“Lego set?” Jamie asked as soon as the box was in Warren’s hands and shakable.

           “Not this time, I don’t think so. It’s solid, a little heavy.” He tore off the paper to reveal the Nintendo Switch AR game, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. “Oh, cool.”

           Sally said excitedly, “It is cool! I saw it on YouTube. You race Mario around the house and it turns into a video game track. I know you guys really like Mario Kart…”

           “Yeah, Jamie’s been saving up for this. But it’s a little expensive.”

           “Well… Daddy helped pay for it. Do you like it?”

           Warren thanked her with a one-arm hug. “Sure, Sal. I’ll give you lots of turns.”

           The gang snickered a little at the sight, with Emiko murmuring, “So sweet.”

           “Yeah, yeah,” Warren grumbled with a roll of the eyes. “I’m not embarrassed that I like my sis. Most of you don’t even have siblings, so you wouldn’t get it.”

           “Me and my big brothers aren’t really the hugging type,” Austin replied.

           “Uh-huh. We’ve seen their backyard wrestling matches,” Chad reminded him.

           “Not a bad, haul, Warren,” Toby said and flipped his phone to landscape mode. “Present piles always bring the likes. You down for a group selfie?”

           “If we have to,” Warren sighed and got into position with his friends.

           On the other side of the room were the adults on party duty for the day, giving the kids plenty of space since they reaching that independent age. It was a special get-together for them, too. Wes was used to seeing his childhood friends Jared and Sadie—the latter being his wife and a fourth grade teacher—but having both his good old bestie Colin and Arthur Teller in town at the same time was a treat. One now taught English in Japan, and the other worked in intelligence in Washington, but Royal Valley remained a home to them. And this was the first time Arthur had gotten a chance to see Jared and his wife Mira’s son Jake, nearing two years old and attached to his dad in a front-facing carrier. A fussy toddler, he usually looked like he was impatiently scowling.

           “Anyway…” Sadie took a sip of her plastic cup iced punch. “It’s nice to have you both around for a week or so. But you didn’t have to come to Warren’s party.”

           “Aw, it’s no problem at all,” Colin replied and poked his glasses. “I’m sure one of the other parents needed a break from the constant birthdays.”

           “We’d know all about that,” Arthur said. “Big friend groups, so much to go to.”

           Lucy, Wes’ half-sister and Jace’s mom, could now adult perspective empathize. “Laurie’s parents came to three parties in a row. She, Chad, and Jamie, all have birthdays within two weeks of each other. Yeah… they definitely needed a night to themselves.”

           “The kids are getting tall, no doubt,” Jared said, eyeing them repeatedly posing for pictures by the gifts at Toby’s insistence. “Ah, speaking of…” He pushed at his back to straighten it. “Arty, you saw Ash and Hazel recently, right? How are they doing?”

           “Sis is good,” Arthur told everyone. “The niece, though… She had a rough sixth grade, apparently. But, I mean, what else is new? Cookton, man—that place changed us, a lot. And I bet those big, busy Los Angeles schools are even more stressful.”

           “Jace has adjusted well to middle school, considering,” Lucy noted. “Still amazes me how much maturity and confidence came to him back during the summer of 2020.”

           “Have… you guys still not heard from Millie?” Colin abruptly changed the topic.

           The permanent local residents among the adults looked at Colin and mulled over a proper response, but it was Mira—the ‘outsider’ among them—who spoke first, “No, nothing has changed since your visit last June. Not a word in almost two years.”

           Looking out a window at the rest of the park, Sadie added, “She vanished on that Halloween, even though she agreed to pick us up here after our Scaretastic Nights visit.”

           “Thing is, though, we’ve checked and she still seems to own her condo,” Jared mentioned. “So she’s obviously paying the bills. Some kind of extended retreat? Maybe, I guess, but in this day and age… who doesn’t eventually reply to a ton of texts?”

           “Weird…” Arthur murmured and grabbed a slice of pizza. “And, no, Jared. My department doesn’t specialize in missing persons cases. Although, I do know a guy that could track her phone. If you all worry that much.”

           “I feel bad for her,” Lucy said. “I know you guys weren’t the best of friends with her growing up, what with the spying on everyone routine, but she’s been a reliable kind of… fallback family friend for years now. I hope she’s okay, wherever she is.”

