1 day left. It's a Thursday morning and the moment I opened my eyes, only one thing entered my mind.
"Happy Birthday, Soph." I whispered to myself.
I'm now 15. And I'm gonna leave tomorrow night.
When I looked at my clock, it's only 6 in the morning. I sat up straight and just waited for the sun to peak in by window. And then while looking at nowhere, I noticed the book Greyson gave me before. I still haven't read it. He said before that I should open it before school starts. I stood up to get it. A tear fell from my right eye and it landed on the near edge of the book. I walked towards my suitcases and put it on the top of the pink one.
Then the sun beams finally raised on the window straight to my bed. I went to my bathroom to wash my face and gargle. I splashed my face with cold water. It felt great. When I stared at the mirror, there's a note.
It is written on a lavender sticky note. It says, "Please see my downstairs now. Happy Birthday! xx". I can't recognize the penmanship. I wonder who that is. I grabbed my towel to dry my face and put on my hoodie. I went down to see who left the letter. On the last step of the stairs, there's another note.
Now it's written in a light green paper and it's written in a cursive form. It says, "Go to the backyard."
When I got there, it was a big surprise. Everyone's in there. My jaw dropped. I thought it's only gonna be us. By the backyard, I saw Madge, Penelope, her poodle named Fifi, my mom, Tiffany, Kibble and Pebble, Greyson and the Chance family. I was so shocked that Greyson's family is here.
"Happy Birthday, Sophie!!!" All of them shouted.
I went towards them by the big picnic table and hugged each and everyone. It was so sweet. Oh, and all of them are wearing pastel colors which are my favorite color. Even Greyson is wearing a pastel blue shirt. Hahaha!
When I hugged Aunt Lisa, she kissed me on my forehead and said, "I heard about you leaving Kansas. I'm gonna miss you a lot, Sophie. You're like my daughter. Take care alright? Happy birthday, sweetie." then handed me a paperbag.
"Thanks, aunt Lisa! That means a lot. I'm gonna miss you too! Oh, and what's this?" I looked at the paper on it. I think she's the one who wrote the notes from my bathroom and the stairs.
"Open it."
I snapped of the staplers on it. I saw a lot of clothing. A lot of dresses with laces, tops with pastel colors and a one piece swimsuit. Awh <3
"It's all so beautiful. Thank you so much!"
"Anything for you, sweetie."
I hugged her again. Then I went to uncle Scott. We're really not that close before he accompanied I and greyson to the beach for the photoshoot. But after that, we always get along with each other. Before I can hug him. He hugged me first and lift me up. He's like the father that I never had.
"Happy Birthday, sweetie!" he said.
"Thanks, uncle Scott. I will miss you tons!"
"I will too." he handed me a box.
"You really didn't need to give me--"
"Nahhh. Open it now!"
They are new sunnies. He knows me a lot.
"Thanks! It's so pretty!"
"Alexa chose that one. Hahaha! You're welcome!"
Alexa gave me a boater hat and Tanner gave me a box of The Beatles guitar picks. Madge and Penelope gave me a satchel with cute ribbons as a design. Inside the bag are letters. I hugged all of them. Gifts are nothing for me really. But it means a lot that they spent money and time to get me these.
We ate breakast on the backyard. It was fun bonding with my family. I love them all so much. They mean a lot to me. We may not have the same blood but the love we have for each other is more than that.
Sausages, bacon, omelette, toasted bread, pancakes and fruits. It was a feast. Everyone's chatting about stuffs but I really don't know how everything turned to me and Greyson.
"So how are you and Sophie doing?" my mom asked Greyson.
"Well, we're good. Really good. But 'm gonna miss her when she leaves."
"AWWWHHHH." everyone shrieked.
I'm just smiling like a goat in the corner while eating tons of pancakes.
"Someone's blushing." Tanner teased then everyone looked at me.
"What?!" I said.
"Let me ask you this, Soph." Aunt Lisa said. This is nerve-wrecking. "Do you like Greyson?"
Oh no. "Uhm..." Greyson's looking at me. "Yeah?"
My mom's smiling like a retard. Madge and Penelope are blushing. Silence all over the table.
"What?!" I said.
"Don't be so grumpy, birthday girl." Tiffany said.
"I'm not being grumpy."
All of them are looking at each other.
"I like Soph for Greyson." Alexa said in the middle of thin air.
My eyes widened. What did she just say? She likes me for Greyson.
"I do too." Tanner added.
What is happeninggg?
"I think they would look cute together." mom said.
"Why are you making fun of me? It's my birthdayyyy."
"We're not making fun of you. We're stating our opinions."
I just shut up my mouth and finished my food. Greyson's in front of me. He is obviously red. Whenever we glance at each other, we just automatically smile and blush.
When we were done eating, my mom and aunt Lisa fixed up all the things and then I went to my room to change clothes for the beach. Madge and Penelope accompanied me upstairs.
"What should I wear?"
"The one aunt Lisa gave you! The swimsuit. And then just put on a romper first maybe?" Madge suggested.
"Alright."
I changed my clothes in the bathroom. When I got out, I grabbed my beach hat and the sunnies uncle Scott gave me. I also wore my sandals that mom bought me.
"So how do I look?"
"You look awesome."
