Page 133 of The Kissing Booth
I didn’t see what his rush was, but he threw the pillow back onto my bed and shut the door before crashing down the stairs with as much grace as a hurricane. I rolled my eyes but smiled anyway, before opening my closet to find something to wear.
We were going out for lunch, but I’d change later. I pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a T-shirt for now. We went out every year, and it was always a family affair. Lee and I, his parents and my dad – my mom too, when she was alive – and Brad and Noah. A couple of years, if our grandparents had been in town, they’d tag along as well.
I couldn’t be bothered to do much with my hair for now, so I just twisted it into a ponytail and went downstairs.
‘Finally,’ Brad muttered as he heard me come to the kitchen.
‘Happy birthday, bud!’ Dad said, beaming hugely. He was stood behind the kitchen table, which had a massive cake on it. It was chocolate, with strawberry frosting and white icing that saidHappy 17thin messy writing.
‘Is that my breakfast?’ I joked hopefully.
‘Not quite. But me and Brad were up extra early to bake it. I’m making pancakes.’
‘Yeah, and he won’t make them till we’re all here,’ Brad grumbled. His stomach growled in response, like a caged tiger teased with meat. Dad and I both laughed. ‘He said it was silly to make them twice.’
‘That’s why you were telling me to get up, grumpy guts,’ I said, ruffling his hair as I went around to give my dad a hug.
‘How was the party? You didn’t get much chance to tell me about it yesterday.’
‘Sorry.’
‘That’s all right. You were at Lee’s all day; I thought maybe you had a killer hangover and were avoiding facing your father.’
I laughed. ‘Not quite. Nobody was drinking much anyway, really. We’re just so much fun we don’t need it, I guess.’ It was a joke but, in Dad-mode now, he just pulled a face that broadcast,You don’t need to be drunk to have fun anyway.
The rest of the morning passed pretty quickly, and by half twelve we were pulling up outside some fancy restaurant whose name I couldn’t even pronounce. I’d changed into a cute summery dress, dark blue with yellow floral patterns on. I’d just thrown on some sandals and jewelry, leaving my hair as it was.
We walked in just after the Flynn family arrived. The waiter said, ‘Ah, you’re all here. I’ll show you to your table.’
I heard June ask my brother how soccer was going, and our dads chatting too.
My eyes instantly found Noah, and he smiled at me, but before I had the chance to respond, Lee fell into step beside me. I tore my gaze away from Noah to give my best friend my full attention.
‘Happy birthday!’ we said in unison, identical grins on our faces. Lee laughed and flicked my ponytail so that it swung around like helicopter blades. I shoved my shoulder into his and gave him a big hug. He hugged me tightly, leaning back so I was tipped off my feet for a second.
‘How’s your day then?’ he asked me before we followed our families.
‘Same as when I talked to you earlier – good. You?’
‘Do I need to bother repeating your answer?’
‘No,’ I laughed.
‘Well, actually, I did get to see Rachel,’ he said. ‘Only for about an hour, before we left for here.’
‘Aw. Did she give you a big birthday kiss?’ I pulled a face and made loud kissy noises.
‘Well...’
‘You guys are so cute together. It’s like... like Spider-Man and Mary-Jane. I’d have said Batman and someone, but I don’t know who Batman dated.’
Lee just laughed. ‘What does that make you then? Beauty and the Beast? You being the Beast, of course. Noah and I share the same gene pool, and I’m definitely not from the same gene pool as the Beast. I mean, just look at me.’
I did, and pulled a face. ‘Gross.’
He laughed again and we took seats next to each other at the center of the table. Noah was opposite me, for once. It made a nice change from Brad, kicking me and complaining he didn’t have enough leg room with my ‘thunder-thighs and cankles’.
‘Happy birthday, Elle,’ he said with a soft smile.
