INVISIBLE STRING ☆ DANIEL RICCIARDO

seventeen

LONDON, UK; JUNE 28th 2022

Isla Nadine Farid loved birthdays. Ever since she was a little girl, her parents had gone above and beyond for her special day. Whether it was in the form of birthday pancakes, tonnes of balloons or her own big birthday party. It had always made her feel special and so, she loved birthdays.

What she didn't like, was being rudely awaken at nine in the morning to the sound of her friends singing happy birthday like dying cats. Isla roughly pulls her pillow over her head in an attempt to block out the horrid sound, but Amani had other plans. The curly haired woman simply jumps on top of her, bringing the singing even closer to her ears.

"Alright, I'm awake!" Isla yells as she shoves her friend off her, Luisinha laughing at how Amani was now trying to kiss Islas face. "Mani, I love you but it's too early for this."

"I just want to give you your birthday smooch!" she whines, before her eyes widen and she sits back on the bed. "Unless you're saving it for when you see Daniel later tonight."

Pushing up her foot, Isla rests it on Amani's chest and roughly shoves her backwards causing the woman to fall off the edge of Islas bed as Luisinha only laughs harder than she had been.

"I'll let it slide just because it's your day." Amani groans as she peers over the edge of the bed.

Luisinha rounds the bed to sit by Islas side and pulls her into a hug, placing the large plate of pancakes in front of her. "Feliz aniversário, linda."

"Thank you guys, really." Isla smiles gratefully at her two friends, beckoning Amani over before pulling the two of them into a tight hug. "But there was absolutely no need for you guys to wake me up this early."

"We're having birthday breakfast because we won't get time with just you tonight." Amani explains, picking up the TV remote from Islas nightstand. "We're stuffing our faces with pancakes and watching clueless all morning!"

With a light laugh, Isla places the pancakes on her lap as Luisinha passes them forks and they all cuddle together while the movie starts playing, Milo hopping up onto Amani's side. Isla could feel the love and warmth spreading through her body, feeling immensely grateful for her two best friends in that moment.

Even though her parents couldn't be there with her today, they had managed to make her feel just as special this morning.

They had spent the remainder of their morning watching all of Islas favorite movies, following up with White Chicks and Pitch Perfect. They had paused their marathon morning halfway through Mamma Mia when Lu claimed she desperately needed to go to the bathroom.

"Does she seem...off to you?" Isla questions her best best friend, eyes stuck on the bathroom door Luisinha had disappeared behind.

Amani gives her a slight shrug. "Kind of. I asked her about it this morning when I picked her up, she said she's struggling with work stuff."

"You don't buy that, do you?" Isla raises a brow.

"Oh definitely not."

Their conversation gets cut short when the Portuguese woman emerges from the bathroom once more, a forlorn look on her face. Amani and Isla share a quick glance before sitting upright, deciding now was the time to ask.