What We Become

Into Hell

Four years had passed since that bonfire party and Caleb and Delilah had grown closer. With Delilah's 16 birthday today, Caleb searched for a present for her. He looked through Rue 21, Kohls, Maurice's, Hot Topic, any girlie kind of store he knew of.

"Mom, I can't find anything good enough," Caleb grunted and sat down on a bench. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. His mother smiled.

"You'll find something I'm sure," she grabbed a nearby shirt and showed it to him. "What about this? This is cute," but Caleb looked at it and grimaced.

"No.. it's not.. Delilah," he sighed with frustration and stood up. "Can we keep looking please? I need to find something. Her birthday is today." Without waiting for an answer, he walked away to another rack of clothing. He looked through endless shirts, skirts, dresses, but nothing felt right. His mother didn't quite understand why Caleb was stressing so much over this. Of course, she never did understand their friendship, were they a couple or not? Whatever the case, she always treated Delilah like a daughter. After another hour of Caleb bouncing from store to store, he picked out what he wanted. An complete outfit made up of cute jeans, a black shirt with blue butterflies on it, black converse, and a necklace with a dreamcatcher for the pendant.

"Do you think it looks okay?" Caleb asked as he laid the outfit on himself to show his mother.

"I think it looks lovely," she replied and grabbed it from Caleb. "Is this what you want to get? Wait never mind, you're getting this for her because it's almost dinnertime and I don't want to be stuck in here anymore." Caleb rolled his eyes and the two of them walked to the registers.

~

"You excited for your birthday?" Melody asked as she sat on Delilah's bed. "Turning sixteen is a big deal you know. You're supposed to get a car, a new phone-"

"You know my family doesn't have that kind of money," Delilah shook her head and smiled.

"Oh.. well you're still supposed to get a big party and lots of jewelry," Melody shot back.

"And that would be a quinceanera for when you turn fifteen in the Hispanic culture. And I am not turning fifteen, nor am I Hispanic, I'm Irish." Delilah rolled her eyes at Melody.

"Well whatever you're having, are you excited?" Melody asked again as she took a lollipop out of its wrapper. Delilah shrugged.

"Well, I don't think my family and I are doing anything special for my birthday," she shrugged and continued to look through her drawer.

"I'm not talking about your family, I'm talking about you and Caleb!" Melody nudged Delilah's shoulder. Delilah stood up and let out a huff of air, resembling a laugh.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Caleb and I are not dating! We're just friends." she glared at Melody but couldn't resist a smile. "Don't keep making assumptions.' After Delilah's stern last statement, Melody let it go.

That afternoon, Delilah's mom and dad were setting up an outdoor mini party for Delilah. The color theme was silver and blue, her favorite colors. Delilah's mom, dad, grandma and grandpa all lived in a house together because of her parents money troubles. Delilah was meant to stay in the house until it was time for the party, but with the warm late May sunshine, she found it really difficult. So she had called Melody over to keep her occupied. Grandma was inside, watching endless news reports of a weird disease outbreak. These had started a couple weeks ago out east, and outbreaks had moved west. The closest one now was at least 200 miles away, but grandma got up out of her chair and went outside to tell her daughter and son-in-law.

"Amber? Ethan?" she called out. Grandma went down the steps and waddled over to the picnic table covered with a black and silver table cloth. "I want you to hear about this!"