the girl who cried wolf|Wattys 2015

the girl who cried wolf: two

two: sweet sixteen

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you . . ." I groaned and pulled my covers tighter over my head.

"Go away!" There was no force that the off key singing of my parents couldn't penetrate however.

"Lucy," my mother feigned hurt. Sighing I pulled the covers off and looked over my shoulder. Standing in the middle of my room were my parents, still dressed in their pajamas.

Every year since I was able to actually chew and swallow things on my own, my parents would greet me on the morning of my birthday with chocolate chip muffin with a candle lit in the middle. It would just be the precursor to coming home to have dinner (my favorite dish which was spaghetti and garlic bread) and then a cake (which my dad claimed to have baked himself though Mom and I knew that he drove down to Lucky's Mart and purchased it). When I was younger I actually had birthday parties and then it was easy to pretend I had friends because kids didn't care about the social pyramid and needed no more reason to attend a party other than the promise of goody bags and cake.

It wasn't anyone's fault really that I was fiends less; I was just antisocial and didn't necessarily share the same interest as other people. All the girls were either into winter sports or dreaming of sunny places and their celebrities. The guys were all winter jocks or well . . . boys in flannel who just craved the girls.

I was kind of in between the outcasts and the girls dreaming of far off places. Id attempted figure skating and hockey and even snowboarding and it wasn't that I was horrible - in fact, I found skating relaxing. It was just, I could never keep my mind focused on one thing and I daydreamed so much that it was hard for me to put my all into one specific hobby or action at one moment. That being why it was hard for me to even hold a conversation with a person.

I remembered on the first day of school I came close to making a friend. She was a brunette with a great smile and very enthusiastic about starting the school year. The whole orientation she tried to get me to talk about my life and when I didn't she talked about hers. Eventually she became frustrated when I didn't respond to whether I found cats better than dogs.

I preferred dogs. I noticed her once in the hallways later that year. She had a picture of a cat taped to her folder. I took that as a sign.

"Crap it's melting. Quick Lucy blow it out! Make a morning wish." Dad rushed over to my side and bent down. The smell of burning wax and baked goods made my nose turn up. Rolling my eyes I blew out the candle. I wish today would be different than the others.

"There." I said. "Now leave, I have to get ready for school."

"She barely turned sixteen and already she's kicking us out of her room," Dad said as he removed the candle, leaving the muffin on my bedside dresser.

"Before we know it Dan she'll be locking her door and tying up the phone lines." With a kiss to my forehead, I watched as Mom and Dad finally left me alone. Some people craved having parents that spoiled them so, but while I knew my parents loved me, I knew that they watched me so carefully because they were always worried about me.

Even though I hated not feeling my fingers in the morning, there's something about winter that makes me happy. A lot of people tend to complain about the cold and the snow and ice; I think there's nothing more beautiful than seeing thick white blankets layered over nearly every surface. Another thing about winter was that it made getting ready easy. I had become use to leaving my blonde locks naturally waved and covered with my favorite red beanie. Over a black jumper and a pair of thick wool tights. For extra warmth I would wear my black coat. That said, it wasn't exactly fun to walk in, so I was more than generous when Dad offered to give me a ride to school. Dad owned the auto shop in town, so I'd grown used to being the girl who pulled up to school in the old baby blue pickup that hissed, squawked, and made any other strange sound. It was comfortable though, except the windows had to be rolled down or they became too foggy.