My thirteenth birthday wasn't much different either, except this time I had a best friend to share it with.

"Oh, Mrs Malikov - would it be okay if me and Kenzi go to the mall before the party to get new outfits?" Hannah eagerly perked up over the breakfast table as my dad's eyes focused in on us over the top of his newspaper.

"What kind of new outfits?" he asked with that tone all dads seem to use with their teenage daughters.

"Oh you know, just a new dress." I answered in between mouthfuls of cheerios. "No biggie dad."

"I'll drop you off and pick you up, I don't want you riding in cars with boys - the same goes for you Hannah." he responded, lifting the newspaper back up to obscure his face as he read away the sports section.

"Thanks Mr Malikov, there'll be no boys - we promise." Hannah quickly assured him before we shot each other excited looks.

"Hannah, you don't have to call us Mr and Mrs Malikov. You're part of the family, it's just plain old Lisa and Tony to you." my mom teased her, taking our empty plates off of the table as I recognised the immediate sniffles that told me Hannah was about to do that thing again.

"Thanks Lisa - I've never really had a family before." Hannah choked as her tears dripped down her cheeks.

"Oh dear, why are you crying?" my mom worried over her, pulling her in for a hug as Hannah wiped her tears and smiled again.

"Sorry Mrs Mal- Lisa, sorry Lisa, I just get emotional sometimes." she corrected herself.

"Well you girls better get ready if you have any chance of getting outfits before the party, everyone will be here for 12pm - okay?" my mom ushered us upstairs as we both responded in unison with an 'okay'.

. . . . . . . . .

We scoured the mall for at least an hour before we found the dress, the dress to end all dresses - a pale blue cotton summer dress with a bow fastened around the waist. "How much do you think it costs?" I asked Hannah, turning over a price tag I didn't dare look at.

"I don't know but it's a really cute dress - I bet Billy would like it." she offered, touching the cotton material. "How much is it?" she asked.

"$75." I frowned, picking it up off of the rack to hold against my slim frame in the reflection of the mirror. "There's no way my dad would let me spend $75 Dude." I thought aloud, resigning myself to the dresses fate as I hung it back on the rack, deciding on a new Avril Lavigne band t-shirt to wear with my jeans instead. "Billy will be my SK8r Boi anyway." I shrugged it off, putting the shirt in the basket. "Do you have your eye on any cute boys?" I teased Hannah, nudging her gently in the side as she played with one of her braids.

"Uncle Trick said I'm not allowed a boyfriend until I'm older" she frowned, before her eyes flickered with the same glint that told me she was keeping a secret. "...but, Shane from school is so cute!" she grinned, sighing as she daydreamed about his longish dark hair and inline skates.

"Dude, Shane is a total loser - I heard he moved here because he tried to set fire to his last school." I wrinkled my nose, walking with her arm in arm towards the counter as she continued to daydream.

"...such a misunderstood soul." she whispered.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Avril Lavigne is cool. Do you like Blink 182 too?" I heard a familiar voice ask from behind, knowing immediately who it belonged to.

"Hi Billy." I swooned, noticing how similar we looked in band t-shirts and Vans. "Er- yeah, who doesn't love Blink One Hundred and Eighty-Two." I brushed off, looking up to speak to him as he towered over me by nearly a foot.

"Actually, it's Blink 1-8-2 not 182." he laughed, taking a gulp of his drink as he panted a little from the skateboarding that had taken it's toll from the blistering heat.

"Oh, I must of been thinking of a different band." I quickly covered my tracks. "Hey, you must be really hot from all the skating, why don't you take off your t-shirt?" I said as blaise as possible, praying he would take his shirt off and reveal the abs I knew he was hiding.

"Maybe later." he winked, stepping back on his board and pushing off towards the other side of the curb as I breathed a breath I didn't know I was holding and watched him for a few seconds.

"That's creepy Dude." I heard Hannah interrupt my daydreaming as she offered me a glass of punch.

"Didn't you know it's not polite to sneak up on people." I joked, walking back into the house with her as I heard my mom calling us all back in, which could only mean one thing - present time.

. . . . . . .

I opened my presents eagerly, they were the regular kind of thing, CD's, pyjamas, clothes - but I was excited for everyone to go home so me and Hannah could watch the new DVD's my mom had got me. It was only when everyone went inside to grab pieces of the birthday cake my dad was cutting up that I noticed one present left, it wasn't a particularly big or small present, it didn't seem too special from the outside, it was wrapped in ordinary parcel paper but one thing caught my eye. The white card stuck to the top of the gift.

'Dear Kenzi, you'll make this dress look perfect - not the other way around.'

I tore open the paper, already knowing what would be waiting for me underneath, the light blue material caught my eye as Hannah's jaw dropped along with mine. "No way." she whispered.

"Way." I added, tearing the rest of the paper away to reveal the light blue cotton dress, the bow sat proudly along the waistline.

"Who bought you the dress?" Hannah excitedly asked, clutching at my arm.

"I don't know, there was no tag." I recollected, wondering who would possibly know me well enough to buy that specific dress, it was as if I was missing a puzzle piece, as if something wasn't quite fitting together. Until it suddenly struck me, everything falling in to place. "How did I not see this before." I added under my breath, just loud enough for Hannah to hear me.

"What do you mean Kenz?" she asked, her forehead furrowing as she waited for me to fill her in.

"The white tags, the presents, the secret notes… I know now." I thought aloud, looking around the garden to search for the familiar face I had in mind.

"Kenzi, who are you talking about?" Hannah shook me to get my attention.

"Hannah, isn't it obvious?" I hissed under my breath. "I wanted a best friend last year and suddenly you showed up like something from a fairytale, this year I wanted this dress and suddenly here it is, I've seen these notes before Hannah. Everything makes sense now." I laughed. "It's Billy, he's secretly trying to win my heart! Isn't it obvious?" I grinned. "I think he wants me to be his girlfriend."