Edge of Desire

When Sam woke up the morning of her and her twin brother Sean’s 18th birthday, she knew exactly what was going to happen. First, both their parents barged in, donning green party hats and singing “Happy Birthday” so loudly and badly that even her brother, normally the nice one, dove back under his sheets with a loud groan from under his pillow. 

“We have a surprise for you, Sammy,” Her mom cooed, clapping her hands happily in an attempt to get one of her children out of bed. Sam already knew what the surprise was going to be. She had seen the huge cardboard boxes that had been discarded at the side of the house. Still, she forced herself out of bed, running her hands through her hair to relieve it of the largest bedhead knots.

“Go check next door,” Her dad urged. Sam smiled, trudging out of the green-and-white bedroom she and her brother had shared for the past 18 years in their quaint Georgia home. Next door, which had been her dad’s old office, would now be converted into her own bedroom, something she had wanted for 6 years.

She knew what color it would be, the same olive green that her mom seemed to believe was “their color.” But it was okay, because Sam thought the olive green would go well with the dark brown furniture. And she was right. She marveled at the brand-new dresser, with the matching nightstand, bookshelf, full-sized bed, and the trunk that rested at its foot.

“I love it,” She breathed out. It wasn’t a surprise per se, but it was still a great gift. She couldn’t wait to move in.

“That’s not all, Sean, we’ve got a gift in the driveway for you.” Sam chuckled as she heard Sean’s bed creak from the next room, his morning grumpiness now only a memory. Sam even knew about this gift, and though she could choose to be upset about the brand-new Jeep her brother was about to receive, she knew that Sean would lend it to her if she ever needed it.

She followed her family out through the garage door, though Sean had raced through the front door to see his birthday gift first. When the garage door opened to reveal the car, Sam was expecting the olive green and even had an inkling that the set of keys had an olive green attachment of some sort. She was right. Her dad produced a set of keys with an olive-green dog tag. Sean hugged his mom, then his dad, before taking the keys. He grinned at Sam and waved her over to his side.

“Look, Sam, it’s just got an ‘S’ on it. We can share it if you’d like,” He was doing damage control that didn’t need to be done. Sam was perfectly happy with the gifts they had both received. She knew her parents had also expected a less-than-stellar response from the difference in their gifts.Sure, Sam had gotten her own room, but that meant Sean also had his own room. So Sean getting his own car was an extra gift.It was an endless cycle that her family expected from her. But not this time, Sam knew what was coming next.

“Sam, we got you one more thing,” Her mom said slowly, surprised that her daughter had not complained yet. She disappeared inside for a moment before returning with a wicker basket. Inside was the tiniest calico kitten Sam had ever seen, with an olive-green (Sam had expected this) collar around its neck.

“She’s so cute, and so tiny!” Sam had rushed forward, gathering her new kitten in her arms.

"He," Her dad corrected. Sam’s eyes grew wide. She had been expecting the kitten; she had seen the supplies tucked away in a storage container a week earlier, but a male calico was quite rare. It might’ve been the biggest surprise all morning, a male calico. Sean, who had been lounging in the driver’s seat, started towards the kitten.

“Sam, you’re finally a cat mom!” He joked, gingerly petting the kitten with two fingers.

“Alright, now that gifts are over, let’s go in and eat before school,” Their mom interrupted urgently. Sam grimaced, though she knew that her parents would still send the twins to school on their birthday. Education was important to them. Sean wasn’t too upset; he would get to drive his new Jeep.

The birthday breakfast consisted of a large plate of the twins’ favorite, strawberry pancakes. Their mom had two types of meat, sausage links and bacon, but the strawberry pancakes were the most essential part of the meal. Sam knew their father had taken off work today, probably so he could spend time with his kids, who were growing up way too fast. It was the only reason his coffee was in his weekend mug rather than the travel thermos Sean had gotten him last Father’s Day. He hadn’t told them that, though, because the party tonight was supposed to be a surprise.

“William, will you put the paper down?” Their mom scolded as she too sat down at the table. There was no point in a family breakfast, since their parents were forcing them to go to school today, they would have to be out the door in the next 10 minutes.

