Yazen (Ponith) by Nicole Sloan Read Free Book Online Page B

walk into the kitchen and there’s a birthday cake already sitting on the counter and my grandpa is just smiling.
    “When did you go get that? I never heard you leave,” I tell him. The cake looks great with white frosting and blue writing on the top.
    “I headed out while you were in your room. I figured you would need a cake for your party, some ice cream too,” he opens the freezer to show me.
    “Thank you so much for doing that. It looks good and I can’t wait to have some. Will you be here during the party?” I ask him.
    “Not tonight . I’m going to do a few things around the house and then go to bed early tonight. You and your friends have a fun time and stay out of trouble,” he replies as he grabs his bill book off the counter.
    I help clean up the house a little before Alex and Jenn show up. I hear the doorbell ring and go to answer it. Both Alex and Jenn are standing at the door and in unison shout, “Happy birthday, Zac!”
    “Thanks … come on in,” I open the door wide so they can come in. We all go into the kitchen and they set their gifts down on the table.
    “Nice cake ; it looks delicious,” Alex says as he licks his lips.
    Jenn grabs the candles off of the counter and begin to put them in the cake. She puts exactly 15 candles on it . I honestly hope it doesn’t melt the cake with that many candles. She begins to light them all and then both her and Alex sing the ritual birthday song.
    I can feel my cheeks turn red as they sing, and it feels awkward. Once they stop singing, I manage to blow all the candles out in one blow. They both cheer as I begin to cut the cake. I grab the ice cream and scoop it onto our plates.
    “So are we really doing this trip on Sunday?” Alex questions me. His teeth are blue from the frosting.
    “Yes, if anything it’ll be a day trip out in the forest. We can make the best of it. I really don’t understand my grandpa at times , but he really seems serious about this. I don’t want to let him down,” I tell them.
    “Just so you know, when we don’t find that portal thing, you still owe me ice cream and this ice cream here doesn’t count,” Jenn says as she licks the ice cream off her spoon.
    Alex gives me a look of disapproval because I didn’t tell him that I invited Jenn to go with us. He quickly changes the subject so Jenn doesn’t realize he is irritated.
    “So did he tell you more about your family history?” Alex asks as he wipes his mouth off on a paper napkin.
    “Not really ; he says that my family history is in this bag. I’m not quite sure what that means. I’ve read a bit of the book that came with it but it doesn’t really mention anything about my family. I have a feeling that it has something to do with these planets because he says when we return, if I have any questions that he would answer them then,” I explain to them.
    “Weird,” Jenn grunts. “ Well, time to open your presents.” She quickly hands me the present that she got me.
    I begin to open the bright yellow paper and underneath is a new hunting knife. “Thanks, Jenn, I really can use this,” I give her a hug and examine the knife closely. It’s really sharp and quite a bit nicer looking than my old knife.
    “Here ya go,” Alex says as he hands me the gift he brought. It’s in a small bag that has a birthday balloon on it. I open it up and it’s a new video game that I’ve been wanting for a while now. “Thanks, Alex, I can’t wait to play it with you,” I say to him as we bump fists.
    I pull the camping bag out and show them the journal that my grandpa gave me. They both look at each other and begin skimming through the pages.
    “Zac, I don’t think your grandpa is making this up. If so, he put a lot of work into making this journal,” Jenn says.
    “What I don’t get is if there’s a portal out there, how come no one else has found it?” Alex says.
    “The reason is because they need this for it to work,” I say to him while showing them Earth’s