Supposedly Surprise Party (Chapter 5)

    Madeline unwrapped a small box covered in paper with pink and purple stripes. She gasped when she got a hold of the exposed box. "You got me the facial wash with exfoliating crushed diamonds?" she asked Lizzie. "How could you afford this?"
    "Oh, two five-hundred dollar bills fell out of your pocket," started Lizzie, "and instead of giving them back to you, I went out and bought this."
    "You stole my money? I was looking all over for that."
    "I didn't steal it. I used it to buy this gift for you. So basically, you bought this for yourself. So don't thank me; thank yourself."
    "I want to be mad but I'm too happy. Besides, I was going to buy this for myself anyway."
    Suddenly, Sean approached the table that the girls were sitting in. He walked over to Madeline and stuck a little wrapped box in her face.
    "I got this for you, Madeline," he said, stifled with joy.
    Madeline almost crossed her eyes when she saw the gift two centimeters from her face.
    "Sorry, Maddie," said Skye. "I didn't invite Sean but he wanted to come."
    "It's okay, Skye," said Madeline. "I want him here."
    "You do? Okay."
    "Girls, can I some privacy please?"
    "Oh, sure, Madeline," responded Debra.
    The girls moved farther away from Madeline, only to push their chairs closer towards one another. They were on one side of the table while Madeline was straight across. It was not what she had in mind but quickly, she let it go.
    "Sean, I know I said I was your girlfriend," she looked up at the shrimp. "But I only said it because you were on TV and I needed some extra attention. I'm so sorry. I'm such a bad person. Therefore, I can't accept your gift."
    "Yeah, I knew this was coming," admitted Sean. "Even though it was all fake, you were the best girlfriend I ever had. So I accept your apology. And I still want you to have this anyway." He shoved the gift into her face again.
    Madeline smiled. She took the box and ripped the paper off. She took off the lid and gasped. She picked up the thin gold necklace that was laying on a white cushion smushed inside the box. At the end of the necklace was a pendant of three little hearts going downward.
    "Oh, Sean, this is gorgeous," she commented, gawking at the piece of jewelry.
    "I know," Sean said with a smug smile. "It cost a lot but it was worth it."
    "Oh, my God, Sean. Thank you! This is the best present so far."
    "So am I your boyfriend now?"
    "No."
    "Okay. But one day, I will be."
    "I doubt that."
    "Okay. Well, bye." Sean rolled his lips inside his mouth and walked away.
    The girls pushed their chairs back to their original spots. They got a better glimpse of the necklace in Madeline's hands.
    "Wow, Sean must love you," said Andrea.
    "Why wouldn't he?" Madeline inquired. "I'm lovable."
    The girls giggled as Madeline put the necklace back in the box.
    "Girls, even though this surprise party wasn't much of a surprise, I'm still surprised that I wake up every day and you all are still my friends."
    "Why is that a surprise?" asked Skye.
    "Because I understand how difficult I can be. Yet no matter what, you guys stick by my side and give me no regrets. I love you all."
    "Oh, we love you, too, Maddie," cooed Lizzie, taking her bottom off her chair and leaning over to squeeze Madeline.
    "Always and forever," added Debra.
    "Forever and always," said Andrea.
    "I just said that."
    "Well, I said it backwards."   
    "So tell me..." started Madeline, "what don't I know?"
    "What do you mean?" Andrea scrunched her forehead.
    "I know about everything, especially this party. Is there something that I don't know?"
    The girls glanced at each other, not knowing how to answer the question.
    "I stuff my bra sometimes," Andrea confessed.
    "I knew that," said Madeline.
    "How?"
    "Toilet paper would be sticking out your shirt."
    "Oh. Why don't you be telling me?"
    "I use the same filter for all my photos on Instagram," Debra conceded, not letting Andrea's question be answered.
    "How can I not know that?" questioned Madeline. "It's obvious."
    "I used to draw abs on my stomach," granted Lizzie.
    "Everyone knew that."
    "Oh."
    After a long pause, Skye admitted, "I used to light my farts."
    Madeline made a face at Skye. "Why would you light your farts?"
    "No, the real question is did you know that?"
    "No."
    "Well, there you go."