"Thanks. Don't I look kinda...gross?"
"What are you saying? You are stunning!" Penelope said.
"Alright. Let's go down now."
I grabbed my bag and went down with them. I rode on my mom's car with Tiffany, Penelope and Madge. And the rest rode with uncle Scott. At around 9AM, we finally arrived at the beach.
Aunt Lisa, uncle Scott and my mom set up everything. Since it's still very sunny, I decided not to swim first. I just went to the dock and sat there leaving my feet swaying on the water. Madge and Penelope are playing with Fifi, Kibble and Pebble. The others are chatting with each other.
Whenever I'm alone, my thoughts just fight all over again. On the other side of me, I'm so sad about leaving. I would love to live here in Kansas forever. But on the other side, I'm excited about it because after 15 years, I will finally meet my dad. All of these are running on my mind and I don't know...
Then I started to hear footsteps which is of course, coming from the wooden dock I'm sitting on. I looked behind me and it's Greyson. I just put on a smile to welcome and let him sit beside me.
"Why are you all alone?" he asked.
"Well, I'm just thinking about things." I said.
I'm swinging my legs back and forth through the warm water. Making everything so awkward.
"What kind of things?"
"Canada stuffs, daddy issues, how my life will be there, if I'm gonna have friends, and--"
"And what?"
"And Greyson stuffs..."
"Me stuffs?" he laughed.
"What's so funny about that?"
"That means you're gonna miss me? And think about me 24/7 while you're in Canada. And write my name on the back of your notebooks. And--"
"Oh stop it." I hit him playfully.
"What? Admit it, it's true."
"Well, I don't know."
He kept on teasing me and everything. Then Madge and Penelope joined us. We just chatted about everything and how we're gonna communicate with each other when I move there and what course are we gonna take in college.
Then we ate lunch at around quarter to 12. Aunt Lisa made roasted chicken and my mom made my favorite shrimp pasta and baked scallops. We also have my favorite chocolate cake! It was so fun. Everything's perfect. After that, the whole family just talked about how fascinating the island is and how cute dolphins are. I know, it's weird.
At around 2 in the afternoon, all of us decided to go swimming already. The "oldies" said that they won't swim. Oh well.
I took off my romper. Madge, Penelope and Alexa did the same. I'm wearing a ruffled one piece that aunt Lisa gave me. Madge and Penelope are wearing tribal-printed swimsuits. Alexa's wearing a floral one. Very cute!
We got our surfboards from uncle Scott's car and off we go. I never knew how to do stand on a surfboard but I figured it out because Tanner showed me how. It was so cool. The waves are splashing all over my face. The sun is high but the wind is blowing kinda hard which makes me fall down from my surfboard.
After a lot of surfing, we just swam all over the island. It's the best birthday ever.
When it's about to get dark, we already changed our clothes and left the beach. This day will always be treasured and remembered.
We fetched Madge and Penelope home and then the Chance family already went straight to their house.
We got home by 7 in the evening since I need a rest for tomorrow night is my flight. I'm about to go upstairs and check my things if I missed anything when my dad called.
"Hey dad." I said.
"Hi sweetie. Are you already set for tomorrow?"
"Yes I am. I'm so excited to see and meet you, dad."
"I am too. I will meet you there!"
"But how will I know who's who?"
"Well, I don't know about you." he laughed.
"Are you trying to say that I should figure out who Phil Peterson is?"
"Well, I guess?"
"Challenge accepted, dad." I said and he laughed harder.
"Alright, go get a rest now. See you!"
"See you dad. Love you!"
"Love you too."
After I talked to him, I handed the phone to Tiffany. I went to my room and checked my clothes and stuffs. I also put there the gifts I got. I got a handbag to put my personal stuffs there. The first thing that entered my mind is the notebook I use for songwriting. Good thing, I didn't forget about that. So sad that I can't bring a piano and a guitar on a plane. So I have to leave them here. Hahaha! Well maybe I'll save money to buy even just a cheap guitar from an antique shop.
I almost forgot the necklace Greyson gave me. I left it on the coffee table downstairs.
So I went back down to get and wear it then I overheard my mom and dad talking.
"Do I really need to go there too?" "Maybe I'll go when I already have money for the ticket." "Just get Tiffany first and I'll go there too when I get the chance." "It's embarrassing if you'll pay for my ticket. No need really, Phil."
Those are the things I heard from my mom. So my dad asked her to go there with Tiffany immediately after college. I hope my mom would change her mind about the stuffs she said to my dad.
We had our dinner and rested for a bit. Tiffany gave me a lot of words of wisdom and advices about leaving.
"I don't know but I'm gonna miss you a lot, Sophie." she said. It made me tear up.
I hugged her so tight and whispered, "I will miss you too! You're like the best ever!"
After that, I already ran up my room to get some rest. Before sleeping, I sent each and everyone of my friends a simple "goodbye" and "thank you" messages. But when it's already Greyson's turn to get a message, I decided to call him.
"Hey, Grey."
"Hi Soph. You need to get a rest now."
"I will miss you, Greyson." My eyes are filling up.
"I will miss you too, Sophie. I will miss you a lot. Don't forget me, okay?"
"Of course, I won't. I--"
"What?"
"I love you, Greyson."
"I love you too." he said.