Don't Leave Me

Chapter 8-Your eyes are cool

Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
-nursery rhyme

Here it is... November 16th; the day I've been dreading the most. To say I would rather be tortured than live this day, was an understatement. It was my birthday, the sweet 18 or whatever and I wanted nothing more than to hide under my blanket all day and pretend I don't exist. Not only was I expecting to see Kane today more than usually, but it is also the anniversary of my parents' deaths. So you can see why I was not in the mood to celebrate.

As much as I wanted to crawl in a hole and die, I couldn't, I've been doing so well recently, and I can't back out now. Sure, I was only doing great on the outside when actually it was all a façade, but still I had to keep up the performance. Even if I was actually on the verge of a mental breakdown.

I got out of bed and told myself this was going to be just like any other day. Birthday or not I had to keep it together.

"Happy birthday!!!!" Piper cheered enthusiastically and engulfed me in a bear hug. She smelled of pineapples and soap. She always smelled like soap; you know that clean scent that makes you want to inhale it all. I guess it was only fitting as she was the cleanest and most elegant person I knew.

Even know, in her pajamas with a party hat on, she looked like she could walk down a red carpet and all eyes would be on her. She gave me a hat too, the elastic band slapping me in the chin when she let it go. I groaned and tried my best to smile.

I was still a bit moody like I am every other morning so I mumbled a thank you, trying to pick my outfit for the day. I wasn't in the mood to dress nice so I grabbed the first hoodie and sweatpants I could find and put them on.

"I got you something." She grinned and handed me a perfectly packed box. I opened the box and retrieved the Chanel perfume. I took off the lid and inhaled the floral smell. It smelled like roses. My body wash smells like roses and strawberries so this perfume would fit perfectly.

"I love it, thank you so much." I hugged her again. I think I've hugged Piper more in these last months than I've hugged anyone else in my entire life. Perhaps except for my dad. His love language is hugs and crying so he used to do both around me.

"We should get going. Are you sure you don't want to go to London?" She asked hopeful, still in a happy mood that somehow made me feel even worse than I already did.

"No, I don't want to do anything special today. I just want it to be like a normal day." I tried to say this as nice as possible.

She pouted a little but she didn't say anything more. We went to have breakfast and a lot of people hugged me and wished me a happy birthday. Some of them I barely knew. It felt nice, I can't deny that, but even though I was surrounded by people, I felt alone; completely and utterly alone. I felt that something was missing. That I should have something that I didn't.

That black hole in my heart seemed a little smaller when Evan walked in and smiled at me. That gorgeous, wide smile that made my heart skip a beat. He always had a beautiful smile, one of his many traits that brought women to their knees. I had missed that smile.

I smiled back and returned to the plate of perfect pancakes in front of me. Not even they could make me happy anymore.

After we were done eating, Evan motioned for me to meet him outside and Piper went back to the dorm. Evan and I walked to his room, careful not to be seen. He let me enter first and then he entered too.

"Happy birthday." He said handing me a box and smiling. This time his smile wasn't that big but it still made my breath stop.

"You didn't have to get me anything." I said opening the box. I was glad he did. I loved presents and he knew that very well. The box contained two perfectly new black boxing gloves. "They're great. Thank you." I grinned without even realizing. I really needed some. My knuckles were in really bad shape.