Happy Birthday To Me
"It's my birthday!" I shout from the top of the stairs, making sure every person in the house heard me. Which would only be my mom and sister.
"Opal, shut your face-hole," I hear my sister say, since her door was wide open. "It's 5 in the morning. Go back to bed."
I ignore her, and make my way down the stairs. "Mama, can you make pancakes for me?" I ask loudly.
"When I wake up, anak," she replies, still in her bed.
"But Ma, I'm really hungry," I say, as I lay lazily on the couch.
"Opal, shut up. I'll make you pancakes," I hear Gemma say, as she slowly made her way down the stairs. "Plain, blueberry, or chocolate-chip?"
"All, please," I reply happily.
~
I fix my hair in the mirror of my sister's car. "You ready?" She asks.
"Let's go," I reply, as she backs out of the driveway.
We continue sitting silently on our drive to school, when we pass by a broken down car. Outside of it, is a family, including a mother, father, and two daughters.
With my windows rolled down, I could hear them asking for help. "Gemma, stop the car."
"What? But we're going to be late," she says, clearly confused.
"If we want there to be good people in this world, we gotta be the good people. Now, stop the car," I say firmly.
She let's out a groan, but parks the car. I step out and make my way to the family.
"Excuse me, do you need help?" I ask the parents.
"Can you please drive us to the nearest hospital? My youngest daughter is unconscious," the father says worriedly.
"Oh, of course," I tell them. "But there's only room for three more people in my sister's car. One of you can stay at my house with my mom."
"Oh, thank you!" The mother exclaims. She turns to her eldest daughter. "You'll be fine, right?"
"I'll be fine, Mom," she replies. You could obviously tell they're mother and daughter just by glancing at them. They had the same wavy blonde hair, except the daughter's was longer. They even had the same bright blue eyes, and small round nose.
"I'll walk her to my house, and I'll meet you back here," I tell her parents. They nod their heads and make their way to Gemma's car.
"So, what's your name?" I ask, as we walk together. I stick my hands into the pockets of my hoodie.
"Princess," she replies.
I stop. "Really?"
She nods her head. "Weird name, huh?"
"What? No, you're lucky as hell," I say. "You get to be called 'Princess' everyday."
She let's out a laugh. "It's not that great."
"Well, since your told me your name, I'll tell you mine," I say. "I'm Opal."
"That's pretty," she says.
I smile. "Thank you, but it's not as pretty as yours."
We're almost to my house. "So, how old are you?"
"15. How about you?"
"I just turned 17 today," I reply, combing my fingers through my hair.
"Oh, happy birthday," Princess says.
"Thanks," I say with a smile.
I walk towards the front door, and I give it a quick knock. "Ma, you still home?"
We wait a moment until the door opens, revealing my mom, dressed for work. She gives me a confused look. "Anak, you're supposed to be at school."
She turns her gaze to Princess. "And who's this?"
"Mama, can you possibly stay home today? She needs to stay here for a while," I try explaining.
"Why?"
"She has a little sister who needs to be in the hospital right now. I promise I'll explain everything later."
"Oh, of course. Come inside, dear," my mom says, as she leads Princess inside.
"Bye, Mama. Love you," I say, closing the door.
~
I run over to Gemma's car. "Sorry if I took awhile," I say, taking the seat next to my sister.
"It's fine," the mother says. "But can we please leave now?"
"Gemma, drive to North Grace Hospital," I tell her.
~
My sister and I rush into the school. We make our way to the office to get our late passes. "Why are you two late?" Mrs. Roberts asks us, looking up from her computer screen.
"We drove someone to the hospital," I reply tiredly.
"Okay," she mumbles, writing something down on a paper. "Get to your classes," she says, handing us our passes.
I run to my class and at the same time, thanking the heavens that I chose to wear my Adidas.
As I rush into my class, I catch the glimpse of every person that's in the room. I quickly hand my pass to the teacher, and take a seat.
"Ms. Rodriguez, please take out your history book and turn to page 58," Mrs. Greene says.
"Okay," I mumble, opening my bag and pulling out the heavy book. "Uh, what page was it?"
But she wasn't listening to me. Or she's just ignoring me.
I raise my hand to catch her attention, but still no luck. I drop my hand on the desk, and look around. I spot a person's book on the desk next to mine, and I squint. What the hell does that say?
"It's page 58," someone says quietly to me. I turn my head to the voice, and find out it's Tony Linden. In other words, a player, cocky attitude, and the star quarterback of our school. And the ex-boyfriend of Chloe Anderson.
I raise an eyebrow at him, but nod my head as a thank you.
After history was over, I make my way to my home room. I'm trying my best to make it through the crowds of people, when I hear my name being called behind me.
I turn my head toward the direction, and see Tony making eye contact with me. I give him a questioning look as he makes his way over to me.
"Uh, hey," he starts.
