Mimi's Birthday Party

Clear skies, warm weather; yes! This was a perfect opportunity for some fun in the sun, especially since all of Lupe’s friends would be there. A faint blush crept onto her face as she began to reminisce about Mimi inviting her to her party. She was very flattered – and shocked! Lupe, although cheerful and loud, didn’t have many friends. Actually, before she started her junior year, Becky was her only friend. Lupe wasn’t used to being invited anywhere, especially big events like this.

She was grateful.

Clutching on to the small, pink gift bag, Lupe set out to find Mimi. She remembered Abuelita telling her that it was quite rude not to show up without a present, so Lupe had to wrack her brain all week thinking about what to get for Mimi. She didn’t have much money to buy anything so she settled on making little animal plushies for Mimi. The first time Lupe tried it herself, she pricked her thumbs too many times to even count. Abuelita stumbled in on her and laughed so hard, Lupe swore she was going to catch a heart attack. After her laughing fit, Abuelita decided to help her sew what she needed. They ended up making a pink cat, a green bunny, and a panda bear. The bunny was Lupe’s favorite, just because she sewed stitches on its mouth.

While walking around, Lupe spotted a buffet table, and right at the head of the table was Mimi. “Figures,” she mumbled, jogging up to her. “Yo, Mimi! Feliz cumpleaños! Here’s your present.” Hopefully Mimi liked it, and hopefully Lupe didn’t prick her fingers for no reason.

Startled by the sudden hug, Lupe was a bit reluctant to return it. “Hey! Warn me when you gonna do something like that!” she scolded playfully. She chuckled a bit while explaining to Mimi that Feliz cumpleaños meant happy birthday. Pulling away, Lupe looked around for a minute. She was the one of the first ones here. Well, at least she wasn’t late. “Of course I’d come. Why would I wanna miss a party on a beach? Especially your party!” she grinned. Fixing her gaze to Mimi’s present, Lupe shrugged nonchalantly. “If you wanna know what it is, you can. I’m not really… eh, how do you say it? A surpriseful person?” She grinned sheepishly, a bit embarrassed about her English. “Oh! But if you like surprises, I’m not gonna spoil it!”

Chepe had chosen to enjoy his day at the beach, bringing along his little Angel as well. She wiggled her chubby puppy body yipping playfully at him, one soft, silky ear falling over one eye as she bounced around his feet. He smiled at the little dog, his daily reminder of the mother that had gotten the pup from his best friend, and given her to him. Chepe gently rolled a ball for her, his long black hair tied back in a ponytail, which didn't stop the hair from falling in his face.

Ignoring the ball, Angel took off like a shot to see Lena, and Chepe's eyes followed the puppy's progress as she clumsily stood on her hind legs and placed her large paws on the girl's legs, gave her a couple licks with her soft pink tongue and promptly fell over on her back, all four fat legs waving in the air, with an expression of wounded dignity apparent in her eyes, as she looked up at the three people watching her in her moment of helplessness. Angel remained in the position for a few moments before struggling to roll over and barked happily at them.

As Chepe watched them his mind wandered yet again.....as it did so often, to the memories of the car accident that took his parents' lives, leaving him the guardian of his younger sister and also making him even more resented by his older brother. He could still see the look of terror in his mother's eyes as the other car hit them and sent them over the side into the river, could still feel his own helplessness as he dragged his sister from the car and swam with her to shore, as he was forced to watch the car submerge from the safe, dry land, shivering with sadness as he held Tesanee, as the other driver made a frantic phone call to rescue services, knowing even then that help would arrive too late.

Chepe's eyes began to water as he remembered how he had wanted to jump back in the river and look for his parents, but the other man, knowing how dangerous it would be for the 17 year old boy to do this on his own...held on tightly to him, keeping him safe on the shore. The nameless man knew that Tesanee would need her brother. Chepe was doing his best not to cry, he refused to cry today, it was such a beautiful day and he didn't want to ruin it for either of the girls with him at the moment.

Laughing at the pinkette’s silly behavior, Lupe gave her a small pat on the back. “Kay then, I won’t tell ya. I mean, it ain’t that awesome but…” Lupe paused briefly, staring at Mimi for a moment before giving a small smile. “You know what; I won’t say anythin else about the present.” Placing the gift bag on the present table, Lupe turned around with a satisfied smile. “So, whaddaya wanna do now? Swim? Make sand castles? Oh I know! We could play catch with my beach ball!” Growing excited, the Puerto Rican began to chat animatedly about all the cool things they could do on the beach.

