A Royal Mess

3. Happy Birthday!

I wake up to the sound of a blast. 

Jumping up from my bed directly onto the floor I see that my room is filled with balloons of all colors and know it must have been the sound of one of these bursting that woke me up. 

All the decorations around the room bring a smile to my face and I quickly enter the washroom to take a bath and get dressed so that I can thank my parents.

Some people say that each birthday you celebrate you're a year closer to death. I feel that when someone starts thinking between those lines they're already as good as dead. Something I heard recently keeps coming back to me at times like these, 'Everybody dies but not everybody lives'. How nicely put. That single quote covers everything I want to say. Enjoying birthdays mean we're celebrating life. Moreover, when someone else out there is even more excited for it than you are, throwing you parties, etc. then that shows just how happy they are that you happened (to their lives, to this world).

Today, 22nd of March, is the day my loved ones celebrate me and that makes me feel special and happy, as it should. 

When I come out of my room I see more balloons and one gift each placed on every step of the stair case. Their number makes it impossible for me to carry them all so I leave them there and make my way to the living room.

I have a huge goofy smile by the time I reach the sound of, what can only be, a room full of people trying to remain silent but failing miserably.

A loud shout of "Happy Birthday Alexis!" greets me as I enter the room. I look around to find that the room is filled (as I expected) and every one happens to be in a costume. Mom and dad are dressed as Cinderella and price charming which suits them very much. Jenna happens to be dressed as Harry Potter. While Maggie, Mr. and Mrs. Stewards and a good looking man in his forties, whom I do not know but who looks oddly familiar, are all dressed as different marvel's superheroes. All of them, then come forward and hug me.

The party may seem a bit childish and that is exactly what I love about it. Children are the epitome of lively and happy. Their joy is pure and their intentions are (mostly) always innocent. As long as the child inside you is alive, it will keep you full of life. 

Life is all about creating memories and what best way to do that than to spend a day with the people who love you most. Don't get me wrong, I have other friends and we get along superbly. 

Jenna, I, Jimmy, Maya and Luis together exist as a mediocre circle of people in high school. We are friendly enough to everyone but also shy enough not to be overly outgoing and wild like the extroverts or shall I say the populars.

I like my friends and I know they like me but I guess we just don't connect or rather we just aren't as tuned in to each other as Jenna and I are. I wanted to spend the day with a select few people and so I told mom that I'd rather invite them over later in the evening or take them out tomorrow. 

"Do you like it?"Jenna asks, giving me a hopeful expression. Everyone else is busy chatting among themselves.

"Like it? I love it. This is the best birthday of my life." I exclaim. It isn't entirely true as my parents have always made sure to make all my birthdays really special and memorable. And so I have said the exact same thing on every one of them.

I then turn to hug my parents once again and say, "Thank you so much, mom and dad. I love you guys, a lot." A huge smile seems to be permanently plastered on my face.

"Awe, we love you too, darling. Sweet seventeenth!" Mom exclaims, her face morphing into one of her own breathtaking smiles.

Next, Maggie comes to greet me along with the unfamiliar man. I ask her who he is as I am beginning to suspect where I had seen him.