Shelly's Birthday Morning~

Kevin peaked in the room. His face was met with a wad of paper. The actor rubbed his nose. “How unprofessional…” He looked up at the writer. “I’m guessing you’re stuck?”

“Incredibly.” Was the dry reply. Crazy slammed her head onto the desk. The sound of impact made Kevin shiver. “Ugh….hinguh!”

Kevin examined his nails. “Whining doesn’t solve a thing~” He sang. Kevin bent down to the crumpled up paper. Crazy’s ears perked as he smoothed the edges. He bit his lip, scanning the jumbled word. “You can do better than this.”

“I know that. There’s a reason it was thrown.”

“Her birthday’s tomorro- Oh! I almost forgot!” He strolled to the desk, handing a ticket. “I’m auditioning for a role in my college’s production of Annie! You’ll come, won’t you?”

Crazy tugged on Kevin’s fuchsia hair. “Sure. What’s the plan for Shelly’s birthday?”

“I’m baking everything, including dinner. Bill said he was buying the candy. I think he mentioned making her a statue out of sports balls…” Kevin rolled his eyes. “He said something else. It’s hard to not ignore him.” Kevin patted her head. “She’s your best friend. I think you can pull off something.”

A flick of the wrist, accompanied by a ‘tsk’.

“I do murder and offensive comedy… This isn’t the easiest thing for me.”

He shrugged. “Writers are meant to adapt. Make it happen~” Kevin gave her head another pat. With this gesture, he walked off.

Nightfall came and went with a passing breath. For the artist, she giddily jumped around her room, awaiting for the sleep to overcome her. For the actor, he slept with a script right beside him. Or rather, he fell asleep memorizing the script. For the author, it was the best time for writing. She spent hours simply staring at a screen, frustrated over her block. For the athlete, he was sleeping like a baby, ready for a six a.m. workout session.

In a sense, it was normal.

The birthday girl was sound asleep… Clutching a stuffed penguin, with her hair strewn about the pillow.

Bill smirked, all too happy to be handed the job. He inhaled, putting the mouth of the trumpet to his lips.

‘BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAH-BAAAAAAAAAAA!’

Kevin yelped, throwing a pancake into the air. Looking up, he saw it stuck to the ceiling. He scowled.

“SHE’S UP!” Within a minute of that yell, Bill rushed in. A dazed and confused Shelly on his back. He slid her off and into a chair, smiling at Kevin.

“I said ‘wake her calmly’!” Kevin hissed.

“You also said you’d follow your diet!” Bill laughed.

The actor’s face flushed. He grumbled, ignoring the jab at his broken diet. Turning his back to them, he observed the pancakes. “Happy birthday, Shelly.”

The artist nodded, still foggy from her rude awakening. She eyed the food on the table.

Sweets. Piles of candy. Cakes, pies, cream puffs… Whipped cream covered half of the desserts. There were some filled with cream. Apple pies that filled the room with that sweetening smell. The aroma of melted chocolate mixed with the shimmering strawberries. The table wasn’t only filled with cavity inducers. There were bowls of fruit, such as oranges, figs, watermelon…
A pumpkin was carved as the center piece, a goofy face with a party hat. Beside it, was a fresh pumpkin pie. Shelly drooled. “Kev…”

“Tis your day~” Kevin slapped Bill’s hand, setting a plate of pancakes in front of her.

“Where’s Crazy?” Shelly eye the bowl of tomatoes.

“…Bill, go get her.”

Bill ran off with an evil chuckle.

Kevin sat down at the table. “The plan is breakfast, then the gifts. A walk through the park, maybe we’ll see Bill get kicked by another kindergartner. Next, we’re taking you to the movies.” A shrug. “Nothing too fancy, you know? Just a little fun.”

“Sounds fun.” She smiled, rubbing her eyes. “What are we seeing?”

“We fought over that. Figured it’d be best to pay for one movie, and sneak into the other three so we get to them all. Spend the day at the movies!”

