On the day of my friend Dylan’s party, I was sort of in a panic since I had not bought a present for him yet. If you have met me before, you’ll know I have OCD and get really stressed if I’m not prepared for something. Dad had said he was going to buy a gift in the morning, but he made us go running first. I despise running. I ended up buying a gift card, because I’m a cheapskate (just like someone else I know). I was feeling like a pretty lame best friend for getting someone a gift card for their birthday. At the scheduled time, I arrived at Dylan’s house. I rung the doorbell.
Silence.
I wait a few moments, and ring it again.
Silence.
At this point, I’m starting to feel like an idiot. I walk around the back to see if anyone is there. I don’t see anyone. I check if I’m on time on the right day. I am. I try the doorbell one last time.
Nothing.
Then it occurred to my narrow-minded brain hat the doorbell did not work. I knock the door three times with my fist. Finally, Dylan opens the door and says, “Oh, it’s you.”
I haven’t seen him in nearly a year, and this is what he says.
I had come early, so only Dylan’s relatives were here. In retrospect, I should’ve arrived late so I could make a cooler entrance than I did, but it was too late to think about that. If I had to describe Dylan’s relatives, I would say they look like some extras from High School Musical.
After a bit of awkward conversation between the relatives and me, some classmates showed up. They were surprised to see me, which was understandable, considering I had been missing for a year. Here’s the list of some of the people that showed up.
Andrew- He’s the kind of guy who would dare you to lick you deodorant.
Ian- He would be the type of person to actually do it.
Mario- He’d be the guy that would stand there saying how stupid Ian is for licking his deodorant.
There’s more, but I’m too lazy to list them. After we went swimming for a bit, everyone went to the front. Dylan’s road is a busy place with lots of cars. So Brady, a friend of mine from the ski club, decided to ride his bike across the road. They’re my friends, but even I’ll admit they’re a little stupid. Eventually, everyone started messing around. The only sane ones were me, Mario, and can you believe it, Ian. Then some guy in a white car pulled over started yelling at us. He even took a video. Well, sucks to be you guys, because I had already sprinted off into the backyard. After an hour or so, I started to wonder where everyone was. That’s when a whole group of them came running back, screaming something about the police. Apparently, the guys started messing around at Lily’s house. Lily was a classmate who lived down the road of Dylan’s, and from what I heard, her parents were not very kind. They threatened to call the cops on everyone. So then they all went scampering through people’s backyards and through the woods until they made it back here. When Dylan told me about this, I said, “Ha ha, what a funny story.” What I was actually thinking was, “Ha ha, you guys are idiots.”
I thought that was the end of it, but nope. After hearing the story, ALL the boys wanted to come and throw rocks at Lily’s house. Once again, there only ones who stayed behind were Mario, Ian, and me. We talked about what fools they were as we watched them bike up to Lily’s house. After a bit, they walked back with their heads down. Whatever happened over there, I’ll never know, because they wouldn’t talk to me about it. I thought we would just hang out in the pool, but I was wrong again. Now, they all wanted to visit John Glenn. John Glenn is kind of infamous at my school. John Glenn was a school that got knocked down to build a bunch of rich people houses. All the kids that went there had to be sent to Hillside Middle School, my school. The only thing remaining of the school is the playground, which is what the guys wanted to visit. There were only so many bikes and scooters, so the people who had to walk were one again, Mario, Ian, and me.
We tried to keep up with the people on the vehicles, but it was impossible. Eventually, it was just us three, and John Glenn was a mile from Dylan’s house. I will mention something about Ian. He was still in his swimwear, which meant we wasn’t wearing a shirt. So it was kind of awkward waking around a rich neighborhood with him. Actually, embarrassing is the word I’m searching for. I have social anxiety, and I hide it pretty well. If I’m with people I know, I’m fine. But it’s hard to act normal when you’re walking next to a shirtless guy.
When we finally caught up to everyone else, they already wanted to leave. Nice. As we made our way back, Ian noticed something. All the kids had taken a wrong turn, and were about to end up where they started. I thought that was pretty funny, considering they know the layout of the neighborhood better than I do. We ended up making it back before they did.
The party was pretty uneventful for a while, but then an ambulance went by. Brady, being the idiot he was, thought that the ambulance was heading to Lily’s house. Of course, everyone wanted to go check it out. You might be thinking that I would stay behind again and talk about how stupid everyone was, but that’s not what happened. I admit, even I was a bit curious about the ambulance. Everyone hopped onto their bikes except Ian, Mario, and me. I’m actually a pretty fast runner, so I was able to keep in front of everyone was. As it turned out, the ambulance was NOT going to Lily’s house. Slightly dissapointed, I started to head back, but to my surprise, no one else did. They all wanted to follow the ambulance into the next neighborhood. Hesitantly, I followed. After all, I had come this far.
We ended up finding nothing.
It was about eight in the evening. I suddenly remembered the lame gift card. I went to get it, and that’s when I realized I was the only person who got Dylan a gift. I guess everyone thought we were too old for that now. So not only did I get Dylan a lame gift, it would be the only gift, making things extra awkward. As I stated before, I’m not good with social things like parties. So even if Dylan was a close friend, finding the right time to give a present turns into a bunch of strategic timing. What time should I give him the card? Answer: When very few people around. How would I give to him? Answer: In a nonchalant, almost careless manner. Sometimes I wonder if I over think things.
I actually cringed when I handed him the card.
”Oh, I think I forgot to give you this. Happy birthday.”
”…Thanks.”
I wish I could change how corny my words sounded.
After that ordeal, I went home. That’s pretty much an anti-climatic ending.