"Hello?" I respond, confused about why he was talking to me. The last time we talked to each other was in freshmen year, when he was my group member for an English project.
"You wanna come to a party at my house tomorrow night?" He asks casually, as I stand in front of him with a confused look.
I look behind me to see if he was actually asking someone else.
"Opal, I'm talking to you," he says, and turn back to him, finding a small smirk on his face.
"And why are you speaking to me?" I ask, the words slowly leaving my mouth.
"Well, we've barely talked to each other in awhile and-"
"A long while," I correct him.
He stares at me for a bit and continues. "And I just wanna get to know my classmates, that I haven't talked to much, before we graduate next year."
"Uh huh," I say, not really interested. "So, who did you invite?"
"Oh," he replies, scratching the back of his head, "so far, I've invited Melanie, Willow,...uh Rochelle, Bella, and you.."
"Huh, seems like you're inviting the ladies that you've barely talked to, Tony. I'm not surprised, though. I would've expected this from someone like you," I scoff, rolling my eyes.
"Someone like me?" Tony asks, in a harsh tone. I notice that his expression darkened. Someone has anger issues.
"Listen, babe," he starts, his voice calm again. He steps closer to me, making me uncomfortable. "You coming to my house or not?"
I look around, realizing that the hallways are now empty. Wow, the cliché is real.
"Just get away from me. I'm gonna be late for home room," I say, backing away.
But he grabs my wrist. Hell no.
"She doesn't like being called 'babe', Toby."
Both of us turn toward the voice and find Nathan, and right beside him is Will.
"It's Tony," Will whispers to Nathan.
Nathan's eyes go wide, realizing his little mistake. "Shit, sorry. I meant Tony. Tony," he says, the words tumbling out of his mouth.
Tony let's go of my wrist. "Who the fuck are you?"
"It's Nathan Adams," he replies.
Something flickered in Tony's eyes, as he glared at Nathan.
And without another word, he shoves past me, making his way to his home room.
"Bitch," I say to him, as he turns a corner, and disappears.
I look at my wrist, and find marks from his strong grip. I realized it slowly started to ache.
"Hey, let me see," Will says, gently holding my wrist and examining what Tony did. "Shit, he really fucked up your wrist," he mumbles.
I take a closer look at it, and realize I got new bruises from where Tony's hand was. "That son of a bitch."
"Excuse me. Shouldn't you all be in your home room?"
We find the vice principal, Ms. Flora, glaring at us with her hands on her hips. "Should I inform the principal, or are you going to walk to your rooms?"
"Sorry, Ms. Flora," I mumble, as the boys do the same. Then, we go our different ways as we headed to our home rooms.
~
"Okay, I'm 'bout to fight someone," Bella says, rolling up the sleeves of her sweater. "The bitch would've thought I was going to his party."
I smile. "Hey, tough cookie. I'm fine. It's just a few bruises."
She gives me a shocked look. "Honey. This is your problem. You always say you're fine. You're not fine. Your freaking wrist looks like a mood changing bracelet."
"Really, I'm fine," I insist.
I spot Tony walk into the cafeteria with a few of his friends. "Hey, Tony!" I call out.
He looks in my direction in a quizzical way.
As a response, I stick my middle finger up at him. With a huge smile on my face. I make sure my hand is up really high.
He raises his eyebrows at me, as his friends laugh behind him.
I put my hand down, satisfied with his reaction. I spot Nathan looking at my direction, and on his face is a smirk. I smile back at him.
"Damn. Should've told me you were going to do that, because I would've done it with you," Bella says smirking.
I let out a laugh. "I'll inform you next time."
"Oh wait, I forgot to do something."
"What?" I ask, pulling out my phone.
"Happy birthday to you," she starts singing loudly, and I look up from my phone, giving her a horrified look.
"Bella, please," I beg.
"Happy birthday to you," she continues, singing at the top of her lungs. I'm glad she has a voice of an angel, though.
And as the song comes to an end, the whole cafeteria is already singing with Bella.
"Happy birthday dear, Opal," they sing. "Happy birthday to you!"
I hide my head as I hear the whole room applause and shout 'happy birthday'.
~
"What else do you have for homework?"
"I think that's all I have," I reply.
Bella and walk together as we exit the school. We both wait until I can find my sister. "Did you get me anything?"
"Of course I got you something. But I'll give it to you later."
"Why?" I ask.
"Oh, I see your sister. Let's go," and she grabs my arm and drags me to Gemma's car. Without answering my question.
~
My sister rings the doorbell, as we wait outside. The door opens, revealing my mom.
"Happy birthday, anak," my mom says, giving me a hug.
"Thank you, Mama."
We all walk inside. I find Princess on the couch in the living room, and I give her a quick smile before Bella and I head to my room.
"Ooh, why does it smell like peaches in here?" Bella asks, face-planting onto my bed.
"My mom probably cleaned in here," I reply, sitting next to her.
