A Vegan Amigo Birthday Celebration (Juney)

[Amos Freeman]

Amos shifted lightly under his five layers of comforter, furrowing his brow and fighting consciousness. It wasn’t much use; the alarm on his bedside table was as persistent as ever.

4:30 PM.

“Crap,” he said hoarsely, definitively, and purely for his own benefit.

It wasn’t too unusual for the boy to sleep through classes, and he was regularly chastised for his lack of punctuality. Today, however, was rather important… to him, anyway. He also had approximately thirty minutes to prepare for his best friend’s arrival.

It wasn’t exactly how he’d imagined spending his 18th birthday, but then again, his life was very rarely lived according to plan or schedule. It was becoming somewhat of a theme.

He sat up in bed, pushing aside the mountain of covers unceremoniously. He’d borrowed the mind of a mole the previous night, and the resulting drop in body temperature had given him one hell of a sinus headache. He raised his left hand to the side of his head and pressed – hard – in a futile attempt to relieve the pressure. He blinked slowly, sniffed stuffily, and heaved out a small groan of disdain.

He forced his body into a standing position, and his knees cracked as they adjusted to the sudden movement. He swayed for a moment before beginning to rifle through his drawers.

It was a well-known fact that almost every article of clothing that Amos Freeman owned was purple. From socks to shirts to underwear, the color saturated his entire wardrobe. He had a reason, but it wasn’t a very important one, and at the moment he was too tired to care. He closed a fist around one clean purple shirt out of several and pulled it over his head.

He managed to dig his phone out of a pocket of one of the many pairs of pants littering the floor. He pulled the keyboard out with a flick of his thumb and composed a message to Juniper.

omg you let me sleep forever. did we have any math homework? ps wtf do normal people do on their 18th birthday

[Juniper Birdsong]

Juniper hummed happily to herself as she made the last few adjustments to her room. Seeing as it was her best friend's birthday, and she simply adoooored surprise parties, she had taken it upon herself to make her room look as party-ish as possible: Streamers hanging from the ceilings and walls, the number 18 splashed across almost every available surface, balloons thrown about the room, a handful of presents sitting on the counter - the whole works. She had been working for the past hour or so, just after she had finished classes for the day - unsurprisingly, Amy had slept in, and because it was his birthday, she thought she would be kind for once and not go banging on his door to get him up.

She was so considerate sometimes. Even if it meant she would have to catch him up on all the assignments he missed.

After rearranging the fruit bouquet she had made for the zillionth time, and rechecking her party outfit in her floor-length mirror (no, she wasn't vain, she simply found it useful for her to have when she was making her own clothes), she declared herself ready and was about to leave to finally wake her Amigo up when her phone buzzed. Her brow furrowed - no one ever texted her except for... Oh. He must finally be awake! She picked up the flower-decorated cellphone and glanced at his message, a giggle bursting from her mouth. She quickly typed back:

good afternoon to you too! i let you sleep in because a birthday boy deserves his rest, silly amy. we did have some math homework, but it's not too bad, mrs. rivera took it easy on us this weekend. now, you need to get over to my room pronto or else i'd have gone to all this work for nothing~

She sent off the text and skipped out to the dining room, where she pulled out a small black forest cake, complete with extra cherries - just the way she knew Amy liked it. Vegan, of course. They weren't the Vegan Amigos for nothing! She skipped back to her room and placed it on the table, putting in eighteen bright green candles as she waited for Amos to arrive.

[Amos Freeman]

Amos had just managed to pull on his pants when his phone buzzed merrily in his pocket. He whipped it out again, smiling dryly at his friend’s enthusiasm. Leave it to Juney to make a birthday feel like a birthday, sinus headache or no. He clicked away at the small keyboard with quick, bony thumbs.

don’t scare me by saying things like that. you already put forth 200% more effort than a normal person. please tell me you didn’t get me a tornado for my birthday

The girls’ dorm was generally off-limits to male students, but Amos found that he could slip in and out quietly without anyone making a fuss. It probably helped that the most impure intention he ever had in a room full of girls was gossiping.

He attempted to smooth his hair down with one hand, totally ignoring the brush that he had on his nightstand. Satisfied, he slipped out of the door and, contrary to his habit, climbed up the stairs instead of down.

