Happy Birthday Dee!

"Happy Birthday, Dee!!!"

"Happy Birthday!" screamed Mom as I came down the stairs to my bedroom. [The date: 18 August – The Summer Vacations]

"I am 15, a true teenager!" I yelled ecstatic about embarking on my second year being a teenager.

Dad came over and hugged me.

"Happy Birthday, Dee! So, what are you planning to do today?"

"Party!" I instantly replied jumping on to my favorite comfy couch.

"Where?" Mom asked flipping pancakes while sipping her coffee.

"I was thinking of Exotica. You know how the three of us love the place."

Triiiiiing! The phone rang.

I sprang off my chair and pounced on the cream receiver.

"Hello?"

"Happy Birthday, Dippy Di Do Da!

"Merci beaucoup, Nicky!"

"De rien, De rien! (We like exercising the little French we know.) So, what’s on the cards tonight?"

"I was thinking of an ordinary blast at the Exotica. How does that sound?"

"Ordinary? It’s your birthday. It should be extraordinary and I mean "extra" ordinary."

"Okay, I know you are jealous. Just try not making it so evident."

"Me, jealous? Whatever gave you that idea? Anyway, did Tumi call?"

"No, not yet. If she doesn’t, she’s going to be sent to a distant lonely planet away from civilization."

"Oh, poor thing. So when are we going to meet?"

"Why not get together at Exotica at eight? We’ll have some grub, drop in at Movie Mania, grab a movie and occupy ourselves for the rest of the night at my place."

"Sounds good to me. Mom’s calling. Got to go. See you at eight. Enjoy your day. Bye."

"Bye, Nicky."

"Was that Nicky?" asked Dad.

"Yes, you heard everything, right? Is that plan fine?"

"No problem. It’s your day. You can do whatever you want today as long as it’s right."

My Dad, he can never complete a sentence without a hint of advice.

Triiiing!

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Happy birthday, fellow teenager!" yelled Tumi.

"Thank you, fellow teenager!"

"So what’s happened so far?"

"Oh, not much. Nicky called. We are planning to meet at the Exotica. Is that OK?"

"Sounds super."

"Okay. Let’s meet at Exotica at eight. On the way to my place, we’ll get a movie."

"Nice plan."

"All right, then. Everything’s settled."

"Okay, hope your day rocks. See you at Exotica. Bye."

"Thanks, Bye."

Nick Robertson and Tumiana Montgomery. My pals. My chummies. My amigos. The most incredible people in my world. We have been family friends ever since preschool. Practically grown up together. The three of us have shared absolutely everything. Our sorrows, our happy occasions, our victories and our defeats. A close-knit trio who would do anything to stay together and protect each other.

Nick Robertson is ... the greatest guy I have ever known! He’s not at all like the other boys I know: snobbish and wannabe thugs. Nicky is a confident boy with his own principles and beliefs. One who’s sensitive, kind and trustworthy and at times, over-protective. And, that can be so annoying sometimes. Believe me! He’s worse than my parents!

For instance, I was once invited to a party this distant cousin of mine was throwing. Since he had never met him, he almost prohibited me from going. We had a small dispute and I finally agreed to Nicky dropping me off and picking me up.

But, as I said before, he’s a great person. One in a zillion.

Tumiana. I have not met any other like her. She’s unique and like Nicky, has her philosophy. And, one trait that stands out in her is her frankness. And, what’s best about her is she makes you aware that she’s going to say what’s on her mind. However, she doesn’t do that with Nicky and me. She knows that we understand her. She’s a great girl and a shopping freak. Nothing can please her more than a good shopping spree.

The three of us have one big thing in common, besides having similar views on issues and identical tastes when it comes to music and clothes, and that is FOOD. We are passionate about lasagnas and salads and adore almost everything else. Oh, we can eat almost anything. A party at school? We would go just for the food. A boring exhibition serving snacks during its recess? We are sure to be there!

We do almost everything together that I sometimes wonder, what each of us would do without one another in case something comes up and we get separated. I can’t even start to imagine how my life would be without Tumi and Nicky who – and I mean this literally - I can run to for help anytime as they are both just a two minute walk from my home. But separation is bound to happen someday right? We now attend the same school but that doesn’t mean we’d end up in the same university right? But that’s ages away, I just turned 15 for heaven’s sake! That’s me, always thinking too far ahead into the future.

"Ding... Dong!" The bell ringing yanked me out of my trance.

I ran to the door and flung it open. There stood my favorite aunt and uncle, Aunt Cathy (Mom’s sister) and Uncle Ralph. They walked in and Aunt Cathy hugged me tight.

"Happy Birthday, Dee!"

"Many happy returns of the day!" My uncle shook hands with me. He was always the formal type. But, warm at the same time.

