Purpose ❆ Benny Rodriguez

24 | sympathy

　"Oh," I frowned, confused. "I wasn't . . ."

　Luke threw his hands in the air. "Surprise? I don't know, I wasn't expecting it either."

　Bertram moved forward, ascending part of the staircase to meet me with a hug. Even a step beneath me, he was taller than me, and his embrace was crushing.

　"Happy birthday, my best friend!" Bertram chirped, forcefully rocking me from side to side. "My best friend!" He shot Kenny a look before turning back to smile sweetly at me.

　"Don't put me in the middle of this," I said, managing a light laugh.

　Rolling his eyes, Kenny opened his arms. Immediately I escaped Bertram's arms and walked into Kenny's. At this Bertram spluttered, as if he'd caught a mouthful of leaves.

　"What?" Bertram demanded, throwing his hands in the air. "This is preposterous!"

　Surprisingly, this pulled a real laugh from me. But I had no time to truly react – a moment later, all of the remaining boys hugged me, aside from Jordan. I tried to hug them all back, to answer to each of them, and I refused to show how they were beginning to send me into a panic. It made no sense to me; I'd been attacked by all of the boys at once before, and it had never bothered me.

　After Ham placed a kiss on my cheek – proud that he could simply lean forward to do so – I was approached by Jordan. He looked sheepish, cheeks beginning to go pink.

　"Sorry to catch you by surprise," he said. "But happy birthday."

　Jordan made no move to hug me, and I was relieved for it. But then . . .

　The boy lightly touched a finger to his cheek. "Do you mind if I . . . ?"

　Although I was fairly certain what he was asking and not very pleased about it, I nodded, pursing my lips. "Go for it."

　Jordan leaned forward, briefly pressed his lips to my cheek, and then leaned to find my ear. "If you need to talk, I'm here."

　"Thanks," I whispered. He pulled back and nodded, face redder than ever, and walked away.

　Next came Ivy and Leah. While Leah was a more subtle and calm, Ivy peppered me with promises of a wonderful day. And all the while I couldn't help but to think how wrong she was to make these promises, promises that she could never keep. As far as I was concerned, the best thing I could feel was numb.

　My parents were less wordy than the others. Only my mother seemed to understand how I was truly feeling. She flashed me a sympathetic smile, and said, "Pork chops. Ice cream. Cake. Movies. Tonight. Good?"

　I managed a chuckle. "Perfect." That was the furthest thing from the truth.

　Finally came Elizabeth. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun, her eyes ringed with bruise-like bags. It had been a while since the two of us had truly spoken. The sight of her broke my heart into a million pieces, not only because I could point out her resemblances to Lynn, but because she was clearly struggling with everything, as she had been for so long, and I didn't know how to help her.

　A weak smile tugged at Elizabeth's lips, one that lasted only for a second. "Hey, Kayla."

　My throat had closed up. The only thing I could manage was a shaky, "Liz."