He pushed open the door to the girls’ floor, which always seemed to be cleaner than the others; he wasn’t sure if this was the reality or if it was just his expectation. He snuck quietly over to room 405, knocked once, and then let himself in.

“Morning, Jun – whoa,” he was caught off guard mid-quip, looking around at the plethora of decorations. He felt the bad mood that he had woken up with slowly being chipped away. He gave a small, sheepish smile. “You didn’t have to do all of that.”

He wrapped his best friend into a hug. “Cute dress,” he said offhandedly, examining a loose, ruffly sleeve.

[Juniper Birdsong]

Juniper chuckled at his response, but since he was on his way over she didn't go to the trouble of responding. She WISHED she could produce a tornado, that would be awesome, but the most she could muster was a small human-sized whirlwind, and it only lasted for ten or fifteen seconds. The wind was fickle stuff, and didn't like to be controlled.

She busied herself pulling out some utensils and pulling over the presents so they were ready to be opened - there were four of them, just small things she had found or made over the past month or so that made her think of her bestie: A small stuffed grizzly bear, complete with an electric-sounding growl; a hemp bracelet with bright purple beads and the word "Amigo" that she had made one afternoon; a super awesome plant keychain with a small photo of the two of them already clipped on; and a light silk scarf complete with tiny hand-sewn Swarovski crystals that she had sewn in herself. Overall, she was quite pleased with what she had come up with, and she hoped he would enjoy them.

A knock on the door signaled his arrival, and she stood with a twirl, grinning at his greeting. "It's afternoon, Amy," she told him. "And I totally did need to do this! It's not every day you turn 18, you know. You have to act all adult-like now," she added solemnly. "I still have eight months before I join the adult world, so you'll have to tell me what it's like." She hugged him back tightly, smiling at his comment about her dress. She gave a little spin to show it off. "Isn't it pretty? I found it at a thrift store the other day, and I just had to get it. Oh!" Scrummaging around, she produced two party hats, putting one on herself and then stretching on her tiptoes to place the other on Amos's head. "There! Now we're ready to party."

She flopped down in a chair, pushing the presents in his direction. "Go on, open them!" she urged, eyes sparkling. Opening presents was one of her very favorite things to do, even if she was the one watching.

[Amos Freeman]

“It’s morning for me,” Amos defended, grinning. He patted her on the back before releasing her from the hug. “Um, it’s pretty good so far,” he mused. “There’s still cake in the adult world, apparently.” He hovered momentarily over the glorious confection, inhaling deeply. The lightly sweet scent of cherries and chocolate floated up to meet him. “And amazing best friends.”

“I found this at a thrift store, too,” he quipped, motioning to his plain, slightly faded purple t-shirt. “I was told it was part of the Runway Lazy collection this autumn. It’s so haute that it doesn’t even have a tag.” The previous owner had cut it off with a pair of kitchen scissors to avoid neck-scratching.

He bent down as Juniper pushed the party hat onto his disheveled hair, smirking lightly. He resisted the urge to make a short joke.

He took a seat opposite her at the table, reaching for the smallest present and politely fiddling with the wrapping paper. He managed to free the item inside without tearing anything.

“Oh cool,” he said emphatically, holding the keychain up to the light. It had a small cactus inside, and he grinned over at his friend, swinging it delicately. “I really wanted a succulent for my dorm, but this is the next best thing. I’d probably forget to water it, anyway.” He set it gently on the table and went to work on the rest of the gifts.

He showed a proper amount of fascination with all of them: he squeezed the stuffed bear about five times in succession so it sounded like it was roaring especially excitedly. He lapsed into a giggle fit soon afterwards, and it took him a few moments to recover.

He handled the scarf gently, admiring the crystals with care; it looked so delicate that he was almost afraid to think of wearing it in public. He draped it over his neck anyway, tying it expertly. He beamed at his friend.

“Hey,” he murmured, holding out his wrist. “Tie it on for me?” He slid the bracelet across the table.

“You know, on my 13th birthday, I cried so much,” he said with a chuckle. “Because I didn’t really want to be here. I think now I might actually cry if I have to spend a birthday outside of Hammel. It’s really funny.”

