Wishes on Birthday Cake Candles

On Saturday, Lacy and my other best friend, Nate, came over to help make food for my birthday. It wasn't going to be a big party. I had never really liked being in the spotlight. Well, only when my friends got me extremely hyper on candy. Then I would be glad to become the star.

Nate was a bit more normal than Lacy, but I only a tad. He always wore black clothing except for his famous hot pink belt. His Mom made him wear it one day, and he's worn it everyday since. Nate loved to talk. He seriously could talk for hours and never get tired. Lacy always hung up first when the three of us had three way calls.

"Hun, don't eat all of the icing," Nate said to Lacy as she licked her icing coated fingertips.

Lacy rolled her eyes and turned to Nate. "Open your mouth."

"Why?" he asked.

When he had opened his mouth, Lacy stuck her finger in it. I burst into laughter, doubling over. Nate pulled away, a glare on his face.

"Gross!" he whined.

Lacy smirked and went back to testing all of the icing. Nate and I were better at cooking, so she decided it was her job to just test all of our foods. I was fine with that. It was better than her staring a fire.

"So, do you want your gifts after we finish up or tonight?" Nate asked me, leaning against the white counter.

"Tonight," I said, feeling my stomach flutter excitedly.

"You excited?" he asked.

I nodded. Lacy decided it was her turn to talk. With one last lick of her finger, she opened her mouth to speak. Nate cut in, though. He always loved ticking off our strange friend.

"What should I wear? I don't want your family to think I'm some freak," Nate asked, his brown eyes bright.

"Anything. Actually, I would rather you wear something that would scare my family away. My aunt Melly and her two devil children are coming," I muttered.

Lacy and Nate shuddered. They knew of my freakish family. Most of my family was okay, but my aunt Melly and her two sons scared the crap out of everyone. Aunt Melly was a clean freak and yelled even if I dropped a piece of candy on the ground. Yet, she didn't get mad when her two demented children destroyed my newest piece of artwork I had done in Art Class at school.

Thank God her husband was sane.

Mom walked into the kitchen, fixing her hoop earring. She gave Nate a smile and looked back to me.

"I have to go help out my friend for a bit at her house. I'll be back in an hour, kay?" she said.

I nodded and waved. She said one last goodbye before walking out of the house and getting into her little Camry. Once she was backed out of the drive way and on the street, Nate dashed over to the stereo and set up my iPod.

"Don't pick some stupid techno beat, Nate. We know it's your guilty pleasure," Lacy yelled, grinning.

Nate hurried into the room, his eyes narrowed at Lacy. She waved and looked back down at her chipped black nails.

"How did you know?" he interrogated.

"It's called spying on you at midnight, Sweety," she replied.

Nate crinkled up his nose and walked back over to the stereo. I shut the oven door and sat on top of the counter, looking around the old kitchen. I was surprised the three of us fit into it. I was also surprised Lacy's chair hadn't collapsed. It was at least thirty years old and the wood was chipping.

My Mom loved to save things. She would even just go buy something old at a garage sale. Mom had a weird obsession with antiques. She said they were pieces of our history and we needed to be reminded of them. It reminded me of something a fifty year old woman would say. My Mom was only twenty eight. She had quite a ways to go.

My Chemical Romance played on my iPod in the living me, breaking me from my thoughts. Lacy nodded in approval and invited Nate to sit down. She patted his head. The teenage boy rolled his eyes and slapped her hand away.

Lacy shot up from her seat, her index finger pointed up towards the ceiling and a grin on her lip gloss covered lips.

"We should dress up like My Chem for tonight! That would probably be enough to drive away the Wicked Witch and The Devil Twins!" She yelled.

Nate and I changed looks, both of our eyebrows raised. We nodded and went along with it. She was probably right. Besides, it wasn't very often I got to wear my favorite outfit in the world.

After raiding my closet, we each found our costumes and applied our makeup. By the time we were finished, I looked somewhat like Frank, Lacy looked like a girly Mikey, and Nate looked like a mix between Ray and Gerard. He was only missing the afro.

"Josie?" My Mom called out from the hallway.

"Yeah?" I answered, giggling with Nate and Lacy.

"What are you three doing in the bathroom?" she asked.

"Go into the living room. We'll be right out," Lacy said.

After a few seconds, Mom walked down. We all fixed up a bit and stepped out, giggling like little kids. Mom began to get up to check on us, but we were soon in full view. She laughed and sighed, holding her forehead in her hands.

"I haven't seen those outfits in a few weeks," she said.

"Maybe it'll scare Aunt Melly and The Demons away," I said.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Mom muttered as she searched for her camera.

When she finally found it, she smiled and told us to get together. I threw my arms over Nate and Lacy's shoulders, trying to grin as big as I could. Lacy pulled her glasses on and gave a tiny smirk while Nate tried to do that bunny thing Gerard did.

"Ready, one, two three!" Mom said.

She snapped the photo, making the somewhat dim room flash brightly. I pulled my arms back down and looked over at the clock. Only thirty more minutes until my wish might have come closer. I sighed deeply and looked over to Lacy. She knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Maybe he'll come," she said.

"Yeah, maybe," I mused.