The Loud House: Valentine Baby

Why I Hate my Birthday

When I woke up this morning and checked my phone, I knew I was about to be taunted yet again. It was Valentine's Day, and that meant it was also my birthday today. You have no idea how horrible it is when your birthday is on Valentine's Day.

I already have to deal with the majority of my sisters mocking me and calling me "Valentine Baby" every year. The only ones who don't mock me are Leni, Lincoln, and Lucy. They just feel sorry for me and understand what I have to go through.

The problem is that Lincoln and Lucy no longer live with us. They both moved to the west coast over the summer due to their mental health. They moved with my mom's longtime friend's cousin. I feel like I was a contributing factor to that, and I hope that they're both doing ok.

I supported their decision, but Lori, Luan, Lola, and Lisa weren't having it. I wasn't having it myself at first, but I slowly started to understand why they moved out.

I'm now a freshman at Royal Woods High School. It's my 15th birthday today. The thing is that no one has known my birthday is on Valentine's Day, except my family. Margo, Maddie, and Paula also know about it, but they won't tell anyone else about it because they know I feel very uncomfortable with it. At school, I've always passed my birthday off as being on the 13th, and it's always worked.

After I showered, I went back to my room and changed into my cheer uniform because today we had the Valentine's Day cheer competition against Berkley, Ferndale, and Fitzgerald. Yes, I'm now a cheerleader too. After my experience going against the middle school cheerleaders last year, I definitely found cheerleading as a sport in my book.

I think my cheer uniform is cute. The long-sleeved top makes it even more comfortable, and yes, it has a skirt. I'm ok with skirts now, but I still prefer shorts and jeans. My uniform also comes with red knee-high socks to go with it.

I'm no longer rough with anyone. I've gone back to being the soft-hearted, tender, and sensitive person I was before middle school. Overall, high school has been a much healthier environment so far than middle school.

Being a cheerleader has helped me become a better person. The cheer team has taught me that winning isn't everything, how to be a good sport, not a sore loser, and just a nice person in general.

I also began going to therapy myself with Clyde's therapist, Dr. Lopez. She's a very nice person to talk to. I've talked with her about my past trauma from 6th grade, and also other things that happen at home. I of course have talked with her about why I hate my birthday. She understands my problems and what I go through. I'm feeling better now, but I still have to deal with my birthday.

I've also started meditating every night before I go to bed. It helps me feel relaxed. Another important thing I've done is that I stopped doing my luck rituals. Right now, I feel much better and I want to continue healing from my 6th-grade bullying trauma.

I put on my white cheer shoes, got my backpack and I was ready to go. As soon as I walked out of my room, all my sisters were standing there. "Awww, happy birthday Valentine Baby," they laughed.

I already felt sick to my belly. We all walked downstairs to the kitchen table and mom and dad were already there.

"Morning sweetie," mom said. "Happy Valentine's Day and happy birthday!" I already knew where this was going.

"We got you a heart-shaped cake for tonight as always," dad said. I was grossed out.

"Can't I just have a sport-themed cake for once? I've told you this many times before for years," I said.

"I know you want a sport-themed cake sweetie, but your birthday being on Valentine's Day is very special and you should follow the theme every year," mom said. "We'll be getting the heart-shaped pizzas later tonight too."

I just felt sick. It made me look like I love things with hearts, and that is not the case. Everyone else laughed. I just put my head down on the table.

Mom and dad then got a FaceTime call from Lori.

"Look who's calling to tell you happy birthday, Lynn," mom said. She pointed the camera toward me.

"Happy birthday Valentine Baby!" Lori laughed. I felt like throwing up.

After breakfast, we all got in vanzilla to go to school. While we were on our way, I went on my Twitter account and tweeted: Please let this day be over. I then went on my Instagram account and posted a picture with a black broken heart. I wrote a caption that said this: Why does this horrible holiday even exist?

After I posted this, I put my phone back in my backpack and just ignored everyone for the rest of the ride to school.

Lana, Lola, Lisa, and Lily were dropped off first.

"See you later, Valentina," Lola laughed as she got off.

I couldn't believe she used my middle name. Yes, my real middle name stems from my birthday being on Valentine's Day. I've used an L as my middle initial, but I've been doing that to hide my middle name.

The rest of us were dropped off at the high school about 10 minutes later.

"Your dad and I will be on our date and then we'll have the party at the restaurant," mom said before she left. "Happy birthday, Valentina!"

Once again, I could not believe my middle name was used. This happens every year.

At this point, it was just me, Luna, and Luan. Luna is now a senior and Luan is a junior. Leni graduated last year and she's now in New York for fashion school. She's on her way to becoming a fashion designer, and with Lincoln and Lucy no longer living with us, our family is getting smaller.

"We won't say anything about your birthday since we're walking in now," said Luna.

"We just can't let others know about it but us," Luan added. All I could do was pray, as everyone believes my birthday was yesterday.

This was my first time having to go through this without Lincoln and Lucy here to help me get through it. I know they will not talk about it with any of their new friends.

As soon as I walked in, the school was decorated with hearts everywhere, and posters were put up too. There were already many couples together giving each other cards, candy, chocolates, and even kissing. I just decided to put my head down as I walked to class. As I was walking, other students were talking about me.

"Aww, I feel bad for Lynn," some guy said. "Yeah, she's lonely," his girlfriend giggled. I just ignored it and went to class.