He paused, shifting lightly. “Thanks, Juney. I really love them.”

[Juniper Birdsong]

"Cake and amazing best friends, good. What else does a person need?" She grinned at him cheekily. "Maybe being an adult isn't so bad after all."

She raised her eyebrows and studied his shirt as he spoke. If she was being honest with herself, it looked just like every other purple shirt he owned, which meant it looked like every other actual shirt he owned. But of course, she wouldn't say that. "I see," she replied, nodding thoughtfully. "You're lucky to have snatched it up before someone else did." She reached out and felt the fabric; it actually did have a really nice feel to it. She bit her lip. She was suddenly tempted to create a DIY project out of it and make it into, like.... A purple panda shirt, for instance. Yes, Amos would look good in a purple panda shirt. But of course she wouldn't do it without his permission. She let the idea pass.

She eagerly watched as Amos opened the first present. She had actually bought one of the keychains for herself, and held it up as he admired his own. "Aren't they the cutest things ever?" she gushed. "If you just run water over it like once a month or so, it should live for at least a year. And you can get replacements too."

She giggled along with him at the bear. "I thought he could hibernate with you," she explained. "And if you accidentally squish him in your sleep, he'll roar to wake you up." The quiet, tinny noise was probably not actually enough to wake her friend up if he was in a deep slumber, but the thought of him jolting awake having flopped over in his sleep onto the plushie amused her greatly. "You should name him."

The scarf look excellent on him (really, she felt only he could so wonderfully pull off something so dainty and hand-made), and she reached her tiny hands out to tie the clasp of the bracelet together. "I made one for myself too," she said, showing him an identical "Amigo" bracelet, except hers had green beads instead of purple. She was glad to see his fit his wrist; she had had to guess the size, since it had obviously been a surprise.

"Aww Amy," she sighed, pouting. "That's so sad. I wasn't even here when you turned thirteen. But I know how you feel - my first birthday away from home, I kept mom and Willow on the phone for hours. At least I had been here for a few months beforehand, so I had already met you, and other people." She patted his hand as she finished working on the clasp. "I think after we graduate, we should go on a huge roadtrip. Just buy a giant hippie van, paint all sorts of flowers and rainbows and butterflies on it, and head west. Just you and me, living it up. Whadaya say?"

She smiled at him. "I'm glad you like them," she replied softly. "Now how about some cake?" She grabbed a lighter and quickly lit the candles, then sang,"Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too~!" She stuck her tongue out at him, adding,"Make a wish!" as he blew the candles out.

[Amos Freeman]

“Sleep,” Amos replied automatically, with a hint of a lopsided grin. “A person needs sleep. This person in particular. And I see you looking at my shirt with that look, and I know what that look means, and you are not cutting it up. It was like, six bucks.”

He smiled, examining the keychain again. He saw that she had even gone to the effort of putting a picture on… he definitely couldn’t chew on it, then.

“Nice,” Amos replied, offering an appreciative laugh. “I’ll just use him for my alarm clock from now on, then. I mean, it’s pretty much useless anyway.”

He took the bear in both hands, giving it a stern look from top to bottom, pondering.

“Arthur,” he declared, giving the bear a squeeze. It roared its confirmation. “That sounds like a good, strong name for a bear. I’m just saying.”

He grinned at her bracelet, admiring it while she gingerly fastened it to his thin wrist.

“Good,” he said somewhat quietly. He wasn’t normally a very emotional person, and he tried not to be very sentimental, but something about all the effort his best friend had gone to for his birthday really touched him. At the same time, he was painfully aware of the fact that this was their last year at Hammel, most likely. They had come from totally opposite coasts, totally different backgrounds, and this old dorm wing had become something like their house. But nothing lasted forever.

The only reason he hadn’t cried on his 14th birthday like he had on his 13th was because he’d had Juney.

He looked up at her proposition, feeling somewhat wistful and also fighting the urge to laugh. The laughing won yet again.

“That’s absurd,” he said mid-giggle. “And I am totally up for it. Uh, I don’t know where the hell we’re going to find the money for a van, but I’m in.”

He retracted his hand, using it to adjust the party hat more comfortably on his head.

“We might as well live in a zoo,” he told her dryly, but not without a smirk.