“Sorry, sorry,” Their dad folded the paper and beamed over at the kitten that Sam was still holding in her left hand as she ate a pancake with just a fork in her right.

“What are you going to name him?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Sam admitted.

“I think Oliver would be cute,” Her mom piped up. Everyone at the table gave her a sort of amused look. Her mom had always talked about how she wished she had named Sean Oliver.

“You’re giving my backup name to the new cat?” Sean pretended to look offended, provoking his parents to chuckle.

“Pictures before you leave. And Sam, would you put the cat down?” Sam obliged, though her eyes never fully left the fluffy lump resting in the wicker basket.

5 minutes later, the twins were dressed and ready to head out the door.

“Make sure you get a proper parking pass,” their dad urged, a look of worry crossing his face as the idea of car insurance for his teen son, who now would be recognized as a Jeep owner by the insurance company, became a reality.

“Yeah, yeah, see you later for-” Sam placed a firm hand on her brother’s forearm. She had voiced to him that there would be a surprise party waiting for them when they returned, but she would rather their mom not know that they already knew about it. She was in a good mood today.

“-after school.” Sam finished for him.

“Alright, happy birthday, you two, have a great day!” Their parents waved to them from the porch as Sam climbed into the passenger seat.

The Jeep was nice, it was clean and had a new car smell. There would be a parking pass and some kind of identifying knick-knack hanging from the rearview mirror by tomorrow morning, she knew. Until then, she would appreciate how untouched the car was.

“Ready to go?” Sean replied, grinning as he touched everything.Everything he was touching in the car was his. His new car.Sam nodded, her eyes on the wicker basket with her kitten that her mom was holding on the porch, wishing she could have been home with her new cat.

“Do you think Lillian will remember that today’s your birthday?” She asked, grimacing as she mentioned Sean’s annoying and frankly terrible girlfriend.

“She hasn’t texted me, but I’m sure she’ll have something planned. Mom and Dad will have invited her to the party, so she has to know,” Sam now knew why Sean had been uncharacteristically grumpy this morning. His girlfriend had forgotten to wish him happy birthday.

“Sean-”

“Sam, I don’t want to argue about it today. She’ll remember, you’ll see-” He interrupted unconvincingly.

When he pulled into the parking lot, Sam saw her two friends, Ashlyn and Blake, standing with a small helium balloon with the smallest smiley face on it, holding up a drink tray.

“Blake remembered,” Sam mentioned appreciatively.

“She gotmea drink?” Sean was pleasantly surprised as the two of them approached Sam’s friends.

“Happy birthday, Sean and Sammy!” Ashlyn greeted the twins, shoving the funny-looking helium balloon into Sam’s hand. Blake grinned, handing Sam her usual order, a medium iced chai latte.

“This is for you, Sam, and Sean, I’m not sure what you like, so I just got you a salted caramel frappe. It’s sweet, and I figured-”

“This is usually what I order! Thank you so much, I wasn’t expecting this.” Sean gave Blake, who was blushing furiously, a side hug as he took the medium-sized drink.

“Nice wheels, by the way.” Ashlyn grinned, surveying the Jeep with an impressed look. Sean smiled, looking around distractedly.

“Maybe she’s by your locker,” Sam whispered to him, knowing he was looking for Lillian. Sean nodded and headed towards the buildings after waving goodbye.

“Lillian forgot?” Blake asked, her eyebrows scrunching up as she noticed the uneasiness Sean had been displaying.

“Of course she did, she doesn’t care about him. At least you do,” Sam winked at her friend as the group headed in after him. Blake had an undying crush on her twin brother, but Sean was too oblivious to notice. And he was with the she-devil.

Upon entering the busy hallway, Sam spotted her brother, his head in his locker as he talked in a low voice to his friends gathered around him. One of them, Vince, noticed her and waved.

“Happy birthday, Sam,” He called down the hall. The other boys with Sean looked up, waving and chorusing “happy birthdays” to her.

“Thanks, guys,” She responded in passing as she headed to her locker. A couple of other people who had heard the commotion smiled at her if they made eye contact, a silent happy birthday wish. Sam smiled back, knowing what would be greeting her at the end of the hall.

