There was pink streamer and purple balloons everywhere. There were five different bags of chips on the table and three different kinds of dips. She'd taken all her games out of the closet and finally learned how to work the CD player (kind of). She'd picked out her favorite Disney princess movies for the two girls who were allowed to spend the night and thrown an extra fun sized snickers bar in the goody bags of the three boys who were not. She'd done everything in her power to ensure that her ninth birthday party, the first she'd ever thrown, was the best ever.

But Ivey was still nervous. Somehow, she'd managed being friends with her group for three years without her parents having to meet them, but today that would change. What if they didn't approve? They absolutely wouldn't. They had raised her to be a perfect, obedient, all American girl. What would they think when Tommy opened his young mouth to swear or when Mike said the word "blow job" (whatever that was) again? Or when Hayley beat the crap out of Mike for using the word, or when Drew complained about how much she hated her adoptive parents? All this was bound to happen, it was a regular occurrence. The only friend who had a chance in hell was David.

The doorbell rang and Ivey practically fell from her seat on the couch. Her worries were gone when she saw Hayley standing on her front perch with a huge box in hand. It was wrapped with strawberry shortcake wrapping paper and had a huge pink bow on it; it screamed to be ripped open. A present that had been wrapped so girly, by Hayley's mother of course, had to contain something wonderful and pink inside.

"What is it?" Ivey demanded with a gleeful squeal. She'd only received birthday gifts from her parents before, and their idea of a gift was something that had an educational purpose to go with it. Hayley would never give her something educational. She was smart enough to realize when a toy had a deeper purpose instilled in it by grown ups, and she knew well enough to run past said toy, for it was doomed t be incredibly lame.

"Ivey, quit being rude and invite her in. You can open your presents later after you eat cake." Her mother said from the kitchen where she was un-boxing square pizzas and arranging the pieces on a glass serving plate. If her mom wasn't trying to be better then other moms at everything, including serving something as simple as Pizza Hut pizza, it was a sign that she had fallen terribly ill. Of course, if this meant presents could come before cake, there wouldn't exactly be anything wrong with that theory.

"It's not a Barbie convertible anyways." Hayley said with a wink, making Ivey giggle. She mouthed off a thank you and placed the gift on the long decorated table her mom had set out. The gift, though now lacking mystery, was not any less amazing then it was before, even more so, considering Ivey couldn't wait to tear it open and see the look on her parents face when she received something that taught her absolutely nothing. Her parents were wrong; good things didn't come to people who waited, good things came to people who made friends with people who's parents didn't care about education in a toy.

"Oh God. Fatty's here. Why are you even friends with him Ivey?" Hayley asked as she glanced out the window to find Mike making his way out of the car. She'd made sure that she came early so she wouldn't have to eat any of the pizza that his smelly hands touched but it hadn't mattered. He came just as early to ruin Hayley's plans, because he was a fat evil troll who had nothing better to do then to make her life miserable simply by being friends with Ivey.

"Where's the pizza?" Mike asked once the door was opened. He quickly handed his present off the Ivey and darted towards the kitchen. Hayley rolled her eyes and mouthed the word "fatty". She began to think that maybe, if she bought Ivey a barbie tour bus to go with her new convertible, she'd forget why she was friends with a jerk like Mike, or maybe even realize that she never had a reason in the first place. Either response would be acceptable.

After about ten minutes Drew showed up with a what seemed to be a pile of garbage. She explained that her adoptive parents refused to wrap the gift for her, so she had to do it, and it was a lot harder then it looked. She displayed the three bandages she had on her hands and the parts of the present that somehow had managed growing wrapping paper tumors and explained that gift wrapping was a lot more difficult then Santa led on. Next time she went to a birthday party, she explained, she was going to first go to the north pole and have santa wrap the gift. It was the least he could do for not fulfilling her Christmas wish of adoptive parents who didn't suck eggs.

Finally, David and Tom arrived. They were always together, so it hadn't surprised Ivey in the least bit that they would arrive together, especially since they were next door neighbors. In their close group of friends, Tom and David were the first members. Their closeness is what created the group in the first place, and what made everyone else just as close, with the exception, of course, of Mike, who hadn't noticed that Ivey was the only one who didn't find him annoying.

"Tom is poor so he probably didn't even get you a present." Mike said as he stuck out his tongue and excitedly waited for Ivey to open his present. Ivey was Mike's first crush, and he intended on making her his first girlfriend. Unfortunately, he'd seen her blushing whenever Tom would brush past her, and this was unacceptable. He was poor; his dad was an alcoholic and his step mom was a coke whore. Of course, his delicate Ivey didn't know what this meant, and so she didn't know to stay clear of him. Mike would make sure she did.

