When I woke up, it was still dark outside. I let out a long sigh and pushed myself up out of bed, stretching before making my way out of my room and into the bathroom.
With the December dance show rapidly approaching, Mrs. Carson had us come in early before school and stay after school to practice. Some people might have found that grueling, but I loved it. I also knew the only reason she was making us practice so much was because most of the people in the show still barely knew how to dance.
Everyone in the house was still asleep, so I stayed silent as I got myself ready for the day. The show was so close and I couldn’t wait until it was finally time for the show. Even though mostly everyone still needed all the practice they could get…
It was five thirty when I made my way down the stairs to get something to eat for breakfast. I had to be at school at six, and since it only took five to ten minutes to drive there, I knew that I was in good shape.
As I passed by the calendar in the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks. I had forgotten what day it was. I remembered it the day before, but I was just so groggy first thing in the morning that I completely forgot that it was my birthday.
My eighteenth birthday.
I didn’t feel any different. Was I supposed to? Yes, I was now a legal adult, but nothing felt any different. I was still in high school, so it really still felt like I was just a kid. I couldn’t help but wonder when that would change.
I pushed two pieces of toast into the toaster and waited for it to pop up. My stomach growled, and I made a face. This was taking too long and I was growing impatient. I really wasn’t a morning person.
“Morning,” someone suddenly said from behind me after the toast had popped up, causing me to jump and nearly drop the toast onto the ground.
I spun around to see Ethan smirking at me. Why the hell was he up so early? He didn’t have to be at school for at least another hour!
“You scared me,” I breathed, covering my chest with my hand. “Don’t do that!”
He laughed, walking around me and plucking the piece of toast off of my plate without even saying another word to me.
“Hey,” I snapped, reaching for it. He lifted it above his head. “That’s mine!”
He stuck his tongue out at me. “You snooze you lose.” He then took a large bite out of it before handing it back to me. But I wasn’t so hungry anymore.
I scowled at him as I threw the toast back on its plate, and he grinned as he took it and gobbled up the rest. He knew I wouldn’t eat a quarter of a piece of toast.
You would think that he would be a little nicer to me, considering it was my birthday and all. But no, of course not. He was going to be his usual obnoxious self, like he always was. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had forgotten my birthday.
Wait a minute.
I just stared at him as he finished chewing on my toast. What if he had really forgotten that today was my birthday?
I didn’t want to just directly ask him if he knew that it was my birthday or not, so I just stayed silent as he fixed himself another piece of toast, as if I expected him to just wish me a happy birthday at any moment.
But he didn’t. He said nothing else to me, and it really ticked me off.
“I’m leaving,” I announced now, picking my backpack up and turning toward the door. “I won’t be back until a while after school ends because I have rehearsal.”
“Have fun with your boyfriend,” he called out, and I slammed the door behind me without uttering another word to him.
I couldn’t believe him. He really forgot my birthday! I wouldn’t have cared nearly as much if we hadn’t been friends for all my life! He was even at the hospital when I was born!
This was another reason why I hated him. He said I was important and got all angry whenever I was with Maxxon, but then he goes and forgets things like my birthday. The bastard.
I knew when his birthday was. March twenty-fifth. He was born in 2001. And now today was the fifteenth of November. I was born in 2006 eighteen years ago. He was five years old, and had been at the hospital with his family. And he had forgotten.
I wished I wasn’t this angry. I knew that he wasn’t required to remember my birthday, but it still did hurt that he forgot.
My drive to school was silent. I decided not to turn the radio on like I usually did. I wanted to drive in peace and quiet.
Already, my birthday was turning into a mess just because one person didn’t remember it. Why was I letting it bother me so much?
I let out a sigh as I opened my locker for my costume once I finally got to school. I didn’t know why, but it really bothered me that Ethan didn’t remember that it was my birthday. I shouldn’t have cared, but I did. I cared a lot.
“Hello,” a new voice said, but I didn’t jump. I only glanced at Maxxon as he stood beside me.
All I said back to him was, “Hi.”
I wasn’t in the mood for any of his obnoxious comments. I was already feeling bad enough.
“Happy birthday,” he grinned, leaning against the locker next to mine.
“Thanks,” I thanked simply, not even looking at him. “I’m surprised that you remembered that it was my birthday.”
Maxxon seemed surprised. “Of course I did,” he said now. “I’ve known you for fourteen years. You think I’m going to just forget your birthday?”
