A Year Around the Sun

s e v e n - easy for you to say

let's just call it what it is,
letting go of all of t h i s . . .

🌊🌊🌊

Growing up, I've always loved birthdays. Whether it be my own or someone else's, they were always something I looked forward too. They still are, honestly. I mark the special days on my calendar of the birthdays of my friends, family members, fellow employees and anyone else relatively important in my life, and count down until said day.

I love shopping for presents. I love when people open the gifts I got them. I live for the smile on their faces as everyone sings "Happy Birthday" and all they can do is sit there, soaking in the love around them.

As my seventeenth birthday crawled its way to me, I could hardly contain myself. For some reason, seventeen just sounds so much better than sixteen. It means I'm onto bigger things, like tackling my senior year of high school in the fall. Possibly with the chance to mature and take life problems by the throat.

I had a massive – and free – breakfast the morning of my birthday at none other than The Sand Dollar. The staff all sang to me, putting a candle on a chocolate chip muffin since we didn't have anything close to a cake. My friends and I hung out on the beach for most of the afternoon because the weather couldn't have been better, which is ironic because usually it rains on my birthday. But we soaked up the sun and the warm water, and also got a little crispy from being out for too long and not applying enough sunblock.

My parents, all my friends and I went out to dinner to celebrate later on in the night. Then we ended at my house, with an ice cream cake for dessert because it's my favorite. I opened the gifts from my friends, dropped off Noah and Caleb, and then looked forward to having a sleepover with Jodie and Sadie.

What I didn't look forward to was the talk that Jodie wanted to have with me.

"Don't mention any kind of food to me right now because I might explode," Sadie reprimanded, collapsing onto my bed with a dramatic groan. She rested her hands on her stomach, continuing to whine about how much she ate at dinner. The cake was another story.

I laughed, kicking off my flip flops and then taking a seat next to her. "It's still my birthday for another thirty-three minutes. No complaining," I commented. She just groaned even louder.

Jodie walked in my room last and shut the door behind her. She plunked herself down on my beanbag, a prolonged sigh leaving her lips as she directed her ultramarine gaze right at me. I immediately knew what it meant.

"So..." she trailed off at first, puffing her cheeks out in thought. "I know it's still technically your birthday, but we have to talk about this."

I moaned in aggravation as a reply, throwing myself dramatically back onto my mattress. "Do we really have to do this right now?" I mewled, covering my face with my hands.

"Yes," Jodie ordered. Sadie laying next to me just grunted as her answer, her eyes glazed over with gluttony.

"What do you want to talk about then?" I muttered the words, clearly aggrieved at this topic.

"I wanna talk about you and Brody."

My disdain for this talk slowly dissipated. That wasn't what I was expecting her to say – I thought Noah was going to be the subject. But knowing Jodie, we'll probably get to that soon.