"Shut up, bubble ass. I did get Ivey a present and it probably makes your present look gay!" Tom shot back as he whipped a small, neatly wrapped box from out of his coat pocket. Ivey hadn't a single clue where Tom's vocabulary had gotten so...colorful in his nine years of life, but he was defiantly the only kid in elementary school who dared to swear on a regular basis. Everyone else snuck one in every once in a while, if they were in fifth or sixth grade, just to feel badass, but they always panicked and looked around themselves to make sure no adults had heard it. The words always tingled coming out of their lips, almost feeling like gibberish, but not with Tom. It was almost natural to him.

"Nuh uh!" Mike spat as he glared at the small box. What of value could be inside something so small? Nothing as great as his gift, that was for sure. It was probably one of those crappy little toys that came out of the machines at the grocery store. The ones children would always throw fits to get their parents to give them a quarter so they could get the prize inside, only to get the worst one in the machine or to get the one they wanted, and have it break in a matter of three minutes. That was probably all Tom could afford.

"You're right. It's doesn't ‘probably’ make your present look gay, it just does." Tom answered back as he stuck out his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut, making the most mocking face he could. He didn't understand why Mike singled him out all the time. He was a dick to everyone, but he was a major asshole to him. This, of course, wasn't much bother to Tom. He liked getting in arguments with Mike. Tom knew that he was smart for his age, but making Mike look like an even bigger idiot then usual just confirmed this.

"Nuh uh, 'cause I got her something so awesome that she's going to forget about everyone else’s gifts! Especially yours, you know why, because you're poor!" Mike said with a smug smirk on his face. Hayley rolled her eyes, it was unbelievable that Mike could start a fight over something like a birthday present. Her eyes practically dropped out of her head when she realized for the first time that Ivey's parents were in the other room, listening to all of this.

"I highly doubt that." Tom said matter of factly as he set the gift on the table, knowing full well that Mike was comparing it's size to the gifts around it without even having to turn around. It was typical for that fat ass to think that size mattered when it came to something like gifts; Tom assumed it was because he was so big in size that how big something was preoccupied his thoughts. Like he was subconsciously trying to let himself realize that he was a fatass, but this was Mike. That day would never come. As far as Mike was concerned, he was the coolest person alive, even cooler then all the sixth graders.

"How can you be so sure of yourself Tom?" Mike asked as he cocked an eyebrow. There was no way Tom's gift was cooler then his. He had listened to everything that Ivey said for the past three months. He looked through toy magazines with her and asked other girl's what was cool (granted most of their answers were "not you"). His gift was going to be the best. He'd actually put effort in something for the first time in his life, something that only served him selfishly just a little bit, and that meant good things had to come his way.

"Because you are a dumbass." Tom said, smiling victoriously as everyone else in the room cracked up. Even Ivey couldn't help but crack a smile. Tom was so smart. No nine year old could argue with him and not be left feeling like an idiot when it was over with. He could even take on the fifth graders. She didn't even care that he swore so much, or, even more concerning, that her parents were in the other room hearing him swear. He seemed like a bad kid but when it came to his friends he was always there and he got the best grades in his class.

"Let's eat cake now!" Ivey chimed in once everyone was done laughing. She hadn't forgotten about her gifts. As soon as everyone was done with their half chocolate/half vanilla treat, those presents would be hers. She'd get to rip them to shreds, with the exception of Drew's. Hers had to be treated delicately since Ivey couldn't figure out which lumps consisted mainly of wrapping paper and tape and which ones were parts of her actual gift. She even doubted she'd be able to rip through the layers of tape; she'd need scissors.

"Ivey, settle down. Everyone just got here and nobody's eating cake without some actual dinner. If you could call pizza dinner." Ivey's mom called from the kitchen. She glared at her husband. She had wanted to serve pasta. Pasta was healthy, and filling, and furthermore, didn't consist mainly of cooking grease. However, her husband had told her that this was their nine year olds birthday party, not her wedding. Pizza would be fine; it would be perfect. Every nine year old's favorite food was had somehow made it through pizza, the birthday song, the trick candles that almost set the house on fire, and cake. It was finally the moment she'd been waiting for all week; she was getting her presents. She'd finally find out what her friends had picked out for her, what made them think of her when they were shopping with their parents. She'd finally get to show her parents that she could have non-educational toys and still grow up just fine.

"Open mine first!" Mike insisted as he darted to the table and handed her his gift. She prepared to open it before her mom made her pause. She needed to put on the sparkly pointed birthday girl hat and get a picture. God forbid her mom couldn't look back and remember the few seconds before the gift was opened. The few seconds that came after the whole hour she had already waited, the whole week before the party started. Sometimes, Ivey's mom drove her crazy.