I finally looked at him now. I had known Ethan even longer than him, yet Maxxon knew when my birthday was while Ethan had completely forgotten. And even though they both treated me badly, Maxxon always seemed to make up for it somehow. I just didn’t get how they both could be such pigs but then be so nice to me.
“Here,” he now said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. My eyes widened as he practically tossed it at me, and I almost dropped it. “Have you ever learned how to catch?”
I ignored his comment and opened the tiny box, letting out a gasp when I saw a pair of earrings inside. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to say right away, so I just kept staring at them.
“You’re speechless,” Maxxon grinned, his hands in his pockets. “That’s a good sign.”
“Why did you…” was all I was able to utter, blinking a few times to make sure that they were real. “Why would you get me something like that?”
Maxxon rolled his eyes. “Because it’s your birthday.”
“But we haven’t ever given each other birthdays gifts,” I reminded him, in case he had somehow forgotten. “So it wasn’t like I was expecting anything from you today.”
Maxxon merely shrugged, trying to act as if this was no big deal. But I could tell how much this really mattered to him. “I just thought I should get something for you this year,” he told me uncaringly. “It’s your eighteenth birthday, and that’s important. It’s not illegal for me to date you now.”
I rolled my eyes at him and shut my locker. “You’re only four months older than me.”
He waved this away. “Details.”
We now started down the hallway toward the auditorium. The bag holding my costume felt heavy, and I didn’t know why. It wasn’t because of what was in it, but because of what was in the air.
“Thanks for these,” I finally thanked right as we entered the auditorium, almost completely forgetting about the earrings I held in my other hand. “You really didn’t have to get me anything.”
We took our seats next to Bennett and Freya, who both wished me a happy birthday. I slipped the earrings into the bag with my costume so Freya wouldn’t see them, because I didn’t want her freaking out over nothing. Especially when it was this early.
“Good morning!” Mrs. Carson greeted, and this only prompted in everyone groaning back at her. She laughed. “Well, I see that a lot of you have brought your costumes today, which is great! But unfortunately, we’ll start wearing them tomorrow, not today.”
Again, the kids groaned. It didn’t really matter to me much, even though I would have liked to come straight here instead of stopping at my locker, but I guess that didn’t really matter. I was just really ready for the next day.
I now glanced to the side of the auditorium, and someone caught my eye. She smiled at me, but I didn’t smile back. I just looked down at my lap and scowled.
Even though both Anna and Ethan were helping out with the dance show, it wasn’t necessary that they show up to practices before or after school unless they were needed. So I didn’t know if Anna was needed or if she just wanted to be there to just be there.
“Alright, everyone,” Mrs. Carson now grinned at all of us. She was definitely a morning person, which countered all of our tired, sleepy personalities. “Ms. Ryder will be helping all of the group dancers out this morning while I work with the three couples!”
I was happy about that. I didn’t think I could handle Anna this early in the morning.
But I couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to Maxxon, especially after he had just given me those earrings. We hadn’t discussed the kiss between us at all, but just remembering it made me feel even more awkward. I didn’t know how I’d be able to dance with him.
Luckily, we didn’t get to talk very much. I told him that I just wanted to dance to make sure that we were ready, and he agreed with me. So we were completely silent as the music played around us.
Halfway through the routine, I slipped and slammed right into the ground. I let out a hiss of pain and looked at my now scratched elbow. Just a continuation of the best birthday ever!
“You okay?” Maxxon asked me, reaching out a hand for me. I took it, and he pulled me up.
“I’m fine,” I assured him, lazily brushing myself off before getting back into position. “It’s just a scratch. Come on, let’s just continue.”
Maxxon gave me a look, but didn’t question me and got back into his position. We then began to dance once again, and I made no mistakes this time.
The rest of rehearsal went by smoothly, and so did the ones during the class period and after school. The kids in my class were getting better, but it was nowhere near as good as they were supposed to be. I was kind of starting to think that three practices a day wasn’t enough, and I just didn’t understand how that was possible.
On the drive back to Ethan’s house, I was glad to be going home. I really just wanted to plop down on my bed and fall asleep just like I had every day since we had practices before and after school.
It hadn’t been that bad of a day, honestly. A lot of people wished me happy birthday, and I got a few gifts from my friends, but then there was Ethan, who still didn’t seem to remember that today was my birthday even though Freya gave me her present right in front of him in his class. He just continued on talking about ethos, pathos, and logos, or whatever.
He really ticked me off sometimes.
“I’m back!” I called out as I opened the front door.
