Cursed

31. Belle's Birthday

31. Belle's Birthday

"Good morning!" sang the room. I pulled the covers over my head with a groan and tried to settle back into my dreams. I did not like mornings.

"Belle?"came Teapot's muffled voice through the comforter.

"What's good about it?" I grumbled back.

"Today is special," she replied.

"No, it's not."

"Oh, but it is."

"Why?"

"Today is the 3rd of June." I peaked my face out from under the comforter.

"It is?"

"It is."

"Oh." I guess today was special. When did this happen? When I first found myself at Rose Manor, I had just begun my last year of high school. Now it was months later, the school year was coming to an end and it was almost summer. It had begun to feel like summer as well. The average daily temperature had risen, the snow had long melted and the rain came far less often. Yesterday it was even warm enough to be outside without a jacket.

June 3rd. Today I turned 18. Today I was a legal adult. Today I should have been bombarded with candy and flowers by my friends at school. I should be going on a hike with my dad and doing a wilderness photoshoot and then coming back to the house for a dinner of lasagna and my favorite cheesecake. Today one of my girls should have gotten her older sister to get us some alcohol so we could get drunk and giggly and watch chick flicks. Today was going to suck.

"Now, why the scowl upon your brow?" Teapot tutted.

"Nothing."

"Very well," she resigned skeptically. I liked Teapot. She didn't pry where she was unwanted. Well, I supposed it was time to get this horrid day over with. I sat up and drank the tea that had set itself on my bedside table.

When I met Daurien for breakfast he was already sitting and waiting for me expectantly.

"Good morning," I said brightly, trying to hide the gloom that had befallen me. Daurien missed nothing.

"Is something the matter?" he asked, his question laced with concern.

"No," I let the perky facade fall from my face.

"You don't want to talk about it," he replied but it was less of a question and more of a statement. I shrugged in reply and hoped he wouldn't take offense. His face fell the slightest bit, just enough to hint that my unwillingness to share bothered him. That didn't however, prompt me to elaborate. It would bother him far more to hear the truth. That it was my birthday and I wanted to spend it with my dad and my friends in California. That I was homesick and that it was greatly his doing. That as close as we had become, I wanted to leave. I kept my mouth shut.

We finished our breakfast in an uncomfortable silence. The first we had shared in a long time.

"Belle," he said then, breaking the tension between us, "Today is your day," he didn't dare say birthday, "today I will grant any and all requests in my power to grant." Anything but my freedom, I thought to myself bitterly. I did my best not to show my disappointment.

"Like what?" I tried to sound enthusiastic.

"I do not know, whatever you wish."

"Oh my gosh!" Daurien startled at my exclamation. This could be a decent birthday after all.