An old, pale blue pickup truck tore through the streets of Rai Island on the way to Paradise Beach. Behind the wheel was, of course, John Wilder. Seated next to him was his youngest brother Bobby and Keith was in the passenger seat, looking relatively ill at John's driving. In the back of the cab were four rowdy Wilder brothers, Chuck, Fred, Casey and Raph, gripping the sides of the truck with one hand and snapping their fingers in a bluesy rhythm. Fred grinned widely at them and called out, "A-one and a-two. A one, two, three-!" Suddenly they all sang out:

"Come along with me,
'cause we're barrelin' ass~
We're goin' to the sea,
and we're barrelin' ass~

John's drivin'? Gotta see!
'Cause he's barrelin' ass~
It makes me wanna pee,
'cause he's barrelin' ass!"

"Shut up, you little bastards!" John snarled out the window at them as his truck cut off a vehicle because he wasn't paying attention to the road. Bobby was cheering with unbridled amusement at the near miss, while Keith...well, the poor boy just looked sick. "Can I drive?" He meekly asked his older brother. "No." John fumed irritably, still upset that the boys had taken to singing about his bad driving...again. "Then will you?" The poet asked as John almost drove his truck into the tailpipe of the car ahead of them. He instantly slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision and the four boys in the back lurched forward into a tangled pile of limbs, foul language, and a chorus of "You suck!!"

They were already running late because Bobby had to poop and wouldn't get out of the bathroom for twenty minutes, then the traffic was enough to make John lean halfway out his window while he drove and curse someone out. Add to that mess the fact that his brothers were teasing his driving and John's temper was starting to crack. At least their parents and Joanna had rode with Terry and Patty, who's van was hauling their musical equipment. That at least was a good sign. In fact, the van had just come into view and They were already unloading the equipment as John whipped into a parking space, sending his pile of younger brothers sliding to the other side of them truck bed with none-too-happy protests.

By the time the sophomore had managed to disentangle himself from the twins and his bassist brother, he almost fell out the back of the old truck. How John still legally had his license, Fred would never know. Nevertheless, he jumped off the tailgate and his ears immediately picked up the absolutely unmistakable voice of his classmate Mimi calling his name. A quick scan of the beach revealed the pink haired girl bouncing up and down and flailing her arms wildly at him in excitement. It was like someone had filled her with a few gallons of coffee and enough sugar to last a year. Either way, she was still pretty darn cute.

He let his deep blue eyes roam over the tables of food, the beach equipment and finally noticed the small stack of presents. A birthday party...and probably Mimi's. Fred realized with some slight discomfort. It wasn't that he didn't want to be there, but although their mother had made a cheesecake to bring and had brought some flowers from her garden, they didn't really have enough time to save some money to buy her anything. Especially since John had just told them last night. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed an amp and one of the guitars heading over to the girl. "Happy Birthday Mimi. We don't have a gift for you to hold, but we brought you some music for your party." He admitted, hoping she wouldn't mind.

Boobs. Right in his face.

Though his first instinct was to grab hold of her and motorboat, he wisely repressed the urge - barely. Instead, he awkwardly slid his arms around her as best as he could while trying to continue breathing at a regular rate. It was a bit difficult to breathe when his face was buried in a pretty girl's cleavage. Eventually, he managed to squirm enough to show her that he needed air and was finally freed.

It all happened so fast. First the pale blue pick up truck sloppily making its way to the beach, then the squealing of Fred's name, and now Mimi's boobs were attacking his face. Lupe had to do a double take before processing all of what just happened and gave a hearty laugh.

After he was freed, Lupe decided it was safe to move a bit closer. "Hey Fred, me n Mimi were gonna play catch, ju wanna play?" She snuck a glance at the other Wilders exiting the pick up truck - and one of them looked awfully sick. Suddenly the light bulb went off in her head as she put two and two together. "Oh! Music! You gonna help your brothers set up an' stuff, right?" She questioned. She recalled that the were all musically inclined, so of course they would be there to help out with the music. Or... Mimi just wanted to invite Fred and the whole family tagged along. Who knows?

