The Story of Udonia

Chapter Twenty: My Nineteenth Birthday

July 2, 2015.
I woke up to find Ashton wasn't in bed next to me. I frowned.
Where is he?
I got up and went tot he bathroom.
I then wondered into the kitchen. I walked in to see Ashton's shitless back. He was doing something and then turned around with a tray in his hand. On it was breakfast.
His jaw dropped and he gasped. "No! What are you doing here?! This was meant to be a surprise."
I blushed and giggled. "Well I was surprised."
"It was meant to be a breakfast in bed surprise." He frowned.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Wait, I can fix this."
I ran out of the kitchen and down the hall to our bedroom. I jumped into bed and pulled the covers up. A few moments later Ashton walked in with the tray in hand.
I opened my eyes and pretended to yawn. "Wow, breakfast in bed for my birthday?! You are the best boyfriend ever. I was so surprised."
He laughed and set the tray down. "Yeah, that was better." He said with too much sarcasm for me.
"Hey, don't mock my acting. I was the princess in our 5th grade performance of Once Upon a Mattress."
He chuckled. "Yeah, well I don't think that you saying that you were 'so surprised' counts as acting." He tapped my nose and then kissed my lips.
"And that was 5th grade, Claire. They probably only made you the princess because you are a princess and you were the only one cute enough for the role." He walked around to his side of the bed and climbed into the covers with me.
I turned to face him. "Well at least I'm cute." I smiled. "You would probably play the frog." I joked.
"Well at least the frog turns into a handsome prince." He smirked.
"Yeah, so it resembles you perfectly. You were a frog when you were younger and now you're handsome." I giggled.
"Is that why we didn't get together until recently?" He asked with a more serious tone.
I looked into his eyes.
Crap! He went there.
"No..." I looked down at the breakfast tray and brought it closer to us.
"It is isn't it." He argued.
"Fine." I admitted. "You weren't not cute I just wasn't attracted to you. But please remember that this was the younger, more sallow, diva little Claire. This is me now saying hay you are handsome and I love you." I moved a hand into his hair.
"Yeah, well, I was even attracted to that Claire." He said.
"Yeah, because I have always been cute." I said. "But this is how it goes. Since I was cute when I was younger and I'm still good looking now, I will be ugly as I get older. I won't age well. You however started out not as good looking as you are now, but you will be some hot when your older. You will be a silver fox." I laughed.
He laughed too, which was nice to hear. "You won't be ugly. That's impossible." He leaned over me to grab a strawberry from the tray. I watched him take a bite. I grabbed his wrist and brought it over to my mouth. I took a bite out of the fruit. He smirked and leaned in. Our lips touched briefly.
"Happy birthday." He said with sudden excitement. "I almost forgot to say that. And I love you."
"Thank you for the breakfast although I ruined the gesture." I replied.
"It's fine. We've got pancakes." He pointed to the tray. "And orange juice. You're favorite."
I smiled.
"Hey, now you're two year away from the legal drinking age. Are you excited to try your first alcoholic beverage?" He asked.
I lowered my eyebrows but kept my smile. "Not funny." I hit his shoulder playfully.
"Just think of it this way. You've consumed enough alcohol to last you a life time. Now you don't need anymore." He shrugged.
"Whatever. What should we do today?" I asked.
He smiled and his eyes lite up. "I actually made a loose schedule to follow." He turned over to the nightstand and unplugged his phone.
I took this moment to take a sip of orange juice and start to cut my pancakes.
He started to read off the day to me. "Breakfast from 8:30-9:00, chillin on the beach from 9:30-11:30."
I interrupted him. "What happens between nine and 9:30?" I asked.
"Showering, getting ready, getting dressed, scrolling through emails and social media. Typical morning stuff." He replied. "Then lunch from 11:30-12:30, movie marathon from 12:30-6:00, dinner at 6:15 to 7:00, and then we come back to the bedroom here and do whatever you want." He smirked and set down his phone on the nightstand.
"Alright, that schedule isn't very loose." I pointed out.
"Well we don't have to follow the time frames exactly as written." He shrugged.
We ate our breakfast. Next was 'chillin on the beach.' I decided to wait for that shower until after the beach and before lunch. Ash agreed to do the same.
We lathered on the sunblock and went out back. Ashton was in simple navy blue swim trunks and I put on a simple black bikini that left little to the imagination.
Lacey joined us. She was wearing her typical Lacey like outfit of combat boots, black jeans, and a gray tank top. She sat with us and we hung out. I urged for her to go inside and change into a swimsuit. I knew she owned one. She wasn't a complete introvert. She lived in Sydney, Australia for crying out loud. She told me about how much she would swim in the ocean as a child. Her grandpa lived in a beach house. But she just refused. I even pulled out a begging pout and used the it's-my-birthday-so-you-have-to, but she just said she was fine sitting.