Supposedly Surprise Party (Chapter 4)

The next week, on a Saturday afternoon and the day of Madeline's birthday, she was asked by Lizzie to come over her house to have a talk and to pick up Skye. After that, Madeline got in her big car and drove over to Skye's place. Skye got in the passenger seat and Madeline was on her way to Lizzie's fancy house.
"I think Lizzie is going to tell us all 'the news'," said Skye, trying to continue the lie.
"Yeah, right," Madeline smiled. "'The news'."
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Because you're being so nonchalant about this."
"I'm always nonchalant. Is that such a surprise?"
"No but... you're lying."
"Oh, yeah? Well, we'll see when we talk to Lizzie."
"I know something is up because you made me wait outside for twenty minutes so you could find a snack to bring and eat. Don't you think that if something was urgent, we would not try to take so long to attend to it?"
"Huh, I don't know about you but I was hungry and my hunger was urgent as well." Skye opened the small bag of potato chips in her lap and began to pick at them.
"Well, happy freakin' birthday to me."
Madeline parked in one of the empty parking spaces in front of Lizzie's big house. She turned off the car and took her keys out of the ignition. The girls got out of the car and headed towards the door. Madeline knocked on the door repeatedly.
Lizzie opened the door and revealed herself. She was in the clothes that she usually wears around her parents. "Oh, hey, Madeline," she smiled. "Skye. I'm glad you guys are here."
"What's going on, Liz'?" asked Madeline.
"Come in first."
Lizzie moved out of the way so Madeline and Skye could enter. Lizzie closed the door and they loitered in the entrance hall.
"Where are the girls?" Madeline questioned.
"They're outside. I want to tell you all the news at the same time."
"Well, Skye seems to already know. You might as well tell me right now."
"Um, okay."
Skye opened her eyes wide at Lizzie.
"Well, I've seemed to tell Skye that I'm preggers."
"Oh, okay," Madeline nodded. "So you made a baby with DeMarcus?"
"Wait, I thought there were other ways to get pregnant."
Skye slapped her hand on her forehead.
"What other ways can you do to get pregnant, Lizzie?" Madeline asked, crossing her arms.
"You know, you can get injected with... what my mom calls, 'jolly juice'," replied Lizzie.
"Why would you inject yourself with... jolly juice?"
"Because I can't get pregnant if I don't?"
"Lizzie, I'm starting to have a feeling that you are not pregnant."
Skye made a face at Lizzie, mouthing, "Keep it up" through her teeth.
So Lizzie started to fake-cry. "I can't believe that you don't believe me. I thought you were my best friend but if you don't believe me, then I guess I'll have to find a new best friend. Maybe she will help me with my pregnant-ness."
Lizzie turned around and marched out of the lounge to the living room. Madeline and Skye followed her as she headed towards the open door to the backyard.
"Come on, Lizzie," said Madeline. "Stop acting so weird."
The girls went outside and witnessed a bunch of people, including Madeline's friends and family, in the yard popping up under girly birthday decorations.
"Surprise!" they all yelled.
Madeline flinched since she was obviously startled. Lizzie and Skye didn't even move; they just looked at Madeline.
"Happy birthday, Maddie!" said Debra, running up to Madeline before hugging her.
"Feliz cumpleaños, Madame," uttered Andrea, who also ran up to her best friend.
She gave Madeline a quick hug before Madeline could say something.
"Wow, guys," she said with a smile. "A surprise party for me? You shouldn't have. Thank you. Boy, I'm so excited."
"You knew about it, didn't you?" asked Skye.
"Yeah."
"How?" groaned Andrea.
"I'm not blind; I could see what was exactly on your phones. You bought these decorations from Party Hardy with Arty. Also, I saw a streamer sticking out of the closet when I came over Lizzie's house last week."
"Dagnabbit!" exclaimed Lizzie.
"I guess the surprise is on us," commented Skye.
"But I'm really thankful," admitted Madeline. "Thank you for throwing me my first surprise party." She wrapped her arm around Skye's neck. "Actually, this is my second one but this one is better. It's bigger. And my cake is tiers of cupcakes."
"I bought the cake," bragged Debra. "It was supposed to be a croquembouche but I figured cupcakes would be less messy... and less expensive."
"It's beautiful. Thank you for throwing me this party and pretending that Lizzie was pregnant."
"You're welcome, Maddie," said Lizzie. "And just so you know: no jolly juice is going near me."
The girls laughed together.
"Gross," Andrea commented.

