artwork // s.w

15

|albany|

"What are you guys doing here?" Sammy was beyond angry at this point.
He had more fire in his eyes then when he looked at Mike, that's how I knew this was going to get bad.
"Well this is our house and we do pay for it." Sam's dad said in an obvious-like tone.
"You haven't been here in three months, leave." Sam spat, taking a step forward.
"We could easily stop paying for this house Samuel and then-"
"No, no, Dave. Obviously Sam wants to spend his birthday with some slut he brought home from prom to have sex with rather than spend it with someone that loves him." Sam's mother's words hit me like a bullet.
A mother, my own boyfriend's mother, someone who doesn't know me is judging me so harshly.
At that moment, all of the distrubing memories from last year flooded through my mind. All the bullying, all the words, all the looks, all the whispers and comments. How people called me a slut, a whore, a bitch, and a nasty hoe. How people constantly gave me death threats and telling me to kill myself already. It wasn't until now that I wish I had.
"How fucking dare you call my girlfriend that?!" Sam roared, but his parents seemed unphased.
"Don't use that language with us, Sam-"
"Girlfriend?" His mother scoffed and shook her head while watching my eyes fill with tears.
"Albany, go upstairs." Sam said calmly.
"But-"
"Go." He looked at me sternly as tears streamed down my face and I obeyed.
I dashed up the stairs and waited at the top, trying to hear what they were saying.
"You have no right coming home like this and calling my girlfriend things like that." Sam said rather loudly.
"She isn't your girlfriend, Samuel." His father said.
"Yes she is! Get that through your thick skull!" Sam yelled.
"I bet if we didn't come here, you would have fucked her senseless already. Why can't you be like Ben!"
She must really not like me, and what mother compares her sons to each other?
"Mom! Leave, right now!" Sam screamed off the top of his lungs.
"Stop stop yelling at your mother!" His dad butted in.
"She's disrespecting my girlfriend, dad! How could you stand up for her!"
"You know what?! Fine, we'll go. We won't come back. Have a good time on your own with that tramp, she won't be much help." After hearing his mother's words, I heard the door slam.
I covered my mouth to quiet the sobs as I sped into Sam's room and ran onto the bed. Sam stomped into the room and I heard him change quickly before wrapping his arms around me.
As much as I wanted to be in his arms, I pushed him off of me.
"Baby please, she didn't mean it." His voice cracked.
"S-Sam, i'm positive she d-did." I cried, sticking my face further into his pillow.
"She doesn't know I changed, Al. She doesn't know you. Please come here."
Of course I gave in and squeezed Sammy's shirtless torso tightly.
"A-All the things she said, b-brought back the memories of w-what people said about m-me last year." I sucked in a big, trembling breath.
"It's okay, baby. You are none of the things she said, trust me okay? They're gone, you don't have to worry about them anymore. I'm making sure they stay out of our lives, you're my one and only now."
He littered kisses on my skin, from my shoulders to my forehead.
"I love you, Sammy."
"I love you to the moon and back, Al."

*

"Sammy! Sam wake up!" I beamed, shaking him lightly.
He groaned in response and rolled onto his back, keeping his eyes shut. I put a knee on either side of his body as I sat on his stomach and kissed him from the neck up to his nose.
"Wake up sleepy-head, you're eighteen today." I whispered, pressing lips against his.
When I moved my hair back, I saw his eyes flutter open, revealing his beautiful caramel orbs that I could literally melt into.
"I could get used to this view every morning." His raspy morning voice spoke softly, making my stomach erupt in butterflies.
"Happy birthday, baby." I whispered as I placed my hands on his cheeks.
"Thanks lil mama." He kissed me once more before I got off of him, letting him stretch out his limbs.
"Today is all about you." I smiled before walking out of his room to start breakfast.
"What do you want?" I called out once I made it to the kitchen.
"Cereal!" He answered, I knew it.
I made two bowls of lucky charms and he soon came trotting down the stairs on the phone.
"Thanks man... Not sure, i'll probably be with Albany... Of course dude, door's always open for the crew... 'ight, see you later."
He hung up and sat down on a bar stool, quickly downing his breakfast.
"Who was that?" I asked, curiously.
"Gilinsky. Him and Johnson are coming through later with some friends. Is that okay?" He mumbled as the milk dribbled down his chin, making me laugh quietly.
"Yes, Sammy. It's fine, you don't need my permission." I ruffled his hair and his house phone started to ring this time.
'Wilkinson, Ben' read the Caller ID.
Sam let out a big sigh before answering it.
"Hello?... Hey... I'm fine... They told you? I'm not surprised... Yeah, well they disrepected me and my girlfriend, they're not allowed to step foot in this house... I don't care if they are my parents or not, Ben... Whatever, I don't want to talk about them... Yeah, thanks... No I didn't, i'll check later... Okay, thanks again... Bye."
He huffed and ended the call, throwing the phone onto the counter.
"My parents told him what happened last night." He placed his elbow on the table and leaned his head on his hand.
I took the empty bowl and put it in the sink before walking around Sam and massaging his shoulders.
"No stress today, baby. Just memories."
He kissed my cheek before walking towards the front door, "Ben said he sent my gift in the mail. It's from all of my siblings, but I can't use it until next year."
He went outside and came back in flipping the mail, shutting the door with his foot. He seemed to have found his present because he quickly ripped open an manilla-colored folder.
"Holy shit." He gasped, reading the papers he had in his hand.
"What? What is it?" My bare feet moved across the cold tiled floor.
It took me a second to adjust to the wording, before I realized they were two tickets to the Bahamas booked for next year, everything included.
"Me and you baby, we'll go together. Just us, and we'll have the time of our lives." He exclaimed, bringing me into a tight hug.
"That's awesome Sam!" I squealed, reading the extra information about the trip.
"Today's off to a good start." He smiled like a little kid before kissing my cheek again and skipping off to the living room.
I pulled out my phone and texted Jack Johnson, he finally came back from Mexico after a week.

to: cha boy j 😜💙
hey what time are you coming later? I want to surprise him with cake.

