Note: This story was a friend's idea, but she normally likes writing creative stories from magazine pictures, so this is where this story was from. Hope you all like it. More to come. Written last year with a friend.

"They're late again!"

As usual, thought Carolyn. The birthday party for Carolyn at her favorite restaurant, the Ranch with her friends, Sarah and Elizabeth was supposed to start at 2:00 sharp.

"It's my birthday! I can't celebrate without them."

Flashback:

It was late morning. Carolyn decided to call Sarah and Elizabeth, her two best friends. It was Carolyn's birthday and they agreed to meet each other at her favorite place. Sarah was in the bathroom, painting her nails. While painting her nails, she came up with an idea.

'Maybe Elizabeth and I can treat Carolyn for a pedicure. Let's see what they think.'

After letting her nails dry, Sarah picked up the telephone and reached Elizabeth. Her friend was about to leave when she called. Elizabeth was wearing her blonde hair in a headband over her head along with a purple shirt with purple pants, a ring on her finger and, last, but not least, a watch on her right hand.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Elizabeth. This is Sarah."

"Hi, Sarah. Is there anything you want to share with me?"

Both Carolyn and Sarah always agreed that their friend was easy to talk to.

"Elizabeth, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Sarah began.

"I was just heading out tot the gym, but I can make time to talk."

ut of all three of them, Elizabeth was always soft – spoken while Sarah was the outgoing one. Carolyn sometimes was outgoing, depending who she hangs out with.

"I think you have an idea in your head, Sarah. I hope this one is a good one," Elizabeth told Sarah.

"It is, trust me."

"Why wouldn't I not trust you, Sarah? I'm listening."

"I just finished painting my fingers and this idea came up. Why don't we take Carolyn out and treat her to a pedicure? What do you think?"

"I love it, Sarah! It's Carolyn's birthday today. I think we have time for that."

"I had that feeling you would like the idea. What time did Carolyn say we should meet at the Ranch?"

"I think we agreed at two o'clock sharp," Elizabeth answered.

The three girls were planning to meet for an early dinner. Even though they knew two o'clock was too early for dinner, but that was the plan.

"Do you want to pay for dinner this time? I think I paid last time."

"I'll do it, Elizabeth. Carolyn can do it next time."

It was early July, which was the month Carolyn was born. Sarah and Elizabeth celebrate their birthdays in March, so that was already long gone.

"At least Carolyn doesn't need to open this gift. How about we do this: You pay for dinner and I'll pay for the pedicure?" Elizabeth suggested.

"I love it! If you're in a hurry to the gym, I shall see you in an couple of hours."

"All right. See you at the Ranch."

Both girls hung up. All three of the girls were in their thirties, with Carolyn being the oldest. After putting the phone back, Elizabeth quickly grabbed her purple comb out of her purse before leaving. Now Elizabeth was ready to go. Elizabeth normally hung out at the gym for about an hour. She looked at her watch: 11:15. For some reason, Elizabeth's car broken down, so she had to take the bus until her car was fixed.

After their phone conversation, Sarah headed to the park.

Today her black hair was wavy, but it normally doesn't when Sarah was taking her walk in the park, but today it was windy. It was sunny, which was a good thing. Besides, Sarah was the only one of her friends whose hair was curly. Since she had curly hair, some people would call her Curly because of her hair. Sarah was wearing her favorite dress:

Funky, black and white. It had lots of stripes, along with diamonds, and polka dots. It wasn't a new dress since Sarah wore this dress several times in the past four years, and Sarah was never tired of it, and her friends also liked it. Sarah somehow decided this was the perfect dress for her friend's birthday.

End Flashback

2: Chapter 2

It was now 2:30. Carolyn was still sitting at the table the waiter had seated her.

"Why are the girls always late? The cake and I are getting tired of waiting. Maybe I should leave," Carolyn told herself.

Finally Elizabeth and Sarah showed up.

"Happy birthday, Carolyn," both Sarah and Elizabeth greeted their friend.

Carolyn put the newspaper down and looked at her friends.

Both of her friends saw Carolyn wasn't very happy when she was supposed to be since it was her birthday today.

"Thank you, girls."

