She's So Gone

~ Chapter 7 ~

Past

Rilynn, Greg, Brian and I are all hanging out at the mall today. Rat was going to come but he got the stomach flu, and had to stay home.  Currently Greg and Brian are doing impressions of vampires, with their fry's dipped in ketchup. I was talking to Rilynn about our history project when Brain finally eats his "fangs" and then stands up as if to make an announcement to us.

"We should do something," he says like an Epiphone had just hit.

Rilynn furrows her eyebrows, "we are doing something."

He shakes his head, "no I mean something fun like let's go to the old race track."

"The older kids there would never let us hangout there, they all look at us like little kids still." Greg tells him, now eating his fries too.

"Maybe, but we could try at least. Plus with Dani's birthday Tuesday it'll be like am early celebration." He says now sitting back down, but still looking at us with the excitement and hope that we'll say yes.

"How'd you know it's my birthday Tuesday?" I hadn't told anyone, birthdays aren't really my thing. I've never celebrated one before.

He shrugs, "I have my sources."

"Rilynn told him," Greg dead pans.

"Hey, snitch," she says and then when I look at her, still confused on how she knew she sighs. "I looked it up while volunteering in the office a couple weeks ago. How come you didn't mention it to anyone though?"

Now all three are looking at me and I shrug, "birthdays aren't a big deal, its just the day your born, isn't that more of your mother's accomplishment then yours?" My mother had always told me that my birthday was a day to Celebrate her, and what she had done.

The look of horror on Rilynns face is almost comically, "it is too important, you survived a whole other year, that is quite an accomplishment if you ask me." She then claps her hands down on the table and stands up, "okay, that's it, we are doing something for your birthday."

"Yes!" Brian says but is then interrupted by Greg.

"Not the race track," he says simply as he takes a drink of his soda.

"Darn," Brian pouts.

I laugh, "guys, I'm fine really." I don't really know how comfortable I feel having so much attention on me.

Rilynn frowns, "come on, the last day of school is thursday, we could do something then to Celibate, it'll be fun, please say yes." She then in puts her hands together in a pleading motion and sticks her bottom lip out.

"Geez, you act like it's your birthday we're discussing," Brian says laughing, right before throwing fries at Greg.

I sigh, "okay fine."

Present

After thanking Leo, he had walked me to the front steps, in I walk inside the children's home to be greeted by April. "Your home!" She shouts as she runs up to me, arms wide wanting a hug.

I laugh, bending down to give her the big she was wanting. "I am, and how was your visit yesterday?"

She smiles, "it was good, mom and my new Uncle played monopoly with me I'm the game room. I won, because I'm super good at monopoly. I can't wait till they come to visit again." She takes my hand and leads me into the sitting area. There's a tv, and a few book shelf's full of books. This is mostly where the older girls hangout out, there aren't as many of us as the you get kids, and this room is much smaller then the play room.  She crawls onto the couch and I sit down too. "Can we watch a movie?"