Chapter One 18 Candles
“Happy birthday Serena!”, I heard my best friend scream as she barged into my room. I felt the full weight of her body when she jumped on top of me. I was struggling to gather my senses as the sunlight entering my room burned my eyes.
Does this bitch always have to be so noisy.
“Thank you, Rebecca, now would you get off me”. I said to her in a sleepy voice. “So, how old am I again? I usually need a reminder, the parties that mom and dad throw, every single year, kind of makes feel like a six-year-old". I put my feet on the floor to stand up and I heard my bones crack.
Gee, I am getting old.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that, you should really learn to be more grateful, some people wished they had the life you wake up to every morning”. She was leaning against the wall, with her arms folded against her chest.
“I know that, but they treat me like I’m still seven, like hey mom, maybe your eighteen-year-old daughter is not interested in mingling with you and your forty-year-old friends, just maybe she wants to hang out with people her own age, doing the things that people her age would usually do”.
Me, I’d rather be at a cupcake concert singing along to CPR, or maybe even a Nicki concert. But such behavior is not acceptable for the governor’s daughter, bummer.
“Oh my god, stop complaining, it’s not like you don’t have me, you know I’m always here to make everything a lot more exciting”, Rebecca said giving me one of her devilish smirks.
I walked over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek, “and what would I do without you”. She smiled at me when I pulled away.
’Sooooooo, I’m gonna go to the salon in town and have them blow out my hair, wanna come?”. I asked her as I looked at the time on my phone.
“Sorry, I can’t, gotta watch my little brother for a few hours till my mom gets home, but don’t worry, she’ll be back in time for your party”. She smiled.
Rebecca had a life that was much harder than mine. Her father was an abusive drunk who would beat her mom after she complained about him using up their money for his drinking habits. Then occasionally he would turn his anger towards Rebecca and her two brothers, he would blame them for the financial strain he was in. “Ungrateful little fuckers, just here to use up all my money”. Is what he would say sitting on the couch with his beer bottle in his hand in front of the tv.
What a cunt.
Two years ago, Rebecca’s mom took her and her brothers in the middle of the night and ran off. She had finally saved up enough money behind her husband’s back to help her and her children run. They moved to Boston, which is where I met Rebecca after she started high school. They lived in a small apartment in the middle of town.
I asked her a couple of times to come over to her place, since she’s always the one coming over to my house to see me. I guess she’s afraid that I would judge or make fun of her because we come from different backgrounds. But what type of friend would I be if I did that?
A horrible, entitled brute.
I know how she feels about it, so I don’t pressure her anymore to come to her apartment.
I put my phone down and started heading towards my bathroom. “Well, get out my room so I can take a bath and take this freaking day by storm”. I said to her trying to sound confident.
“Why, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before”. She said before running out the door in a flash.
I wanted to drag her back by the hair and tell her how not funny that was, but knowing her, she would just have laughed in my face at me throwing a tantrum. So, I decided it was best to ignore her and I went into the bathroom.
If there is one part of everyday, I enjoyed, it was taking a bath. My bathroom has a giant bathtub, which I rarely use, and a glorious shower. The shower I enjoyed very much. As the water hit me from head to toe, I felt a sense of ease, this was by far the best part of the day.
After my glorious shower, I went downstairs and found my mother looking at something on her phone sitting at the counter in the kitchen. As soon as I entered the room, I was greeted with the amazing smell of pancakes, eggs and bacon.
I walked over to the fridge to get the orange juice, then got myself a glass from the cabinet.
I love orange juice.
She finally realized I was in the room when she raised her head from her phone. “Good morning honey, happy birth…...
“Don’t say it”, I cut her off. “Don’t remind me of the fun activities you and dad have planned for the day”. The sarcasm very evident in my voice.
“You know you could try to be a bit more grateful; your father and I have worked very hard to give you a life that we never had growing up, maybe you should have a talk with your friend Becca, about how hard it is to work hard for everything you’ve got. Maybe that would open your eyes to just how wonderful you have it”.
I took I seat across from her trying not to look annoyed at that depressing speech. “Thanks for the lecture mom, now I see the world in a new light, you’ve changed me”. I gave her a sarcastic smile.
“You can use your sarcasm all you want, but you know I’m telling the truth”.
Okay, time to change the topic.
“Speaking of Rebecca, did she leave already?”. I asked, taking a sip of my orange juice.
“Yeah, her mother called, said she was leaving for work in an hour, so Becca had to hurry home before she left, she said she’d be back in time for your party”. Her attention returned to whatever she was looking at on her phone.
“Oh, and where is dad?”. I took a huge bite out of my pancakes. “He went back to the office for a little while, said he had some paperwork to sign”. She said still looking at her phone.
“Cool, so, what heart stopper did you guys get me this year huh? a new car, a trip to Hawaii, or maybe, just maybe, front row seats to see magic mike dancers perform”. She raised her eyes from the phone to me and I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
“Very funny Serena, if you keep up with those grades, you could always join the circus, there is hope for you after all”.
Ouch, burn.
“You know, about Becca, I really wish her mom didn’t have to work so much, it’s sad that she hardly gets the time to do anything fun, because she’s always taken care of her younger brother, since the older brother has to work also”. I said making my way to the dishwasher. I put my plate and my glass in it waiting for her to respond.
“Well, unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with the finer things in life, and if she was, maybe she would be more appreciative of it”.
Again, with the lecture.
“Bummer”, I said smiling back at her. I made my way out the kitchen back upstairs to get ready for my appointment at the salon.
This is going to be a long day.