           “She’s not the only one who can pull a disappearing act, though,” Jared added. “I wish Zach was consistently in town, or at least told us where he was instead of randomly dropping in like he’s some cool kid on the fringes of society in a 90s sitcom. And Arty! Visit more often! Is a computer expo really what it takes to get you here for a week?”

           “A computer expo where I can geek out with Colin like we’re in high school again,” Arthur emphasized. “Can’t believe they resurrected Royal SiliCon after ten years.”

           “Someone’s supposed to have a 1981 Osborn 1 on display,” Colin said excitedly. “Wes, Jared—you guys should join us. I know how much you like vintage hardware.”

           “Eh, sure, but not as much as you two,” Wes replied. “We’re programmers, not hobbyists. I can write code on whatever, but I stare at computers long enough already.”

           “So how is the new game coming along? Any big ideas yet?” Arthur wondered.

           “Arty… you’re going to get him started,” Sadie cautioned with a sigh.

           “Normally I would ‘get started,’ but I’m kind of in a rut right now,” Wes admitted.

           Back at the teenage side of the room, Toby finally got the picture he wanted and freed his now-irritated friends. As he posted it, the poet recited his latest masterpiece.

           “Hanging with the crew at King’s,” he said aloud, thumbs moving at forty words a minute. “Warren’s big day! Sunglasses emoji… times three. Screaming cat emoji. Post.”

           “Toby, get off your phone and play some games with us for once,” Chad whined.

           “Gonna have to pass,” Toby disappointed everyone. “This is the time of day I always catch up on my social sites. I’ll join in back at Warren’s, ’kay? Bet.”

           “Whatever.” Jamie started up the room’s provided Xbox. He passed out the theft-hardened wired controllers, adding, “Maybe there’s a few new games on this thing.”

           Chad, Jace, and Warren were also up for the first round of couch gaming, with Warren looking at the words above the TV as things loaded and wondering, “What is a ‘party-gamer,’ anyway?” He scratched his wrist, itchy from the wristband. “Hope you guys are okay with the limited party passes. I’m sure Dad would’ve paid for the upgrade if I asked, but since we had school, we’d only get a couple hours on the rides, anyway.”

           “It’s cool. We’ve been on them a hundred times already,” Austin remarked.

           “Warren, if you actually cared about that, you could’a just moved your party to tomorrow,” Laurie noted, eyeing the gift pile. “I think you just wanted presents ASAP.”

           “Yeah, well…” Warren muttered. “It sucks. My birthday used to be at the beginning of summer, but middle school ending two weeks later ruined everything.”

           “Why are you complaining, dude?” Chad replied while messing with the game settings. “Last day of school and a birthday party on the same day? I’d take it.”

           “He likes the big events kind of… spread out,” Jace tried to explain. “Or maybe he just isn’t used to today also being a school day? It won’t be that way every year, cuz.”

           “Laurie’s getting good!” Sally suddenly commented from the couch’s side.

           The group looked over and saw that Laurie was back at it with her new hobby: giving full concentration to kneeing and kicking a bean-ball to keep it off the ground.

           “Aw, man, Lor—again? And at a birthday party?” Warren complained. “Take my controller and play this first round. You’re making me feel like you’re left out.”

           “I’m good, really,” she assured them. “I’m a little too antsy to play a video game right now, and this is my stress reliever in life at the moment. Let me have it.”

           “Always with the stress…” Chad sighed as the game began. He added under his breath, “She’s turning into a nervous wreck. Guys, what should we do about her?”

           “Just leave her alone and let her sort it out,” Emiko insisted. “All of you being worried isn’t going to help. You will only make her feel worse, more stressed.”

           There were some further grumblings among the kids, but soon they only cared about beating each other in a multiplayer match. Jared quickly broke off from the adults to see what they were up to—the tyke strapped to his chest now struggling for freedom.

           “Oh, this one,” he interrupted. “Mind if I play next round and show you how it’s done? And if Jake here doesn’t get a distraction soon, we’re gonna have a level-three temper tantrum.”

           “Gah. I’m surrounded,” Warren quietly exclaimed to his cousin playing next to him.

           Once their two hours in the party room were up and all the pizza and cake had vanished, the kids regrouped at Warren’s for more games, though now it was a chill time like any other get-together. Having had their fill of Xbox titles, they opted for the other console under the TV, his Nintendo Switch. Sure, everyone in the group had one, but he had the biggest software library. Tonight, they kept it casual with some Super Mario Party, the latest iteration of the longtime board game, minigame, and mostly-bad luck series.

