Chapter 22

When I woke up this morning, my phone was filled with notifications from my friends, including Reed and Blaire. Lexi was the first one to greet me. She surprised me by going through my window with her gift for me. Kayla wanted to give me my present herself; same with Lucy. I told them that we’ll be hanging out tomorrow since today was Christmas and I always celebrate my birthday with my family and Lexi’s.

Lucy sent dozens of videos, pictures of herself, and voice messages. Singing happy birthday, telling me to have fun today and to enjoy, and that she can’t wait to see me. Such a clingy person she was.

I asked my best friend to help me clear up the driveway, she said yes but not before we clean up their driveway first. I said yes, and it took us an hour to clear their driveway. 15 minutes have gone by and Lexi looked like she was gonna pass out.

“Keep shoveling the driveway!” I called out.

“Ambs, I’m tired. Let me rest, please?” Lexi whined, dropping the shovel to a patch of snow.

“Come on, Lex. I helped you clean your driveway. Now, let’s finish cleaning my driveway,” I let out a breath, fixing my beanie.

“But I’m exhausted!” She laid down on the pathway.

“It’s my birthday today,” I reminded her again.

There’s a long pause before she muttered something under breath. She got up, dusted her pants which was covered in snow. “That’s unfair,”

I grinned. “Love you so much, Lexi!”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”

“And I’m already 18 meaning I’m the oldest, so better respect and follow me, young lady,” I said.

“Who are you, my mother?”

“No, I am your father.” I mimicked Darth Vader’s voice.

“Why do you always use movie references?” She scooped some snow and shaped it into a ball and threw it in my direction.

“Cause I love movies?” I dropped my shovel and made a snowball. I aimed it at her face and threw it. It did hit her on her face.

“Amber!” She screamed.

“I thought I was gonna miss. Sorry!” I laughed.

“No, you’re not!”

“You’re right. Can’t help it, Lex! All I can see is your face turning into a target board. You should see how red your nose is,” I grinned, making another ball.

“You should see how red your face is. It matches our doormat! Makes me wanna step all over your face!” Her nose flared as she starts forming a bigger ball.

“Are you gonna throw that at me?” I pointed at the basketball-sized snowball that she was carrying.

“Right to your face, yep!”

I rubbed my hands together. “She’s gonna miss this one,” I whispered to myself. “I’m ready!”

She positioned herself to get a better throw. She swung her hands over her head and with all the strength she could muster, the ball flew in the air and for a second, I thought that she really was going to miss. Me being so slow, I forgot that Lexi was good at throwing stuff, the ball landed on my face, knocking me down to the ground.

A cackle echoed throughout the neighborhood. I’m sure some people looked through their window out of curiosity. My body shivered as I felt colder, wiping the snow off my face with a grunt.

“You okay there, bud?”

“Oh yeah. Totally fine,” I said sarcastically, standing up.

“Amb-” She was cut short by her laughter again. Probably because she saw how red my face was. I’m a pale person and I get red easily.

Lexi sprawled on the clear path. A mountain of snow was on both of her sides. I cracked a smile as an idea popped into my head. I walked slowly toward her, hands behind my back. I watched her tear up as I listened to her witchy laugh sound.

She looked up to me, still tearing up. I smiled at her sweetly and dumped all the snow on her. Her sound was muffled by the pile of snow over her. She was screaming my name and was asking for help. It was now my turn to laugh.

“See you inside, Lexi!”

As always, we invited the Keeves for dinner. After I buried Lexi alive outside, moments later, she managed to free herself. Her parents arrived around 5 pm. They brought wine and blueberry cheesecake for our dessert. We all hated fruit cake and always went for blueberry cheesecake. One of our neighbors gave us a fruit cake once and 6 of us were forced to eat. We felt bad if we just gave it to somebody else or worse- put it right in the trash. Which we would never do.

Dad sparked the lighter and lit the candles. Everyone started to sing happy birthday to me, clapping along with the song. The awkward moment when it comes to celebrating a birthday is when they start singing happy birthday to the celebrant, and the celebrant just awkwardly stands there and waits for the song to finish.

That’s what I’m doing right now.

“Make a wish, darling,” My dad motioned to the candles.

Everyone was waiting for me to make a wish. I closed my eyes and wished for something that will make this birthday memorable.

