A Deal With Dark

Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Birthdays are bittersweet. They're the one day a year that is all about you, but that could be both good and bad. For example, it was the one day a year that I felt popular and was getting texted and messaged by pretty much everyone. But I also got woken up by some of those messages, sometimes earlier than I wanted. My birthday this year was no different. I awoke to the sound of my phone vibrating on my bedside table. It was early, but the birthday wishes were already flooding in. I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd get tired of saying thank you to people for their messages, but oh well. I wasn't let that going to ruin my day.

I laid in bed extra long that morning, just enjoying the comfort of my blankets and their warmth. When I got out of bed, I was greeted by Allison, who was holding my usual coffee order and my favorite donuts from The Cup.

"Good morning, birthday girl!" she chirped, handing me my coffee. She set the box of donuts on our kitchen counter and opened it up, setting a couple of plates down next to it.

"Thanks, Al! You're the best. It's already an awesome day," I smiled, carefully picking up a donut with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles and setting it on a plate.

"Are you excited to hear what's on the agenda for today?" she asked. We went all out for each other's birthdays. We usually planned out activities for the day and surprised each other with them. Luckily, we knew each other incredibly well and we were almost always able to pick things that the other person really liked. Every year was different, and every year there was at least a bit of a surprise element to it. This year I had ideas of the types of things Allison might have had in mind, but I wasn't sure what she chose. We always went out to eat somewhere, and there was usually something that we'd do before or after that. I didn't really know the details of what she could have planned, though.

"Yeah, let's hear it," I decided, taking a bite of my sweet and delicious breakfast.

"Well, I figured we could do a birthday photo shoot, and I'll take pictures of you for once since you're always the one behind the camera. Then this afternoon we're going to go shopping at the new mall outside of town and tonight we're getting dinner at the Sugar Factory! I invited the usual group to dinner."

That sounded like a great day to me! Allison had done an awesome job planning it. I had forgotten that I had mentioned Sugar Factory to her a few weeks ago and the new mall just happened to open just in time for my birthday.

"That sounds awesome, Al! You're too good to me," I told her giving her a quick hug.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I'm great. Let's finish eating so you can go get ready for your photo shoot! Pick out something cute to wear and we'll head downtown for photos."

After eating and gulping down my coffee I showered and got myself ready. I picked out a classic all black outfit and did straight hair and dramatic makeup that would pop on film. Once Allison and I were both ready, we headed out.

It was kind of strange to be on the other side of the camera, but a perk of being a photographer was that I had an idea of what kind of shots would look good. I occasionally gave my own input but honestly for the most part, Allison did a great job naturally as a photographer. I couldn't wait to see how my shots turned out and to start editing them.

While we were checking out the new mall, I got a text from Mark. I wished that I could see him, or even that he could come out to dinner with us, but I knew that would be a bad idea. So instead, I thanked him for his birthday message and distracted myself with retail therapy. I knew I'd have fun even if I couldn't see Mark, anyways.