           Warren’s room was a mess like always, but also fairly big. He even had his own futon and several novelty chairs for the others. Laurie, Jace, Austin, and, lazily, Toby gamed while the others watched, chatted, and did the usual whatever on their phones.

           “Don’t forget. We’re tagging out with our partners after the tenth turn,” Warren said tiredly, his eyes on his iPad. “So try not to lose too many stars for the rest of us?”

           “Uh-huh,” Chad replied. “And very funny, Austin. Partnering up with me and picking Toadette again. Making me play as a pink girly mushroom never gets old.”

           Austin snickered. “C’mon, you can’t always play Waluigi in every game he’s in.”

           “Laurie is the best partner ever, picking Birdo for me, or us,” Emiko said.

           “No prob, Emmy,” Laurie murmured passively after coming in first in another minigame. “And, guys, sorry about my stress picking up again. It’s not like I’m not aware of it. I just get anxious when I feel out of a ‘safe place’ or not going at my own pace.”

           “Yeah, we know,” Jamie replied. “I’m not trying to sound mean, but you’ve been getting this way when nothing’s happening, or too much is happening… If you’re in a crowd, or with only one person, or when we’re ‘too relaxed.’ When a teacher calls on you… I don’t make fun of personal issues, but have you talked about this stuff?”

           “To my parents, all the time, sure,” she sighed. “I wish I could figure it out. It feels like it all started when that… social media ‘thing’ happened, a few months ago.”

           Emiko looked up from the carpeted floor where she was bathing in the TV light and scrolling through cat videos to ask, “What was that about again? Something bad?”

           “No, Em,” Toby said flatly. “She went semi-viral because of some funny picture. Not even her picture. She just made a witty comment that got a few thousand likes and a bunch of replies. She couldn’t handle a tiny taste of fame, I guess.”

           Laurie scowled slightly. “That isn’t the reason. I mean, it’s more complicated than that. But I’m not going to get into it. I’m trying to enjoy some light gaming zen.”

           “Lor, whatever it is, I get the stress,” Jace, next to her, said. “The last couple of years have been hard. A lot of adjustments. Middle-schoolers can be mean, and our friend circle is so big, a lot of them kept thinking we were just another snob-squad.” He recollected a few moments, and laughed, just a little. “And a lot of it is just so stupid and petty. Still… at least we get cool teachers like Mr. Diaz sometimes.”

           “Ms. Gregory’s art class was pretty fun,” Chad added. “And she let us bring in our iPads to draw on, if we had the Pencil to go with it. But PE… Blech.”

           “What was all that drama back at the start of seventh?” Jamie continued with the memories. “I think it lasted for a month? Some ‘are they or aren’t they’ crap with Jenny Tabish and her online boyfriend from Royal Valley Middle? I didn’t get all the details.”

           Toby answered, “The Jenny saga? I gotcha, since that’s the stuff I keep up with. Yeah, she kept letting the gossipers in on all this personal relationship junk and it spread around everywhere. No surprise, people started thinking she was just making up a crazy story for social points and that her boyfriend wasn’t real.”

           “Oh yeah, now I remember. So the guy ended up skipping a day at his school, somehow gets all the way to Cookton, and she lets him in during lunch. Then he starts going around introducing himself like it’s just another day!”

Austin started laughing and continued the story, “Right! Then Jenny gets jealous and big mad because he’s suddenly like this popular outsider kid who’s actually a pretty cool guy, so she tells security, they chase him off campus, and give her a suspension!”

           “Ah… Heh, yeah… That happened.” Jamie let out a few final chortles as the group settled back down. “But then you have the mean-spirited stuff, like when someone printed out a bunch of overused meme templates and taped them on a ton of lockers, making fun of Allen Kowalski. All because he puked a little in the boys’ bathroom.”

           “Whoever did that went too far,” Emiko grumbled. “I still feel bad for Allen. He’s shy but nice, and very smart. No one deserves bullying like that…”

           “And how’d our school get two fights on the internet that blew up, just this year?”

           “Everything feels nastier, more serious and complicated,” Warren agreed. “Kind of makes you miss the old playground days at Desert Tree Elementary, doesn’t it?”

           “Lor, you keep doing whatever ya need to. We won’t razz you about it anymore. Right, guys?” Jamie implored the others. “We’re all going through our own things.”

           “Just do us a favor, and don’t, like, dye your hair black,” Toby pleaded.