Torn in love (Union J)

Birthday Time

Tessa

My eyes open. It’s the day. It’s Monday. It’s the 22nd of October. It’s my birthday. The day I’ve been dreading for the whole twelve months since my last birthday, my seventeenth birthday.

I snap my eyes shut, secretly willing for the day to be over already, so that we can get on with it. I wish that if that can’t happen, that I can stay in bed all day, and not get up until the day is over.

Someone knocks on the door, obviously wanting to come in and wish me a happy birthday. I snore loudly, so that whoever it is doesn’t come in. But they do. It’s George.

“I know you’re awake, Tessa,” He tells me. I can hear the smile in his voice as he sits down beside me. I turn to face him, opening my eyes as I do. “I’ve got your present.”

“You didn’t have to get me a present,” I say quietly, “You didn’t have to do anything for me.”

George smiles sadly, “You’re my girlfriend, Tessa. I wanted to buy you a present.”

“I don’t want it to be my birthday,” I tell him, “I wish it wasn’t.”

“Everyone loves birthdays.” He smiles.

“This girl doesn’t.” I reply, pointing to myself. Just thinking of what happened brings tears to my eyes. Furiously, I blink them back in, but George has already seen my tears, and is quick to wrap his arms around me to comfort me. He doesn’t say anything, just holds me close as the tears trickle down my cheeks.

“What’s happened to make you hate birthdays?” George asks finally, still stroking my hair. I take a deep breath in and then let it go. What will he do when he knows what I did?

“You’ll hate me.” I choke out.

George shakes his head, “I could never hate you, Tessa.”

I breathe in one last time and then it all pours out of me, everything I did, “It was on my birthday, and it was an hour and a bit until our party. Brandon and I were both bored to death. We were only little and we had no idea how to make ourselves happy.” I sigh, wiping away another tear, “So I made up a game we could play in my room. We were pretending to be spiders, sitting curled up on the window ledge. Dad thought it was really funny, so he joined in. And then…then…I fell out of the window.” George’s arms tighten around me, “It was an accident, but I fell and got stuck in the tree. It was so scary George. I thought I was going to die, because I fell out of the tree and then I broke my arm.” I sob into his chest, huge big sobs. “But that’s not all I did. When we were coming back from the hospital, Mum asked me how I got stuck in the tree anyway, because the branches were so high up that you couldn’t climb it. So I said…that…Dad pushed me out of the window.” I sob harder now, huge big sobs that shake my whole body.

“Shh…” George says soothingly, “Calm down, Tessa, it’s fine.”

“And that made Mum and Dad split up,” I whisper, “I split my own parents up.” I sob harder, clinging onto George so that he doesn’t decide to leave me.

“Tessa,” George says sternly, “Calm down. Nothing you did made your parents split up. They wouldn’t just split up over one thing. What you did didn’t make them split up. I bet if I spoke to Brandon, he would tell me that they had been arguing for a long time before.” I shrug my shoulders, still choking out sobs. “But your parents’ splitting up was a good thing as well. If they hadn’t, your Mum would never have met Gary, and then you would never have known Diana or Ryan or Beth, and you never would have met JJ or Liv. What happened makes you who you are, Tessa.”

He hugs me tightly.

“So you don’t hate me?” I whisper.

“Of course I don’t!” George smiles, “I told you, I will never hate you.”