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AMARA BARLOWE was a very simple teenage girl, she wasn't complacent, she never argued and she was incredibly easy to please. In saying that, every year for her birthday since she was eight all that was asked of her mother was books - it didn't matter what they were about, Amara just wanted books.
Mila Barlowe wasn't sure how to take it, her eldest daughter, Lyla was a wild card. She spent the nights partying with her best friends on the cheerleading squad and always got into some sort of trouble and yet despite the terrible influence - Amara had steered clear of trouble and wandered into her own little land of positivity and endless amounts of space for her fantasies of a peaceful world.
That very morning, on the day of Amara's sixteenth birthday, Mila and a tired Lyla gathered outside the bedroom door. The mother clutched a two tier cake decorated with colours and sprinkles whilst her daughter grasped a stack of wrapped gifts that the mother had to hurriedly wrap early that very morning.
"Ready," Mila broke out into a grin as they stepped into the birthday girls room immediately breaking out into song.
"Happy birthday to you," they sang together, the mother barely containing her excitement as Amara begin to stir slowly rising from the bed only to come face to face with her sister and hyper mother.
"Happy birthday, dear Amara." Mila sang loudly, "happy birthday to you!"
Amara couldn't hold back the grin that pulled at the muscles in her face, "make a wish." Jeered Mila settling on the edge of the Queen sized bed.
Amara's eyes fluttered to a close, she was very hesitant before finally leaning forward and blowing out the two candles that rest on the base of the rainbow cake.
"Remember if you tell us what you wished for, then it won't come true."
Then silence overcame the three blondes as they lingered, the quiet sniffle that followed the silence unsurprising in the slightest to the two teenage girls.
Mila Barlowe has always been the emotional type, although, much to Lyla's regrets - the girl now had to fork over a 20 to her younger sister.
A bet that the two had made little over a week ago, the suspense had been killing them.
"Don't cry, mum." Amara pouted setting the cake aside to embrace the woman who gifted her life in a warm hug, one that involved many many tears.
"My baby is 16, both my babies are so grown up." She cried.
"Mum," lyla quickly interjected. "No tears otherwise we'll be here forever and neither of us will make it to school in time."
Mila nodded wiping away the tears, "your right, I'm sorry. It's just, I feel so old now."
Amara couldn't suppress the snort that slipped out afterwards, Mila Barlowe had an unfortunate childhood and after a few mistakes chose a man who become the father of her children and abandon them immediately afterwards.
Mila was 16 when Lyla was bought into the world and 18 when she fell pregnant with Amara, she didn't regret either of her angels though.
Lyla placed the wrapped gifts onto her sisters lap and backed away, pleading with her eyes 'hurry up!'
For the most part, the sisters got along pretty well. The arguments were kept to a minimum and even when one were to occur they always made up with a hug or a little hair tug that they'd both come to regret later on.
Amara peeled back the wrapping paper to reveal the first series of books that her mother had gifted, The Hunger Games.
Amara was conflicted, the series had received a ton of attention online and now she would be able to judge for herself.
Lyla stepped forward placing another gift on her sisters lap, this one was different. It had an unfamiliar shape and they only knew one thing for certain - it definitely wasn't a book.
She wasn't sure what she was expecting as the wrapping paper fell from the gift, a purple polaroid camera stared her right in the face.
"You're going into sophomore year and i-i remember how angry I was when I didn't have memories recorded from my sophomore year-" Lyla Stuttered going red in the face.
Amara flung the duvet from her legs and wrapped her arms around her older sister feeling herself get a little teary eyed, "oh thank you."
The sound of a camera shutting quickly caught their attention, Mila Barlowe stood there shaking a little polaroid picture with an innocent grin on her face.
"Amara Barlowe's sixteenth birthday, that's a pretty good memory if you ask me."
Another couple of minutes passed before Lyla and Mila finally exited the teenage girls bedroom, she realised that she could finally breathe releasing a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.
Amara hurried around getting herself ready for school, she quickly slipped the purple polaroid camera into the front of her bag and rushed down the stairs just as the doorbell sounded.
It didn't take a genius to figure out who was going to be on the porch waiting, Amara quickly opened it coming face to face with her bestfriend.
"Are you ready for the best first day of sophomore year and the best sixteenth birthday ever?"