After finally tearing the wrapping paper to the point the pattern on it was no longer recognizable, Ivey found a barbie convertible. She fiddled with the wheel and gave a big smile, thanking her friend. She couldn't help but notice, however, the unsatisfied look on Hayley's face. Like she was going to grab Mike from the hair and throw him and his present out the window.

"You idiot! You got he the exact same thing I did! I'm Ivey's best friend, when she said she wanted this I was supposed to get it! If you weren't so dumb you would have realized that! What's Ivey going to do with two of the exact same toy? You're going to have to take yours back and get her something else!" Hayley shouted as she threw a threatening fist inches from Mike's face. He took it and pushed it away; Hayley was just some dumb bitch; he was Ivey's future boyfriend. His gift was not going anywhere.

"I can have two, this way there'll be an extra one for when I have a friend over. Thank you both." Ivey said as David quietly slipped his gift in her arms. She giggled; he was so shy. The only person he was open around was Tom. They were honestly like brother's, they spent every moment together. Sometimes Ivey felt jealous of David; she wished she lived next door to Tom. She also wished she had his carefree parents. His parents were able to throw parties and just be happy their child as having a good time instead of quietly judging their friends.

"A hello kitty book bag! I'm going to put all my books in this as soon as everyone leaves! It's so cute!" Ivey exclaimed as she hugged it. Her mom examined it as well. It didn't have as many compartments as the one she had gotten her at the beginning of the year and it wasn't as big. What if her daughter couldn't fit all her books inside? Would she choose the lazy option and just choose a few not to take home? That would be unacceptable. She'd keep her school book bag and use the hello kitty one for sleepovers.

"Mine next!" Drew excitedly said as she tossed Ivey the bundle of wrapping paper and tape. The gift took no less then ten full minutes to undo, with Ivey having to use her teeth and poke multiple holes in the paper with her thumb. The areas, at least, that were not completely laminated with at least three layers of tape, which wasn't a lot of areas at all. Somehow, in the unwrapping process, Ivey had also managed to get a paper cut, which was unheard of with wrapping paper.

"I love it!" Ivey exclaimed as she showed off her new hat by placing it on her head. It looked like the hats she'd seen people wear in French movies. Now she'd be able to go around pretending to speak French, and nobody would correct her because everyone else in America either spoke Spanish or English. She would tell people her name was Beatrice and that she was visiting from Paris. She had to entertain herself during the boring trips to the grocery store somehow.

"Open Tom's lame gift so I can call him poor already!" Mike said, losing patience. He tossed her the small box and stuck his tongue out at Tom, knowing right off the bat it had to make his clone present look good. He'd be able to call Tom hobo-ella and the penniless wonder. Then everyone would laugh and Tom would cry and then Ivey would never even talk to him again. Unless, of course, it was to call him Crybaby and throw pennies at his face.

"Tom!" Ivey squealed in excitement, breaking Mike from his blissful visions of copper pennies being thrown at Tom's hobo face. She lifted a charm bracelet from the box and held it up for all her friends. So far, it only had one charm; a tiny heart with a fake diamond invaded in the top right corner. The gift had to cost at least twenty dollars, and it was safe to assume that Tom had not gotten any of his step mom's cocaine money or even dared to ask his father for anything.

"How did you get that? You're poor! What did you do, put your box up for a second mortgage?" Mike asked, trying to hide how genuinely pissed he was. The only way Tom could get a better gift then him was if he had stolen it, but with his luck, mentioning that would only make him that much more attractive to Ivey. Girls were so confusing, they looked past the coolest person in the world to go for hobos who stole things. This, of course, was only Mike's logic, which was as reliable as Stalin was as a babysitter.

"The old lady who lives across the street from us let Tom cut her grass for money. That makes his gift even more better then Mike's because it was Tom's money. He could have used that to get a car I bet, or even a pool with a water slide!" David exclaimed, not fully comprehending the American economic system or the true value of a dollar. Of course, Ivey didn't understand either, and her eyes increased fully in size. Instead of a car he got her a bracelet? This had to mean he liked her!

"Or a cardboard box." Mike said as he rolled his eyes, trying desperately to hide how truly pissed he was getting. What was so great about a bracelet? You couldn't pretend to drive a bracelet. It wasn't an efficient throwing device and you certainly couldn't ride it like a bike. All a bracelet did was sit on a girl's wrist, not serving any entertainment purposes. Mike really didn't get girls. They were the weirdest people alive, and the only reason Tom could understand was because he probably was a girl.

"Yeah, so we could send your giant lard ass to Peru in it." Tom shot back as he stuck his tongue out and made devil ears with his fingers on top of his head. This, of course, fully got the attention of Ivey's parents, who were less then pleased. They forced themselves not to call the party off at that moment, telling the children never to bother their future Harvard girl again with their behavioral problems. A few more hours couldn't taint her mind that much, but after the party, she was never to see them again. She was to get smart friends who weren't bound to drop out before high school.