He was silent for a few moments, and then he made a wish.

[Juniper Birdsong]

Juniper pouted; he knew her far too well. "But you would make such a cute panda," she said vaguely, sighing. She made a mental note to go find her own purple t-shirt to cut apart and sew back together.

"Then Arthur he shall be," she declared. "King Arthur, bear of the Round Table." She pet him on the head briefly. "You protect my Amigo, you hear? Otherwise, I will have you beheaded!" She gave the stuffed animal a stern look before returning to her normal grin.

She didn't know what should would do without Amos. Sure, she had other friends, but no one.... Got her like he did. They had so much in common and had depended on each other so much throughout the last several years, she couldn't imagine life without him. The fact that they would be graduating less than a year from now was too much for her to think about - she simple refused to think of a life without Amy. Thus, her proposition. "Since my mom's moving up here soon, maybe I can convince her to buy us one," she suggested with a flutter of hands. "Either that, or I could try to find a job," she added, grimacing. Ew. Work. Unless she found a job where she could work outside 90%+ percent of the time, she would probably go mad. Working at a fast food joint? She would rather die.

"Or a zoo could work," she replied, nodding thoughtfully. "I'm sure we would fit right in with the gorillas. You know, because we're both so strong and muscular." She held up each of her arms and flexed (not that there was anything TO flex), making a 'Grr' face. "We could take 'em."

She held her breath as he paused, then blew out the candles. She clapped excitedly and immediately asked,"What did you wish for?" She wasn't expecting an answer, of course; everyone knew what happened when you told what you wished for. She began cutting slices and putting them on plates, making sure Amos's had extra cherries. "To friendship!" she exclaimed, holding up her glass of mint tea for a toast.

[Amos Freeman]

Amos grinned, giving Arthur another squeeze before setting him gently to the side.

“I thought about getting a part-time job,” he told his friend, squinting uncertainly. “I mean, I’d obviously have to be awake for that, so I’m not sure how well it will go. But I can try.” He was, however, intrigued by the idea of her mom coming to live in Pilot Ridge.

“Did you tell me that?” He asked, wondering if he’d forgotten it before. “I don’t think you told me that. I’d like to finally meet her; that would be awesome.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he jumped a bit, fishing it out and flipping through to the message.

happy birthday faggot

Amos pursed his lips, resting the phone on the table and cradling his chin in his palm. He didn’t have time for Joel right now.

“There are, like, no zoos around here,” he said dully. “My trainer checked; we were going to go to one to practice. The nearest one is in, um, New York or something.” He shuddered to think of living in New York; all of that air pollution and so many human minds… he definitely wouldn’t like it.

He realized that he was being depressing, and he tried to brighten up.

“I can’t tell you what I wished for,” he said slyly, taking the plate gratefully. It smelled so, so good. “But you’re the best friend ever, Juney. I don’t tell you nearly often enough. I can’t believe you made this yourself.” He picked a cherry off of his slice and chewed it slowly, savoring.

“To friendship,” he echoed, giving her glass a gentle nudge. The resulting clink brought a smile to his face. “And hippie vans, probably. And cherries, god, I love cherries.”

[Juniper Birdsong]

"Oooh, but if you get a part-time job that means I would have to, too," she sighed. But she brightened a moment later. "I suppose if that's what I need to do to get a hippie van, though, it'll be totally worth it. I'll have to look around and see if anyone is hiring part-time... Want to look together?" She supposed if they could find a place to work together at least, it wouldn't be so bad.

She gasped. "Did I not tell you? How could I have forgotten! Yeah, she's been planning on coming up here for a while - after Willow's abilities manifested, she's been moving around a lot more. She figured she might as well come up here, so we can be together. You'll love her. She's the best."

Juniper jumped at the noise as well, then, realizing what it was, laughed. "Who is it?" she asked, seeing the look on his face.

"No zoos?" she repeated, pouting. "Aww. I've never looked to see if there were any - I just assumed every state had one. Back home, we used to visit the Oregon Zoo a lot. I kinda liked it, but at the same time it was sad seeing all those animals locked up in cages. I guess they're taken care of, though. And I think it's good for people to learn about the other creatures that live on this planet, you know?" She shrugged. "Wildlife Safari was cool too. The cheetahs were always my favorite," she sighed dreamily. "Their babies are just tooo cute. I'm going to have to take you there someday - it's like nothing you've ever experienced."

