A month had passed by, and July came around.
I had gotten my very first paycheck, and I has very happy that I had made all this money on my own. Unfortunately, July also meant that my eighteenth birthday was coming in about two weeks. My eighteenth birthday coming meant that Andrew was going to kick me out of the house, and I had nowhere to stay. I highly doubt I'd get my own apartment as a birthday present. Then again, I didn't want anything for my birthday.
"So," Liz said with a smile on her face, "I have a little something for you."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "You said you already had my birthday present since two months ago," I told her. "You've been bugging me about it since the first. And if you want to wish me a 'Happy Independence Day', it's best you don't, because I already ran up and down the block waving the flag in my underwear." That was one hundred percent true.
"You're going to love your birthday present," Liz gushed.
"I don't want anything," I said monotonously.
"That's different," Liz said. "You usually want something."
I shook my head. "I haven't wanted to celebrate my birthday since I was ten-years-old."
"And why is that?" Liz asked confusedly.
"I finally realized that birthdays have no point whatsoever."
"It's the day when you were born!" Liz argued defiantly.
I shook my head. "The day that a person is born is the day that they are born. The definition of a birthday—or, at least, how you use the word—is simply an anniversary of the day that said person was born, and therefore not the actual day, and therefore has no meaning whatsoever."
"It means a lot to me," Liz said through clenched teeth.
"Then you celebrate it," I said nonchalantly, shrugging my shoulders. "But leave me out of it."
"But it's your birthday!" she said angrily. I glared at her.
"The day of my birth was almost eighteen years ago, and it's never happening again. July 16th will never have meaning again, so make like Elsa and let it go."
Liz snarled. "I'll throw you a huge birthday party!" she bellowed. "I'll throw you an eighteenth birthday bash, just you watch!"
I scoffed. "And where are you going to find the money?"
That seemed to shut her up.
"Just take this stupid letter," Liz muttered under her breath. She flicked her wrist and threw an envelope on the table, which just so happened to me addressed to me. Strange.
"Was that my 'little something' you had for me?" I asked as she walked away. Liz didn't answer.
I picked up the envelope and walked to my room. I closed the door behind me, collapsed on my bed, and gingerly started to pry open the envelope. The slip ended up torn all over the place, but at least I didn't rip the actual letter.
I grabbed the paper from inside the envelope. "What are you contained with?" I asked. It was supposed to be directed to the paper, but of course it wouldn't respond since it was an abiotic object. I unfolded the paper (which was folded in thirds) and I started to read it.
LUCAS HEMMINGS:
We are glad to inform you that you have been accepted—
I screamed.
✘✘✘
HEY FRAND IT'S YOUR FRAND MICHAEL
please don't call me "frand."
Frand.
no
You're my frand, Lucas.
fuck you
Hey, where are you going to college? If you're going, that is.
where are you going?
I asked first.
i just got my acceptance letter to ucla.
That's awesome, Luke! Ashton was accepted into UCLA, too. :)
you forgot the nose
what about you?
I applied, but I haven't gotten my acceptance letter, yet.
i'm sure you'll get in :-)
Hopefully.
you will.
in fact, i'm so sure that you'll get in, i PROMISE that you'll get in.
and i never break my promises.
except for that one time when i promised to ask out rylee jacob.
but fuck that lol
Haha. Well, I have to go. Bye, Luke!
bye :-)
✘✘✘
Three days later, it was Ashton's birthday.
When I first woke up at morning, I immediately went to grab my iPod and send him a message over Skype.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYYYY
Ashton didn't reply until a few hours later.
Haha, thanks Luke! You're the very first person to wish me a happy birthday today.
besides michael, of course.
Um, actually no. Michael didn't wish me a happy birthday...
you'd think your boyfriend would be the first to wish you a happy birthday.
Yeah, you would, wouldn't you?
did harry and lauren wish you a happy birthday, at least?
Just now, actually.
oh.
Yeah.
hey, you're eighteen now!
I don't feel any different.
You know I had to tell Michael?
what?
I went to his fucking house to tell him it was my birthday, and he didn't do shit.
oh.
Can you believe that? I had to tell Michael, my best friend of thirteen years and boyfriend of six, and say, "Hey, you know it's my birthday today, right?" and he just went, "Oh. Happy birthday." He didn't even kiss me. HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A FUCKING HUG.
i'm sorry.
