Unfolding

Chapter 26

Shenanigans

"If there's even a slight change of getting something that will make you happy, risk it. Life's too short and happiness is too rare." – A.R Lucas

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As I pulled into the school's parking lot, I looked around for any sign of Brooke and Caroline. They weren't anywhere in sight, so I allowed myself to breath.

Clearly, the universe was not on my side today.

Today was February 5th.

My birthday.

Now typically, teenagers can't wait to turn eighteen. I, however, dreaded this day. Not because I was turning eighteen, but because I always disliked my birthday in general. I disliked the unnecessary attention it brought, but most importantly I disliked it because every year a part of me would wait for a phone call from the one person I knew wasn't going to call.

It doesn't help that the older you get, the less excitement there. When we are kids, birthdays are awesome because it means we get to play with our friends, eat cake, and maybe even hit a Piñata. However, when we get older, birthdays are all of a sudden filled with the social pressures of who threw the best birthday party and who wore the hottest outfit.

Call it a case of birthday blues.

If I didn't have a Calculus quiz today, I would have let myself sit home and eat ice cream while watching Friends. There's nothing Chandler Bing's dark humor can't fix.

As I walked up to my locker, I could see Caroline and Brooke standing there waiting for me. The moment they spotted me, Caroline ran towards me. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She attracted the attention of everyone in that hallway with her scream, but I could never be mad at her. As she dragged me to my locker, Brooke also wished me a happy birthday and gave me a hug.

"It's your birthday today?" Lucas sauntered over to us. "How come Facebook didn't notify me." He then proceeded to take his phone out and actually check to see if Facebook had informed him.

"We're not friends on Facebook Lucas." I rolled my eyes.

"That's going to change now." He stated. As soon as he was done with his phone, a huge grin spread across his face. "Happy Birthday honey bear!" Lucas wrapped his arms around me in a bone crushing hug.

"Thanks, Lucas." I awkwardly patted his arms as I looked around. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing even remotely sexual about our hug, however, given that he was more or less Caroline's boyfriend I felt a little weird.

Caroline was totally unbothered by Lucas's actions and rolled her eyes at him. "Let go of her you goof! She's fragile."

Straightening myself out, I pulled out the books I needed for this morning and slammed my locker shut. As the four of us walked towards Ms. Nguyen's class, Lucas asked, "So what are we doing for your birthday today?"

"Watching Netflix?" I have him a hopeful smile which was quickly crushed when he started laughing at me - an actually wholehearted laugh.

"Natalie, Natalie, Natalie." He chastised pulling me into him and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Have you learned nothing

As we all settled into our regular assigned seats, Ms. Nguyen began droning on about the important themes of Othello.

Reputation and honor.

Love and deceit.

Jealousy and justice.

Blah, blah, blah.