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"HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY, RORY!"
Giselle cracked open the door of Rory's bedroom as Dante carried in the breakfast tray they had made especially for the special day.
Rory's tired eyes fluttered open as she smiled at her aunt and uncle. "Thanks, you guys," she sat up with a yawn and a stretch. "I can't believe I slept through my alarm. I probably missed my mom's call..." She glanced at her phone to see a parade of messages and notifications.
"Honey, how are you still so tired? You went to bed early last night," Giselle frowned, setting the tray on her niece's lap, and then sitting on the edge of the bed. After the gala on Saturday, the Reyes family had spent their Sunday relaxing at home, there was no reason for Rory to be so exhausted.
Rory shrugged, "I don't know. I was dead tired, I slept through the night but I feel like I've only had an hour of sleep even though it's been close to twelve," she said, glancing at the bedside clock that read 8:20am. She didn't have class until 10, but she usually woke up a lot earlier.
"Hm, sometimes the body does that to restart your rhythm," Dante mused with crossed arms. He grinned at her, "Any birthday plans?"
"Mm, I'll probably hang out with Letha and Shelley after school, maybe get ice cream," Rory glanced at the tray of scrambled eggs, bacon, and waffles drenched in syrup on her lap. "Oh, and I'll probably be roped into hanging out with Peter and Roman, too. Nothing major."
After Olivia Godfrey had so nicely exposed Rory for hanging out with the Godfreys, Rory revealed to her aunt and uncle that they were really the only people she hung out with aside from Peter.
"Did you want to invite them over here for dinner?" Giselle asked. She wasn't a fan of Olivia Godfrey, but if Rory was friends with them, then it was time to bury the hatchet so to speak, and accept things as they were.
"Are you going to make dinner?" Rory teased as she picked up her fork to lift some egg to her mouth. Her uncle was the main cook of the house, besides omelettes, her aunt was a disaster in the kitchen.
"I will be making dinner. We want to celebrate, not poison you with your tia's cooking," Dante laughed at his wife's soured expression, but the sound slowly faded as he noticed the look on his niece's face.
The birthday girl had blanched, her eyes glazed over, and she gagged. In the next instant, the tray of food was flung over, forgotten and unimportant, as Rory raced to jump out of the bed and into the open bathroom.
Giselle and Dante followed after her hurriedly as Rory kneeled before the toilet, hurling her entire stomach's content into it. They watched in concern as Rory heaved and vomited up a few more chunks of the previous night's undigested food and other miscellaneous liquids that emitted the foul, sour smell of puke.
