The Boy In Suite 121 (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter Eleven: The Phoenix

We didn't talk about the Cyrus incident. And for days, things between us were awkward. But I guess that made sense when you couldn't explain why your dad was in your girlfriend's room.  

As usual though, Jason locked away anything involving his father and didn't deal with it. For whatever reason, it was always just too much to deal with for him, but he would never say why. I knew that eventually I’d need to get him to open up about it. But for now, I had to accept it for what it was. Mostly because today was his twenty-first birthday and I refuse to let him sulk or bring up his father. Today was only about him.  

Whether he liked it or not.  

"Any big plans?" Mina asked as she invited herself into my room and onto my bed. That seemed to be the pattern when I left my room door unlocked. Sky had invited herself in about an hour ago.

"Not exactly," I said carefully, although I wasn't sure why. "Jason doesn't even want to celebrate." 

"Boo fucking hoo. You're going to make him, right?" Sky asked as she raided my mini-fridge. I was definitely going to have to start locking my stuff up.

"Of course. But it's not easy. He wants to do dinner, but it's not the same when he's paying for me!" I raged. I was still annoyed with my talk with Jason. He refused to let me do anything for him for his birthday. As if, celebrating his birthday would release the hellhounds. 

"Some guys like that. Maybe that's all he wants for his birthday, to take care of his girl." Mina offered. Sky looked at her crazily. Mina was still trying to figure out how to tell Sky she was dating her beau, but she was doing a poor job of hiding it.

"Are you okay? Usually you're on my side." Sky pointed out which is true. They were usually vulgar together, that’s why they managed to be best friends. I could see that Mina was alarmed but she didn't let it show through her jade green eyes. She knew like I did that Sky would pick up on it instantly.

"Yeah I'm fine, just saying. Besides, maybe it's an early combined birthday dinner. Your birthday is three days away." She reminded. I'd forgotten about that. I was three days away from being an adult, yet I didn't think that allowed me to drop out of St. Anna's. They probably had a blood contract filed away saying I couldn't leave until I'm thirty. Or dead, which every came first. You never know with this school.

"This is not about me. This is about my boyfriend being a complete sourpuss." I brought us back to the topic of conversation. My friends could go on for days about me, good and bad, and never get bored of it. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or mortified.

"Birthday blues? His ex did leave him around this time." Sky guessed and I shook my head. If that’d been the case, I might have had an easier time cheering him up.

"Owen told me he's been over her for months, so it's not that." I sighed hopelessly. I fell into my pillow and gave up mentally. You couldn’t make someone do what they didn’t want to do. And you sure as hell couldn’t get a McGowan to do what they didn’t want to do. That was the unwritten rule.

"Well maybe if you put something on sexy-" Sky started to suggest and I let out a frustrated grunt.

"No birthday sex, Sky." I interrupted.

"That's the best part of birthdays!" She argued around the food in her mouth. I believed her too, I could just imagine how many birthdays ended in birthday sex, regardless if it was her birthday, or a guys’.

"Well in case you didn't notice, he's not in the mood for much." Mina reminded. She was right. If Jason got out of bed today, I’d be shocked. 

"Seriously, what the hell is up with you?" Sky accused. I turned my head away from the scene and pretended to be interested in something on the wall. I hoped Mina would lie, mostly for my room's sake. But also, because I have no idea what to do if a fight broke out. I wasn't sure who would win either; Mina had the vindictive, vicious mindset but Skylar had the muscle to carry it out. Me? I had enough strength to pull those two apart for all of thirty seconds before they began again.