The Lost Friends (Completed)

Chapter 16 (Part 1)

Things were on the right track. Dad was back on his feet. He had stopped going on minor business trips and refused anything that was longer than a week. I no longer had to worry about how he was doing as he’d gone back to normal.

Leo had transferred school.  School seemed quiet without him. I missed catching a glance of him in the hall way or seeing him in our English lessons. Now we had a balding Canadian teacher who didn’t quite know how to control the class yet. 

I spent a lot of time with Leo after school and he’d come over sometimes for dinner. Mom loved Leo. She was grateful for the fact that he kept an eye on me when we were in New York for the competition and that he had kept an eye on me while Dad was at home. She enjoyed his charm and how nice he was to everyone. He liked to talk business with Dad and would play with George and sometimes even tutor Melanie. My parents didn’t even mind how ‘friendly’ we were. Mom often called him my ‘best friend’. I loved having him over and being able to occasionally tell my parents that I was going over to his place.

My birthday was coming up soon. I planned my day so I spent time with everyone. It was the morning with my friends, lunch at Leo’s and dinner with Leo’s whole family and mine. Leo and I had decided that we’d tell them at dinner. I worried about the way my parents would react. I knew that Mom would be fine with it but it was Dad who I was worried about. Dad was slightly stiff with Leo. He sometimes made snide remarks about him and would talk endlessly about how being a teacher wasn’t a great job. I tried to ignore it but I couldn’t help but occasionally defend Leo, earning me some strange looks from Dad.

“Happy Birthday!”

My bedroom door burst open as my family piled in. I groaned in bed and covered my head with my pillow.

“Wake up! Lily! Wake up! We got cake!” George yelled.

He got onto my bed and started jumping up and down, yelling at the top of his lungs.

“Lily, Darling, you’ve got to blow out the candles.” Mom was nudging my shoulder.

“Oh, just get up!” Melanie yelled impatiently.

“Come on, Lily. It’s your favourite; buttercream.” Dad said.

I couldn’t help but laugh as their attempt to get me out of bed. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. Mom was holding a beautiful handmade cake. It was buttercream and had pink icing around the sides. In purple was writing that read ‘happy birthday to our darling Lily. Happy 18th!’.

Dad was lighting the candles. Melanie and George were now sitting beside me on the bed.

“Okay, come on, sweetie, make a wish!” Mom said.

I smiled and closed my eyes.  After a few seconds of deciding on a wish, I made it and blew out the candles.

“Yay! Now, clean up and we can have cake for breakfast.”

Mom and Dad kissed my forehead and Melanie and George gave me hugs before they all left my room.

I felt oddly light and happy. I was looking forward to today. I couldn’t wait to curl up next to Leo and we could have a normal day. I was nervous but excited about telling everyone today.

I got out of bed and started to get ready for my eighteenth.

By the time I got downstairs, it was already eleven. I was supposed to meeting my friends in ten minutes. It took me a while to look as good as I did today. I was wearing a pink dress with my comfortable pink converses. I had my hair out and straightened down my back and I was wearing the bracelet that Leo got me for Christmas.