I mean, I would've been completely fine if he didn't give me a gift, because I could never ask anything from him, but...at least a kiss, right? Just one sign of physical touch. That's all I would have needed.
maybe he's coming up with a surprise for you!
Maybe.
I have to go. See you soon, Luke.
bye :-)
I had no resolution for Michael and Ashton's dilemma in mind. I was sure that they could resolve things, but as pessimistic as I was, I had a bad feeling. But they were Michael and Ashton, and Michael and Ashton were inseparable, so I knew they were going to work things out.
I did see Ashton again soon. Michael was there, too. We were all dressed in black, blinded by the sight of a coffin and deafened by the sound of crying.
✘✘✘
Liz didn't throw me a "huge eighteenth birthday bash" like she said she would. I knew she wouldn't, anyway. I probably would have cried if she had thrown me a party. I remember when Liz and Andrew threw me a party when I turned thirteen ("You were becoming a teenager, Lucas! We needed to throw you a party!"). They invited a whole bunch of kids from school that I didn't even know. When I saw the decorations, I cried and sent everyone home. Liz and Andrew didn't dare try to throw me birthday parties after that.
"We can have your uncles and aunts over!" Liz suggested. "Your cousins!"
I shook my head. "I don't want them here."
"Your grandparents!"
"Don't want them here, either."
"Michael and Ashton!" Liz cried out desperately.
"No," I said firmly.
"Ben and Jack!" Liz said, her voice becoming aggravated. "They're your brothers, Lucas. They need to be here to celebrate your birthday—"
"Except we're not celebrating it," I growled. "It's not even my birthday."
"It's July 16th!" Liz exclaimed. "The sixteenth of July is your birthday, Lucas!"
"No," I said. "My birthday was July 16th, 1996. That was eighteen years ago. It's not my birthday today. I'm not being reborn."
Liz snarled. "You're already a brat. You don't need to be a smartass, too!" she yelled angrily. She huffed, went to her room, and slammed the door.
I only tried not to cry.
✘✘✘
I spent the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing. I got a few Skype messages from my old classmates wishing me a happy birthday. I didn't reply to any of them. There was nothing happy about it. The day had no meaning, and therefore completely irrelevant.
I sighed, resting on the hammock in the backyard with my left leg dangling off of it. Molly was resting on my stomach, and I had one hand running through her fur and the other rucked under my head. I stared at the clouds as they moved across the summer sky, thinking how different the sky is in Australia.
"Get up, Molly," I whispered. "I have to pee."
Molly continued snoring.
"Molly!" I whined. "I'm going to push you off if you don't move, and you and I both know I don't want to do that."
Molly whimpered, but she jumped off of my stomach. I scampered off of the hammock and back inside. I quickly used the bathroom, washed my hands, and when I walked out, I saw Andrew in my room.
"Hi," I said warily. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, this?" Andrew said with a sly smile on his face. "Well, it is your eighteenth birthday, after all."
"You're packing all of my clothes into a suitcase," I said bitterly.
"Being eighteen means moving out!" Andrew said happily. He finished putting my belongings into the suitcase, zipped it up, took it off of my bed, and gave it to me. "Here you go, Lucas."
"But I—I have no place to stay!" I said nervously. They can't kick me out. They can't.
"Oh, you're a grownup now," Andrew said casually. "You can find a place to stay."
Andrew started leading me out of the house. Once he ushered me out the door, he gave me my Camp Whittle bag with my iPod and phone inside, chargers included. He gave me my laptop bag in my other hand, and I just stared at him in awe.
"Just like that?" I asked breathlessly.
Andrew smiled at me. It was an evil smile. I could see the glint in his eyes.
I glared down at him. "Goodbye, then." I turned around and started walking away from the house, and I muttered under my breath, "You good-for-nothing motherfucking asshole."
I had my Camp Whittle bag on my back, my laptop bag in my left hand, and I pulled my suitcase with my right hand. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I was bound to get somewhere. I looked down at the pavement and watched my black Chuck Taylor's click against the sidewalk. Maybe I could just walk across the street and let a car run over me...
"GET IN, LOSER, WE'RE GOING SHOPPING!"
Fucking idiots. Who the hell shouts that out at night? I turned to my left, trying to see who shouted that out.
Ben and Jack waved at me from inside the car.