Shelly was going to respond, when they heard the trumpet blare. She rubbed her ear. “Where did he get that?”

The sounds of a woman screaming and shoes on a hard wood floor. Bill skidded to a stop at the arch of the kitchen, Crazy clinging to his back.

“Idon’tdoheightsidontlikethisputmedownimgonnadieputmedownputmedownimdone!”


Bill laughed, letting her slip calmly to her own feet. “She’s up!” He skipped to the table, grabbing a strawberry. Crazy rubbed her arms, looking down at her boxers. “Really? You send Bill?”

“Good morning!~”

The breakfast consisted of cheerful chatter. Hugging Shelly, Bill stabbing Kevin’s hand with his fork, and Crazy giving anyone a dirty look if they touched a tomato.

Kevin eyed the mess on the table. “I cook… I don’t clean.” He pushed his plate away from him. “Alright birthday girl… We’re gonna get to the presents.” He stood, stretching his arms. “We’ve got a big day for ya.”

“You mean stealing from the movies?” Shelly cracked.

“With what they charge? Yep.”

Bill insisted on going first, racing to grab his gift from his room. He returned with two things; a full sack, and a strange looking sculpture. Shelly cocked a brow.

“A bag full of candy!” Bill dropped it her feet, letting her look through it. “And…” A sweat drop fell from his head. “Uh… I don’t really know.”

She handled the sculpture. It was rather large, made of tennis balls and baseballs. She chuckled. “You don’t know what it is?”

“Isn’t that the point of art?”

Kevin smacked his head, a vain popping. “A for effort.” He shooed Bill away, handing Shelly her next gift. She smiled, tossing the stuffed Smurf into the air. “It’s small, but I was more busy with dinner…” He laughed.

Bill eyed Kevin. “C for effort.”

The two exchanged a glare.

Shelly laughed at the interaction. She winked at Crazy, “Is the author ready to present?” She stuck her tongue out.

Crazy puffed her cheeks. She took the seat in front of Shelly, grabbing her hands. “Okay… So I sat up for a few hours… and I figured it was better to just kinda go with it.” She shrugged. Taking a deep breath. “…I flinch when anybody hugs me. I can’t stand being at the center of a spotlight. I will do anything to not have to confront someone.” Crazy scratched her head. She smirked. “When the depression hit me, I lost all my ambition. The anxiety made me feel like I was dying. The depression made me want to. I didn’t eat. I didn’t leave my room. I didn’t do anything. My grades failed, and I didn’t have any feeling to care. I was hopeless.”

Kevin leaned into Bill. “What is she doing?”

“But whenever I saw you. Whenever you were online or around, I was elated. You were able to make me laugh. You truly made me forget my problems. You have that perk… You can make anyone smile. I don’t think, and I mean this, that I’d be around if I didn’t have you as a sister. I’m pretty sure I would have ended it all if I were left alone. I really… I’m really weak, you know? On my own, I can’t do too much. But…” She wiped her eyes. “But I think we really had to find each other, you know? Destiny and all that? I think we’re a perfect puzzle when we’re together. I couldn’t have a friend in the Burn-The-Bible-To-Your-Head South. They outcast you the second you seem different. But you? You’re always happy. You’re always willing to accept someone, and you’re quick to tell them when they’re in the wrong. If a friend’s on drugs, or stealing art, you’re not going to let them get into trouble without warning. You always have something nice to say. Intelligent, funny, compassionate… You look bullies in the face and stand up for your friends.

“You’re a bag of candy, Shelly. And what goes better with someone bitter than someone sweet?”

Shelly’s smile grew three times the natural width. She tackled Crazy into a hug. The writer flinched, but she calmly relaxed and hugged her back.

Bill leaned into Kevin. “So what now, Sven?”

Kevin patted Bill’s head, forcing a smile to him. “Well, Olaf, I think we’re going to go break into the movies…”