Breaking the Birthday Rules

by Nina Powell

Papers flew wildly out of the backpack across the bus aisle. Jaylin finally flipped an envelope out to Kasey. Bright colors flashed before my eyes as Kasey tore into the card.

Whoo-hooo! Paaartyyy!” Kasey yelped.

Broken Rule #1: Never hand birthday party invitations out in front of other kids.

Bad thougts nibbled at my brain. Jaylin is having a party? Why was Kasey invited and not me? Sure, they are neighbors, but sometimes we play at each other’s houses.

“Are you going to Jaylin’s party Sam?” Kasey leaned over and asked me.

“No,” I said folding my arms.

“Oh, sorry,” Kasey said, picking a sticker off the seat.

Broken Rule #2: Never ask kids if they are invited to a birthday party.

Bad thoughts took a big bite out of my brain. Why wasn’t I invited? Doesn’t Jaylin like me? I thought we were friends!

I glared at Jaylin and Kasey and listened.

“And then we are going to play soccer outside and eat pizza. My mom is even making a soccer cake. It’s going to be the best birthday ever!” Jaylin looked like a spring ready to bounce right out the bus window.

Broken Rule #3: Never talk about your birthday party in front of kids who are not invited.

Bad thoughts chomped my brain into mush. Awww, pizza is my favorite, and so is cake. I wonder if they’re having ice cream. Soccer? That’s why Jaylin didn’t invite me; I’m really bad at soccer. Maybe if I were better at soccer I would get invited.

I couldn’t wait to get home and it was taking foreeeever. I couldn’t take all this talk of fun and balloons and presents and cake. I couldn’t stop my lip from shaking and my eyes from stinging. No one needed to see baby tears. I buried myself in the corner and watched the green blur of trees race by.

Screeeeeech… My stop at last! I grabbed my backpack and ran off the bus. The bus pulled away, and I shuffled up the driveway, kicking rocks out of my way. I slammed the front door and threw my backpack in a corner. Mom and Traci were sitting at the kitchen table laughing.

“Why so mad, Sam?” Mom asked. Most of the time it’s annoying that Mom knows so much. This time I was glad.

“I had a bad day,” I said.

“What happened?” Traci asked.

Finally, Mom was dating someone who actually talked to me and cared about my life. The guy she dated before Traci had a really awesome car, but he acted like I didn’t even exist. Traci talked to me about school, played video games with me, and took me swimming. Traci was way cooler.

I told Mom and Traci about Jaylin’s party and how bad I was at playing soccer and how they were having pizza and cake.

“…and just so you know, Jaylin is not invited to my birthday party next month so I’ll have seven kids instead of eight,” I told them.

Bad thoughts were gobbling my brain up for dinner. Why should I invite Jaylin to my party? They are all going to have fun at Jaylin’s party without me. Maybe I should just stop being friends with Jaylin. Yeah, tomorrow I’m not going to talk to Jaylin on the bus or at school!

“Are there any other reasons you might not be invited to Jaylin’s party?” Mom asked.

“I don’t know,” I said slumping in a chair.

“I heard you say you could only invite eight to your birthday party. Wow, that’s got to be tough, picking only eight kids,” Traci said.

“Yeah, really really hard. Maybe Jaylin could only invite eight too,” I said.

Mom gave me a hug. Traci smiled and messed up my hair. I smiled back.

The next day I decided to sit next to Jaylin on the bus after all. I had to get to the bottom of this birthday business.

I took a deep breath. “I’m sad that I can’t come to your party, Jaylin. How come you didn’t invite me?“ I asked.

Jaylin twisted his backpack strap in his hand. “I could only invite five kids. I really wanted you to come, Sam, I really did.”

“So it’s not that I’m bad at soccer?” I asked.

“No! You’re great at soccer. Do you want to play today at recess?” Jaylin asked.

“Yeah!” I said. I felt a lot better. I decided to invite Jaylin to my party after all. It would be much more fun with Jaylin there.

Bad thoughts finally left my brain alone.

I don’t get to go to all of the birthday parties. And now I know how to tell the bad thoughts that my brain is not food.

Go snack somewhere else!