glitched | ✔️

f i f t e e n

Chelsie POV

This was it.
My birthday.

And I had been right- nobody had remembered.

I forced myself to push the feeling of crushing sadness away and tried to forget the fact that today was supposed to be my sweet sixteenth.
After all, I had many things to be thankful for.
I was safe.
I was alive.
I had Olivia and Yulia...

Wasn't that the point of all this? To stay alive?

The last month had been annoyingly repetitive and structured.
I woke up, went to school, than usually home with Olivia to do homework.
On Saturdays there was often some party at Theo's or some group trip to the mall that I attended.
Than on Sunday Yulia and I would go out to eat and have a movie night.

I'm not really complaining. I mean, it's nice to have friends and places to be.
It's nice to hang around people who accept me for who I am.

Even though most of them are convinced that I would be a better me if I was with Theo.

Every time I'm at a party and up on the karaoke people always give me some love song or another to sing.
It gets old quickly.

I push thoughts of Theo out of my mind as I climb out of bed and into the shower.
My mind can't help but turn to Amara.
She's sixteen today...

I've been looking at her Instagram every day sense the coffee shop and all her photos don't really give me insight into her.
I miss her.

I sigh, quickly rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.
It's a Sunday- Yulia and I have our usual lunch scheduled for twelve.
I debate bringing up my birthday and, as I dry off, decide against it.

It's not really that big of a deal, anyway.

The only major difference is that I will be able to finally get my license and that all my papers will say 'sixteen'.

I brush on some makeup and slip into a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and fuzzy socks, throwing a coat over that and waddling down the stairs, collapsing on the couch wrapped in a blanket.
I grab the remote and switch on Netflix, scrolling through.
Ugh.
How can there be so much yet nothing at all?

I turn off the TV and lay there, staring at the ceiling listlessly.
Bolt hobbles into the room, grunts when he sees me, and hobbles out.

Sometimes I really don't like that dog.

I'm about to go up to my room to get my phone when Yulia walks down the stairs in boots and a winter coat, her makeup more glam than usual and her hair in beautiful braids spilling over her shoulders.
I blink at her.
Oh yeah.
The lunch date.

She raises an eyebrow at me and I roll off the couch.
"Give me a minute."

I run up to my room and fix my mess of a hair than run back downstairs, pulling on a pair of boots and a coat.
Yulia is already waiting for me in the car when I slide in, my breath fogging up the cold air.

"Where are we going for lunch today?"

"You'll see," she starts the car and pulls out of the driveway.

I close my eyes, exhaling and leaning my head back against the headrest. After awhile I open my eyes and glance out the window.
"...what? Why are we in Olivia's neighborhood?"

"Her mom said you left something at her house the other day. We will pick it up before lunch."

I shrugged as we pulled up to Olivia's gate. Yulia tapped in the code and the gates swung open.
We parked in front of her house (or rather, mansion) and Yulia gestured for me to hop out.

I braced myself for the cold and entered the freezing air.

As soon as I got to the front door it swung open wide and Ms. Linda stood there and smiled brightly.
"Come in girls, it's cold out here."

Me and Yulia shuffled into the dark house.

I glanced around in confusion. "Did y'all loose power?"

"Not exactly..."

The lights blaze on.
"Surprise!" Voices shout, familiar faces everywhere.

I can't keep my hands from flying to my mouth.
"Oh my God...."
My eyes mist over as I turn in slow circles. Everyone is grinning at me.
Oh my God.

Olivia runs over and wraps me in a tight hug, rocking back and forth.
I hug her back, trying not to cry.
"This is... this is amazing, Liv."

She smiles. "Yulia told us today was your birthday and I couldn't just do nothing."

I turn to Yulia and hug her tightly.

"Don't ever forget that I love you, okay Chelsie?" She whispers in my ear, before pushing me back to look at my face.
She uses the back of one of her knuckles to wipe a tear from my cheek.
"Just because all seems gone doesn't mean it's all different. We just have to adapt."
I smile.
"Thank you, Yulia."

She smiled and gives me a little smack on my arm. "Now go party!"

I laugh, hugging all my friends. When it comes to Theo he hugs me a little longer.
He smells like ginger.
Candied ginger.

I smile, thinking of our first meeting.
It seems like ages ago.

"So... who's going to the winter dance?" Olivia asks, looking around at everyone as we sit around a table- snacking.

Everyone raises there hand.
Except Theo.
And, well, except me.

I look at Olivia and tilt my head. "I didn't know you were going."
She grins sheepishly. "Ethan asked me."

I inwardly chuckled evilly.
Ever since the first mall trip where they had paired up I had been shipping them hard.
I was glad she had found someone.

"You're not going, Gracie? I thought David asked you," Trisha commented, confusion etched on her features.
I shifted uncomfortably.
"I don't really know him all that well..."

"And Theo? What's your excuse?"

Theo frowned. "Don't really have one."

There was silence.
One of Theo's friends pulled him away and they began talking and I turned to the girls, who were staring meaningfully at me.

"What?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You can be so dense. He likes you, Gracie!"

"What?" I mean... I had suspected...

Lani groans. "You two should just start dating already, it's painful to watch."

"Gee, thanks."

"No offense," she added.

I laughed lightly. "None taken."

•••

When Theo strode confidently over an hour later and asked me to the dance, damn it all, I said yes.
I said yes.

The look on his face was enough to make me start grinning like an idiot.
He was so cute when he was happy.

Olivia walked by, cackling. "It worked! My evil plan worked!"
I rolled my eyes.

But in the end I found I was actually excited for the dance... like really excited.

•••

Yo I'm just jamming out to 'Lost in the Woods' from the Frozen 2 soundtrack and I have no shame.

Anyway. XD

Hoped you enjoyed this chapter.
Next is Amaraaaaaaaa.
:)