Little Bitch

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

It was almost easy to act like everything was alright, when I was at school, holding my girlfriend's hand, surrounded by my friends, with no one related to Kendall or my brother hanging around.

It was going to be Lexi's birthday very soon. As far as I knew, her friends didn't have anything specific planned for her.

As much as I understood that I still had a lot of stuff to process, I could work on it during my next session with Doctor Boseman. For now, I just wanted to ignore all of it, and just act like a normal teenager without a truck full of trauma.

I just wanted to be Lexi's boyfriend for a little while. Without the issues.

"It's your birthday this weekend. We need to have a huge party," I told my girlfriend, my fingers interlocked with hers.

We were walking to our next class together.

Lexi snorted, shaking her head instantly. "We do not."

"We do. To celebrate you," I pressed, being all giddy.

"We absolutely do not need to celebrate me," she replied a little pouty. Something was definitely bothering her, and in turn bothering me.

"Shouldn't Daphnee and Alex have something planned at least," I asked, genuinely curious.

Even before when we weren't exactly friends, I never remembered hearing about a party for her birthday. Was this a common occurrence?

Were her friends neglecting her again? Or was I just overreacting?

"It's just..." Lexi started to say, like she was struggling to find the right words, not looking in my eyes. "My birthday used to be more of a... me and my Mom thing, you know? And this is the first year when..."

"It's not," I finished for her softly.

I hadn't ben thinking about that. I should have. I hadn't been close enough to Lexi before to know what she did for her birthday. This made sense.

And broke my heart a little bit at the same time.

I hugged her to my side and kissed her temple before she could say anything else. "So, no party?"

"No party please," she replied in a small voice.

"And you have no other plans? Nothing with your family or your friends?" I asked, stopping in a corner, so other people could pass us. We weren't in a hurry. Class wasn't starting for another fifteen minutes.

"I've sort of been dodging any attempts at plans, if I'm being a little honest. If I ignore it enough, maybe I can skip my birthday this year," she said in a sheepish voice.

"You're turning eighteen, we are not skipping your birthday. You'll officially be an adult."

Lexi snorted, not looking happy about that prospect. "One more reason not to celebrate. I never really wanted to be an adult, you know. Annabelle always used to say I had the Peter Pan syndrome. I always wanted to stay a kid. Life is much easier when you're a child. I hate having to make all these decisions. I hate having to pick a university and a degree and a career, and thinking about moving out and doing adult things like taxes."

I looked at my girlfriend, tilting my head a bit, her hand still in mine. I knew she hated change. I thought she liked birthdays though. "So, you're not excited for your birthday?"

She shook her head, looking at our hands. "Not really."

"Can I try to change that?" I asked, moving my head a bit so she would look in my eyes, and smiled at her.