Last To Know

21

"Happy Birthday to you," my mom sang, barging into my room before the sun was up, "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Emma! Happy Birthday to you!"

August twelfth. My birthday. I was shaking with excitement—not.

I threw a pillow over my face and groaned, "Thanks, mom."

My bed dipped when she sat on the end. She pried the pillow from my face. "I was thinking we could go to Marigold's for breakfast. Get some egg sandwiches."

"That sounds good, mom," I yawned. I'd come home late last night from Maddox's. We'd ended up having an all day Lord of the Rings movie marathon in the basement. Even Ezra, Mathias, and Hayes had joined us. I knew from some hints he dropped last night that he had something planned for my birthday, but I didn't know what. I only prayed it wasn't a party. I didn't do parties. Ever.

"Should we invite Sadie?" She asked.

I brightened at that. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Alright, get out of bed, shower, and get ready." She tapped my foot before standing.

"Is that your way of telling me I stink?" I frowned.

"No," she laughed, "that's my way of telling you your hair looks like a rat's nest."

"Thanks, mom," I groaned, rolling out of bed. "Mornings suck," I grumbled, heading to the bathroom.

"Oh, Emma, don't be dramatic," she sighed, going to the kitchen—probably to make tea.

I showered, making sure to use half a bottle of conditioner on my hair to work out the knots and tangles.

I blow-dried my hair, trying to make it look halfway decent. Most days I just didn't care. But for my mom to comment on it, it had to be looking pretty bad.

I perused my closet for something to wear and ended up settling on my go to of shorts and a tank, but I opted to wear a loose one-shoulder sweater on top. It was cream colored and made my blue eyes appear even bluer.

I grabbed my phone off the night table and sent Sadie a quick text about breakfast. She was quick to reply that she'd go.

"Are you ready?" My mom asked, sitting at the table with her cup of tea.

"Yep," I nodded.

"Your hair looks better," she smiled. "You didn't happen to pull any furry creatures out of there, did you? Or maybe a hedgehog?"

I blushed, remembering the day I thought I'd lost Sonic. "No furry creatures here." I bent over, shaking my hair around.

She laughed at me, grabbing her keys off the kitchen counter. "Oh, Emmie," she sighed. "Are we supposed to pick Sadie up?" She asked, setting her mug in the sink.

I straightened. "Yeah."

She put her keys back down and said, "Oh, I want to give this to you first."

Before I could ask what it was she headed back to her room and returned with a carefully wrapped package.

I sat down on the floor—chairs were for the weak—and started ripping the paper off.

I lifted the lid of the box off and gasped. A pretty floral dress sat on the bottom, but it was the gold watch on top that had my mouth falling open.

"Mom," I choked. I knew, without even picking it up, that it was expensive. "It's so pretty. You didn't need to spend so much."

"I know," she smiled down at me, "but it's your eighteenth birthday and I wanted to do something special. I even had the back engraved."

I picked it up and flipped it over so I could read the tiny letters inscribed on the back.