“Today, Amber turns 18 and can finally drink alcohol,” My dad announced, pouring wine into my cup.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to drink, dad,”

“Just try it. You might be surprised,”

I smelled the wine and once it reached my nose, I gagged a bit. I took a small sip and it burned my throat. I pulled it away from me, frowning. “Yep. Not for me.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Lexi snatched it from my hand and chugged it all down.

We all stared at her as she poured more wine into her glass. She took a big gulp, letting out a satisfied sigh after. “Carry on. Just a girl enjoying the Christmas spirit,”

We all laughed. Her parents let her drink since she was 15 and as she grows, she started to drink more and more. I never liked alcohol. I tried tasting some but never did like any of them. Coffee will do.

“Honey, you can drink as much as you like, but only at home or here, okay?” James said.

We both made eye contact, remembering all the parties we’ve been to. “I know, dad,” Lexi muttered.

“Poor Lex. Still not allowed to go to parties,” I smirked, bringing the hot chocolate to my lips.

“Ha. Wait till I turn 18,”

“Now that Amber is 18, I wonder when will she find a boyfriend,” My mom wondered.

I choked on my drink. The hot liquid dripped to my chin and to my chest, staining my shirt. I used to wonder that too, mom.

“Amber, be careful!” Mom took a towel and wiped my chin.

“I forgot that it’s hot,” I lied. Lexi snickered beside me. I stepped on her foot, causing her to wince.

“Are you okay, Lexi?” Her mom asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s the hot chocolate. It dripped on my arm,”

“Anyway, you haven’t answered Anna’s question,” Kristen looked to me with a smile.

I cleared my throat, thinking of an answer. “Uh… I wonder too,” I chuckled awkwardly.

“What about that boy you went out with?” My mom asked.

“Oh him. Him. He’s uh… He’s… Hey Lex, how are you and Kayla?” I diverted the topic.

“Don’t change the topic. Answer their questions,” An evil smile appeared on her face. I wanted to rip it off.

“Enough about me today, I wanna hear your story,”

“Oh n,o no, no, no. It’s your birthday. It is all about you,“

All eyes were locked on me and it did make me uncomfortable. This was a situation that I wanted to avoid, but can’t.

“What his name again?” My mom said.

“Reed?”

“Yes, him! Reed. What about him?”

“He… He doesn’t like me,” I let out a chuckle.

“But you two went out on a date, right?” Lexi cut in.

“It’s not like a date date,” I lied.

“But he gave you flowers. That means he likes you,”

I sent a glare to my annoying best friend. “Giving flowers to people doesn’t mean you like them. What if giving flowers is a friendly gesture to him?”

“I’m sure that’s a romantic gesture.”

I slapped Lexi on the cheek, making her hiss in pain. I pity our parents for watching us with a confused look on their faces.

“Sorry, there was a mosquito on your cheek,”

“Was there?” She asked sarcastically.

“Yeah. Had to kill it before it bites any more of us,” I plastered a fake smile.

“Okay, it’s time to open up the gifts!” My dad suddenly spoke. I mouthed a thank you to him and he nodded his head with a smile.

After we cleaned everything up in the dining table, we proceeded to the living room, giving each other’s presents. I got 2 presents from my parents. For some, sharing their birthday with Christmas might be a little sad. Instead of getting one gift for your birthday and one for Christmas, you’ll get to have one for both. But when it comes to my parents, they’ve always given me 2 gifts.

I received a mug and a pair of Converse shoes from my parent. I love collecting mugs. I started collecting them when I fell in love with coffee. Every time I see a beautiful mug, I had to buy it. Lexi got me a pair of Christmas socks- cause I also collect socks. Her parents gave me this cute sketchbook to draw stuff on when I am stressed out. They know me so well.

There was never a sad birthday that I’ve had. I enjoyed every single one, even if we do the same thing over and over again. I’m always grateful for what I have. That’s one of the keys to be happy in life. You will never gonna be happy in life if you won’t be grateful for what you have now.

Once we were all done opening our gifts, we said our goodnights. I gave Lexi a hug and patted her red cheeks. She replied with a grunt and stomped all the way out. My parents and I cleaned up the wrappers and fixed the pillows in the sofas.

As I got into my room, I changed into my PJs and got ready to sleep. But as soon as I closed my eyes, my phone pinged and I unlocked it.