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Nothing in particular had happened up until 6:07 that evening.
It was Nina's birthday, yes, but it was millions of other people's birthdays around the world too, so she treated it like any other day. A few "happy birthdays" from family and friends, a red velvet cake, and being duty-free from cleaning the dishes that night were all Nina needed to be satisfied.
Her mother was out getting red velvet cake since she'd gotten off work late that evening, while Nina's father sat in the living room, frowning at his laptop. Most likely he was on some conspiracy theory site arguing with a user from Canada about what exactly was going on in Area 51. He was probably losing the debate this week since he'd won the debate about fluoride last week.
Nina, on the other hand, was procrastinating. Mrs. Twull didn't care whose birthday it was because she'd assigned the whole AP Literature class a ten-page essay about Frankenstein due by tomorrow the second they crossed the classroom's threshold.
Where she should have been hunched over her laptop racking up a thesis statement, Nina sat at the kitchen table pouring herself a second helping of Lucky Charms ®.
"You have no self-control--" she muttered to herself when the doorbell rang.
Nina stopped mid-pour and frowned. It flashed through her head that it was her mother... but no one in their family went through the front door; they all entered and exited the house through the garage door. And no one ever rang their doorbell unless it was Halloween. Said holiday was weeks away.
Even her father quirked an eyebrow, locking eyes with Nina across the room.
"Not it," he said.
"But it's my birthday..." Nina said with a wry smile, but pushed herself off her chair and headed to the foyer. She anticipated an impatient ding-dong to follow based on how she took her time, but the other side of the door remained silent.
Late autumn air pressed against her, breaking goose bumps across her skin when Nina opened the door. She blinked at the empty porch and leaf-cluttered yard in front of her before her eyes instinctively slid down at her feet.
"Wha-?" Nina's lips parted in surprise.
A bouquet of freshly wrapped flowers sat on her porch, the petals less than an inch from kissing her toes.
Movement stirred from the top of her vision. Nina lifted her eyes to the street. Almost fully across, a boy was fast-walking in a near-desperate attempt to get to his house without looking conspicuous. When he hit the sidewalk, though, he peeked back over his shoulder - only to freeze when he saw Nina.
