with several individual candles lit on top of chocolate frosting. Jack hits the lights, sending the room into the type of darkness that causes tripping over furniture. Alex begins the song with the same voice that I hear singing lazily every afternoon in our large shower, and then everyone else joins in. Emily and I go back to the table, leaving the empty boxes on the counter by the sink. Alex places the cake in the center of the table where the pizza previously was and it's then that I see what he had the store write in pink.

Happy Birthday Dick Licker

Emily's hand goes to cover her mouth in shock. Marcus stares at the lettering with a clenched jaw while Dwayne looks at me confused as I desperately try not to burst out laughing.

"Blow out your candles!" Jack demands, and it isn't until then that the song has ended several seconds ago and the room has become silent.

I do as he said, not bothering with the make-a-wish ordeal. As Alex picks out the candles I count them to help bring my mind out of the negative spiral it's been heading in since Jack first opened his mouth. Ironically, it's a technique Sam taught me when I first stated seeing her. My eyes remain on Alex's hands as he places the melted wax on a separate plate and then hands me the stack to place cake slices on. I cut a triangle out and carefully begin to serve it when something soft and sticky hits me in the face, covering my vision.

The entire room seems to gasp with the exception of a few familiar laughs. I feel around for a napkin and then someone places one in my hand so I can wipe the frosting from my eyes. I'm thankful that I had no time to make any special effort to look nice tonight, otherwise it'd now be for nothing. Alex swears and there's a splat as cake hits the kitchen tile. When I can see again, I open my sugar-coated lashes to see Jack having a laughing fit and Marcus, Emily and Dwayne even more ridged than before.

"Someone needs a drink," Jack says, slapping a frosting covered hand onto Marcus's shoulder. "What can I make you, buddy?"

A smirk crosses Jack's face when Marcus looks up at him, confused. Jack takes his hand out from behind his back and hits Marcus square in the face with a fistful he must have taken while I couldn't see. Emily jumps up from her seat as if she's scared that she'll be the next cake victim. The only noise in the room is Jack, Rian, Zach and Alex laughing.

"I'm so sorry," I tell Marcus when the shock has subsided. I grab a bunch of napkins and go around to the other side of the table to help him. Emily takes them from me before I have the chance to offer my assistance, not looking at me, and then wipes the frosting carefully off Marcus's face.

"I think it's best if we get going," Dwayne says as he stands. Emily and Marcus gather there things and walk out of the kitchen. Dwayne is the only one who mouths, "see you Monday," before stepping out shutting the door behind him.

I'm angry but I don't want to be ungrateful. They did do all of this for me, after all. I just hoped that there would be another Monday at work after tonight. To avoid blowing up at them all despite how much I want to, I go to the bathroom to try and work the cake out of my hair without saying a word. Jack follows me.

"Maddy, I'm sorry."

I wet a small clothe and he leans against the door frame watching me. "I really didn't mean for them to get mad or whatever."

"It's alright, Jack." The short pieces near my ear are all stuck together and hard. I realize this is going to require a shower. "I'm not going to be able to get this out," I think out loud. I place the soggy, frosting stained clothe down on the edge of the sink and sigh, looking at myself in my mirror.

"Do you want some help?" he offers. I know that if he's offering to help me then he must really feel bad.

"No, it's okay, I've got it."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright, well I guess I'm going to head home now.... Are you sure you're not mad?"
The side of my forehead is red from me scrubbing the frosting off and his eyes glance towards it before looking down at me. I give him another hug.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad because there's a good chance that I'm fired now. This means that I'm going to have to find another job, which isn't easy. And this also lessens the chance of me going to college in the fall." Not that I really want to go to college, but I don't plan on working at some stupid coffee shop or something for the rest of my life. Then again, the less money I have the more of an excuse I have to finally quit therapy without having Sam or Alex on my case. "So I'm not mad at you," I tell him, more honestly this time as I let that last thought set in. "I'm just stressed out I guess."

"You're always stressed out."

"Yeah, I know." I let him go and toss the clothe into the laundry basket.

"Well, I hope you had a good birthday even if I threw cake at you and scared your friends away."

I can't help but to laugh a little at how innocent he sounds. We say our goodbyes even though I'm sure they'll all be back tomorrow, and I go into the kitchen to help Alex clean up before hopping into the shower.