Hidden Away

Ch 2 Almost Birthday

Almost 18 years later.

Baby Girl's POV

"We have to talk to her. Soon." My mother whispered.

"I know, hun, but how do we tell her this?" My dad replied back. "We can't just spring this on her."

"Babe, I know that, but we were warned. Jesse's 18th birthday is 3 days away and she has absolutely no clue what's about to happen to her." Mom said.

I no longer had a doubt that my parents were talking about me. For some reason, the closer my birthday got, the antsier they became. They kept having hushed conversations and avoiding questions. I thought at first maybe they were planning a surprise party for me but my older brother, Axel had over heard them one night and told me he didn't think it was that. Her heard them talking about me and something about a letter. I'm a great student for the most part minus the occasional standing up for myself and I hadn't gotten into any trouble at school so the letter couldn't be from there.

My younger brother Zach decided now would be a good time to barrel down the stairs, alerting my parents and halting their conversation. Great. I followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Zach. Don't forget gear today." Mom reminded him. "Good morning, Jesse. What are the girls up to today after school?"

"Not much. Might pickup a volleyball game or go running." I replied as I dove into a banana nut muffin.

"Geez, breathe Jesse, how are you not huge with the way you eat?" Zach pestered me.

"Zach! Don't be rude! You never say that to any girl." Mom got on to him.

As my dad chuckled, he told Zach, "You'll never get a girlfriend if you talk to girls that way."

I wasn't worried. Yeah, I like to eat. If guys don't like it, they can keep walking. It's not like I'm huge or anything. It's actually the opposite. I'm quite lean. I always have been. I have filled out more, gotten curvier, but I'm not fat. "Don't hate, I can't help it I have abs and you don't." I teased as I finished my muffin.

"Hey, I've got abs, I just had to work for mine." He shot back. "We all can't gain muscles by hiding on the stairs eavesdropping on other people's conversations."

My parents shared a look but didn't say anything.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I was waiting on you to finish putting on your make up." I lied and Zach's jaw dropped. "You missed a spot by the way. You can still see the hickey Alice left on your neck."

"Alright, that's enough guys." Mom jumped in. "Zach, go wake up Axel and head to school."

"Oh, Mom, do I have too?" Zach whined.

"No, you don't have to if you don't want to. You can stay here and we can talk about Alice if you like." She said with a smile.

"Got to go, love you, bye!" Zach yelled running up the stairs, dad laughing.

"So.... how much did you hear?" Asked dad.

"Oh, you know, my birthday is in 3 days and I have no clue what's happening." I said. "Must be one heck of a surprise party."

"Honey, we do need to-" Mom was cut off by my phone ringing.

"Hey Ro! I'll be right out." I hung up my phone and kissed my dad's cheek. Then my mom's. "Bye, Guys!"

"Jess," My dad called me, "You're mom was trying to say we need to talk. Tonight. It's important. 6 o'clock."

"K, Dad! Love y'all! See you tonight." I said as I walked out the door.

My friend, Arrow, was waiting in her pickup truck. She picks me up pretty much every day. I'm her ride or die and she is mine. We've been besties since we met in Kindergarten. Stupid Benny pulled her hair pigtail and I pushed him to the ground, climbed on top of him and started pulling his hair. "Doesn't feel so good now does it!" I yelled at him. The teacher pulled me off of him and Ro and I had been inseparable ever since.

I climbed up in her truck, and she takes off. "So.... how's Axel?" Ro smiled as she asked.

"Girl, stick a fork in you, you are done! Can you fall any harder for him?" I joked. "He's fine. He's still Axel." He got home early from college so he's back in his room for the Summer.

"I know he's fiiiiinnne!! What I wouldn't give to lick his-"

"Ahhhh!! Gross!!! Stop!!! Please!!!" I begged.

"What?! I was gonna keep it PG." She giggled, but then asked, "But for real... did he come home with a girlfriend?"

"No, not that I know of." I smiled at her. She has crushed on Axel for ages. I'm sure he knows.

"This is my year! I'm gonna jump his bones and make him mine!" She cheered.

"Do you not know he is my brother?! I don't want to hear this stuff. I mean, I'm glad your gonna grow some balls and finally get your man but please, no dirty stuff. I don't want to know any.... stuff about him." I giggled.

She pulled into a spot at school and we made our way through our day. Before long, school was over and we we decided to head to the track for a run. I was glad. Don't get me wrong, I love volleyball, it was my favorite sport, but I needed a run. It was as easy as breathing. I could run long, hard and fast. For some reason, it's like I was born to run.

Our whole group was able to come today. So it was Ro, Lina, Penny, Ariel and I. We did some stretches to warm up and turned on our iPods. Some days we talked and laughed while we ran, some days we just were together in our music worlds. I turned on my eclectic playlist so I could listen to everything and Buckcherry started playing. I began to run and just enjoyed the wind in my face and blowing my long, brunette ponytail. Soon, I had heard George Straight, Avril Lavigne and Alicia Keys. I told you, eclectic.

I was lost in my own world when something slammed into me, knocking me to the ground.

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