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“Actually, I was sure you had forgotten.”

My cousin hugged me tightly.

“I would never forget, Kenny. Happy birthday, little cousin.” I barely had to thank her, as she immediately got excited and urged me to open the box, where I found a short, sparkly black dress. It was beautiful and I loved it.

It was impossible to keep a secret from Sidney and Jazmine, they discovered very quickly that it was my birthday and they wanted to kill me for not having told me about the special day before and at the same time congratulating me. In the end, we all left together to go to karaoke.

Veronica and Troian joined us, Emily said she couldn’t go because she needed to study but wished me a happy birthday. I thanked her as good manners dictated, however, the atmosphere between her, Troian and Veronica remained very tense and this was palpable in the air.

We took rideshare cars, and when I opened the bar door, I was greeted by something I never could have expected. The entire team was there, along with Derek, Ivan, and a few of his friends. When they yelled “Surprise!” I nearly had a heart attack before freezing in pure joy. A surprise party was the last thing I’d anticipated, but I was thrilled they’d thought of throwing one for me. Obviously, a lot of this had Colleen’s fingerprints all over it, but I was still happy everyone had been involved and kept it a secret from me all day.

My eyes scanned the room and landed on Hayley behind the bar. She smiled and raised a glass in greeting. I smiled backbut stayed with my friends, making my way around to thank everyone for coming.

By the end of the night, I found myself standing between Colleen, Derek, and Veronica, my girl visibly holding herself back from touching me. I was doing the same, but I tried not to dwell on it too much.

“Happy birthday, Winfrey!” Derek sometimes seemed to try hard to tolerate my presence despite everything.

He was friendly and polite, but cautious around me. He seemed highly skeptical of my sudden closeness to Veronica, almost as if he couldn’t believe we could just be friends. Deep down, we were more than friends, but he didn’t need to know that just yet.

“Thank you, Torres.”

“Argh!” Veronica let out a loud, exasperated noise. “Can you two act like normal people who actually like each other?” I stared at her in confusion. “D, you’re dating Colleen—dating!” she snapped, glaring at her brother before turning to me. “Kendra is important to Colleen, and she’s my… friend.” I just hoped Derek hadn’t noticed the brief pause in her words. “I don’t want any awkward tension between you two.”

I knew I had been wrong in the past and Derek had every reason in the world to not like me, but Veronica was able to forgive me and so could he.

Derek took a few deep breaths before agreeing to his sister's request.

“Okay, you're right, Roni. But keep in mind that my “happy birthday” is honest from the first time.” He winked at me and I laughed weakly.

“I appreciate it.”

My cousin seemed in heaven with my resolution on good terms with Derek Torres.

“Okay, shall we go for the shots?” Colleen asked, clearly excited. “It’s your birthday, Ken—we deserve it.”

I wasn’t sure how my birthday justifiedthemdeserving anything, but I wasn’t going to argue. A mischievous smile spread across my cousin’s face. And there went the first opportunity to throw all my judgment out the window. The first shot was followed by the second and I had to remind Colleen that she was taking pain meds for her arm and shouldn't drink too much.

“Ken, I'm not on the team anymore...” She recalled with a bitter tone. “Let me drink as much as I want, please.”

In her eyes there was the frustration of recent events. I knew she didn't have any kind of grudge against me, but she was upset about the situation and it was understandable. Even so, it pained me to see my cousin like this.

“Plus, Derek will take care of me later…” She looked at her boyfriend, who smiled sweetly.

I had already seen his flirtatious and fuck boy smile, I had already seen a calm smile and I had already seen him filled with hatred, but a sweet smile was new. And as incredible as it might seem, it suited him well.

“I really will!” Derek wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, stealing a kiss full of desire from her.

I looked away immediately, finding Veronica dancing and shouting to the song that was playing along with Troian and Sidney. The three seemed to be having a lot of fun on the dance floor as Jazmine and Ivan sang a song from High SchoolMusical at the karaoke. If I remember correctly it was “Star Of Something New”.

A contemporary classic.

I decided I needed some water and went to the bar to get a bottle.

Luckily for me, or not, Hayley helped me.

“Hey… Long time, huh?! Happy birthday, girl.”

“Thank you, Hayley.” The atmosphere wasn't too weird between us, but it also ended up not being one of the most pleasant. “Yeah, can you get me some water?”