Maybe This Time

06

It's my birthday weekend. I'm officially an adult. Me and my mother had just completed the finishing touches to my party and she pulled me in for a hug, She squeezed me tightly, and I wrapped my arm around her waist. "You're all grown up now." She threads her fingers through my hair and I look up at her.

"Please don't cry." I mumble, wiping away the tear under her eye. "It's just a birthday, mum." I told her, smiling. I force myself not to cry so that I don't ruin my birthday makeup, and so far, it's going well.

Mum takes a step back, looking at my outfit. "You look absolutely beautiful." She gushes, and I grin. I wore a white, eyelet crop top that only covered my chest, and a long green skirt, exposing my midriff. There was a slit down one side, and the heavy material made it kind of difficult to deal with the heat, but beauty is pain.

"Thanks, mum." I smile, and she moves my curls out of my face. As she's the only white person in our family, she doesn't quite understand the problems that me and my brother have with our natural hair, but when we were younger, she'd take lessons so that she could style our hair.

The doorbell rings, and mum jumps up in joy. "Oh!" She exclaims. "The guests are here!" She says, and I fix my hair as she rushes to open the door for my family and friends. After meeting everyone and leading them to the back garden, I grin as my friends walk in, hugging me together. Sydney Elizabeth holds out three gift bags, and I thank her before directing her towards the gift's table.

"Your outfit is amazing!" Leilana compliments, and I thank her before leading them into the back garden, where there was a plate of desserts, such as cupcakes and cookies that surrounded my birthday cake.

I turn around just in time to see Ennis step out into the back garden, a gift bag in his hand. I smile at him as he gives me a side-hug. "Happy birthday." He grins.

"Thank you. I'm glad you could make it." I tease, as I know he literally lives five seconds away. We'd always make jokes about living too far to make it to events.

"Yeah, well..." He nods his head in the direction of his house over the fence. "It didn't take me too long to get here." He grins, and then the both of us are silent. We just stare at each other in silence, my eyes flickering all over his face. Is it weird that I've not noticed how attractive Ennis is before? His skin is smooth and his acne marks are nowhere to be seen, replaced by scars scattered across his cheeks. His glasses sit perfectly on the bridge of his nose and his brown hair is messy on his head, making it seem as though he's unbothered by his appearance. Maybe he is. His jawline is sharp and it contrasts well with the puffiness of his cheeks. He has dark, whisky eyes, and they're looking directly at me, wavering slightly.

"Ennis, my love!" My mum exclaims, and he rips his gaze away from me. My mum squeals as she hugs him, squeezing his cheeks. Because he's distracted, I take it as my chance to slip away, making my way through the party to make sure that everything is going well.

Whilst most people my age would go to a club or a restaurant on their eighteenth birthday, I would much prefer to spend time with my family and friends and have a simple birthday party in my back garden. It cost less money and was less hectic.

To save time with cooking, we ended up ordering pizza and chips, and everyone sat around as everyone ate. I sat with my friends, laughing along as we ate our food. Then, I cut the cake and had some dessert before we played party games and me, Sydney, Leilana, and Alayna escaped the party for a while, sneaking up into my room.

I opened their presents and cuddled them all a little more before the party was over and it was time to leave. My friends left together, telling me that we still need to go out for an extra birthday celebration, and I grin as I wave goodbye to them.

Ennis, bless him, stayed back and helped my mum clean up the mess that was made. I smile as I watch him pile up the sink with dishes before he turns towards my mother. "Do you need any help cleaning all this up?" He asked, and my mum cups his face in her palms.

"It's very sweet of you to help, Ennis, but I think I'll manage." She smiles up at him. "It's getting late, you should get home." She tells him, and he nods, presses a kiss to her cheek, before leaving the kitchen. His eyes land on me as he walks out, and I press my lips into a tight line as I smile at him.

"Thank you for helping." I tell him, and he shrugs his shoulders.

"It's no problem." He says, and I walk him out. Because he only lives a minute away, I end up walking him home. We walk slowly down the driveway of my house. "Thank you for inviting me." He states, shoving his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans.

"Thank you for coming." I grin. "It was nice having you here." I tell him, even though I think I only exchanged a few words with him in the four hours that the party was going on.

"I'd never miss your birthday party, Willow." Ennis says, but a small frown encases my face. He has missed my birthday party. Two of them, in fact. I was fifteen when he and his family left.

"You have, though." I say, quietly, and Ennis freezes right outside the gate to his house. He turns and looks down at me, His eyes scrunch in confusion, and I stare up at him.

"Willow, I... I called you on your birthday, but you never answered." He tilts his head to the side, running his fingers quickly through his hair. The corner of my mouth twitched, and I'm not sure if he wants to smile or frown in annoyance. God, he frustrates me. "And..." He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, it felt like you didn't wanna speak to me." He states.

I open my mouth, but no words escape. It's like the air got stuck in my throat and refused to leave. I gulp. Nod my head multiple times. And try again. "I was so busy on my birthday, Ennis." I swallow the lump in my throat. "I hadn't spoken to you in a while, so it felt... Weird. I don't know." I try to justify, shrugging my shoulders.

"That's fine."

"I'm sorry." I lick my bottom lip, and Ennis chuckles, shaking his head.

"You don't have to apologise." He sighs. "It's nothing." Ennis shrugs his shoulders, and I scratch the back of my neck. "Seriously, Willow, I understand that time can change a friendship. I didn't expect us to go back to how we were before. We both need time, and that's fine." He nods his head multiple times.

I gulp. "You're right." I tell him, and he sends me a small smile. He looks behind me to the gate of his house before back at my face, his eyes flickering all over my skin. Hesitantly, he leans down and kisses my cheek, his lips lingering on my skin for a while. I think I stopped breathing for a second.

"Happy birthday, Willow." He murmurs, before he saunters past me, opening the gate to his house and walking in. I stay rooted to my spot for a while, looking up at the starry sky as I try to come to terms with what just happened.

Part of me was heartbroken that my best friend of fifteen years is more distant than ever, but part of me... the part of me that had moved on from him, was relieved. Me and Ennis aren't the same anymore. We're not best friends anymore. We don't need each other anymore.