She smiled at him. "It was nothing, really. Ms. Reynolds helped me bake the cake, so make sure to thank her the next time you see her." The Home-Ec teacher was, by far, the best cook Juniper had ever met. And that was saying a lot, considering her mom made amazing food too. "But for the record, I think you're the best friend ever, too." Honestly, she didn't know what her life would be like without Amos. A lot less wonderful, that was for sure.

"Hippie vans and cherries," she added, nodding. She took a sip and then dug into her slice of cake, letting out a sigh of contentment after the first bite. "Cake shouldn't be allowed to be so delicious," she declared. "I swear, if we keep getting donuts all the time, we aren't going to be thin anymore."

[Amos Freeman]

“I was going to apply at the Velvet-tone,” Amos said offhandedly. “You should ask Ari if he has any more plans to hire more part-timers. When he talked to me about it, it sounded like he was going to hire a handful, so maybe…” he trailed off, scratching the top of his head. He loved the idea of working at the same place as Juney, but he didn’t want to pressure Ari, so he was trying not to get his hopes up.

He smiled as she described her mother; it made him think briefly of his own. He wasn’t sure if he would describe his mom as the most compassionate, open person around, and definitely not a free spirit (she was tied down to a stuffy office job in the suburbs), but he had grown up with her just like Juniper had grown up with hers.

“If she gets a house in town, are you and Willow going to stay in the dorms?” He pondered out loud.

His eyes flicked to his phone and the unanswered text message, and he sighed.

“It’s Joel,” he informed her, giving her an apologetic half-smile. “Sorry, he kind of put me in a bad mood. Let me reply to him, and I’ll turn it off….” He slid out the keyboard, typing a hasty, short message.

thanks, asshole

His phone made a loud, cheerful noise as it powered down.

He grinned up at his friend, trying to recover the happy atmosphere.

“That should be the final destination on our hippie van road trip – Wildlife Safari! A fitting end to a bunch of wild hippies on the move.” He smirked.

He lifted a huge forkful of cake into his mouth, brushing some crumbs away from his lips self-consciously and closing his eyes in chocolate-induced bliss.

“Ugh that is so good,” he emphasized. “I think this is actually the first thing I’ve eaten all day. Totally worth it.”

He smiled warmly at her while they chewed.

“Um, this is kind of off topic, but…” he approached the subject carefully. “I mean, have you thought about college at all? I’ve been getting a crapload of letters.” He was solemn for a moment. “I’d like it if we went to the same place.”

[Juniper Birdsong]

"You know, I think I might be able to actually stand the Velvet-Tone," Juniper agreed, nodding slowly. She liked Ari a lot, and if Amos was going to be working there with her, well, that would be enough. And she liked people - she made friends with almost every decent person she ran into. It was in her nature to be friendly. "I'll definitely ask him about it next time I see him," she promised. "We'll need gas money too."

She thought about the question, picking up stray crumbles off of her plate. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I love her, and I would love to live with her, but Hammel honestly feels like home now. It's the longest I've ever lived in one place, and I can't imagine leaving it." She didn't add the fact that she would HAVE to leave it after she graduated. "I'm sure she'll find someplace nearby. I'll be able to visit her all the time. And besides, who would be here to wake you up on time?" she added, nudging him with a grin.

Her jaw visible tightened at the name of his brother. "Is he being a jerk?" she asked. As much as she loved Amos and in turn loved his family, Joel was reeeeally hard to get along with. He was never directly mean to her, but the fact that he treated her best friend so badly made her dislike him. She hardly ever disliked anyone. At least his mom was nice.

She watched him type out a quick reply and shut off his phone. She returned his grin. "Just you and me now, like it should be," she declared, taking another bite of cake. Who needed more friends?

"Oooooooh," Juniper breathed. "That would be PERFECT. Although, we should stop by the Newport Aquarium at some point too. We can do a detour - the Portland Zoo, down the coast to the aquarium, and then further south to Wildlife Safari. You could try borrowing the minds of SO many things! What would crabs be like? Or otters? Or eels..." She trailed off. The possibilities were endless.

