Wishes on Birthday Cake Candles

One our way back home, Bob decided to stop by the Coffee Bean. When we headed inside, a few teens whispered to one another, grinning. Dad smiled at me. As I had expected, one of the teenagers walked up to my Dad.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could get a picture?" the boy asked, smiling shyly.

"Sure," Bob replied, nodding.

The girl that was with the boy whipped out her phone and walked over to the two. After the classic countdown and "cheese", she snapped a photo and smiled. The boy thanked Bob once more before grabbing the girl's hand and sitting back down at their table.

Dad got us our two cups of coffee and put his arm around my shoulder, walking outside with me. Once we had gotten into his car, Bob turned to me.

"Hey, Jose?" he asked.

I turned to his direction. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering, well, do you want the world to know about you yet? Or should we keep it a secret until you want?" Bob asked.

I shrugged. "I'm fine with either. Whichever you think is the better choice."

"Okay," Bob replied, nodding.

Venom was meowing anxiously at the door when we got home. Bob picked him up and kissed the cat's head, stroking his dark fur. Venom purred approvingly as Dad did so, his eyes shut gingerly. I smiled and headed up the stairs and into my room.

As I had expected, I had a few new messages on my phone. I listened to them as I sat down on my bed, kicking off my shoes. Of course, the first one was from Nate.

"Josie, I miss you so much! How's Bob? Is he feeding you? Have you met the others? If you meet Ray, can you get his autograph for me? Ahh heck, get me all of their autographs, Girly. Well, Lacy is pretty much about to pee her pants she wants to talk to you so bad. Bye bye!"

I laughed to myself and waited for Lacy's message. It didn't take long, but it was a surprise when I got it.

"I hate you! Nah, I'm just kidding. I just wanted to scare you when you first heard the message. Well, we're already missing you a ton. How are the MCR guys? I bet their really nice. Get me a picture of Mikey, please. And tell him to sign it saying 'To Lacy, my lovely number one fan'. Please and thank you, Sis.

"Alright, that's all for now. Toodles, Jose," she ended.

I laughed to myself once more and saved the messages. I would definitely have been going back to listen to them once more. After setting my phone upon my nightstand, I lied back on my bed and stared around my room. It looked so much like my old room, I felt as if I really was back home.

Footsteps came racing up the stairs and grabbed my attention. I sat up slightly to see Frank waiting at my door, grinning.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I replied, sitting up.

"What's up?" he asked, sitting next to me.

"Just chillin' out," I answered.

Frank nodded. "Wanna make cupcakes?"

I laughed and shrugged. "Sure."

Frank dragged me down the stairs, a grin on his face. Bob raised an eyebrow, but rolled his eyes and laughed when he saw Frank pull out a box of cupcake mix from his messenger bag.

Frank and I set up all the stuff in the kitchen before busying ourselves with the cooking. I had made cupcakes countless times, so it was pretty simple. Frank stuck his finger into the batter and took a small lick. He smacked his lips and nodded in approval.

"Good. Very good," he said, taking note.

I laughed and shook my head. "Don't eat that. You'll get salmonella."

Frank raised his eyebrows. "Smarty pants."

"Fatty pants," I retorted.

Frank laughed and pushed me to the side. We sat down at the kitchen table after setting our batter into the oven. Frank fumbled with a cat toy he had found next to his chair, talking to me.

"Do you play any instruments?" Frank asked.

"Nope," I answered.

Frank's eyes met mine. "Well, we'll fix that."

"Good luck," I muttered.

"You're quite stubborn, aren't you?" Frank mumbled.

"You bet," I laughed.

Frank laughed and nodded. "Then you really are related to Bob."

"I heard that, Iero," Dad answered as he walked into the room.

Frank and I laughed loudly, smiling at Bob. He ruffled Frank's hair and sat next to me at the table, passing Venom to me. I stroked the cat and looked up to my Dad.

"I was talking to your Mom about school," Bob said. "She wants you to go to a public school."

I frowned. "Why?"

"She doesn't think an online homeschool will help you much," Bob sighed.

"Dang it," I mumbled.

"Don't worry. If any of the kids at school are jerks, we'll beat 'em up," Frank said.

"No we won't," Dad chuckled.

Frank looked at me and nodded, winking. I chuckled and hugged Venom lightly, dreading the idea of going back to school. After a few more minutes of thinking, I looked over to my Dad. I had to ask him the most dreadful question of my life.

"So, when so I go to school?"