Hidden Beneath Brown Eyes (A Zayn Malik Fanfiction)

Chapter 44 - Sunny Side Up

My crust encased eyes forced themselves open as the ringing of my phone assaulted my ears. The sun was peeking through the cracks between the curtains on my window, and the room was absolutely still, apart from the obnoxious ringing sound. 

My eyelids fluttered as they fought the urge to shut, and my body to fall back into the comfort of my bed. I lifted my arm up, a task that seemed especially hard because it felt like I was lifting a thousand pounds. 

I felt it would be easier to do it all at once instead of little bits at a time, so in one swift move, I rolled myself over and smacked my hand down on my phone, quieting it instantly. The time read 9:30. It was a perfectly reasonable hour to be getting up, and on a normal day I would have no problem with it, but today wasn't any other day. Today was different.

Not only had I spent my entire night staring at a glass of wine, regretting with every last breath, that I had yet again pushed Zayn further away from me - but today was my birthday; my twenty-fourth birthday.

For most people, birthdays were a happy and merry occasion, but I wasn't most people.

My birthday usually consisted of a few birthday cards with money stuffed inside, and a small gift from my parents - but that was about it. My only friend was Rosie, and I didn't have much family left, so the calls I got throughout the day were few and far between.

Every year I dreaded my birthday, and every year I was relieved once it passed. I'd felt this way since my twentieth. 

I only ever felt like I was getting older, and was inching ever closer to judgment day. I realized that I had grown into a very pessimistic and rather cynical person, and I had to wonder which one of my experiences in life had made me that way. 

I resisted the desire to throw my phone across the room and against the wall, and slowly pushed myself up from my bed, crying on the inside that I had to get up at all. 

I went through my morning routine of taking a hot shower, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, and doing my hair and makeup, all before waking Jack up. It was roughly an hour that I had to myself every morning, and I cherished that hour, never taking it for granted, because it was the only time that I ever got to be alone.

I was finishing up my eye liner when my phone rang, causing me to scribble a thick, black line all over my eyelid.

"Damn!" I mumbled angrily.

I looked down at my phone, irritated passed any reasonable limit, but relaxed slightly at the sight of Rosie's name across my screen.

"Hello?" I answered, pretending to be happy, even though I knew what was coming.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday little Ada! Happy Birthday to you!" she sung cheerily through the phone, followed by loud clapping that I had to assume was her fiance, Max.

"Thanks Rose." I made an attempt at sounding happy, although I knew that she could tell that I wasn't - but my birthday was the one day out of the year when she wouldn't press me about it.

"Happy Birthday Ada!" I heard Max shout from a distance.

"Thank you Maxy!" 

"So, any plans for tonight? Maybe with a special someone?" Rosie hinted, putting extra emphasis on the word special.

I knew that she was referring to Zayn, but I was just going to ignore that and pretend that she meant Spencer. 

"Probably not. I mean, I don't even think Spencer knows that it's my birthday." I replied.