Her Bucket List [completed]

❥8

Bucket list #21 - I want to hug a panda.

  **If anything is in italics it's either met to be stressed or emphasized or it's a flashback or memory**

unedited

        Alex's family invited me over to their house to celebrate her birthday. Yes, today was her birthday. You're probably wondering: How long has it been since the Jennifer incident? Have you visited Alex's grave?

        It's been about a month or so since the Jennifer incident. I didn't bother calling her, but she would call every now and then, but I would just ignore it and let the phone ring until she finally gave up. I didn't want to speak to her. After what she did to Alex, I couldn't bring myself to it.

        I know it was in the past, but I just can't seem to bring myself to calling her.

        On the other hand, no, I have not visited Alex's grave. Call me selfish, but I just can't. She's in my head everyday, and I really don't need to see a headstone with her name engraved onto it. 

        I thought that we would grow old together, and we would have a small house on the beach, with a front porch. We would sit on the porch with our rocking chairs and feed each other gummy bears. 

        Then, when we eventually grew old and passed on, we would be buried next to each other.

        I just didn't expect Alex to be buried so soon.

----

"Ethan!" Alex's mom said, hugging me. She smiled bright, but there was a hint of sadness that I noticed in her smile. 

        I probably just reminded her too much of Alex. I was her boyfriend after all.

        It's just the fact that I wanted to be more than just her boyfriend. Her husband? Her husband that fathered her 3 children. 

        "It's nice to see you." 

        "Come! We have plenty of food." She said, ushering me into the kitchen where the buffet of food awaited me.

        "It's mostly from Panda Express. I know, fake Chinese food, but they have a great chow mein! Well, at least that's what I think. My husband says otherwise. He should be here soon, he went to pick up something at the store."

        "Thank you, really." 

        "No problem, dear. If you ever need to talk, I'm here. It's been hard on all of us."

        I just nodded, staring at the food. She walked away from me to the other guests. I grabbed a plate and some utensils and walked over to the various plates of food.

        Once I had gathered all of my food, including honey glazed shrimp which was my favorite, I proceeded to find a table. 

        Something hit me, though.

        I saw a table with a cake. It was decorated in pink and black, with a cake that said, "Happy Birthday Alex!" 

        My heart felt like it was just chopped in half.

----

{flashback in Ethans POV}

        "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Alex! Happy birthday to you!" Her family sang happily. Alex smiled, but I could tell it was fake.

        Something was wrong.

        I walked up next to her as she cut the cake.