Reflections of the Past | Ghost and Pals fanfic

1# Just one of these 365 days

TW! Mention of eating disorders

Sunlight peeked through the curtains of the window, waking Cakey from her slumber. She sat up and looked out of the window, realizing that the day had finally come: Her 18th birthday. After jumping out of her fluffy bed, she quickly put on the outfit she had chosen the night before and admired herself in the mirror to boost her confidence.

Filled with excitement, she ran to the kitchen and started making her favorite breakfast; crêpes. She used the old recipe from the cookbook that was passed down from generation to generation. When her French grandma had passed away, Cakey willingly took the book, since nobody else in the family wanted it.

Despite barely having a connection with France, she liked reconnecting with her roots by baking and cooking traditional French pastries and meals. But she never tells anyone about her partially French family, or else it would be embarrassing to admit that she didn't know a word in their language.

When Cakey finished setting the table, her mother entered, tired as always. Cakey smiled at her. The mother looked down at her plate, rubbed her eyes and grabbed one crêpes. "Thanks, Flower," she said as she rubbed Cakey's head, messing with her hair. "I'll take this to-go." Then she turned around and was gone without congratulating her own child for her birthday, even though that was all Cakey could've asked for. The bare minimum was all she needed. She hoped that her mother would remember soon and bring her an apology gift after work. That's at least what she had done in the past two years for forgetting. Deep down, all she wished for was some closure to her mother, although she knew it would be impossible.

She stared at the empty seat next to her and wanted to cry so bad, but, she knew that if she were about to start, she wouldn't be able to stop. So she smeared some chocolate spread on a crêpes and stuffed it into her mouth. Then another one. Then another one.

That was until the doorbell rang. Cakey immediately knew who it was and quickly cleaned her mouth up with a napkin, then ran to the door. When she opened it, her eyes lit up. "Slurpee! Hi!"

Slurpee was Cakey's aunt, actually, but because she was only six years older than her niece, they had made an agreement to call each other cousins anyway. "Cakey! Happy birthday!" She was holding a balloon in one hand, and a small, wrapped up box in the other.

"Thank you so much! C'mon, come in!" Cakey stepped aside to allow Slurpee into the apartment.

They both sat down at the small, round kitchen table. "Oh wow, Cakey! I know I say this a lot but you're such a great cook!" Slurpee said, taking a crêpes and biting into it. "Thish ish sho good!"

"Thanks!" It bothered Cakey that Slurpee was speaking with her mouth full, but she didn't have the guts to tell her.

After Slurpee swallowed, she placed the small box in front of Cakey. "I think you might like this," she spoke, smiling.

Cakey raised an eyebrow and unwrapped the present. Still an ordinary wooden box. "Thanks! That's a very nice box!"

Slurpee blinked in confusion, trying to figure out whether Cakey was just playing dumb or if she was, in fact, being dumb. "There's something inside, y'know."

"Oh!" She didn't hesitate to open that box. When she found something shiny inside, she grabbed it and pulled it out. Keys. Question marks popped up above her head.

All Slurpee did was smirk.

"What's that?" Cakey asked, examining the keys. Their teeth looked a bit rusty, must be old.

"Those are keys, silly!"

She still didn't get it. "For what?"

"For a door," Slurpee laughed. "Gosh, I feel sorry for you, you have to deal with a cousin like me. Anyways, do you remember grandma's old bakery?"