Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
BELLA Swan always had an expression that was a mix between despair and awkwardness. It's just the way she was, and she couldn't change that. So when Margo and Melinda spotted her by her locker that morning, she looked dreadfully tired of the day already, even though it was her birthday. She was pushing a wrapped gift into her locker, hesitantly picking at the edges of the wrapping paper with curiosity, when Melinda and Margo approached. Melinda raised her hands in the air, exclaiming, "We heard it was someone's –"
Bella immediately pressed a finger to her mouth. "Shush," she whispered.
"Birthday, she meant to finish," Margo replied, glancing to Melinda for a moment. "It's your birthday, right? Jacob said he gave you something."
Bella scratched at her forehead. "Yeah, yeah. He did." She bit her lip, making sure Jessica or any of her other friends were near. "Just keep it on the down low, alright?"
Margo's brow knitted together. "Why?"
"I just ..." Bella sighed, running a hand through her hair. She knew the two other girls wouldn't understand. No one would, except for Edward's family. Bella now had her disposition with birthdays, and nothing was going to change her mind about them until she had the ability to live forever. "I just don't like aging. It's gross."
Margo and Melinda shared a look, and the latter turned back to Bella with a frown. "So you, like, want to be a toddler?"
"No!" Bella whispered loudly, and then lowered her voice even more. "No, no. I just ... want to be a teenager forever. I don't know. Call me nostalgic, or bittersweet."
"That's not bittersweet, Bella," Margo said. "It means you're living in denial."
Bella tugged the ends of her sleeves over her hands. She rolled her eyes at Margo's comment before replying, "I'll forget what you just said and accept the birthday wish. Thanks, guys."
Melinda hugged her textbooks to her chest. "Are you having a party tonight for it?"
Bella viewed slightly to her left, spotting Edward and Alice waiting for her by the staircase to head to their class. She sighed as she met Edward's eyes, and a hint of a smile glistened off his pearly white teeth. Alice had the same intentions; Bella could tell. She wondered desperately what the smaller girl had planned for tonight, but on the other hand, she didn't. Bella glanced back to Margo and Melinda, finally retorting, "Unfortunately."
•••
"There are some ... rumors floating around the nurse's lounge lately," Jenny said that night as she stuck her fork into a large piece of chicken.
She made chicken Caesar salads for dinner, mainly because Jenny was on a major health kick lately. Her coworker had told her that Women's Health was reporting that this new autumn would bring in pumpkins as more of a decoration and a food source. "She said that vegetables are now normally kicked to curb after summer is over," Jenny recounted that night. "No one needs their summer bodies anymore." While Margo knew this new health strategy was just something to keep Jenny busy after getting back from a relaxing road trip, she did appreciate the delicious salads and smoothies her aunt was now making.
