Between by Mary Ting Page B

hours of research and planning, I’d purchased a bunch of blank CDs and burned her favorite songs onto them. Each CD was also covered with a photo collage of her special moments with her friends. I placed them into paper jackets and carefully labeled them “Thank you for coming to Patty’s 18th birthday.” Hopefully, she didn’t suspect a thing and the party would be a great success.
    Needing to be there early, I quickly slipped on a new red long sleeved, form fitting sweater that I’d bought particularly to wear for Patty’s birthday and a black A-line skirt. I tied a sparkling black scarf loosely around my neck to add a special touch, but made sure that my butterfly necklace was showing.
    Since my hair is pin straight, always down, I decided to pull it back in a pony tail. Then I zipped on my high heel black boots, grabbed my black, thick overcoat and headed out the door. As soon as I stepped outside, the cold breeze stung sharply to my very core as the heavy gusts of wind pushed me back, caught my breath, and tousled my hair in a wild tumble. My face and my hands started to feel numb so I pulled out my black gloves from the pockets of my overcoat and slid them on, then hugged myself for warmth. As I struggled to get to my car, orange, brown, red and yellow leaves swirled in the air, like a mini colorful tornado. The vibrant crisp leaves danced as they fell to the ground. Though I was tempted to jump on them and hear the crunching sound, I thought twice about what I wanted to do since I would look ridiculous. Many lawns were covered with sheets of autumn colored leaves. I loved the change of seasons, and the beauty that came with it.
    Though it was a long drive there, I didn’t mind since the scenic route kept my mind engaged, and I was surprised to realize I was already there. When the waiter took me back to our private room, I realized that I was the first one there. Andrew had picked a perfect restaurant. We had our own private room with a rectangular cherry wood table and chairs. The table was set for eight people, small and cozy, just like Andrew said it would be. There was even a bouquet of beautiful flowers arranged perfectly in a glass vase, placed in the center of the table. As I carefully placed a party favor at each place setting, I saw Jane and Diane.
    “ Hello,” I said.
    “ Hello, Claudia,” they both said, giving me a quick hug, one after another.
    Jane and Diane were Patty’s friends from school. We didn’t hang out much, but I saw them once in a while at Patty’s gatherings.
    “ It looks so nice! I didn’t know they had a private room,” Jane said, gazing at the details of the room. “Where should I put this?” She was holding a huge birthday gift bag. “It’s from Diane and me.”
    “ You can set it there,” I replied, pointing to a small round table, and noticed Diane already seated.
    Diane didn’t seem to care about the ambiance of the room as much as Jane. She had already plopped herself down. She was holding a compact mirror, and smacking her lips while gliding on some lip gloss, then casually tossing her hair back. “Do you think Austin will be here?” Diane asked.
    My stomach knotted and I didn’t know why. The possibility of Austin being at the party hadn’t even crossed my mind. Austin was Andrew’s good friend; of course he would be here.
    Jane looked at me and started to speak. “I don’t know. What do you…”
    Jane didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. Diane stood up with a huge smile and eagerly walked toward the door. I wondered who she was smiling flirtatiously at.
    “ Hello, Austin,” she said, giving him a hug as she glued her whole body onto his.
    Austin looked at me and winked. Diane curiously looked at me, certainly wondering why I got a wink.
    “ I want a hug too,” Jane said, draping her arms around him.
    The two girls were flaunting themselves at him, Diane more so then Jane. He ignored them as he checked his text messages. “Andrew is