Chapter 17
Lauren
The night had come. Today, Lauren Hopewell was legally an adult. She had been waiting to turn eighteen for eighteen years and her wait was finally over.
Lauren looked around the ballroom of the hotel where her party was being held and tearfully placed her hands against her chest in amazement. The room was beautiful. A black and gold balloon arch stood at the entryway and several more balloons, with the words HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, LAUREN printed on them, were spaced around the entire ballroom. Streamers, all black and gold, matching the rest of the decorations, hung from the ceiling. A large banner was positioned at the front of the room that had the same words that were displayed on the balloons printed on it in fancy calligraphy. Colorful lights hung from the center of the ceiling, surrounding a grand disco ball. A long table covered with a variety of hors d’oeuvres was positioned on the right side of the room and next to it sat a dolphin ice sculpture, spouting out her mother’s special homemade punch. Two slide projectors were positioned on either side of the stage and showed photos of Lauren from the time she was born up until now. There was also a life-sized portrait of her that she’d had made a couple of weeks ago, which would hide the birthday girl until it was time for her to enter the party.
“This is so perfect,” Lauren said to her friends.
“It’s beautiful, Lauren,” Nira, her party planner, said. “And everything is set. The DJ is here. Security is posted. And several of your guests are already lined up outside.”
Lauren smiled to her parents. “Thank you, Mama and Daddy.” She hugged them both. “This is so wonderful.”
Her father, Rueben, hugged her tight. “You deserve it, sweetheart.”
“Tonight is your night,” her mother, Cathy, added.
Lauren turned toward her girls with a huge smile. Their expressions mirrored hers and she could almost feel the excitement pouring from her body into theirs. She opened her arms for a group hug. They ran toward her like small children flocking toward an ice cream truck. They hugged and screamed because they all knew tonight was going to be a wonderful night.
Nira pushed Lauren out of the ballroom, so she wouldn’t be the first person seen when guests began to arrive. Lauren begged for her friends to come with her so they could help calm her nerves. They all anxiously sat in the small room behind the stage.
“When can we come out of these coats?” Brenda asked as she unbuttoned her long overcoat that each girl wore to hide her dress. “It’s hot.”
“Bre, nobody told you to wear velvet.” Jayda laughed.
“Oh, I’m so nervous. This ain’t even my party,” Danielle said.
Lauren smiled. “You’re just nervous ’cause A.J. is looking good tonight and you’re afraid that you’re falling for him.”
Danielle only smiled as she thought about A.J., who was standing outside with the other guests waiting for the doors to open. Lauren wasn’t ashamed about calling Danielle out on her relationship with A.J. She felt it was about time Danielle open up her heart again and A.J. seemed like a great catch, and his attributes went far beyond his physical appearance. Even if they didn’t start dating, Lauren believed he had just as much to offer Danielle as a friend.
“So, Bre, how are you going to balance Ken and Zane tonight? They’re both here already,” Danielle pointed out, and Lauren knew she wanted to take the attention away from herself.
Brenda sighed and shook her head. “I don’t even know. I barely escaped having them pick me up this evening. They both called yesterday asking if they could drive me here, but I told them that I had to meet up with you guys early to make sure everything was straight.”
“Well, just make sure that you keep them a distance apart ’cause I don’t want no drama tonight,” Lauren instructed seriously. The last thing she needed was an altercation of any kind disrupting her special evening.
The girls heard the music blasting and guests could be heard entering the ballroom. Lauren’s nerves shot to an all-time high and she could hardly inhale for a calming breath.
“Girl, you need to calm down,” Jayda said as she fixed the tiara on Lauren’s head. “You look great. The place looks great. Everything is going to be great.”
Lauren looked up with a worried expression on her face. “What if Sterling doesn’t show up?” she questioned anxiously and her friends realized the true reason for her jitteriness. She’d mentioned the party a couple of times since giving Sterling his invitation and he continued to avoid giving Lauren a direct answer. She wanted so badly to see him walk through the ballroom doors and if he didn’t, she’d be devastated.
“He’ll be here. There’s no way he would miss this,” Brenda assured her with her arm around Lauren’s shoulder.
