Vince

Move Ten Paces

I woke up on a day that was normally pretty difficult for me, my birthday. Each year, it seemed like I became more and more lonely this day, conditioned to believe my birthday was about popularity instead of growth. This year would be no different, searching through the crowd as if the faces would be unexpected.

For the majority of the morning, I locked myself away in my room and found small tasks to keep me busy, but eventually I had grown hungry and I dragged myself out to the kitchen. Hannah wasn't around, relieving some of my stress.

She tried to make my birthday enjoyable, but much to her dismay, nothing seemed to work. I'd woken up to surprise parties and small gatherings which would both make me nauseous. She didn't seem to recognize that I wanted to be left alone.

My phone rang, Hannah speaking with her usual cheery tone, "Good morning honey."

"Morning," I replied, still groggy from sleep.

"I'm at lunch with the guys if you're interested. There's really nothing in the house to eat," She spoke.

I got up, confirming she was right by checking the house.

"I know you don't want anything today, so I can promise you nothing is planned. This is really just lunch," Hannah explained.

I caved in, my hunger outweighing my doubt. I found Hannah and the guys in a booth, already eating. I plopped next to Hannah, trying to avoid all eye contact. The guys were lost in conversation, barely noticing my entrance.

"We were thinking of hanging out tonight, not really doing anything. The guys are free and bored, and we never have plans, so you in?" Hannah asked.

"I don't know," I said.

"Don't be a grump. Game night?"

I mulled it over in my head, trying to figure out her angle. She might've been bringing people to the house which is why she got me out to go to lunch. I was falling for her trap like the idiot I was. I resisted the urge to kick myself under the table.

"Fine." I clenched my teeth together.

"Great. I'll invite Nick and that would give us an even group." Hannah pulled out her phone.

It would be great to see Nick today, because he was probably the only person that didn't know it was my birthday, and I was happy to keep it that way. I ordered something fast to make so I wasn't the only one without food.

"Rhia, you need to be on my team. I'm too competitive and I'll end up hurting feelings," Vince broke away from the guys to speak to me.

"I'm a big girl, I can handle some competition." I played with the straw of my drink.

"You don't understand, Vince is a different person when he's competitive. He once body slammed me during go fish. It's a very scary time," Raphael joked.

"How does that even happen?" Hannah asked.

"You don't want to know," Vince said.

"So you're okay hurting my feelings?" Hannah asked.

"Julian will take care of you, it'll be fine," Vince said as if it made complete sense.

My food came out and I didn't waste a second to dig in. I managed to get away with not participating in the conversation. I was able to keep up the streak of silence as the guys came over for game night.

Nick entered the house ten minutes after the guys did, putting a small box in my hands. I looked at him with curiosity, not sure what I was holding.