Once he got his bearings back, he turned his attention to Lupe and nodded. "Yeah I'd like to play, once we get set up. My whole family showed up so there would be almost continuous live music. We're going to rotate so we can all get a chance to rest and a chance to play. I'm helping with the setup, but I'm not going onstage until the second set. I'll have some time to play ball with you girls before then." Fred motioned with the amp in his hand, "I'll be with you two as soon as I can, okay?" With that, he rushed to catch up to Terry, who was halfway through setting up his drum set. Casey and Raph were already hooking up the lighting system and Chuck was tuning the guitars and hooking all the cords up. Keith, still a little green around the gills, was hauling the song books and Bobby and Joanna were carrying a microphone stand together. As soon as Fred was in earshot, Chuck asked with a grin, "So, see anything good?" Fred simply grinned at him and set the equipment down, unpacking it. "Did you leave a mark?" The twins asked in unison, wondering if he'd been brave enough to do it in front of everyone without them catching him.

Regardless of the season - be it summer or winter- Paradise Beach seemed to always be buzzing with people. Today was no exception. Due sunny skies and warm weather the powdery beach was the popular choice for the people of Rai Island to spend their weekends. Well, with the exception of the Emma Stills. She had planned to spend the majority of her day with her head buried in the books at Ulysses’ Library, however an evil unstoppable force of red bouncy curls made it her mission to assure that Emma “enjoy” her weekend properly . . . and to “get some sun for that pale skin!” Lena’s giggly voice echoed in her mind the words she’d used the previous day to assure Emma’s attendance with her and Chepe’s excursion to the beach. It wasn’t like Emma despised the idea of hanging out with the two of them . . . she just didn’t want to feel like the third wheel. And with such short notice she hadn’t had the chance to bribe Kyren into tagging along - especially since he had seemed to be avoiding her lately. She could have called up the rather handsome bassist in her phone list, but he was probably working today and she didn’t want to distract him from that.

On the bright side Chepe did bring his adorable little furball which was currently hurling toward them as fast as her chubby little feet could carry her. Emma couldn't help but laugh as she watched the small pup fall over while attempting to drown Lena in kisses. “Awe come here you cutie!” She chuckled, scooping Angel up into her arms. Resting her chin softly on the puppies soft fuzzy head Emma’s brown gaze took in the extent of the beach-goers… it’s pretty busy here today. . .hmm looks like someone’s even throwing a party. She noted as her sights settled on the setup in the distance. Holding a free hand up to her brow shielding her eyes from the bright sun Emma returned her attention to Lena and Chepe whom seemed to be off in their own little worlds. Lena enjoying hers much more than Chepe seemed to be.

Arms stretched out practically bathing in the warmth of the sun Lena shimmied out of her jean shorts and sandals, leaving the tall slender red head in her light blue bikini and shell necklace that swayed about her neck as she bounced. “This is going to be a great day!” She announced rather giddy about her triumph over luring Emma out of her cavern of books. She even managed to coax her to let her hair down for the day! Freeing those soft brown locks was a rare occasion for Emma, so Lena felt that had been yet another victory on her part. Nelson 2 – Stills 0!

Twirling around to face the other two Lena noticed that Chepe’s mind was definitely not there on the beach with them. Quietly slipping up beside him she swatted him on the back - rough enough to snap him out of it, “Hey don’t tell me were already boring you!?” Grabbing his hand within her own Lena led him over to Emma while listing off a couple of things that they could all do. “We can go for a dip, build a sandcastle, take Angel for a walk or . . .Oh! If you’re up for it we can play a game of Volleyball?” Though Emma didn’t seem ecstatic over the idea of any kind of sport in the blistering sun, she didn’t seem fully against the idea either.

“You can’t really play a fair game with only 3 people Lena, but if Chepe’s up for the challenge then so am I.” Emma added while setting Angel down into the sand. Looking over at Chepe, Lena batted her big blue eyes in hopes of tempting him into their game.

Angel snuggled into emma's arms, giving voice to shrill puppy yips as she licked her chin, her tail wagging quickly as she attempted to cover every inch of skin she could each with slobbery kisses.

Chepe's mind was pulled back to the present, the sunny warm beach, and the girls with Angel, and he blinked, clearing his mind. Emma's voice reached Chepe as if from a distance, and he responded automatically. "hm? oh..yeah that sounds fun." he said, as he absently laid his guitar's case on the sand, on top of the green t-shirt he had worn, and then pulled off, out of the way of the girls. He'd forgotten how warm days were here, and he absently rubbed his shoulder, near the star tattoo there.

