The Mute

13 | thirteen

Melionë Brewer

I groggily rolled over, picking up my phone, wondering why my alarm hadn't gone off. Remembering it was my birthday, my mom probably turned it off. I sat up and walked over to the jewelry organizer that was in my closet. I found a bracelet that I assumed would cover the name on my arm because I wasn't ready to see it yet.

I squeezed my eyes shut and slipped the bracelet on. I peeked one eye open, so I could check if it was covered and it was! When I heard voices heading towards my room, I jumped back into bed and pretended I was sleeping, like always.

My mom and Dimitri came in and my mom yelled, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETHEART!" Startling both me and Dimitri even though we both knew it was coming. I sat up quickly, rubbing my eyes and yawning. My mom smiled cheekily at me and placed a breakfast in bed food tray on my lap.

On the food tray, there was a plate of french toast, my favourite main course for breakfast. Next to it was instead of an assortment of fresh fruit, there were only slices of my favourite fruit, mangoes! Mangoes taste like heaven in your mouth. There was another, smaller plate with some scrambled eggs and four pieces of bacon next to it, causing my mouth to drool. BACON IS THE BEST. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT YOU ARE WEIRD OR YOU'RE VEGAN (and props for you if you are vegan, I could never).

"Happy birthday, Kiddo," Dimitri smiled.

"Thank you," I signed.

"How is it she yells every time and we both still get scared?" He asked.

I shrugged.

My mom rolled her eyes as Dimitri let out a chuckle. "Shut up you two! You-" She pointed at Dimitri. "Out please."

"What- Why?" Dimitri pouted.

"Because I'm going to help Mel pick out her outfit," My mom explained. I knew she already picked out what she wanted me to wear, and I didn't care because my mom picked out nice outfits.

"Why can't I help? I think I have a very good fashion sense," Dimitri nodded.

"Well, you're always judgemental," My mom crossed her arms.

"Can you believe this?" Dimitri mouthed to me.

I smiled.

"Fine, I'll go and pick up Isaiah from school and grab the cake," Dimitri sighed.

"Thank you!" My mom kissed Dimitri on the cheek. He gave me a high five and wished me happy birthday one more time before he left.

"Okay, now what do you want to wear?" My mom asked.

I shoved a piece of french toast into my mouth and shrugged.

"Really?" My mom arched her eyebrow. "It's your birthday! You don't want to dress nicely? Or even just look nice for your.... Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Significant other?"

"Mom, I don't know who my soulmate is yet," I signed.

"Ou! Let's look together!" My mom squealed, clapping her hands together.

"I want to find out later when everyone is here," I signed.

"Aww that's cute," My mom cooed, heading towards my closet. She scrambled around in there looking for the outfit she wanted me to wear, while I finished up my breakfast. When she finally found the clothes she was looking for she left me to put them on and said she had a surprise for me once I was done getting ready.

She picked out a short, black, spaghetti strap dress. It's short and tight and normally I wouldn't wear things like this because I'm very self-conscious, but I'm feeling confident today. Plus my mom would be happy that I'm wearing the outfit she chose. You're probably wondering why it's in my closet if I normally don't wear things like that and it's because my aunt likes to give me clothes to, in her words, "Be the sexy queen I am." I know. Very embarrassing. But I take the clothes anyway because one, they're nice. And two, I don't want to make her feel bad. After I got the dress on, I headed downstairs to find my mom and heard the sound of running water and dishes clattering.