She smiled at his reaction to the cake. "Breakfast of champions," she quipped. "Well, more like dinner. But whatever."

She chewed thoughtfully. College. "I know I want to go to college at some point," she started. "I want to study environmental science. I think. I've gotten a lot of letters too, but... I dunno, I feel like most of them are just out to get my money." She shrugged. "I know everyone at Hammel - well, almost everyone - that decides to go to college goes to U of V. But... I don't know. It doesn't feel right to me. I've always loved the campus at the University of Oregon though... And I hear they have a great Environmental Science program." She bit her lip. "It's a long way from here though, and I want us to stick together after graduation. I am NOT doing a long distance friendship."

[Amos Freeman]

Amos gave her a half-hearted smile, sighing at his now silent phone.

“No more of a jerk than usual,” he mumbled. “He just never passes up an opportunity to tell me how weird or gay I am, that’s all. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

He stuffed his mouth with more cake; there was nothing quite as comforting as eating your feelings, especially if you had homemade vegan black forest cake available. He moaned appreciatively again.

“So good,” he reiterated.

He grinned, picturing an otter in his mind. He’d always liked otters; they were rather cheerful, he thought, and smart, too. Also ridiculously cute.

“I’ve never really traveled much,” he admitted. “Um, I should probably learn how to drive.” He wondered how it had taken this long for something so important to dawn on him. “I mean, if we’re going to drive a hippie van through the heart of the country, we should probably take turns driving. You'll need to sleep eventually.”

He would need to sleep more, but that wasn’t the point.

He thought of all the people he knew who could drive. His mom could, but she also steered with her knees while she put her makeup on, so learning from her probably wasn’t the best idea. Juney might be able to teach him, but if she approached driving in the same manner she approached air scooters....

“I’d like to get out of New England,” he mused through another mouthful of cake. “I thought about going back to Manchester, but I don’t really want to be that close to Joel. When we get to Oregon, you have to show me around.” He grinned. He had a little bit of chocolate on the side of his mouth. “But yeah, we definitely, definitely have to go to the same place. Definitely.”

This was not up for debate in Amos’s mind.

[Juniper Birdsong]

Juniper continued to glare at his phone, as though Joel would be able to sense her dislike of him if she did it long enough.

"Mm, good point," she agreed about the driving. She had gotten her license about half a year ago; she didn't particularly like driving, but it made it much easier for her to get out away from Hammel and go exploring. "I think they have a Driver's Ed course here. You should check it out! Otherwise, yeah, it's going to take us a looot longer to get where we're going." Still, even if he wasn't driving by then, she was determined now to make this trip happen.

She wondered how much planning they should get done - she didn't want to go halfway across the country and then realize they had no money for food or gas.

"You'd love the Pacific Northwest," she assured him. "The landscape is absolutely beautiful - there are deserts and beaches and forests and lakes and mountains and rivers and waterfalls... Everything you could imagine. You'd just need to get used to being in the rain nine-plus months out of the year. And I agree. Definitely. You wouldn't survive without me." She gave him a crooked grin and held out her hand. "Shake on it?" Vegan Amigos handshakes were the best, in her opinion.

She tapped the side of her mouth, indicating that he had missed a spot. He was so adorable sometimes.

[Amos Freeman]

“I’ll look into it,” Amos said, his brown crinkling slightly. Between his classes, graduation preparations, a part-time job, and writing for the student newspaper, he wasn’t sure he’d have time to sleep if he picked up a Driver’s Ed course. He didn’t care what anyone said; eight hours per day was just not enough.

But the freedom….

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a waterfall in real life,” he mused. “I mean, not like an actual, big, you know… ‘hey, look at me I’m a waterfall’ waterfall. I might have seen one or two water… drips. Watertrickles?”

He polished off his cake, feeling satisfied and much, much better than he had when he’d woken up about an hour ago. He blinked as she motioned to a spot on her face, and he dabbed at both sides of his mouth self-consciously. He loved chocolate, but it had that way of sticking to you….

“I might survive, but I wouldn’t be any use,” he grinned. He stretched his arm out to oblige the handshake, which included several claps, a twist, and an elaborate finger wiggle.

It was pretty much law now.