“Hello.”

“Dana, Hi, this is Kerry Richards, um Alice’s girlfriend.”

Dana quickly sat up in her bed, “Is Alice ok?”

“She’s fine. I’m sorry I’m calling so early, but I wanted to let you know that I’m going to throw Alice a surprise birthday party, and I just wanted to give you the day and time, so you could come.”

Dana sat in silence for a few moments before she felt strong enough to continue the conversation, “Are you sure Alice would want me to be there?”

“I wouldn’t have called if I thought otherwise.”

Dana fell back onto her pillows, her eyes resting on the white ceiling. “I’m really not sure that it’s a good idea.”

Kerry let out an annoyed sigh on the other end, “Do you, or do you not want Alice as your friend?”

Dana nodded her head, realizing Kerry could not see her, she quickly answered, yes.

“Well then, I would suggest you come to her party, and start putting some sort of effort forward, so she can see you actually care.”

“When’s the party?”

************

Alice waited in Kerry’s car while the doctor ran into her house searching for some mystery object she had forgotten. It had been five minutes since Kerry had left and Alice was starting to get annoyed. She was about to open the car door when she heard the ring tone that indicated Kerry was calling.

“Did you get lost in there?”

“Worse, Trevor had an accident, and I really need your help to clean it up.”

Alice rolled her eyes, “fine. I’ll be right in.”

The writer got out of the car and made her way to Kerry’s house. She grabbed the knob of the front door and began opening it, “I can’t believe you’re going to make me cleanup dog shit on my birthday.” As the words left Alice’s mouth she realized she was standing in a room filled with her friends.

The group of people let out a loud “surprise” as a large smile formed across Alice’s lips.

Kerry walked up to the writer, and wrapped her arms around her waist, “All of us wanted to do something special to celebrate your birthday, and we know how much you love surprises, so we decided to throw you a little party.”