Hey, Cruel World - (Marilyn Manson)

I Could Spend My Life In This Sweet Surrender

  "Wake up, Baby." I heard the soft whisper in my ear, and slowly smiled to myself. I still felt asleep, sunken into the soft bed, so comfortable and warm. I was dreaming, of course, Zim's smooth voice talking to me quietly, his lips brushing over my face. I'd been dreaming of him, which I actually didn't do often, and it was nice. I continued to smile to myself at this.

  "Mavis, come on," I heard, his voice now a bit louder, and my mind woke up immediately. I realized that I'd not been dreaming anymore, but actually hearing Zim next to me. I opened my eyelids slowly and tiredly, and saw him standing next to the bed, fully clothed and ready for the day. I was laying in his spot, my head on his pillow, on the edge of the bed. He smiled down at me once I'd opened my eyes. "Good morning," he said and placed a hand on my waist, on top of the comforter.

  "Morning," I said quietly, my voice still tired, or so it seemed, and I smiled at him further. Right then, the door busted open and in ran Twiggy, causing me to jump from the sudden burst into the room. I saw quickly that I'd been the only one left asleep, and that everyone else was already ready.

  Twiggy ran over and jumped onto the bed beside me, grinning wide. I frowned at him, pretending to be angry as his dark, shoulder-length hair fell into his face, still beaming at me. "Wake up," he whispered, even though for one, I was clearly awake, and for another, there was no need to be quiet. Before I could say anything, he flew off the bed and out of the room once more. I watched after him in amazement and rolled my eyes, annoyed. Couldn't have picked a better best friend, could you? I thought.

  I turned back to Zim, who rolled his eyes and smiled again. "Happy birthday, Mavis," he said, and stroked my hair from where he stood. I'd hadn't thought yet this morning that it was my birthday, September 14 at last. I smiled and sat up, and Zim kissed me on the forehead. "I'll let you get ready," he said and left the room, shutting the door behind him. I dressed and made my way into the bathroom, getting ready quicker than usual. When I was finished, I went down the short hallway and into the kitchen.

  "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" yelled all four of the guys as I entered the room, and I grinned big when I saw them. Black, red, and dark blue streamers were strung across the ceiling and walls, and a huge banner hung from the cabinets above the counter on my left. There, sitting in the middle of the table, was a cake, three circular cakes stacked on top of each other, getting smaller with height, decorated with white icing and dark blue roses. There were a few presents stacked on one of the chairs behind the cake, as the guys stood around the table, smiling at me. I hadn't actually been expecting any of it, and it was all perfect. I couldn't stop smiling.

  "Thank you all so much!" I exclaimed and crossed the floor to them. Marilyn embraced me happily, and I wrapped my arms around him. I turned to Ginger and did the same, then Twiggy, who decided he'd squeeze me as tight as he could, until I was basically gasping for air. Typical Twiggy. I hugged Zim and turned back to them.

  "Ginger and Zim made the cake last night after you'd gone to bed," Marilyn told me. We'd all gone to bed at the same time, and late too. "And Twiggy and I did the decorations." I smiled at the thought of how they'd gotten up after I'd fallen asleep to do this for me.

  "Thank you again, I can't believe you all did this..." I said, still in awe. I'd never had such a nice birthday, or a real, good birthday party before. Of course, my mother had thrown us birthday parties up until I was about twelve, but they were the kind where all the other dope-head's kids would come around our dumpy, old house, and would run around in the sprinkler. That was how everything was in the small town I was from, and this was a bit of a shock for me. But I loved it so much.

  "You can open your presents, then we'll take you out for the day," Ginger said, and winked.

  "You look like a creeper if you say that and wink," Twiggy said, and backhanded Ginger in the chest. Marilyn pulled out a chair for me and lifted the presents onto the table in front of me. I sat down and took the first, unwrapping it. It was a stack of CD's from Ginger, a few of my favorites, and I hugged and thanked him.