Ross
Happy birthday to me. Happy, because I ardently believed that none would dare to greet me or sing me "that" cringing rhyme. Doctors and nurses never really sang that when you actually got out of your mother's womb. Why now, when you were all aware and sometimes, or more often than normal, hated how you lived? Imagine constantly questioning why you were born and your resolve, only for people to celebrate your prolonged crisis.
Another year had passed, but I was still stuck in this circling routine with no ups and downs; it was just purely repetitive.
I was complacent, though, that this day would go like the others. Bearing certainly no hard feelings for anyone. I was in fact thankful to them—whoever is supposed to care—for not knowing and for not making me feel embarrassed in any way.
Public and private vehicles were already jammed on the highway when I turned from our off-highway zone. Buses were full, and everyone who was standing, struggling to keep their balance in the aisle, seemed like they were about to kiss or, worse, swap faces. Air fresheners would pale in comparison to commuters' breaths and personal scents. I can already imagine the smell. I slightly quivered at the thought and felt how I involuntarily acted like my throat was about to spew something I just imagined.
Lucky me, because I lived not so distant from the school. Walking was my mode of transporting myself to school from home.
It was a daily quest for me to briskly walk and race with buses that were about to reach the unloading spot. I didn't like being flocked by students who just got off the large vehicle. So my willpower severely pushed me to walk past the area even before the passengers were dropped off.
"Look who has turned 16 today." I froze.
"Could you please..." I whispered. I barely opened my mouth, but my eyes spoke annoyance.
"Shut your mouth..." Chas finished my sentence, mimicking how I was supposed to say it.
"Happy birthday, Rossleen!" Jab gestured a high-five, but I just rolled my eyes and looked daggers at Chas, who ratted my supposed private detail out.
The whole room resonated with Jab's greeting, and in a minute, every mouth in the room had wished me things that I guessed were just normal if you had survived another year. Not to be labeled as extremely aloof, I half-heartedly nodded and smiled at greetings I at least found genuine.
"Oh, don't be so crabbed, crabby Ross." For I didn't know how many times, I rolled my eyes like they were a pair of marbles moving in sync. She laughed; she always did, as if my being standoffish was kind of an amusement to her.
Chastity was our class president. Always friendly, always zealous to everyone, and always getting in my hair and nerves. I previously thought that she actually didn't have her own life to deal with because she always got time to meddle in others's businesses. Especially mine.
"So what's our plan? Can we, like... whoop it up at your place?"
"No parties. And why would "we" be celebrating?" I spoke indistinctly but made sure that she would clearly grasp what I wanted her to understand.
"And didn't you know I don't have my own place?" I continued in an undertone but eventually tried to act like it wasn't a big deal. She paused and stared at me ruefully.
"Had I known that that was your case?" she composed herself, but I outright sensed her dishonesty.
"Hey Chas... you know what? It's okay." I told her, hoping she would dismiss herself or I would. Chas was annoyingly nice, and I didn't want to be downright rude to her.
