Snapshots

Sick and 16

    "Really? Come on Huckleberry!" Lucas is sick.
    "I know, Short Stack," he says sighing between his sniffles and coughs. "I really wanted to be there for your birthday."
    "It's okay Lucas, we'll celebrate another time," I say buzzing the Matthews' apartment.
    "It's not okay, I'm really truly sorry."
    "It's seriously okay mom, don't worry about it," I say walking in the door.
    "You're there already? I was going to talk to you until you got to school!" he says slightly whining.
    "But now you can't. I'll talk to you later. Maybe you can catch up on some sleep."
    "Bye Maya, I love you," he says after coughing.
    "Bye, I love you too! Get better!"
    "Happy birthday, babe." I hang up the phone and I smile.
    "What's wrong with your mom?" Riley asks motioning me over to sit down.
    "Eh, she thinks she's got a bit of a cold," I say. My mom is awesome. She's willing to tell a bit of a lie just to help me and Lucas. No one wants their friends acting weird around them.
    "Oh well hope she gets better," Riley says. "She and Shawn are still coming to dinner tonight, right?" Riley asks.
     "Oh they're definitely in. Don't worry," I say sitting down and looking at my plate. Man, I love Mrs. Matthews. She always makes me pancakes on my birthday. This year I have a '1' and a '6' side by side each other.
    "Good," Riley says. "So are Farkle and Luca-" her phone beeps and she turns to me after reading it. "Um, never mind about Lucas. He's sick," she says. I want to say that I already know, but I decide against it.
    "Well, eat up, we have school you know," I say putting a bite of pancake in my mouth. I look at Mrs. Matthews and look immediately back down. She knows. I only told her so Riley would stop asking me over all the time. I wanted some time with Lucas alone.
    "School? Why are you so excited about school?" she asks.
    "I'm not. But um," I say motioning to Mr. Matthews sitting at the head of the table.
    "You don't have to lie Maya. I know you don't want to go. To be honest, I don't want to either. But I have to," he says eating his breakfast. "You girls want a ride or are you taking the subway?"
    "Subway," Riley says before I can respond.
    "Subway," I say through a mouthful of pancakes.
    "See you girls then," he says picking up his things and leaving. "Happy birthday, Maya."
    "What do you want for your birthday, Maya?" Auggie speaks up. Lucas to be not sick. My mom and Shawn to be engaged. My dad to call me on my birthday for once.
    "I'm not sure yet Aug," I say instead. "Maybe just some new clothes. Maybe a new case for my phone. Maybe some new art pens."
    "Wow. That sounds boring. Do you want to hear what I want?" Auggie's birthday is a couple of days after mine.
    "Of course Auggie."
    "I want the Mr. Googely dvd, a new book about animals, and a lightsaber." Him and Mr. Matthews just watched Starwars for the first time and he hasn't talked about anything else.
    "That's all good and wonderful Auggie, I hope that works out for you," I say as I finish my breakfast. "Thank you Mrs. Matthews for breakfast. It was wonderful. I'll see you tonight."
    "Bye Maya, bye Riley. Happy birthday Maya!"
~
    The day flies by and soon I am standing in front of my closet trying to pick out something to wear. It's my birthday and I have to do something nicer than my usual. I grab my black dress with the white peter pan collar and brown hiking ankle boots. I put my hair up in a bun with a few strands hanging down the sides. Dark cat eyes and a light pink lipstick finish my face and I add a swipe of glitter mascara. My nails are a dark forest green and I put in my white earrings. I look in my floor length mirror and smile. 84%.
~
    I lean forward and buzz apartment 273. "Hello?"
    "Hi Mrs. Friar, it's Maya," I say.
    "Hi Maya, I'll buzz you in," she says with a smile in her voice. I take the elevator and make it to the door. I knock and Mrs. Friar answers the door. I thought Lucas would at least do that. "Happy birthday, Maya," she says hugging me.
    "Thank you," I say stepping into the hallway. She hands me a little blue bag. I open it to find some art pens and a card signed, 'happy birthday daughter-I-never-had, love, your boyfriend's mom'. They were even the kind that I wanted! "Wow thank you so much!" I say surprised grabbing her in a hug.
    She laughs and then shushes me. "I'm glad you like them." It's now that I realize she's talking in a hushed voice. I give her a confused look and she smiles motioning for me to follow her. We end up in the living room where I see a sick yet peaceful Lucas laying on the couch. He hadn't even gotten out of his pajamas. Goof. "This cold has taken everything out of him," she says. "He came in around two saying he was going to get changed and go to your birthday dinner and then laid down on the couch and didn't get up." She looks at him and then me. "You're welcome to wake him up sweetie, I'm sure he wants to see you," she says. "I'll just go to my room for a bit."
    "Thank you Mrs. Friar," I whisper smiling and walking over to the couch. I find a part not covered in blankets, used tissues, or Lucas and sit down. "Hey Ranger Rick," I say putting my hand over his. His eyes flutter open and I smile.
    "Oh my gosh, Maya," he says immediately sitting up and hugging me.
    "Hi Sundance," I say letting go of him.
    "Happy birthday!" he says between coughs.
    I laugh. "Thank you Lucas. How are you feeling?"
    "Eh, bad. But you just made me feel a lot better," he says. "Oh, and I have something for you- wait what's that?" he asks pointing to the bag.
    "You're mom got me this," I say showing him the pens.
    "Aw that's nice," he says getting up and going to his room. He comes back 30 seconds later and hands me a blue box. I pull out the necklace and look to see two silver charms. One's of a small New York state and one is a small Texas state. There's a 'M' on the New York and a 'L' on the Texas. Upon further examination, I see a small heart charm in between the two with both letters on it that looks like they were carved on a tree. "Happy birthday Maya," he says as I hand it to him. I turn around and he puts it on. I turn back around to face him.
    "Lucas, I don't know what to say about this. I'm in love with it. Thank you so much! I'm never taking this off," I say.
    "I have something else," he says pulling a black book out from behind his back.
    "Lucas, no!"
    "Yes, I want to." I look down to see a new sketchbook in my lap with the words 'Paint Beautiful Things' written on the front. I look on the first page and smile. The first page has my name and the picture my mom insisted taking on our first date. Underneath the picture it says 'For my Hart. I love you. Happy 16th!'
    "Thank you Lucas. For both things."
    "Always," he says.
    I give him another hug. "I have to go," I say putting the book and now empty necklace box in my bag.
    "Okay, have fun," he says getting ready to lay back down. "Call me later, okay?"
    "Alright, I promise," I say turning around and heading for the door. I reach out for the knob and take my hand back. I don't know what I'm doing until I realize I'm sitting on the edge of the couch again. Lucas' eyes open again and he looks at me with curiosity. I lean down and plant a kiss on his pink lips before pulling away, putting my forehead on his. "I love you," I say as he closes the gap once again.
    "I love you too," he says smiling. "Happy birthday Maya."
    I stand up and make it to the door again. "Bye Lucas," I say turning around. Only to see his eyes closed again. But there was a smile on his face that wasn't there before. I go out the door and slide down it. That was a first kiss for the record books.
~
    "How's it feel being 16?" Shawn asks me as we sit in the Matthews' living room eating cake. I got some new clothes from the Matthews, a new phone case from Riley, a picture frame with a picture of me, Riley, Lucas, and Farkle in it from Farkle, and a new camera from my mom and Shawn. I had the sketchbook and pens in my bag and the necklace was still around my neck.
    "It feels pretty amazing," I say smiling big. "But I'm not sure if that's being 16 or feeling so loved." Everyone smiles and tells me happy birthday and that they love me.
    "I expect the same amount of celebration for my birthday," Auggie says and we all laugh.
    "Clearly little man," I say. "We've got good people looking after us."
~
*In the car on the way back to the Hart household* **Maya and Katy only**