“Corey,” She sighed as her shaggy, brown-haired, on-and-off again flame twirled into view, sporting a card.

“You remembered?” She chuckled, taking it.

“Someone posted for Sean, and I saw it on the way to school. So, this is my apology and my birthday wishes rolled into one,” Corey clasped his hands together and leaned next to his locker, looking pleased with himself.

“Apologizing for...?” Sam didn’t even look at him; she knew Blake and Ashlyn were judging behind her. They didn’t approve of Corey and Sam hooking up because, although Sam said she didn’t care, Corey was never there for her when he needed to be and often left Sam lonely (though she would never admit this).

“Last week,” Corey’s apology was like the numerous ones before, insincere and half-hearted. But today, Sam was going to surprise him.

“Corey, keep your card. This little arrangement... is taking up too much of my time.” She pushed the card back into Corey’s hands, giving him a half-smirk as his mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Are you serious, Sam? I thought-” Ashlyn and Blake were probably giving him death stares because he stopped mid-sentence, his hands thrown up in dramatic surrender as he backed away. As soon as he had disappeared, Ashlyn and Blake took positions on either side of Sam.

“Sam, finally!” Blake exclaimed with glee, giving her a supportive hug.

“I’m so glad you’re not going to be hooking up with him anymore. What a jerk,” Ashlyn added. Sam shrugged. Corey was nice when he wanted something, and Sam had only wanted the same something.At least that’s what she had said.

“Girls,” The three turned to face Sean and his friends. Blake immediately straightened up.

“What’s up, Sean?” Sam asked boredly as she shoved the balloon into her locker, knowing what he was going to say next because of the smile playing on his lips.

“Did you just end things with Corey Harbin?” He asked hopefully.

“Did you end things with Lillian Grace yet?” Sam mocked in response. Vince snickered.

“She’s got a point, she treats you the way that Corey treated Sam, and there was no label with the two of them,” Alec, another one of his friends, piped up. The group all muttered in agreement, but Sean only waved them off.

“It’s almost time for first period,” He changed the subject quickly. Sam shrugged and headed off with the girls at her tail.

“I’ll see you two at lunch,” She called over her shoulder. They nodded and split into different hallways. Sam noticed here were a few cat hairs on her jacket sleeve, and she picked them off, knowing this would be the first of many times doing so.

She wasn’t paying attention until the last second, when it was too late. She saw the black-checked Vans way too close to her feet and looked up, colliding with a heavily-scented (sandalwood) chest. She knew who it was in an instant, and her happy mood darkened. She stepped back, looking up into the sour face of Daniel Darkly.

“Would you watch where you’re going?” He snapped. Sam poked her tongue into her cheek and looked up at him.Curse the stray hair that was falling over his eyes.

“It was a mistake, sorry.” She replied, rolling her eyes as she side-stepped him. He moved to block her path. She looked up at him with a challenging look.

“That wasn’t a good apology,” Daniel said with a laugh of surprise.

“None of your friend’s apologies are, either.” Sam was referencing Corey. The only reason she had to interact with Daniel was that he was often with Corey. But now that she and Corey weren’t doing... whatever they were doing, she didn’t have to put up with the snarkiness she got from his friend.

“Then why are you constantly sucking faces?” Daniel smirked, crossing his arms to mimic her and piss her off. Sam’s eyes grew wide; he had said that awfully loudly.

“Shut up,Dorkly.” She hissed under her breath. Daniel seemed amused at the nickname.

“Pretty bold for a girl with a boy’s name,” He retorted.

“Just get out of my way,”

“See you on Corey’s lap later,” He scoffed, bumping her shoulder roughly with his as he passed. Sam’s mouth fell open, and she turned to watch him walk away. Sure, she and Daniel had never had a good relationship, but today they were being extra catty to each other. He wasn’t doing it for Corey’s sake; there was no way Corey could’ve filled him in on her ending their “relationship” in the 5 minutes since.

Of all the things Sam had expected today, this wasn’t one of them.