Supposedly Surprise Party (Chapter 3)

Couple of days later, over the weekend, Madeline called Skye and asked to come over her place. Skye consented and Madeline drove down to the apartment building where Skye lived downstairs. Madeline hung out with Skye in her bedroom made for a rockstar. Madeline rummaged through Skye's dresser which had stacks and stacks of CDs.
"Can we play this?" Madeline asked with a big grin, picking up and showing a Nine Inch Nails CD.
"Sure," Skye responded, shortly scrunching her forehead. "I almost forgot: you went on a rock binge about a year ago."
Madeline opened the CD player on Skye's dresser. "I forgot I enjoy this band." She stuck the CD in and closed the player. She pressed "Play" and the first song began playing. "They don't play this at the country club."
"What do they play at the country club?"
"Vivaldi and crap."
"You don't like Vivaldi?"
"Don't get me wrong; he's off the chain from a brain. But it wouldn't kill to play some Nine Inch Nails."
Skye chuckled as Madeline sat on the black sheet covered bed. Together, they sang along to the aggressive lyrics.

Head like a hole
Black as a soul
I rather die than give you control
Bow down to the one you serve
You're gonna get what you deserve

Skye laughed, which made Madeline crack up, falling on the bed in laughter.
"Something we have in common," joked Skye.
Madeline sat up. "We're best friends; of course we have some things in common."
"I know, I was joking."
"So I thought about what I want to do for my birthday."
Skye felt her cell phone, which was in her jeans' pocket, vibrate. She took it out and turned on the screen. "Mm-hmm," she hummed.
"See, I've been to plenty of francophone countries. I've been to Quebec in Canada, France, Chad, Congo and Senegal."
Skye focused on the phone, typing and reading, as Madeline spoke.
"However, I've never been to Spanish-speaking countries. I was thinking about flying out to Spain with just my family and maybe visit Barcelona. Remember when the Cheetah Girls went to Barcelona? Yeah, so I was thinking about that. Or I can go to Puerto Rico because that's where Andrea is from. But if I bring her, then I have to bring the rest of you and that's way too many tickets to pay for. I'm not spending a bunch of money on my birthday. Yet since I can speak Portuguese, I should go to Portugal. No, Brazil! I hear it's beautiful and to be honest, I kinda want a Brazilian honey. Brazilian babes be bangin'!" Madeline paused for a bit and stared at Skye, whose eyes were glued to the phone. "Why are you looking at your phone when I'm talking to you?"
"I'm sorry." Skye turned off the phone and stuck it back in her pocket.
"Who were you talking to you?"
"My boyfriend," Skye lied.
"Jeffrey?"
"I only have one boyfriend, don't I?"
Madeline paused. "You're lying."
"No, I'm not."
"I can smell liars."
"Is that because you're a liar?"
"I am not a liar."
"Yes, you are. There you go, lying again."
"What are you up to?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? Were you even talking to your boyfriend?"
"Just let it be."
"How can I let it be when you're lying to me?" Madeline poked Skye in the neck, making her cringe.
"Geez! If I tell you what's up, will you stop pestering me and blab about your Brazilian babe?"
"That's how I work, baby."
"Alright. I wasn't supposed to tell you this myself but... Lizzie's pregnant."
Madeline just stared. "No, she's not."
"Yes, she is."
"No, she's not!"
"Yes, she is!"
"How is she going to get pregnant if she doesn't even know... how to do the... the thing?"
"Somebody taught her."
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not."
"That is so a lie. Lizzie cannot be pregnant."
"Well, she's Lizzie. Is there anymore that I can say?"
Madeline shook her head. "You are such a liar."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are!"
"Says the liar."
"I'm not the liar."
"You're the liar every day."
"How are you accusing me of lying?"
"'Cause you're accusing me!"
"I got to talk to Lizzie."
"Y-You can't. She's very embarrassed by this. We should talk about her pregnancy when she's ready to tell us all."
"You're a liar."
"I am not."
"You are!"
"Liar-liar-pants-on-fire-every-time-she-walks-in-heels-she-gets-a-little-tired-says-what?"
"What?"
"Exactly."

