“Alright, young lady. We need to agree on some things first.”
I nodded, wearing my best oh-so-obedient look. But Carla simply cocked an amused brow, not buying it one bit.
“So, best behavior, ok?”
“Ok.”
“No alcohol, ok?”
“Ok,” I answered dutifully.
“Kent has already arranged a lot of alcohol, hasn’t he?” She questioned, staring knowingly at me.
“Yes. But…owww!”
“I’m going to cut off Kent’s ears when I see him,” she remarked, half serious, half not.
“That’s fine with me. But why are you cutting off my ears instead?” I queried between exaggerated cries of pain.
“Well, you and Kent are partners in crime,” she answered matter-of-factly before finally letting go, and leaving me squinting in a show of pain as I nursed my now freed ear. But inside, I was struggling to bite back a smile as I watched Carla’s features crease in concern.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Of course it does. I think you might have stabbed my ear with the hook of my earring or something.”
That was a total lie. But Carla didn’t need to know that. I was enjoying making her feel guilty way too much.
“Oh, my poor baby, I didn’t mean to. Let me see.” She gestured for me to come closer, and I did, only to get whacked upside the head.
“Oww, Carla!” I whined, rubbing my head.
“Brooke!” She mimicked, grinning slyly. “Trying to deceive me, weren’t you? You should know that I’m aware of all your tricks by now, missy.”
I could only grin sheepishly in response. “Well,” I started. “Gosh, Carla Bear, you know me too well,” I admitted, laughing softly – something she soon joined in.
A moment later though, and she was saying, “I’ve given everyone the rest of the day off – just thought you might want to know.”
“That’s fine. And you know I trust whatever you decide, so you don’t need to explain anything to me,” I mused.
“I know,” she said, giving my forehead a small kiss. “Now, you enjoy your birthday, ok?”
I smiled in response, wanting to say something, but stopped when I caught sight of the approaching figure – his gaze fixed on just one person.
“Dear Miss Carla, are you ready to leave now?” Walter asked, looking like a valiant coachman ready to lead his mistress into her coach.
Carla replied with that same flustered sound she always used with him – which resembled something between a titter and a giggle. “Oh, Walter, you remembered?”
“Of course I did. How could I forget when it had to do with you, oh so benevolent Miss Carla? I've just been waiting for you to finish working so we could leave together as I promised,” he stated, looking quite pleased with himself – and from the looks of it, so did Carla.
I, however, couldn’t help thinking how Walter and Hawk’s parents could become good friends. On one hand was Hawk’s parents with the weirdest nicknames for each other, and on the other hand was Walter, with the weirdest endearments for Carla.
Now, though, I could only watch, amused, at their exchange.
“That’s so thoughtful of you, Walter,” Carla gushed.
“Alright, that’s it,” I chimed, lightly shoving the both of them towards the door. “You both go on, have fun, make the best of your night off.”
I added a wink at the last part, leaving Walter to cough awkwardly, and Carla, to turn a light shade of pink. But that didn't stop her chiding: “Brooke!”
But if anything, that just made me chortle. After a few more moments of Carla and Walter acting like two kids caught sharing a peck, they decided to take my advice, and headed out.
A smile etched itself on my lips as I watched them go. I hope they end up together soon.
The beeping of my phone in a message notification, brought a pause to my wishful thoughts. Pulling the device out of my pocket, a grin immediately made its way to my face as I saw who it was from. Although, it was just as quick to fade after I read the content.
Hawk: Hey, B. I know this is sudden and all, but I don’t think I’d be able to make it in time for your birthday. My dad asked me to run a really important errand for him, and I couldn’t refuse. I know it's a little too late to inform you of this, so I'm sorry. I’ll most likely not be able to make it on time for the party, but I’ll try to be there. Promise.
I re-read the message over and over again, as though doing so would somehow change the words that were written there. But the words didn’t change, the same way this sinking feeling in my chest didn’t change either.
But none of that mattered. I mean, he had a valid reason though. His dad’s errand must be really important. And besides, he did promise to try and make it to the party – even if it might be around the same time everyone else would be leaving.
Why was I getting so bothered about it anyway? We did see each other at school today. And he did wish me and all, so why was I acting as though I desperately needed him to just be at my birthday party tonight?
Stupid me!
I finally decided to stop acting so out of character, and to be cool about the whole thing. It really was no big deal after all.
So, I worked on a reply, and satisfied, I hit send.
Me: It’s fine, SpongeBob. I totally understand. And it’s a good thing you’ll not be able to come early for the party, else you’d probably make me do something as crazy as doing a stunt to a slow song.
His reply came almost immediately.
Hawk: 😅 well, thanks for letting me know that. Now, I know I definitely have to make it on time, even if it's only to do that stunt on a slow song.
I chuckled softly, shoving the phone back into my pocket.
‘He’d come,’ I told myself, trying to ignore the voice in my head that said like my mom, he’d also not be able to make it.