She turns over and faces me. "So, how does it feel to be 17?"
"Feels like nothing," I say tiredly.
"Okay, cool," she says, nodding her head. "Do you feel anything else?"
"Am I supposed to feel something else?"
"I guess not."
We sit on my bed for a few minutes of silence. "To be honest, you're hair goals."
I turn to her, and find that she's looking at my Instagram.
"Thanks, boo," I say, flipping my hair.
She let's out a small laugh, and at the same time, her phone chimes.
"Ooh, who's texting my bestfriend?" I ask, moving closer to her so I can see her phone.
She quickly puts her phone to her chest, hiding whatever was on the screen. "It's just my mom," she says.
"Fine, then let me see what your mom said," I say, grabbing phone.
"Opal, give it back," she says tiredly, as I stare at the screen in confusion.
([A/N] me editing rn on 1-21-17, basically a year later: cringe cringe cringe)
"What does he mean by 'everything is ready'?"
Bella sighs and grabs my hand. She leads me all the way downstairs and to the back door leading to my backyard.
"You ready?" She asks, her grip on the door handle.
I stare at her in confusion. "Ready for what?"
She rolls her eyes and opens the door with a click. And that's when everything comes into view.
"Happy Birthday!" I hear, and I find my mom, Gemma, Derek, Will, Nathan, Kyle, and Princess, all standing behind a table. And top of the table, is the love of my life: food.
"How did you guys do all this?" I ask in amazement, looking around at the decorations.
"It was actually going to be pretty simple," my mom replies, "but since I stayed home today, I had plenty of time in my hands. So, Princess and I got everything ready."
"Aww, thank you," I say, giving my mom and Princess a hug.
My mom lets out a laugh. "Don't thank me. Thank your bestfriend. It was her idea."
I turn around to Bella, and give her a huge hug. "Thank you," I squeal.
"Do we get a hug, too?"
I turn to Nathan. "What did you guys do?"
"We made all the food," Will replies, with his hands in his hoodie.
"With my mom's help," Nathan adds.
I stare at them for a moment, before jumping on Will, giving him a big hug. "You guys are angels."
I hear Kyle laugh, before all the boys join the hug.
~
I look up at the sky turning into a soft lavender color. Everyone has already left, except for Nathan. Princess' parents called, saying she could sleep here for the night.
"Minnie Mouse, can I talk to you?"
I look up from where I'm laying down, and see Nathan's face hovering over me.
"What do you want?"
He lays right next to me on the grass. "It's about Heather."
"Oh, your girlfriend," I say, rolling my eyes. "What about her?"
"I just-"
"No, wait," I interrupt, covering my hand over his mouth. "I need sweet potato chips."
He moves my hand off his mouth. "What?"
"You gonna come with me?" I ask.
"Uh, sure."
I stand up, as he does the same. I text my mom that I'm heading to 7-Eleven.
We head out the back gate and start our walk to my chips. "You were saying?"
"Hmm?" Nathan hums.
"About Heather."
"Oh. It's just that, she seems really bored with..me," he sighs, staring at the sidewalk below us.
I give him a confused look. "Am I some type of love expert to you?"
He let's out a small laugh. "Sorry, it's just, she doesn't even hang out with me much," he says, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm being honest with you when I say: I really don't know what to do," I respond to him.
We walk past a guy sitting on a bench. And by his feet, is a cute little puppy.
"Aww," I gush, my eyes staring at the adorable creature.
The owner of the puppy gives me a smile. "You can pet him."
He has dark hair and brown eyes, and let me just say, this guy is hot. He seemed to be the same age as me and Nathan.
I bend down to pet the puppy. "Yes, you're so cute," I tell the precious creature.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" I ask.
"It's a boy," he replies, smiling at me.
"I'm a boy, too. I guess we have something in common," Nathan says sarcastically, reminding me that he's still here with me. "I thought we're heading to 7-Eleven."
"Right," I reply. "Bye, little guy," I say, waving at the puppy.
"Bye, cutie," the guy says, giving me a wink.
"Okay, let's go, Opal," Nathan says, pushing me forward.
Once we got farther away from the guy and his puppy, I squealed. "He called me a cutie."
Nathan rolls his eyes. "He was checking you out."
"Well, who wouldn't wanna check out this," I say, gesturing to my body.
"Opal, he was probably a fuck boy."
"Fuck boy my ass. What matters is that he called me a cutie," I say proudly. "I feel so accomplished in life, now."
Nathan let's out a small laugh, shaking his head, as we headed towards the doors of 7-Eleven.
__________________________
A/N: Heyyð I was actually planning to post this on my birthday (July 14), but I didn't even finish it yet.
Sorry if it's a late update.
I LOVE YOU AND LEAVE FEEDBACK IF YOU CAN.
Anyway, hope you liked the chapterð
Sorry if it seemed like crap
-Holly Osgoodð
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