Supposedly Surprise Party (Chapter 2)

Few days later, the girls were each in their assigned third period classes on a lovely school day. Lizzie was in economics class, listening to her balding teacher blab on about monetary policies. She was sitting in the front row, waiting for him to pause.
"Now monetary policies are used by the government to achieve inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity. They're not the same as fiscal policies which adjust spending levels to monitor a nation's economy."
Lizzie raised her hand.
The teacher pointed at her. "Ah, yes, Lizzie?"
Lizzie put her hand down. "Can I go to the bathroom?"
"Oh. Is it an emergency?"
"If it's an emergency, wouldn't I have to go to the nurse?"
"I meant is it urgent?"
"Urgent? Ooh, yes. Very urgent. I gots to blow it up."
"I didn't need the detail. Just take the pass and go."
Lizzie pushed her seat back and stood up. "Thank you with a cherry on top." Lizzie sprinted pass the front row of desks and swiped the hall pass from the teacher's desk. She head out the open door and made her way down the empty hallway. Her casual walk became a hasty sprint until she made it to the nearest lavatory. She zipped right in and occupied an empty stall. She sat on the toilet, fully clothed, and took her cell phone out of her black miniskirt. She began texting Andrea while she was in English class.

LIZZIE: Hey, I left EPI. R u there?
ANDREA: Si. Que pasa?
LIZZIE: Wut?
ANDREA: What's up?
LIZZIE: Oh. I ordered the decorations for Maddie's party.
ANDREA: Did u send them to ur house?
LIZZIE: Yes.
ANDREA: For the right date?
LIZZIE: Yes!
ANDREA: Wut kind did u get?
LIZZIE: The 1s she likes. The pink & glittery 1s.
ANDREA: Maddie does luv herself sum glitter.
LIZZIE: EEEEE!!!! I'm getting so ekcited! She is going 2 freak! On her B-Day of course.
ANDREA: Exactly. Thx 4 informing me!
LIZZIE: No prob, senyureeta.
ANDREA: U spelled it wrong.
LIZZIE:  But u know what I mean.

Lizzie turned off her phone and began to put it back into her skirt. As she did so, she heard footsteps entering the bathroom.
"Did you see Mrs. Donor's underwear sticking out of her skirt?" asked a deep voice.
"Yeah, I saw," a deeper voice said.
Lizzie paused with wide eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She bent over to take a peek under the stall door. She could see two pairs of feet, both covered in dirty sneakers.
"She wears, like, boxers."
"I took a picture of it."
"Dude, nice!"
Lizzie frantically took her phone into her hands and began to text message Andrea again.

LIZZIE: Maday! Maday!
ANDREA: Wut is maday?
LIZZIE: I'm in the boys bathroom.
ANDREA: Wut?
LIZZIE:  No time 4 questions. Just get me out!
ANDREA: Alrite. Just wait.

Lizzie turned off her phone and held it close to her. She moved her eyes back and forth anxiously. She didn't want to make any noise; she would be caught dead if those guys heard her. But she felt like dying, having to hear every word and action that the two boys produced. Six minutes had to pass before the boys left. Lizzie was so nervous that she started shaking her leg. The heel of her knee-high, black, leather boot was tapping audibly on the blue tiled floor. When she noticed that she was making noise, she stopped. She heard silence from the boys so she put her legs up and formed them into a pretzel.
"Is somebody in here?" the regular deep voice asked.
"You're being paranoid, bro," the deeper voice said.
Suddenly, there was a noise in the bathroom. Smash! The noise startled the two boys and they ran out like a bunch of scared dogs. Lizzie sat still, unsure of what happened.
"Lizzie?" Andrea's voice called. She was obviously inside the bathroom.
"Uh, no Lizzie here," Lizzie uttered in a "manly" voice. She didn't know it was Andrea. "I'm a dude. Just blowing it up!"
Andrea knocked on Lizzie's stall. "It's me, Lizzie. Geez."
Lizzie stood up and opened the door. "Ooh, I'm sorry," she said with a little giggle, leaving the stall. "What was that noise?"
"Oh, I threw a mirror into the bathroom. After I did that, I fled and waited for the boys to get out."
"You can't break a mirror. That's bad luck!"
"Lizzie, I have bad luck every day. What difference will it make?"