He was watching Lena as she removed her clothing, stripping down to her bathing suit. Even though he would never have said anything about it, he thought she looked amazing, and he loved blue on her. He smiled slightly, his hair in his eyes, as he said, "no..of course you two aren't boring...I'm sorry I was...distracted." Smiling at Lena, knowing that she wanted to play a game, he knew he would end up playing the game with her and emma....no matter how hard it would be to play a fair game with 3 people. "we can play, if you want to..."

vaguely he wondered if he had forgotten something important. He had a feeling he was supposed to do something with the band today.

Lissa smoothed her thick, dark yellow long sleeved t-shirt down, making sure she was well covered. She didn't want her secret to be discovered. She knew if anyone found out that she would be in a lot of trouble and she had kept this secret well for many years. Not even her sisters ever had found out about the hell she was living through. she sat in the sand, noticing the group of kids who were apparently getting ready for some party or other.

She looked over at her younger sister, Isi and noted the interest with which she was watching the group, her fingers, running carelessly through her blue hair, as she stood near Lissa.
Lissa knew her sister well, and Isi was likely thinking of how to approach the group

As the curly haired family saw Mimi's greeting, they stopped and headed over to the pink-haired birthday girl to wish her a happy birthday. Once they had given her the cheesecake and flowers, they excused themselves politely to finish unpacking. Soon, all the equipment was unloaded from the tow-behind trailer and his whole family was setting everything up in record time. Keith connected the cords to the monitors and speakers, Bobby and Joanna unpacked the songbooks and their parents were working on the electrical hookups. Within a matter of minutes, everything was set up and running smoothly. Now they were rehashing who would perform the first set, the second and how brakes were going to be scheduled.

For the first set, Al would play rhythm guitar while Terry was on drums and Chuck played bass. Casey would pick up the lead guitar on this one for now, since Chuck's cell phone had died and he hadn't been able to call Chepe up. The second set placed John on lead guitar with Raph playing rhythm and Keith on drums. Fred would take over on bass guitar. They'd call up Bobby, Joanna or Elaine for certain songs if necessary and also had songbooks to set on the tables. That way, the guests could see what songs they knew how to play and make requests. They also offered to do karaoke.

Well, that was fine by him. With the last of the guitars tuned, it was time to test the microphones and do a sound test. It was his turn this time, so Chuck had to adjust them all so he could speak into each one. Elaine, Bobby and Joanna moved back several yards away from the stage, then waved when they were ready. Leaning close to the first microphone, his voice sounded out over more than half the beach. "Okay, mic one... Check, check one, testing... how's that sound out there?" He asked, getting a positive response that it sounded good and to move on to the next microphone. Eventually, all the microphones were at the same volume and were producing crystal clear sound. They had a small jam session for a few minutes to test out their sound, and when they finally were satisfied, they set their instruments down and joined in the festivities while waiting for the crowd to get a bit bigger.

Isi looked over at her sister and grinned. "I'm going to go splash in the water. you should come." Dropping her shirt and shorts in a pile on the sand, as she shamelessly twirled,showing off her leopard print bikini and grinned at Lissa. She brushed the blue hair out of her eyes and jogged down the beach and walked into the water, letting it lap against her ankles as she moved deeper into the water.

Yui Showed up at the beach party with Gadiel by her side. She was wearing a plain white T-shirt that covered up her small pink bikini and white flip flops. She looked around curiously taking in all the hustle and bustle of the place and then a small smile took its place on her face.

She looked around and then noticed the pink haired birthday girl in the distance. She gripped the gift she bought. She stared at her feet shyly for a minute and then began to walk forward to the girls direction. She stared at the girl shyly with a slight blush on her cheeks. It was the first time she had seen her up close... she was indeed a very pretty girl.

She let out a gasp when she realized she was standing there like a complete airhead just gawking at her. Her blush got a little darker with embarrassment and she finally managed to stutter something out. "U....Umm... Happy Birthday Mimi..." She said with a small smile across her face as she offered the girl her birthday present.

"Damn, a shit ton a people jus popped up out a nowhere - Oops! Sorry." Lupe gasped covering her mouth. She didn't mean to curse in front of... yet another pinkette. A smaller one too. "Is dat... your little sister or somethin'?" Lupe asked. "I didn't mean to curse in front of her." She grinned sheepishly. Speaking of little siblings, Lupe remembered inviting Becky and Carson to the party as well.

"Oh, Mimi! Oh! I invited a friend of mine and her little brother here too. Is dat okay with you? Ah, maybe I shoulda asked first, huh?" Giving a rather large grin, Lupe added, "But it should be alright, right? I mean, it's only two people, right?"