Chapter Text
"Surprise!"
Colette Brunel nearly shut herself out of her own apartment when she heard the yell. She shakily stepped back inside to see her two best friends around a table, grinning and wearing party hats. She saw Lloyd first--Lloyd Irving, with the biggest, widest smile she had ever seen, brown spiked hair smashed under the hat. Lloyd, her roommate for a year now and closest friend growing up. "Happy birthday, Colette!" he cheered. "Check out the cake!"
She shrugged her backpack off her shoulders, adjusting her long, blonde hair as she did so. "It looks great!" she said. In reality, it was a little homely--lovingly hand iced in chocolate with blue writing. "Happy Birthday!" was neatly written.
"I did the icing," Sheena Fujibayashi said, her hands proudly on her hips. "Lloyd baked it, so if it's awful, blame him." She grinned and jabbed him in the side.
"Hey! This is Genis' recipe, so it has to be good!" Lloyd insisted. "Anyway, sit down! I'll cut you a slice."
Colette settled in at their tiny kitchen table as Lloyd cut into the cake. "Oh, you made yellow cake! My favorite!" she squealed. Inadvertently, her stomach growled, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hehe, I guess I'm hungry--"
"Did you have any dinner?" Sheena asked. "I brought some ramen from the store, if you want some later on--"
"No, it's okay. Even though your family's ramen is delicious."
"Do they let you just take food home like that?" Lloyd asked, dishing out slices of cake to everyone.
"Uh, hello, I practically live there," Sheena sighed, shrugging. "I can get udon and sushi whenever I want."
"Is it weird working with your family?" Colette asked, taking a bite of cake. "Mm, this is delicious, Lloyd!"
He beamed, puffing out his chest. "Thanks."
"It's stressful," Sheena said, staring out into space. "If someone gets on someone else's nerves, there's no where else to go. You're constantly in each other's pockets, and suddenly everything's personal."
"Yeah," Lloyd agreed through a mouthful of cake. "Dad and I sometimes get into it at the hardware store. But, it's usually only two of us, so it's not so bad. You've got a big family, Sheena."
"Yup, and everyone has their own little thing to complain about."
"Jeez, that's awful," Colette commented.
"It's just how it is." Sheena said, waving her hand. "Anyway, enough about that. Today's your day! What do you want to do tonight?"
"You're 21!" Lloyd exclaimed. "We should go and find a nice place to get your first drink."
Colette giggled, but her eyes stared down at her half-eaten cake. "Yeah, that sounds cool..."
"Hey, there's a new club that just opened up across the bridge," Sheena said. "It's called Altamira, and apparently it's really hip. We should check it out!"
"Are they even open?" Lloyd asked, keeping one eye on Colette. "It's the middle of the week..."
"Probably. It might be quiet though. Besides, that's even better! We'll have the place to ourselves. What do you say?"
"Um..." Colette fidgeted in her hands. "I-I guess we can go to check it out..."
"Colette." Lloyd scooted closer to her and rubbed her back. "Are you sure? It's your day. We don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I know," she said, lifting her head, but still not looking at Lloyd or Sheena. "I just...I spent most of the morning with my parents, then I went right to class, so I haven't had much time to relax."
"Well, we can go some other time--" Sheena began.
Colette whipped her head up. "But I--!" She huffed. "I kinda want to go, but I don't know if I want to go, you know?"
"Hm." Lloyd stroked his chin with a furrowed brow. "Well, how about this: we can go over, check it out, and if you're not feeling good, we come back right away, and watch a movie together or something."
"I've got some DVD's at my place, we can swing by if we have to." Sheena said. "So, are we all good?"
Colette smiled. "Yeah!" She took another big bite of cake. "I'll be okay as long as I'm with you guys."
"Great!" Sheena leaped up, snapping the party hat off her head and fluffing her ponytail. "Let's get going then while it's still early. I'll drive." She held up her keys, adorned with a little bell that jingled when she shook them.
"Shotgun!" Lloyd cried, taking off his own hat and stuffing what was left of his cake slice (easily twice the size of what he gave Sheena and Colette) into his mouth with his hand.
"Lloyd, you always get shotgun!" Colette complained, pinching his waist playfully. But, her voice was light, her smile giddy. Lloyd caught it full force, and a flush rose to his face, leaving him light headed.
"Yeah, let the birthday girl sit in front," Sheena said, already at the door. "Don't forget to lock up."
"Duh." Lloyd said, his own keys between his finger. Colette lingered behind him as he stuffed his wallet in his back pocket. "You ready, Colette?"
"I think so," she said. She had grabbed a purse and was rummaging through it. "Do I look okay to go out?" she asked.
Lloyd couldn't help but beam at her. "Sure you do. You always do."
It was Colette's turn to blush. She giggled and closed up her purse, rushing past Lloyd out the door. He lightly placed a hand on her back as she passed, snapping the light off with his other hand.
"C'mon, love birds, I've already got the car started!" Sheena called from the parking lot below.
"Hey! We're not love birds!" Lloyd retorted, watching Colette bounce down to the car and slide into the front seat. Maybe not yet, he thought, but...I can't picture myself living with anyone else besides her. We've been friends since we were kids, growing up, all through high school, even now when we're both in college. We're here living together. It's nice.
I hope things never change.