Supposedly Surprise Party (Chapter 1)

"Madeline, what is that?" questioned Andrea, looking straight at the leafy food in Madeline's hands.
"It's a chicken wrap," she answered.
"Without the tortilla?" inquired Skye.
"Yeah. I'm on a no-carb diet so I won't be eating sandwiches with bread for two weeks."
"So you're gonna replace the bread with lettuce?" asked Andrea.
"Pretty much. I'm trying to avoid bloating."
"Oh, Maddie, you're so creative," smiled Lizzie.
Madeline smiled right back.
"So what are you going to do on your birthday?" asked Debra.
"I don't know. I've done everything for my last seventeen birthdays. I have no idea what I could do to make my eighteenth birthday special. You guys got any ideas?"
"Gee, Maddie, I don't know," responded Lizzie.
"What about skydiving?" suggested Skye.
"And mess up my hair?" replied Madeline. "I don't think so."
"How about going to a museum?" asked Debra.
Madeline took a bite out of her lettuce wrapped chicken. "That's too boring."
"Five star restaurant?" Lizzie proposed.
"I've been to them all."
"Four star?"
"I don't think so. Is there something in my teeth?" Madeline faced Andrea and beared her teeth.
Andrea shook her head. "No."
"I don't believe you."
"Then don't ask."
Madeline dropped her lunch in her sandwich container. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Ugh, I feel like I'm bloating anyway." Madeline got out of her seat and walked out of the cafeteria through the entrance.
"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Lizzie, leaning over the table.
"Yeah," said Andrea. "Bloating makes Madeline a b--"
"Don't say it."
"Whatcha thinkin' about, Doll?" asked Debra.
"I'm thinking about-- Oh, shoot, I forgot. No, I remember! I'm thinking about throwing Madeline a surprise party."
"Um, I don't know about that, Lizzie," said Skye.
"Why not?"
"Remember the other times we tried to throw Madeline a surprise party? We tried three times to do so. Three times and she always finds out so we never get to do it."
"Well, maybe we have to come up with a way for her to not know."
"How are we going to do that?" asked Andrea.
"Every time we make an interaction with something involving the party on the computer, we delete it from our history. Every phone call, text, voicemail, we delete it. And we invite people on the very day of her birthday so they won't tell her about it days before."
Skye nodded. "Huh. Not a bad idea, Lizzie."
"Thank you." Lizzie sat back down.
"I think we can do that," said Debra.
"Alright, if we're gonna do this, we can't be around Madeline when we're making these plans," said Andrea.
"Then that will end up looking suspicious," noted Skye, "avoiding Madeline to make these plans."
"Well, I guess we have to make it look less suspicious," said Lizzie, straightening her back. "But at the same time, she can't have a clue. So are we doing this?"
"As long as everything comes out of your wallet."
"I don't mind. I love throwing parties."
"Then we're doing it," Andrea consented.
"Yay! Oh, I'm gonna feel bad for lying to Madeline about this."
"She lies to us all the time. Why would you feel bad?"
"Shh!" Debra hushed, looking at the door. "She's coming, you guys."
Madeline reentered the cafeteria and sat back down into her spot at the table. "What were you talking about while I was gone?" she questioned.
Andrea scoffed. "We were thinking about getting you to meet Channing Tatum on your birthday." Andrea smiled at Lizzie, demonstrating that lying to Madeline is easy.
"Shut up! I would love that! Do you guys really think you can get him to meet me?"
"Absolutely not," smiled Skye.
"Aw. You guys are poor." Madeline picked up her wrap and continued to eat it.