“Come on, girls.” Nira clapped her hands as she walked into the room. “Out of those coats.”
The girls removed their coats like snakes shedding old skin. They knew they looked good and they planned on having fun tonight. Everyone except Lauren and Nira left the room. Lauren wrung her hands nervously and settled into her seat. She watched as Nira spoke into the headset that connected her to all of the people who were helping make tonight a big success.
“Yeah, make sure they’re tight at the door,” Nira commanded and Lauren knew she was speaking to security. She turned toward Lauren with a smile. “Everything’s going according to plan.”
“Great,” Lauren mumbled nervously.
Nira glared at her and studied her appearance. “Lauren, is everything okay?”
Lauren fumbled with her necklace. There was no way she could discuss the basis of her anxiety with her thirty-year-old party planner. Though there was a positive in that she probably would never see Nira again after tonight, which meant she wouldn’t have to deal with the fact that she’d told her party planner her business, Lauren decided against it.
“Yes, everything’s great. I’m just a little anxious, but tonight is going to be perfect,” she claimed, hoping Sterling would make that declaration true.
“It is . . . as soon as you make your grand entrance.” Nira motioned for Lauren to follow her.
Lauren felt the bass of the music pumping throughout her body as she stood backstage. She held a mental picture of the ballroom and smiled at the thought of everyone dancing to the music and waiting for her to make her grand entrance. Suddenly, she heard the DJ speak.
“Is everybody havin’ a good time?” The teens screamed in response and Lauren shook in excitement. “Well, it seems like everyone’s here to party, so why don’t we bring out the lady of the evening. I guarantee if we scream loud enough, we’ll get her out here.” The DJ began chanting, “Lauren, Lauren, Lauren,” and the partiers joined in.
The curtains on the stage closed, and the giant picture of Lauren slowly disappeared from her guests’ view. Nira rushed the stage workers to remove the picture and position Lauren in the spot where the picture once stood. Seconds later, the curtains reopened and when they saw Lauren standing in her picture’s place, with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face, everyone screamed as if she were a famous Hollywood star.
The DJ handed her the microphone and she began to speak. “Wassup, everybody?” In response, everyone screamed again. Lauren laughed because she loved every bit of the attention. “Thank you guys so much for coming out and celebrating this day with me. I’m eighteen, y’all,” she said and they screamed and clapped again. “I hope you guys have the time of your life. So enough talking, let’s dance.” She gave the microphone back to the DJ.
When she looked up, she saw several students walking through the door, showing their invitations to the security guards, who, in turn, checked for their names on the list. Sterling was standing at the door. He seemed to be having a problem getting in and it looked as if he was about to leave. Lauren rushed off the stage and ran, in her heels, toward the door. Getting through the crowd of dancing teens and well-wishers was a chore, but she finally made it to the front door. Sterling was walking off when she called his name, nearly out of breath.
Sterling turned around and smiled at Lauren. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Lauren smiled. “Is there a problem?” she asked the guards.
The larger of the two guards replied, “This gentleman is not on your list, but he has a personal invitation.”
Lauren waved her hand to dismiss his concern. “He’s a chaperone. All of the chaperons got invites, but their names are on another list that the head chaperon has.” She looked at Sterling and winked.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the other guard said. “Come on in, sir.”
“Thank you,” Sterling said as he walked toward Lauren.
“I didn’t think you were going to show,” Lauren told him as they walked away from the guards.
“I almost didn’t,” he replied honestly. “But I knew you would be expecting me. I didn’t want to let you down.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” She smoothly reached up and locked her arm with his. “Would you like to dance with me?”
Sterling glanced around and noticed the crowd of partying teens. “Umm, maybe later,” he told her as he eased his arm out of her grasp. “I think I’ll just hang with the other chaperons for a while.”
Lauren’s face clearly revealed her disappointment.
“Please don’t frown. You look beautiful tonight. I promise I’ll dance with you . . . just not now.” He began walking away from her, but turned back and said, “Happy birthday, Ms. Hopewell.”
Lauren turned and dejectedly joined the rest of her guests out on the dance floor. She silently hoped that Sterling would make this a happy birthday for her.