It was even decorated. Along the top was a message, written in fancy purple icing. But with half of the cake missing, I wasn't sure what it was supposed to say. I read the remaining part out loud. "I'm so…?"
"Hungry," Steve said, opening the nearest pizza box.
I turned to him and demanded, "How can you be hungry? You just ate half a cake."
"I did not," he said. "I ate a quarter of it. Big difference. Jeez."
When I looked to Anthony, he pointed to the cake and said, "I'm sorry."
I sighed. "That's alright. It's not like I would've eaten the whole thing anyway."
"No," Anthony said. "What I mean is, that's what the cake said. I'm sorry." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. I took a picture, in case you wanted to see."
Well, that was thoughtful. I guess.
As I watched, he started scrolling through the images on his phone.
Watching, I said, "Wait! What's that?"
He looked down at his phone. "This? It's your aunt and uncle."
"Well, obviously," I said, staring down at the image. My uncle was stocky with thick red hair, while my aunt was thin and ferret-faced, with a look of perpetual annoyance.
In the photo, both of them were impeccably dressed as usual. He was wearing a suit and tie, while she was wearing a formal black dress with long, lacy sleeves and a big, poofy skirt. They were both standing on my porch, glaring at the camera. But at least, they were dry.
When I looked to Anthony, he grinned. "That's the before picture."
As I watched, he scrolled to the next image. Inthisone, my aunt and uncle were utterly drenched. My aunt's mouth was wide open, like the photo had caught her in mid-screech. As for my uncle, he looked mostly confused and – nowthiswas weird – bald.
I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "He wears a toupee?"
Anthony snickered. "Not anymore."
With a mouthful of pizza, Steve added, "But I think he found it in the bushes."
I didn't know whether to yell at them or congratulate them on their aim. It was awful and oddly pleasing all at the same time. I decided to think about that later.
I asked, "But what about the cake photo? You said you had one?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, almost forgot." Anthony scrolled to the next image, and there it was – the cake in all its uneaten glory.
Not only did it say, "I'm sorry." It also had one painful word written in big, bold letters on the bottom with multiple exclamation points.
That word was, "Congrats."
I felt a sad smile tug at my lips. After all, it was the thought that counted, right?