Ashton and I played and swam around.
It was a beautiful day. There was a slight breeze and a few clouds. It wasn't too hot, but it wasn't too cold either. It was just right.
We went back inside exactly at 11:15. We took a half hour for us both to shower and get changed. I then took an extra fifteen minutes to do my make-up and Ashton went to make sure that lunch was ready.
I wandered down the hall and into the dining room where he told me we would be eating. I rounded the corner and saw Ashton sitting alone in the room with an array of foods on the table. It was way too much food for the both of us. I smiled and walked into the room.
Suddenly, Lacey, Jasmine, Ashley, Stephen, Abi, and a woman I didn't recognize jumped out and screamed, "Surprise!"
I jumped and my smile grew. "Oh my god, you guys!"
They all moved over to me in a mass.
"Wow! Thanks for coming." I beamed.
I was flooded with birthday wishes and positive things.
Ashton came over once the mass went down. They all took their seat except for Jasmine and the woman I didn't know.
I brought my attention back to Ashton. "I can't believe you did this. I was actually surprised this time." I giggled with joy.
"I'm happy you're happy." He engulfed me in a warm hug.
He then went back to his seat.
I looked at Jasmine. "Hey." My smiled went down slightly.
"Claire, I wanted to introduce you to Monica Vasquez. My girlfriend." Jasmine said.
My smile brightened. I looked at the nervous woman in front of me. She was a pretty Mexican woman with shoulder length black hair, hazel eyes, and broad shoulders.
She reached out her hand and was still filled with nerves. "Hello, princess Claire."
I shook her hand. "Hi, Monica. It's wonderful to meet you."
She still looked nervous although she put on a smile. I couldn't quite figure out why she was anxious.
Is it me?
Jasmine started to talk again, but in a slightly lower volume. "Monica is a witch too." She said while placing a hand in Monica's shoulder.
The two woman were the same height. I could tell by Jasmine's smile that she really liked Monica.
I felt like there was something she wasn't telling me though. Jasmine knew why Monica was nervous and was spent the whole afternoon speaking for her, so she wouldn't have to answer. I would have to get to the bottom of that later.
After lunch, we moved into the living room and I opened gifts. I lived everything I got. It really showed how much my friends knew me. There was one gift specifically that stood out. Monica's.
It was the last gift in the coffee table. I grabbed the medium sized box off the table and read the tag. It was from Monica. She had written her name in black pen and her I was dotted with a little heart.
Bianca used to do that. I thought.
I ripped through the purple wrapping paper and looked at the box.
"What is it?" Ashley asked.
I exhaled and smiled. "It's Brittany Spears perfume." I glanced at Monica; she was still nervous. "My older sister, Bianca, used to have some of this when she was twelve. I was seven and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I would steal it form her and she would get angry. I just wanted to smell like her." A little tear formed in the corner of my eye.
I looked back at Monica. She wasn't nervous anymore. "How did you know?" I asked her.
"You told me that story." Jasmine said quickly.
I glanced at her. "When?" I asked with confusion.
"Umm, remember we were in your room arranging your vanity and I pulled out a bottle of perfume and smelled it. That's when you told me."
I frowned. "I don't remember that."
"Well, it's true." Jasmine smiled.
Monica cut in. "Jasmine actually got you the gift. I just thought that I would put my name on it since she already got you something and I came empty handed." She explained.
I nodded. "Well, thank you." I said while looking at Monica and then looked over at Jasmine.
"Thanks everyone, again." I smiled.
Everyone left. Ashton and I watched two movies before dinner.
"What are we having?" I asked while we were sitting in the dining room waiting for the food to be served.
"Your favorite." She replied.
The kitchen door opened and a waiter came out. When the kitchen opened, the aroma of Italian flew into my nose. The waiter placed a small salad in front of me as a starter.
I smiled. "Italian?" I asked with excitement.
The waiter left the room.
"Yep." Ash responded. "But not just Italian. You'r favorite dish, besides pizza of course."
"What?" I poured some ranch onto my salad.
"You will have to wait and see." He replied.
I handed him the bottom of ranch with a fake pout on my face.
We finished our salads and the server took our plates away. He then returned momentarily with new plates. He set them down and some parmesan cheese. He then left.
I eyed my plate. It held a slice of Texas toast garlic bread and a pile of four cheese ravioli covered in sauce.
"Oh, yes! I'm so hungry and this is delicious." I smiled and dug in.
After we ate, Ashton fulfilled his promise to do whatever I wished in the bedroom.