He replied back almost instantly.

Around five, want me to pick it up??

No, I got it. I need to go home and change anyways. I answered back.

When I checked my phone's clock, it read 11:18 am. We slept in today, something unusal for me.
"Around one i'm leaving to go home and do a few things." I said once I walked into the living room.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyy." Sammy whined.
"Because, you have company coming over and we both need to freshen up." I giggled.
"Come here princess." Sam said, grabbing my hips and pulling me onto his lap.
"I can't wait for later, i'm spending with the people I love." He mumbled into the crook of my neck while kissing it.

*

I changed into a pair of black ripped skinny jeans and a gray crop top with a maroon 'Reckless' beanie. I grabbed my keys and Sam's present from my closet and hurried out of my aunt's house, hoping I would be able to get the cake and back to Sam's on time. Knowing him, he would be calling me every minute after 5:01. I swung by the grocery store and picked up the cake I had ordered yesterday, then almost sped to Sammy's house. When I finally arrived, there were two cars I recongize and one I didn't. I grabbed the goods and headed inside, the door was unlocked as usual. I found Sam, Emily G., Jack Johnson, Vince, Jack Gilinsky amd three other boys I didn't know all sitting on the couch.
"Finally! Another girl!" Emily exlcaimed, getting up and giving me a hug.
"Want me to put the cake in the fridge?" She whispered.
I nodded and she took the bag from my hand without the birthday boy noticing. The three boys I did recongize continued to stare at me, and I stood there uncomfortablely.
"Oh Al, this is Matt Espinosa, Nash Grier and his little brother Hayes. They're family friends." Johnson introduced us to each other and the awkwardness died down.
Emily soon came back and took her seat next to Gilinsky, they were too cute.
"Pizza's in the kitchen, it came ten minutes ago and we already ate when it came." Sam said, plugging in his video games.
I went into the kitchen and took a slice of pizza, thanking God that it was still hot. I turned around as I took a big bute and bumped into someone's chest. When I looked up, I almost choked.
Vince.
"Hey." He spoke.
"H-Hi."
Why was he making me nervous for?
"Long time no... talk, huh?" He laughed, trying to make this situation funny.
He was with Claire, nothing about this was funny.
"Yeah." I reeled my eyes to the side, heading for the refridgerator.
"What's new?" He asked.
I pulled a Pepsi out if the fridge and popped it open.
"Why do you care?" I spat, sipping my drink.
He shrugged and sighed, "Look, if it's about you and Sam dating; we already talke it out okay? Stop being mad."
"It's not about that, Vince. You and Claire? Seriously? Out of all people? She's useing you, Vince."
"You and Sam?", he mocked, "Seriously? Out of all people? He's useing you, Albany."
He repeated my words, making my fingers curl into the tin can.
"He's changed, Vince. Claire's still a filthy bitch."
With that, I walked back into the living room and sat myself right next to my boyfriend.
"What happened?" Sam leaned over and whispered to me, noticing my facial expression.
I shook my head he took that as a sign to leave me alone because he knew how I was when I got mad.

A couple of hours passed, and all we did was laugh and talk about our childhood.
"Present time!" Nash's little brother beamed, making his way back into the room with some gifts.
I spotted my envelope and wrapped box in the pile and grew anxious. I hope he liked what I got him. Or what I did. He opened everyone else's and soon came down to mine.
"Envelope first." He smiled, opening it up.
He pulled out the cute card and the pieces of paper as I watched his expression change super quickly.
"No way!" He gushed with a big smile.
"Squad, we're going out to California and going to the game."
The Jacks and Vince came rushing to his side, reading the papers that had four plane tickets and tickets to the Laker game.
"What about you?" Sam asked.
"I start my new job the weekend you go, and I think I want to hang out with Emily that weekend." I laughed and looked at Gilinsky's best friend.
"Thank you." He gave me a hug and moved onto the next gift.
He rubbed his hands together before turn off the wrapper on the box. His mouth formed an 'O' and his eyes grew wide.
"You are fucking crazy." He gasped, opening up the Rolex box.
"You've been wanting to get it fixed and that's exactly what I did." I said, flashing him a cheesy smile.
"Yeah but it costs so much to fix, how did-"
"Shh, no questions."
He smiled widely and gave me a kiss while mumbling 'thank you' against my lips.
"Time for cake!" Emily smiled, hurrying to the kitchen.
"Cake?!" Sammy exclaimed.
"Cake." I confirmed.

_________________________

Lori smh how could you call Al a slut damn.
What did y'all think of Sam's parents??