The rivers daughter

3- happy birthday Jadey

⚠️Content warning! Weaponry, violence, and discussions of weight!

As I sit in my mother's office, I stare at the small cake in front of me. I watch as she lights the small candle, shaped like the number '16'. "Happy birthday to me," I say softly. This was the first birthday I've celebrated in like 2 years.

In an effort to make myself feel good on my fairly special birthday, I gave myself a little makeover. I gave myself curtain bangs, painted my fingernails and toenails red, and made myself a brand new dress. The dress fits me perfectly, the black sequins sparkling in the soft lighting.

"You look beautiful, happy birthday" she says as she sets the lighter down and looks at me. I look at the cake and close my eyes before blowing out the candle, making a wish. Wishing for the one thing I want the most... to see my friends again.

To see Aris, and the Gladers, hell, even to see Jorge and Brenda. I barely know those two, yet they're part of who I want to see. But, most of all... I want to see Thomas. My boyfriend, my best friend, my partner in crime, my ride or die, whatever cheesy and cliche name you wanna him. I want to see him.

As I open my eyes again, I look at her with a smile. "Did you make a wish?" she asks, to which I simply nod. She smiles back at me and hands me a knife to cut the cake. It was a small cake so I simply cut it in half, giving each of us a slice.

As I eat my slice of cake, I notice how my hands are shaking slightly. I glance at Ava, checking if she's paying attention to me right now, she isn't. Taking a deep breath, I attempt to calm myself down. My hands aren't shaking because of fear or anxiety though, they're shaking because of the medication.

For the past four days, which is also as long as I've had my memories, they've been giving me medication. They say it's just to make me happy, but I keep blacking out. Along with the medication, I've been having a load of tests done on me.

Blood tests, vital checks, and even mental tests are all apart of my daily routine by now.

I zone out while eating, a new habit I've developed. I can't seem to eat without zoning out at the moment. Mindless eating isn't something I like, I've gained like 5 pounds in my time here. I know it's not a lot, it just seems to effect me in weird ways.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Ava's voice, "alright, Jade, you'll need to head back to your room now." I nod and gently place my plate on her desk to stand up. As I go to grab my plate, she stops me. "You can leave it here, I'll clean it up," she says, a polite smile on her face.

"Thanks." I smile back at her before making my way to my room. As I walk down the cold and clinical halls of W.C.K.D's headquarters, I get a weird feeling. I feel almost as if someone is watching me. It's easy to brush off, though, W.C.K.D is pretty much always watching.

I approach the door of my room, feeling my foot slip slightly. I steady myself and look down at the ground. Laying in front of my door is a birthday card, a handmade one by the looks of it. I smile to myself, assuming it was probably from one of the little kids here. I gently pick up the card and enter my room. I lock my door, sitting on my bed and opening the card.

"happy birthday Jadey, have a look at the vents ;) -T."

My eyebrows furrow in slight confusion and I look up at the vent on my ceiling. "Holy shit!" I jump back, placing my hand over my heart and taking a deep breath to calm down. "Not the warm welcome I expected," Thomas laughs, his head popping down to look at me.

"Well, you scared the shit out of me!" I say defensively, holding my hands up in surrender. "And also, why and how are you here?" I ask him as I glance around as if I'd find someone watching us.