𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍

twenty six

『 twenty-six 』

MANY THINGS HAPPENED THAT NEXT WEEK. 

The start of December; is always a thriller for your local shopping malls. One of the many perks of having a December birthday was the deal with presents. We all knew the problem. You grew out of that field of complaining the more years you experienced it. But it was still annoying. 

All things considered, though, Natalie had more pressing matters at hand to worry about. 

Natalie moved back into her own house, much to Kate's unspoken pleasure. She and Hawk had just come to a mutual agreement to eat in their rooms for the remainder of the unknown. 

She still didn't know what was going on with Kate. This had never happened before. Kate had never been so distant. Natalie did her best not to let it affect her day-to-day life. But Kate's missing good morning messages were glaringly obvious. As was her absence during car rides to school in the morning. And long gossip session over the phone at one a.m. 

Natalie's wrist jail was finally undone! Her left hand was now fully mobile and ready to function for the world. It was a massive relief to be able to write properly with her dominant hand for the first time in five months. 

And this tiny, insignificant thing in Natalie's life. Her eighteenth birthday. 

Natalie insisted on not making such a big deal over it. Robby wouldn't be able to make it. She doubted Kate would want to make it. Aisha was long gone. She had never been a big stickler for excessive parties anyway, especially when it came to her birthdays. But Leila would not have that. 

"It's my baby's big day! And everything needs to be perfect!" She screeched, running up and down the halls of their house. "Where are the box cutters?"

"Mom!" Natalie shouted from her bed, trying to finish her weekend homework. 

"I can't mess this up for you, baby!" Leila shouted down the hall. 

Something fell from a table. One door slammed shut. The music coming from Hawk's room grew louder as he tried to drown the chaos out. 

"Let her have her fun," Jackson told Natalie through her closed door. 

Natalie hit her head with her notebook several times. This was migraine worthy. She responded to a text from Xandra and threw her head back against the pillows. No way she was getting any more work done in this environment. 

"Jackson! Where are the box cutters? And I need your sister's number! And your mom!"

Natalie got a text from Hawk. She thought she had blocked him. 

wanna get out of here ??

piss off

+ + +

The Moskowitz family wasn't big on family reunions. The majority of them weren't. But Hawk's aunt liked to get together. She would get together a big, lavish dinner party with some form of hired entertainment, and for six hours the two families would pretend to enjoy each other's presence. It wasn't so bad when they were kids. Jackson came from a large family. Their family reunions were generally the same as their daily dinner. As a kid, he would just blend into the background at the end of the table and read his comics. His sister liked to continue that tradition. 

But since Jackson's other siblings were dead or out of the country, and there weren't very many of the extended left, only he and his family were able to join in the festivities once a year. This year, as with last year, Jackson's family included Leila and Natalie.