𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐘 ﹙peter maximoff﹚

𝒊. birthday blues.

CHAPTER ONE ;
birthday blues.
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JULY, 1962

IT WAS THE 13th of July, 1962, and it just so happened to be a Friday. That day is said to be unlucky, and maybe it is for some. But it was also Layla's 7th birthday, and her day was going just great. She had a hot chocolate for breakfast, found a dollar bill at the end of her dresser, and even managed to persuade her mom to tie her hair into two French plaits, she had also tied some pink ribbons to the ends in a bow.

Her friends had come over at noon, and they ate their sandwiches on her grandmothers floral plates with plastic tiaras on their head, acting as princesses. After that, her mother brought out a chocolate cake, and it was absolutely gorgeous. It had strawberries on the top, and when you ate a slice, it tasted like heaven.

After lunch, they went up to Layla's room to play family with their dolls. Their ribs were sore from giggling so much, and the bows were no longer in her hair, but instead wrapped around her dolls hand as a skipping rope. Her friend Lily had come up with the genius suggestion, and in Layla's opinion, It was the smartest thing she had ever heard.

They were playing for around an hour when Layla's mother came up to tell them they were going to the park, and the day got even better. They quickly packed their toys away in the dollhouse, making sure to tuck each one into bed, and Layla re-tied her bows at the end of each plait, with a bit of help from her friend Darcy.

The girls rushed downstairs and grabbed their sunhat's from the hat stand by the door. Their Mothers were waiting by the door, and her father walked over to her, pressing a five dollar bill into her hand.
"Get yourself and your friends an ice cream, my special treat.", he had said, and Layla kept a firm grip on that money, so she didn't drop in along the way.

Her and her friends rushed along to the park, only stopping when it got to a busy road. The hot, July sun would have burned them, had it not been for the hats, and Layla thanked the Lord she didn't forget it.
"Layla, sweetie, don't run off to fast, you may trip!" Her mother called after her and her friends raced along.

She spotted the ice cream stand at the entrance to the park, and next to it was a few boys, two or three years older than her, arguing with Mr Fein, the ice cream man. They seemed angry, and Mr Fein was simply annoyed, though it seemed he had won whatever argument they were having as one of the boys kicked the sign and stormed off, his friends following.

Darcy, one of the more confident girls in the group, grabbed her arm and walked up to the stall.
"Hello Mr Fein!!" She said sweetly, smiling up at him, before he looked back at Layla and asked what she wanted.

"Strawberry ice cream, please."
The small girl pulled out her five dollar bill, and put it in the mans hand. He smiled down at her and took the money, before turning to make the ice cream.

She stood patiently waiting, and twisted her braid around her finger. Mr Fein passed her the ice cream and wished her a happy birthday, before handing her the change. Her and Darcy turned and walked back to their friends, talking about their game earlier. When they got back, their mothers were sat on a bench, gossiping loudly about how supposedly, Sandra was having an affair with the local high schools gym coach.

Their friends were stood by the swings, however, before they were able to walk over they were stopped. It was the boy's from earlier. Layla turned around, about to walk away to her mother, however a hand gripped her arm, preventing her from leaving. The girl frowned, turning back around and trying to move the hand from her arm. She looked up at him confused, still trying to free her arm while making sure not to drop her change or ice cream. "Where are you off too?" one of the boys asked.