The Megidda: First Daughter of Heaven

Chapter 3

The alarm clock blared in her ear and she turned over to hit the snooze button for the second time. Jess didn't care if she was late to school today. She didn't care if she ever went to school again. All she wanted to do was cover her head with her pillow and sleep the rest of her life away.

If only...

A quick tap on her door was soon followed by, "Jess, time to get up. Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can skip school," her mother announced before continuing down the hallway to the kitchen.

Jess groaned.

Yup. Today was her birthday. She was finally the big one-eight. She was now considered an adult. So why did she feel like a toddler woken too soon from her nap. She wanted to stomp her foot, pout, cross her arms, and tell her mother, "I'm not going. I hate school. I hate school. I hate school!" But that would only make things worse. As it was, Jess had already lost her birthday party because of her behavior over the last year. Who turned 18 and didn't have birthday party? She did. Her, Jess, the biggest failure of all girls named Jessica.

A sob nearly escaped her throat but she coughed to fight it off and sat up, throwing her covers from off her. Maybe if she moved fast enough, the sadness couldn't catch her.

It took her ten minutes to get dressed; old jeans, old sneakers, and her favorite t-shirt. She pulled her hair into a messy bun, rubbed her face with a wet rag to rid her eyes of last night's tears, and gave herself a once over in the tall mirror on her closet door.

She wanted to break the glass.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Whatever. I'm not trying to impress anyone."

Jess turned to Darwin lazing on his rock. "Happy Birthday to me, right?" she huffed. Darwin continued munching on a leaf of lettuce, one of the two she'd fed him the night before, and completely ignored her. "Well, at least I can say I've lived to 18. After the year I've had, that's kind of a surprise." She laughed as if she'd told her turtle a hilarious joke.

She gave herself one more glance in the mirror, grabbed her backpack, and headed for the drive way where her mother was waiting to drop her off at school. Who had time for breakfast when she had her own birthday to ruin.

And she probably would, too. All it took was for her to see someone "being bad" and she'd fly off the handle, just as she'd always done. At least over the last year. Before that, she was a law abiding citizen with blinders on and earplugs in. See no evil, hear no evil, ignore everything.

Not anymore...

"Happy Birthday, Jess," her mother looked her in the eye and smiled from her seat behind the wheel. When Jess only grunted in response her mother let go of the wheel, grabbed both of Jess's hands in hers and turned to really look at her.

"Jess, I know you've—we've—had a tough year, but I think—no, I know—this year will be different." Her mother infused her words with a confidence Jess wasn't sure she shared. "I know this isn't the 18th birthday you imagined, but I want you to know that I love you, and I know you're meant for something amazing in this life." Her mother smiled then, and Jess couldn't help but smile back.

She loved her mother, and the rush she felt under her mother's adoration was something she'd missed over the last few months of self-imposed loneliness.

"I love you too, mom," she beamed. "And I really am sorry for the way I've been acting."

Dare I tell her? I have to tell someone...

"Mom, there's something I need to talk to you about—"

Her cellphone buzzed in her pocket. "Hold on a sec," she held her finger up then used the same finger to scroll through her text messages.