“Emily?" I raised my head to meet Stephanie's concerned expression.“Are you alright?" I let out a breath as I hung up, swiftly blocking the number.“Y- yeah," I croaked.She frowned, standing in front of me and gripping my shoulders. “Just tell me what's wrong. I'm your friend, okay? Even if I can't help, I'm a shoulder to cry on." I glanced around, noticing no attention on me, and I nodded.I closed my eyes, then opened them again to say, “Today's my birthday." Stephanie's mouth dropped.“WHAT?!" I winced, suddenly embarrassed at the looks we were getting. “Lower your voice," I whispered, dragging her further away from people's gaze.“Why didn't you tell me, Emily," she cried. “I… I could've gotten you a cake and… You know what, after we're done shopping, we'll buy a cake and some snacks. I'll get you some… then maybe later at night we could party somewhere.”I tried to calm her down. "There's no need for all of that. Fine, a cake is good. But no party.”Stephanie sighed, noddi
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