Emails

Chapter 31 | 10 months ago

Sam.

10 months ago.

Liv was still sad. I knew she was.

The thing about Liv was that she didn't want anyone to think that she was. She hated surprises but acted like she loved them anyway. She hated being told to do things like a child but she did them anyway. I knew Liv long enough for that.

I looked at my calendar posted above my desk. There was one date circled in red on the sheet of graphed paper.

April 1st, Liv's birthday.

+++++

She said she always hated that it was on April Fools Day. Said it was cliche. Said it was annoying to be pranked relentlessly through 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.

Liv said that whenever someone said they would surprise her on her birthday, she was always suspicious. It was something that you could never trust.

Her parents were serious about it though. They never surprised her. Never said that they would do anything to celebrate it besides maybe a requested cake, a card, and a small gift. That was the one thing she wouldn't have minded being surprised about. She said to me every year, she waited to see if her parents would do anything different. She said that was what made her slightly exited for her birthday. Nothing ever happened though. It made me sad.

So, that's why on this birthday, I did something really stupid.

At least it worked out.

+++++

This was basically the last day before spring break ended. She was always sad that her birthday was the mark of the break ending. While she didn't mind school, like everyone else, she didn't want to go back for at least a couple of months. I knew she had a volunteer camp at school, so I stopped by her house the day before her birthday.

I knocked on the door. Slightly scared. The last thing I heard about her parents was that they were almost never home and when they were, they were basically wrapped up in their books, or computers, or phones. Or sometimes just taxes. She said that jokingly though.

Liv did say she loved them though, and that should've counted for something.

A middle-aged lady opened the door with a flat face. She was wearing glasses too big for her nose and had a plastic smile that drooped at the edges. She was lean with brown hair and coffee brown eyes. I'd always wondered where Liv got her eyes from.

She looked at me and squinted as if she were trying to remember me. "Can I help you with something?"

I swallowed a grimace. I was very nervous. I swore I could hear my heart in my stomach.

"Hi... um... ma'am."

She stared expectantly.

"I'm a friend of Liv's. And... I wanted to ask you something while she was out."

Her eyes brightened the slightest bit and I felt a bit hopeful. "Liv's never mentioned you, come in."

I stepped through the opening to a clean and polished living room. Its couches were pristine and too white. Its fireplace tiles looked as though they were cleaned regularly and were the color of teeth whitener. Basically everything in the room was white except for a couple of beige blankets and gray throw pillows.

She motioned for me to sit. "You can call me Elizabeth. So, what's your name?"

"Sam, ma'a-sorry... Elizabeth."

I cleared my throat. "I wanted to ask you about Liv actually. Her birthday's tomorrow... and I was wondering... if we could throw a small surprise party?" I felt nauseous.

She looked surprised, sipping tea from a petite, tea cup with floral patterns.

She was silent for a long time. I heard the clock ticking on top of the fireplace. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Tick tock.