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eighteen

The week that followed consisted of one horrible crisis after the next. Billie's phone was blowing up every time she got out of bed for some mystical advice. Never once in her entire life had someone wanted to hear or see this much of her, not even her parents. The thought almost made Billie laugh.

Not to mention of course that Elijah was now dead, something she didn't find out about until the deed was done. It was revealed that the dagger had to stay inside the Original's body for him to stay dead. The thought of breaking into the boarding house to rip the dagger from his body had obviously crossed Billie's mind but she had no idea how she could get away with it. She yearned for more of his knowledge but didn't want to provoke his wrath, no doubt he would be feeling a little spiteful with the lot when he awoke.

The only thing that had gone right for her all week was Alex. They'd finally gone on that date and it was amazing. They had dinner and Alex took her to a poetry slam night in a punk cafe downtown where he knew the bartender so they could sit at the back and get drunk, giggling at all the horrible poetry and throw popcorn at people. It was the best fun Billie'd had in a long time. She vaguely remembered climbing up on stage in a drunken haze and delivering an astounding performance herself. At least that's how she hoped it went.

When they stumbled back into the complex, giggling all the way up the staircase that Billie insisted they take to serenade their first meeting, Alex had taken her by surprise. He kissed her. It might have been the vodka but Billie could swear by everything she owned that it was one of the best nights of her life.

Billie had watched the clock tick past midnight that night, she softly muttered to herself a happy eighteenth birthday before unceremoniously passing out, hoping for once she would enjoy it. Her birthdays never went to plan, something horrible always happened. Billie was glad the date was the night before so her horrid birthday luck couldn't ruin it. She stopped having parties about four years ago when she gave up on them ever going smoothly. She had a huge fight with her parents, her best friend got stabbed, she got suspended, she broke her arm, her first boyfriend broke up with her, she got stuck in an elevator. The list was beyond traumatising. Billie could only imagine what would happen now that the supernatural had been introduced to her life.

So when she woke up that morning, Billie itched to snooze her alarm and forget about going to school but she was hard pressed to admit that she'd never skipped a day of school in her life. Her parents had made her believe early on that skipping even a single class would land her in jail and she subconsciously flashed back to that childhood memory every time the thought crossed her mind.

She planned on just going to school, acting like it was just any other normal day. As long as no one knew it was her birthday, everything was sure to go smoothly. This plan was quick to crash and burn when she first opened her locker before morning class to find it jam packed with balloons. Billie tried to discreetly shove them all back in, her eyes catching sight of the card taped to the inside of her locker door detailing the culprit. She had no clue how Caroline found out, she'd never told her as far as Billie was concerned.

"You never told me it was your birthday." The voice made her jump with fright and Billie practically slammed her head on the ceiling with how high she went. She pressed a hand against her chest to slow her heart as she turned to the voice with a soft smile. His resolve broke for a moment as he let out a quiet laugh at her reaction before returning to glare at her.

Billie smiled charmingly at Alex, quietening down her fluttering stomach so she could find her voice to speak to him. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't tell anybody." Alex stared at the locker that spilled helium balloons across the ceiling to join those put up for the decade dance later in the evening. Billie glanced back and shrugged her shoulders. "Caroline." He nodded understandingly, knowing she had a knack for that stuff, his smile easily returned as he leaned his shoulder against the lockers to talk to her.