It was the second “official” birthday party in a long time. All though middle school, it had been just me and Rachel. But this year, for my fifteenth birthday, I was determined to reclaim some sort of my childhood.
Kelli, Mia, Brittany, Hayley, Rachel, and Danika were invited. It was a disaster.
Not to say that it wasn’t fun, because it was at times, but mostly it was just a bad idea.
Reason #1: Rachel didn’t really know any of the other girls, because she didn’t go to school with us. I felt bad because she was kind of secluded the whole time. (Although at one point, she, Brittany, and I went to play Bop-It on the stairwell because it was getting too loud)
Reason #2: I was still coming out of my shell, so my assertiveness had not hit a high enough level to control people. This meant that the party descended into chaos early on.
Reason #3: I didn’t really know anyone other than Brittany and Rachel very well, but I hung out with all of them and assumed it would be fine. (Sub-point on reason #3: I didn’t know how out of control they could get)
Reason #4: Hanging out with fringe-intellectuals (the smart kids that were also the hipster kids at the edge of the social hierarchy) means that more than likely, they’re all going to be extremely competitive.
Let me elaborate on that last point. During the course of the party, the Twister mat was revealed, and thus it was decided that we should play. During one of the games, Mia and I were the last two competing. At one point, Mia rested her knee on the mat until the next turn, losing the game. She didn’t see it this way, however, even after I called her out. So we continued playing.
Taking matters into my own hands, I shifted the leg I had extended underneath her to knock her over. This did not make her very happy.
The next thing I knew, I was on the floor cowering and Mia was on top of me, pulling my hair and pounding -not gently- on my head.
That was the last birthday party I had.