The house was dark when I entered, which wasn’t exactly unusual if I was the first one home. But Ethan should have been here, considering I had to stay late for dance practice.
I closed the door behind me and made my way into the house. It was… eerily quiet. I didn’t like it. It felt like I wasn’t the only one in the house, and it scared me just a little.
“Hello?” I called out, but I got no response. So I tried again. “Hello? Is anybody here?”
I made my way toward the kitchen, which was dark as well. Instead of turning on the lights, I made me way over to the dining room. I was surprised to see that Ethan was there, of all places, and the room was still dark.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what was sitting in front of me. “There’s a cake on the table.”
Ethan rolled his eyes at me. “Nice observatory skills.”
“Do you really have to be so obnoxious today?”
“I highly doubt baking you a cake is obnoxious.”
My eyes went wide. “You baked this?”
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “My mom helped me a little,” he admitted, and I had to bite back a smile. “Do you really think it would have looked this good if I did it all by myself?”
He was right, and I couldn’t help but smile. He really could be adorable when he wanted to be.
“But… but I thought,” was all I was able to say right away. “I thought you forgot that today was my birthday.”
He gave me a look that asked if I was stupid. “Do you really think I’d forget your birthday when I was there the day you were born?”
I bit my lip. So he did remember.
“Here, I got you a gift,” he now said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. He handed it to me instead of throwing it at me like Maxxon had earlier that day.
I just stared at it at first, kind of nervous about what might happen if I opened it. I didn’t know if something was going to pop out at me or if it was just an actual empty box. Sometimes I didn’t know what Ethan was capable of.
He rolled his eyes at me. “Open it.”
So I did what he said, and I let out a gasp when I looked down to see beautiful earrings shining back up at me.
The earrings Maxxon had given me had some kind of gem in them, but they weren’t diamonds. These were diamonds. And I could tell immediately that they were real.
“Ethan,” I gasped, staring down at the sparkling earrings. “You did not have to get me anything at all, especially not something as expensive as this.”
He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I wanted to,” he told me uncaringly, trying to act like it was no big deal. But I could tell that he wanted to get me something I would really like. He definitely succeeded. “It’s your eighteenth birthday and all. It’s a big deal.”
I hadn’t ever seen it as a big deal, but now I guess I did. I was now legally an adult, and something just felt… different. But I wasn’t exactly sure what.
“Look, I’m sorry,” I suddenly apologized, my voice shaking just a little bit. He looked confused, but I didn’t blame him, since I was apologizing out of nowhere. “For being so mean to you, even after you told me how important I am to you.”
His eyes softened. “Sadie…”
“No, really,” I continued now. “I really am sorry. I’ve been so unfair to you for absolutely no reason. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I shouldn’t have treated you so horribly. Even when you were being just as bad back to me… I’m sorry. I really am.”
“Hey,” he whispered, reaching out and cupping my cheeks in his hands. “You don’t have to apologize. I understand why you acted that way. I was a jerk to you, and I always have been. It’s completely understandable.”
We just stared at each other now, and when his face moved closer to mine, I knew what was coming. And for the first time, I wasn’t going to fight it. I actually wanted to kiss him. And this really scared me.
My eyes fluttered shut, and I could feel his breath on my face. This was actually happening. We were actually going to kiss.
“Hey!” a new voice now called out, causing Ethan and I to immediately pull away from each other just because our lips could touch. “Why’s it so dark in here?”
I immediately recognized the voice of my older brother, and my face turned red. How would he have reacted if he had walked in on Ethan and me kissing? We wouldn’t have heard him if he hadn’t spoken!
“We’re in here,” Ethan called out so Riley would stop aimlessly roaming around the house. “In the dining room.”
The room was still dark, the only light coming from my lit candles. I should probably blow those out before the wax melted into the cake.
Quickly wishing something in my head, I blew out the candles just as Riley made his way inside. He turned on the lights as he did. “Oh, you’re celebrating Sadie’s birthday!” he grinned. He now looked at the two of us. “Is it hot in here or something? Your faces are really red!”
I finally turned toward Ethan to see what Riley had said was true. His face was redder than I could have imagined it, and I was sure this made me blush even more. I quickly turned away from him and back toward my cake, focusing on what I wished for.
What was my wish? I can’t tell you. It won’t come true if I do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been sick for the past four days. I feel horrible but I wanted to update this story so here it is.
Follow me on Twitter if you haven't already! I'm @MP13Girl. :)
Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN!