Lighter

n i n e t e e n

years go by
whether you want them t o . . .

⚡️⚡️⚡️

t h r e e w e e k s l a t e r

My twenty-first birthday was kind of a contradiction. It was the one milestone in life I really didn't care for, since the only thing it brought was the satisfaction of being able to buy the one thing I try to stay away from. The fact that it fell right in the middle of the week made it that much more undesirable. For my friends, it didn't matter.

They still wanted to go out drinking because, well, why not? The only ones that were of age were Cheyenne, Tommy, and Ronnie – the rest of our friend group had to wait until their birthdays all hit throughout the next few months. Obviously I had no problem hanging out with them, and I didn't have the heart to veto the plan they made up of the four of us going to a nearby bar to celebrate. As long as it wasn't anything too wild, I'd be fine.

The night before, I hung out with Ronnie, went to bed a little late, but slept all the way through without a nightmare due to wearing his sweatshirt. In the morning, I was woken up by my family members singing "Happy Birthday" to me, off-key and absurdly loud. The one bonus was that they brought me a cupcake for breakfast.

After that, we all went about our business since it was a Wednesday after all, and I had class to get to. Cheyenne didn't understand why I wasn't skipping school, but if I was thinking about ditching any class this week, it'd have to be the following afternoon. Going to class hungover wasn't really my style.

I was just heading to my car in the campus parking lot once class ended when my phone started ringing in my bag. The wind blew my hair into my face as I ducked my head down to search for the noisy little device, successfully finding it buried under my wallet. At first I thought it'd be one of my friends, but I was surprised to see it was my dad calling me.

"Hello?" I answered with caution, my footsteps slowing up. I couldn't help but immediately think something was wrong whenever he called. It's been a natural instinct of mine after my mom's passing and for some reason, I can't change it.

"Hi sweets," he happily addressed me with my childhood nickname. A sigh of relief escaped my lips when I realized everything was fine, just from hearing that simple greeting.

"Hey Dad," I smiled. "What's up?"

"Well, I'm just about to go on my lunch break and I thought I'd call to see if you want to join me. My treat, since it is your birthday."

I propped the phone between my ear and shoulder so I could get in my car, plopping down in the driver's seat. "Yeah, that sounds nice. Where were you thinking?" I breathed out.

"Wherever you want. You tell me, and I'll meet you there," he said, and I quickly started thinking of some places to go.

Since I was at least a good half hour from home, I just told my dad to meet me halfway at a small, casual restaurant just outside of town. He was surprised that I picked that place to go out for lunch on my twenty-first birthday, but I had the whole night to catch up on drinking with my friends.

It didn't take long at all to get to my destination, seeing as there was hardly any traffic for the middle of the day. I spotted my dad's car parked in the lot when I got there, so I pulled into a space near him and got out at the same time as him. We collided in a hug seconds later, grins on both our faces.

"How's your day been so far?" He asked with his arm around my shoulders while we walked up to the entrance.

"Alright," I shrugged, going in first after he held open the door for me. "I don't feel any different."