A Year in my Head

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: Chase's Birthday Hunt

It was a new week. And with a new week comes a new game.

   Fortunately, there were no uniforms. But there will be one of these days.

I woke up and saw all the other girls still asleep, which wasn't surprising. I'm usually the first to wake up. I get out of bed and head to the bathroom. I wasn't going to fully get dressed or put on makeup, but I needed to brush my teeth and hair.

I got to the mess hall and saw no one in here, strange. I walked into the kitchen and saw Max. "Morning," I said, walking over to the teapot. "Good morning Ace!" I looked at him and smiled at the enthusiasm.

"Got any plans for tomorrow?" Max asked. "Hmm, let me check my calendar. Oh wait I forgot, I'm stuck in the middle of the woods for the rest of the year." He nodded, "Great. You're taking Chase to the library." "Oh I am?" "Yes, while we decorate for his party." I spun to look at him, "Party? As in birthday party?" Max once again nodded. "Why didn't he tell me anything about a birthday?" "He's weird about it," he shrugged. "Oh... but you know he'll be okay with the party?" "Yeah, we throw him one every year. And this one will no be an acceptation." "Then i'm in."

   He walked into the other room and returned about a minute later. He had a piece of paper and a pen. "Here," he handed them to me, "write what you want to get him as a present and then your name next to it." I took the things but hesitated, "Wait, how are you going to get them? We can't really leave." "Oh, I was just going to leave it on the table when we all went to bed. Hopefully the people who run this place will be kind enough to get them for us. They had to have spent a lot on those tunnels," Max shrugged. I shrugged too, and wrote down what I wanted to get him. A box of dvds for every season of the Clone Wars, and an Avengers Infinity War poster. I have the Endgame one back home.

   I handed the paper and pen back to Max. He read it and smiled, "Thank you! And tomorrow, act like you don't know it's his birthday at all when you're at the library." "You got it."

   The rest of the day we all chilled. Max secretly got everyone's presents written down and talked about the party plans. I was pretty excited.

   It was the next day. Chase's birthday. I was afraid we would get uniforms, but when I opened the door I sighed of relief to find nothing.

   Again, none of the girls were awake when I woke up. I walked into the mess hall and found no one. I expected to meet Max in the kitchen, but instead it was Chase.

   When I walked in, Chase seemed sad. But he immediately smiled when he looked up and saw me. I smiled right back, wanting to say happy birthday or something. But I didn't want to ruin anything. "Morning Ace!" "Morning Chase, I finished my book last night," I did stay up pretty late last night finishing it, "Do you mind if we go to the library today? Maybe after we all eat breakfast?" "Oh, yeah cool." I sent him a grin. "Coffee?" He asked. "Oh, yeah," I had a lot of my book left, I was tired. Coffee is stronger than tea. I think.

   We all ate breakfast. Lizzie made blueberry pancakes, Chase's favorite. Max and I offered to take all the plates and throw them away. When we got into the kitchen he whispered, "Don't come back until around three o'clock, okay?" I looked up at the clock. Three hours. "Coolio," this might be hard.

   While Chase and I were walking to the library he spoke, "Ace?" "Hmm?" "Why do you have a cd player?" "Well I need something to play the cds on." He gave me a look, trying not to smile. "Okay, I just thought we could add some music to our silent library." "Our silent library?" He echoed. "Well, I mean I don't see anyone else here."