    "Happy birthday baby girl," my mom says grabbing my hand while we wait in traffic. We've been waiting for a solid 20 minutes jamming out to songs in the car and taking funny pictures on my new camera. "Has it been a good 16th?"
    "It has been," I say. "I got a special breakfast from the Matthews, Farkle gave me his dessert at lunch, I got all these amazing presents, I kissed Lucas, I got this chocolate cake, and I have passed a teenage girl milestone."
    "You kissed Lucas?" My mom asks. "Oh baby I'm so happy for you! Details."
    "Well he gave me this new sketchbook and this amazing necklace," I say showing her the charms. "And he was in his pajamas lying on the couch and he kept telling me how much he loved me and happy birthday and how he was sorry he couldn't make it tonight. So I was going to leave but then I got this sudden urge to go back and I'm sitting on the edge of the couch and he's going back to sleep and I lean down and kiss him on the lips and I tell him I love him and he kisses me again and says it back and then I actually leave. His kiss made me do the cliche slide-down-the-door thingy! It was amazing momma. I love him," I say.
    "I can tell. That smile hasn't left your face all night. I'm glad you're happy baby," my mom says hugging me over the center console. "Happy birthday."
    "Thanks momma."
~
*Two days later*

Riley: 'WHERE ARE YOU?!'
Farkle: 'you've never been late'
Lucas: 'yeah Hart, you're always at school'
Riley: 'HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ANYTHING. I CANT DO THIS MAYA'

    These texts were just a sample of what I was getting all morning. I finally had to turn off my phone. Yes, I kissed Lucas. Yes, I got sick. Yes, I am going to kill him.

*That evening*

    "Hey Short Stack," Lucas says coming into my room. I put down my pens and sketchbook and look up.
    "Hey cowboy, how are you?"
    "I'm great, how are you?" he asks sitting down on my bed.
    "I was alone all morning and then Riley was in here talking for hours and then Farkle came and played a game with me but he was a sore loser and yelled at me and called me a cheater and all I wanted was for you to hold me but you were at your game which I'm sorry I missed and I feel like trash and-"
    "Hey, hey, hey," he says calming me down. "It's fine. I'm sorry I got here so late."
    "It's okay," I say. He scoots up to put his back against my headboard and sit next to me.
    "I'm sorry I got you sick," he says.
    "I'm sorry you got sick in the first place," I say.
    "I'm here now though. I love you sixteen-year-old."
    "I love you too, Lucas."