Evaline:
I sang along with everyone else, our voices blending into a slightly off-key but cheerful version of the birthday song.
Mallory closed her eyes for a brief moment, made a wish, and blew out the candles with a bright smile. Everyone clapped and cheered, while Noah was still hunched over his phone, snapping pictures of every possible angle like a professional photographer on a mission.
We were all seated around a long wooden table in one of Lakeshire's most popular cafés, the kind that always had a waiting list no matter the day. The warm yellow lights overhead made the chocolate frosting on Mallory's cake look even richer, and the sweet scent of vanilla and coffee lingered in the air.
Rowan and Kyros immediately took charge of the cake-cutting, their usual banter surfacing as they argued over whether the slices should be perfectly equal or just "roughly" equal. Selene laughed at them while Ria sipped her latte like this was her weekend entertainment.