Uncle Ralph made his way to the kitchen but Aunt Cathy instead of following him dragged me up the stairs.

"What’s going on?" I asked, curious.

She pushed me into my room and closed the door. Then, she opened her humungous handbag and took out a colorful box and handed it over to me.

"Open it," she urged.

I opened it. A hairy rubber spider sprang out!!! I jumped. And immediately started laughing. Now, who would expect that for a birthday gift?

"Oops, wrong box." And, she rummaged in her handbag again. Aunt Cathy produced another colorful box. I readied myself to expect anything. On guard, Diane.

I opened it cautiously, keeping all my senses alert. I relaxed when I saw what was inside. A gorgeous silver necklace with a crystal pendant in the shape of a teardrop. It looked so pure, so beautiful.

I look up at my aunt. She’s gaping at me expectantly, her face creased with worry and doubt.

"It’s beautiful. I love it," I whispered.

"Oh, thank the heavens, she loves it." My aunt visibly relaxes and flashes a dazzling smile. "I thought you would hate it."

"How can anyone hate such a beautiful object?" Surely, there must be a synonym for ‘beautiful’ in the English language?

"OK, tension’s over. Lets go downstairs."

That’s Aunt Cathy for you, worries about the weirdest things.

Downstairs, Uncle Ralph and Dad are watching a football match. Mom is talking to them and flipping pancakes.

"Where were you two?" Mom asks suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," Aunt Cathy replies instantly. Mom and Aunt Cathy start a heated conversation about the new sale in town.

I went out through the back door. All the houses in the neighborhood have a pretty, large garden surrounding the house. An overhead view would show rows of tiny houses set far apart from each other with these enormous green belts encircling them. I just adore our garden, so peaceful and enthralling with patches of golden daffodils and a whole area of roses (my mothers favorite flower) in all colors. But her favorite is the yellow rose because she believes it epitomizes euphoria and golden sunshine and all things nice, especially love and friendship. On the veranda, we have installed a spacious swing bench enough for three people to sit on comfortably.

So, I sit on it, my feet starting the to and fro motion and open this book I have been trying to finish for quite a long time now. It’s about a girl who had an accident and as a result, now has amnesia. It’s pretty interesting how her family, her friends and her boyfriend try to make her remember them.

I am not the type of person who can sit around for long. I suddenly remember that I have to go to Exotica tonight and I yet, hadn’t decided what to wear! Everyone’s as I left them. Dad and Uncle Ralph, their faces literally an inch away from the TV screen. Mom and Aunt Cathy are now talking about the best way to roast a turkey.

I go up to my room. My room, my safe haven, seems alienated from the rest of the house. It’s quiet, serene and the window opens up to the front garden, facing the street. The walls are painted a deep orange, one of my favorite colors. My floor is carpeted in a shade of plum to contrast with the walls. Mom lets me pick a handful of daffodils for the vase by my window every morning and sporadically allows me to pick her roses. I make sure my vase is always filled with flowers; it helps my room look sunny, bright and vibrant, almost natural. According to me, it’s the best room in the house and if you get a chance to see it, I am confident you’d agree.

My wardrobe, which is always in a horrible mess - I must confess - is covered with photographs of Nicky, Tumi and me. You know, parties, camp-outs, trips, theme parks, sleep-ins etc. etc. The list goes on. As I said before, we do everything together. Point to any pic and I’d be able to tell you a amusing story to go along with it. Inside my wardrobe are two of my most important assets. My clothes and my accessories.

"A new addition," I say to the mess inside. I place the box within containing the necklace within.

All right, here’s another confession, I talk to myself. It helps me organize myself, especially when I have loads of work to do. Nicky and Tumi tease me about it good naturedly, but I don’t give two hoots, it helps me!

I open the middle door of my three-door wardrobe, and a whole pile of newly washed clothes tumble out.

"Oh bother, I have to iron all these."

I dig through the jumble of clothes looking for my favorite black trousers and I finally spot them peeking out beneath my mauve T-shirt. I get hold of the trousers, tugging with all my might, managing to release more garments onto the floor.

"I promise to tidy it all up tomorrow."

I had around three hours to lunch, so I heated up my iron, put on a CD compiled by Nicky and Tumi and while singing along to my favorite tunes, I commenced ironing the huge mound of clothes by my bed.

Before I knew it, it was already 2 p.m., I had ironed everything except a cotton blouse, which I dreaded ironing and kept putting for last and Aunt Cathy was yelling, asking me to come down for lunch. I cleared up my room, laying the clothes I was planning to wear to Exotica on the bed and headed downstairs. I knew I won’t be able to come upstairs to accomplish any of my tasks for they were all planning to watch this award winning 1942 movie that had just come out on DVD. They called it a ‘classic’, ‘the best movie of all time’- Casablanca.