My attention was soon drawn to the sound of a pulled up car, and soon, I was faced with three squealing friends. Yeah, even Beck was not immune to the birthday makeover excitement.
And before long, they were gushing over plans for my hair and makeup. And despite myself, I was soon catching some of their glee.
Well, it seemed this birthday wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
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“Brooke, this is the best fucking party ever!” Kenny slurred, a goofy grin on his face which I summed up as the effect of being super wasted.
I threw him a tight-lipped smile in reply. At least, someone was having fun.
Lucky him.
Ok, maybe I was just being a bit over dramatic. It’s not like I wasn’t enjoying the party, I mean, come on, it’s my birthday after all. Thanks to my friends, I’ve had a great time so far – and of course, I couldn’t forget my sweet Jason.
Now that I knew he didn’t have any romantic interest in Trina, it was almost like some kind of barrier had been removed from our relationship. In fact, since the phone call from that night, something seemed to have changed between us. Although I wasn’t quite sure what it was, I knew for a fact that it was a good kind of change.
But despite all that, let's just say the party excitement seemed to have begun fading after the first one to two hours. And now, all I felt was...well, I didn't even know what it was. It’s just this feeling though, and it’s been nagging me for a while now.
All along, I’d managed to ignore it because it came in a subtle form, but now, it was raging inside me in full force. And the worst part was, I didn’t even know what it was. Just as I didn’t know why every fifteen minutes, my eyes would sweep around, hoping to find a different face from the throngs that surrounded me.
Am I maybe going crazy?
If that was it, then I needed to find a solution – and fast. Thankfully, I knew just what it was.
“Hey, easy there, tiger,” Kent mused, lightly grabbing my hand, stopping me from downing my fourth shot in a row.
I let out a small groan in protest. “Quit being such a fun sponge.”
He simply chuckled, although his expression soon took a more concerned form at his addition of: “are you okay?”
If only he knew I’d been asking myself that same question all night. I still didn’t have a proper answer though – or at least an answer which seemed believable enough to me.
But to Kent, I gave a short, incredulous laugh. “Where did that come from? I mean, it’s basically my freaking birthday. The big eighteen! I couldn’t be happier; hello adulthood.”
Maybe if I didn’t sound like I was reciting the script of a detergent commercial, or maybe if I didn’t just down another shot as I spoke, Kent wouldn’t be staring at me with a cocked brow. “Brooke,” he urged, leaving me to draw out a sigh.
“Kent, I’m really fine.”
He stared unsurely at me, and for a moment I thought he’d call me out on my lie. Although, was it really a lie? I was fine, right?
god, I didn’t even understand myself anymore.
Hence, I was quite relieved to hear him say: “fine.”
But my relief was short-lived as he was now adding, “but you’re not having any more to drink. I don’t want you getting drunk. You know drunk people always tend to express their true feelings. And as much as it’d be cute to watch, I don’t want you yelling how much you love me in front of everyone else. It could get a bit awkward, and we sure don’t want Hawk finding out his girlfriend has had a crush on me since like forever.”
He finished with a sly grin, to which I scoffed.
“You wish!”
“No, I know,” he sallied between chortles. And after satisfying myself with murdering him with my glares, I found myself chortling alongside him.
“Hawk.”
Why was Kent suddenly thinking of Hawk now? And why was he smiling as he stared at a corner of the room.
I shook my head at his antics – Kent was just something else.
But wait a sec! I whipped my head towards the direction of Kent’s gaze, and sure enough, there he was – Hawk.
Now though, he made his wade his way towards us, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
The only thing I could get out aside the grin, which was on the verge of splitting my face in two, was: “you made it.”
“I believe you owe me a stunt to a slow song,” he remarked lightly.
I chuckled at that, suddenly overcome by a strange sense of delight. “Well, don’t hold your breath.”
This time, it was his turn to chuckle. “Happy birthday, B.”
“Thank you,” I answered, still sporting that grin which wasn’t quite easy to wipe off.
“Hey, Hawk!” Kent called, doing that weird guys’ handshake thing with him. I still remember the first time he tried doing it with Hawk. Well, let’s just say the results were a little disastrous, but super humorous overall.
Kent was now saying, “it’s a good thing you’re here. Your girlfriend has been hitting on me all night.” He put on a show of being flustered by it all, leaving me to shoot him a playful glare.
Hawk however, just laughed. “Well, then, I guess I better take her away.”
“Knuckleheads,” I muttered.
But trust the both of them to chuckle as though I gave them a grand compliment. And despite myself, I couldn’t help betraying a smile.
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True to his word, Hawk did ‘take me away’ from Kent, only problem was he also ended up taking me out of my party as well. When I asked him where we were headed, all I got in reply was a secretive smile, accompanied by the world’s most not so reassuring statement: “you’ll see.”
Many horror movie characters had lost their lives from those two seemingly reassuring words – you'll see.
Ok, maybe I needed to tone down the number of horror movies I watched with Beck.
Now, however, I stared quizzically from him to the blue car in front of us.
