TUTORS ; E.D.

FOURTEEN: BIRTHDAY

Her birthday was never a good day. They knew the general time-frame it was in, and had forced her to have a few small birthday get-togethers on random weekends hoping they were close, but the day of she kept a secret. It was easier that way.

Upon learning that today was his girlfriends birthday, Ethan immediately felt bad. That was something he should know.

"...why didn't you want me knowing it was you birthday, Aph?" He asks quietly, wringing his hands in his lap. "Does Gray know? Did I--did I do something?" Surely if Grayson knew he would've thought to tell Ethan.

"No, baby, of course not. I just--I fucking hate my birthday. I don't like people knowing about it, or doing anything for me, and every year something bad happens on it. So I don't really tell people my birthday anymore, okay? It really doesn't have to be a big deal. Can we just forget about it? I--I'm gonna take you home and go drive around or something, I gotta be alone and clear my head."

It's apparent that this is what's been bothering her all day.

His heart cracking in his chest, he croaks out, "N-no, Aph. You don't have to be alone. You shouldn't be alone, even if you don't like your birthday."

"Ethan--"

"Aphrodite, please? Let me... just let me get your mind off things."

"Fine. Okay. But if Grayson is home I'm not staying--I don't need that today too," Aphrodite gives in with a heavy sigh. She did miss Grayson, her best friend, but today was not the day to get into everything with him. Maybe this weekend would work, after she cools off from all of this. Letting Ethan in today was hard enough.

Behind her eyes were dark storm clouds, threatening to rain down on everything below. Ethan didn't want to know what that would look like if it were to happen, he didn't want to see it.

But he couldn't help asking, "Why do you hate your birthday so much?"

Aphrodite huffs, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. It was Ethan--she could talk about it with him. It sure as hell was hard though.

He waits patiently for her to find the words. Ethan struggles with that often enough to understand how she might be feeling, like she's drowning in her own mind.

"It wasn't always bad," Aphrodite mumbles, her eyes distant. "The first year it was was... sometime in middle school. I woke up to my parents fighting, and they fought the entire day before before deciding they were getting a divorce. They'd been fighting a lot, but I don't know, I wasn't expecting it. They told me that night right after cake.

"The birthday after that was when my dad first stopped coming home. He went to work, and then he just didn't come home that night. He left me a happy birthday note on the kitchen table and money to order pizza. He came home the next day, but from then on out he started disappearing more and more," she swallows thickly, refusing to look at Ethan as to avoid having to see the sad eyes she knows he has. It was hard to talk about, but it is what it is. "Started a trend of bad birthdays, I guess. Had a major fight with a friend one year, car accident another, found out I was being cheated on... a bunch of other shit. Now I just like to try and ignore it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Aphrodite says, clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth. The car pulls to a stop, and Ethan realizes that they're already at his house. "Not your fault. They're just birthdays anyway, y'know? I'm older. Big deal."

Just because her birthdays have almost always been bad doesn't mean they always will be. Aphrodite might not think it's a big deal, or maybe she's lying, but she made it through another year and Ethan thought that was something worth celebrating. He's sure as hell glad she did, glad for every moment he gets to spend with her.