"Let's play karaoke!" Ivey exclaimed, realizing the tension that was building between Mike and Tom right in front of her parents. She pulled her barbie karaoke machine from under the couch and plugged it in, watching as her parents quietly conversed with each other and wishing she spent her time learning to read lips instead of books. So far, she'd never read a single book that was as important to her life as what her parents were saying now, and she was on chapter books at this point.

"I wanna go first!" Hayley exclaimed as she pushed Mike over to get to the machine before him. She began singing some girly song Mike didn't recognize. He ignored her and concentrated on Ivey, who was whispering something to Drew, who looked like she was trying her hardest not to squeal in excitement. Drew then grabbed Tom by the wrist and lead him to the front porch, where Mike would be unable to eavesdrop without being noticed. This was another reason that girls pissed him off; they were sneaky. Like every girl on the damn planet was one of Charlie's angels.

" Do you like like Ivey?" Drew asked with excitement. Her enthusiasm, however, died down when Tom gave her a confused look before slowly shaking his head. Her mouth dropped and she slammed her palm to her forehead. Boys were not supposed to be read incorrectly. They were supposed to be stupid and obvious. It was the girls job to be mysterious and misleading, why hadn't Tom gotten that memo before he went and bought her friend a bracelet?

"Ivey's my friend Drew." Tom said, as if that explained everything. He would have worked to get any of his friends great gifts, it didn't mean he liked her liked her. His group of friends were the first people in his whole life who ever said anything nice to him, and they never told him to go away or that he was an "accident". Mowing some deodorant smelling lady’s lawn was the least he could do for any of his friends for showing him that the world didn't consist only of pricks."Ivey, I think me and your mother need to talk to you." Ivey's father said the following morning after the sleepover segment of the party. This was the moment she knew would happen. She had foreseen the unavoidable conversation would take place as soon as her last guest walked out of the door, even before they buckled their seat belt. They thought they were going to break her away from her new family, the ones that cared only about making her happy and not a rats ass about her future, but they weren't. Drew disobeyed her adoptive parents on a regular basis, saying she'd make a better mom, and Ivey was older then her by exactly one month and three weeks, therefore, it was about time she decided what was good for herself too. She was nine now, after all.

"Your new friends didn't seem very nice. They made fun of each other an awful lot, and that one little girl seemed very physical. Not only that, but that young man said a lot of bad words. Do his parents know about that?" her father asked as Ivey tried her hardest not to roll her eyes. Bad words? Not very nice? Did her dad think she was still six? She was practically a preteen, he could give it to her straight without demeaning her. Not that she was going to listen anyways; not this time. Not when it concerned her second family.

"Yes daddy, Tommy's parents don't care if he swears. They're just words, and he's really really smart. He's the smartest kid in the class, he's even smarter then me. He'll probably go to Harvard to and when he does he's still going to be my bestest friend and I might even marry him someday because he's the cutest smartest boy alive." Ivey told her father matter of factly. How dare her parents judge her friends, or the boy she liked? It wasn't like they weren't friends with the stoners in high school or the bitchy anorexics. Just because they pretended to have a perfect life now didn't mean they always had the best taste in friends.

"No, you most certainly will not. Any child who swears in elementary school will never make it in college, especially if his parents allow it! He's a nobody now and he'll be a nobody late like all the rest of your friends. You're going to make friends with the good kids in school, join the pep squad and academic club, and have a successful future, do I make myself clear?" Her mother asked, making herself seem crazy, yet again, to her nine year old daughter. Ivey couldn't wait until she got to take Honors psychology so she could figure out which crazy person disorder, if not all, her mother had.

"No! You can't pick my friends! I hate you, and you're not invited to my christmas play this year! I'm going to tear up all my homework and fail all my tests and then you'll be sorry!" Ivey threatened as she stormed up to her room. She had finally become a member of something great, greater then that stupid group who volunteered at the nursing home or the stupid youth group at her church who went around passing out prayer cards to people. What she had joined wasn't forced by her parents, it didn't bore her to tears or try to make her a productive member of society before she could even vote, and furthermore, the other members of her new group weren't a bunch of rich little pricks who had everything made easy for them and only did nice things for the praise. She would never leave her group, it was the only one that was really hers, and having a group like hers was better then owning her own amusement park.

a/n: the best cure for writers block with a new story is to put it off and make a new story. Thus, this was created. Since I plan to have a lot of flashbacks in this, I decided to make the whole first chapter a flashback. This might get deleted because the idea (if you could even call it that) came to me so radomly lol