“Brooke, Crane. Crane, Brooke,” he quipped in reply to my silent question.
“You gave the car a name?” I asked with an amused chuckle.
“Well, technically my dad did. This guy here is his first son.” He stopped to pat the car as he spoke.
“Sometimes, I think he’d pick Crane over Dove and I any day. He’s the favorite kid in the family. You should see my dad clean him up – he does it with so much care and precision, you’d think he’s handling a newborn child.” He finished with a laugh, with me echoing the sounds alongside him.
From what I knew of his dad, I wouldn’t say I was surprised.
“Well, nice to meet you, Crane,” I chirped, adding a little wave. “But now, I'm going to have to stop talking to you, because I'm beginning to feel like a crazy person.”
“Been there,” Hawk sallied from beside me, leaving me chuckling at his antics.
We got into ‘him’ soon after. And yeah, by ‘him,’ I meant Hawk’s adopted brother, Crane, who was also a car.
Gosh, no matter how I said it, I still sounded crazy.
And soon, we were speeding into the night – Hawk Gary Moose style. Although now, I’d gotten a lot more used to it as compared to my first experience. Still, my ‘we’re going to die’ moments still came from time to time.
Hawk, however, seemed to stare at his watch between intervals, his face set in concentration as he sped ahead. It was almost as though he was hurrying to catch the last train to paradise or something. And don't get me started on the turns and shortcuts.
I'd lived in this city my entire life, yet, I didn't even know any such routes existed. But Hawk seemed to know everything.
Hence, I couldn’t keep from asking, “should I be scared?”
He stopped from gazing at the road ahead, to stare at me, a quizzical smile playing on his lips.
“Are you like a regular boy by day, and by night, some kind of vigilante? I mean, how do you know so many shortcuts?”
“And you say I’m the weird one,” he remarked between laughs – something I soon joined in.
“My dad,” he piped up in the decline of the bubbly sounds, making me turn to face him. “He taught me how to drive.”
I could only offer a small: “oh.” Although inside, I found myself thinking about how that explained a lot.
“Not long after I was born, he took to illegal street racing so he could be able to take care of us. He was pretty good at it though – at least according to my mmo. He did it for a year or two after Dove was born before finally calling it quits because of the dangers involved, and all that stuff.” He stopped to give a dry smile before going on. But this time, with his usual brightness back.
“So, when my dad taught me how to drive, it was pretty crazy to say the least. Our lessons went like: ‘how to outrun the cops, best routes to avoid the cops, how to not get into an accident even though you're basically doing something that could get you into an accident.’” He finished with a laugh, with me echoing the throaty sound from beside him.
“Must have been fun,” I remarked, grinning softly.
“I guess you could say that.”
I wanted to say something in reply, but stopped short when I caught sight of the sign ahead of us, leaving me to throw Hawk a puzzled look. “Why are we here?”
All I got was a knowing smile from him. Only problem was I didn’t know what he knew, so I could only stare confused back at him.
“Just trust me,” he prompted, pulling the car over.
And a moment later, we were stepping out, leaving me staring fascinated at the sight in front of us, a nostalgic smile slowly stretching across my lips. “Isn't this place supposed to be closed by now?”
“Let’s just say I happen to know someone who knows someone who helped keep it open a little longer today.”
I nodded, even though I didn’t understand what that meant.
He, however, was now tugging at my hand, face beaming. “Come on.” Although I had more than a few questions about what was going on, I couldn’t help from catching some of his excitement as we headed in, running all the while.
He suddenly stopped, only to let go of my hand.
Ok, what was he up to?
Perhaps sensing my confusion, he used his eyes to gesture to something ahead of us. Or wait a minute, was it someone?
I felt my breath hitch as I followed his gaze to find…no way! I would have concluded that this was a hallucination if it wasn’t for that unmistakable bright smile.
“Mom?” I called softly, needing confirmation more from myself, than from her.
“Happy birthday, sweetie.”
“Mom!” I cried, voice dripping with an excitement which I was certain mirrored the one on my face right now.
I wasn’t sure how I reached where she was standing so fast – maybe I suddenly developed super speed, or maybe she also ran towards me at the same time I ran towards her, leaving us to meet in the middle. But honestly, the moment we crashed into each other in a hug, I didn't even bother with any of those thoughts.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Hawk watching us with a small smile. And right then, I found that I was finally able to put a name on that strange feeling that’d nagged me all night. Incompleteness – that’s what I’d felt.
I had all those amazing friends around me – Shay, Sunny, Beck, Jason and yeah, Kent. And also, a really cool party which met my standards. Yet, through all of that, something still seemed to be missing, thus leaving me with some kind of void; a certain feeling of incompleteness.
But now, being here with this woman whose arms I’d buried myself in, a face splitting grin on both our faces, and with this boy who made it all possible – all of that suddenly disappeared.
With them here, I felt complete. This night felt complete.
And for the first time since tonight, I could honestly say to myself that this was my best birthday ever.