"You're welcome, Carolyn. You look like you aren't very happy. Are you having a bad day today?"

"No, it's a good birthday. Where have you girls been? The cake looks like it's not worth sharing anymore because of you showing up late."

"We're sorry, Carolyn. I was busy at the park and I lost track of time," Sarah told Carolyn.

"Same with me. I had a nice workout at the gym. I sat down and talked with some people who were with me. It looks like I made a few new friends."

"That's awesome, Liz!" Carolyn said.

Now Elizabeth and Sarah finally took their seats and the girls had a little something except for Carolyn. She'd eaten her lunch a couple of hours ago at the Ranch.

"Sorry if we didn't bring you a gift, Carolyn. Sarah and I talked over the telephone. Sarah suggested we take you out for a pedicure. How does that sound?"

"I like it, girls. I haven't had a pedicure in months. I don't think we will do it today."

"Sarah and I weren't planning on today. Since Sarah thought of it at the last minute, you should give Sarah the credit, not me."

"You deserve credit also, Elizabeth. You're my friend too," Carolyn replied.

Sarah nodded her head and Carolyn saw that Sarah had her vote with Elizabeth. Carolyn had been friends with the girls since they were in high school. Their friendship has gotten a lot bigger since. Once Elizabeth and Sarah finished eating, now was the good time to eat it. Now Carolyn had a smile on her face.

"Now we can eat. I've been here a long time."

Elizabeth and Sarah both had guilt on their faces. Even Carolyn noticed.

"You girls shouldn't feel guilty because you should have been on time. When will you both learn to arrive on time?"

Ever since their first meeting until today, Elizabeth and Sarah have always shown up late.

"We're sorry, Carolyn," Sarah told her friend.

"That's okay. We can talk about when you want us to take you for your pedicure. It's your call."

Elizabeth agreed with Sarah.

"Sarah's right, Carolyn. Since it's our gift to you, you're the one who gets to decide."

"Let me think about it. I will get back to you on that. I really do like the idea of my gift."

Whenever the three girls talk about something like this, they all will get one. At least this would be a treat for Sarah and Elizabeth as well.

When any of them suggest things like this, they all do it at the same time and not separately. They think of this a part of their lifelong friendship. Ever since the three of them became friends, none of them had broken their bows about this. They never fight often, so you now can see why the girls get along so well without have to make up for the fights they'd had in the past. Carolyn didn't want that to ruin her birthday, and that wouldn't be very pleasant.

Once the girls paid for their bills, they stood up.

"You girls didn't have to do this for my birthday. The pedicure is what I'm talking about."

Both of her friends knew what Carolyn just mentioned.

"We're happy to know you had a nice day, even if it means we ruined it by being late," Sarah told her.

"I know, Sarah."

When Carolyn and her friends left the Ranch, there was still plenty of cake left, so Carolyn was able to take it home with her.

"We'll talk again soon, Carolyn. Happy birthday," Elizabeth said.

"Thank you."

3: Chapter 3

A couple of days later, Carolyn, Elizabeth and Sarah took a bus to get to the nearest pedicure place. The time told them it was now nearing thirty minutes to twelve – thirty. They decided getting their pedicures was a good idea to get it over while it was stilly early in the day.

"It's your birthday, Carolyn, so you can go first."

"Thanks, girls. Having a pedicure for my birthday sounded like a good idea."

"It was Sarah's idea, so I think she should be the one you should get the credit for."

So the three of them took their time deciding what color they wanted for their toes. Carolyn chose green, Sarah liked purple, and last, but not least, Elizabeth liked blue. It took a while for them to have their toes done. They talked to one another while their toes were being done.

So at almost after two, they once again hopped on the bus and head on home. The three of them liked each other's toes and would enjoy them until the colors were going to disappear. This time Elizabeth was the first one to get off the bus. Before she left, Carolyn thanked her for taking her out for a while that day. Next Carolyn's turn arrived so she left. Carolyn saw that Elizabeth and Sarah decided to do something like this for her birthday. When she hopped off the bus, she said good – bye to Sarah, and then added, "Thank you for a nice birthday."

"You're welcome."

After that, Carolyn was gone.