Pen to paper

Luna

.My first kiss. I never thought that my first kiss would be with a stranger on New Years Eve, but there we were. Like I was right in the middle of a Hallmark movie. Okie dokie artichokie, I guess that was it. The kiss was... nice. I think it would have been better if I had actually spoken two words to the guy beforehand, and you know, knew his name? But I don't know.. I even added shakiness to my voice so he would think I liked the kiss. It was kind of meh. He's not that great of a kisser, if I'm being completely honest. Was I going to tell him this? No. Was I going to help him improve? Yes.

Nick and I started dating two days, twelve hours, and five minutes after we kissed. Not that I counted the seconds or anything, I'm not a weirdo. Okay, fine. It was twenty-seven seconds. Our date was at the diner, the whole time he kept going on about how he wanted to join the water polo team and his friends. It was kind of boring, but I still listened, and he was pretty funny at times.

In February, he made it on the water polo team. I ended up memorizing his entire water polo schedule so I wouldn't miss a game. I never missed a game and in March, they had their best game yet. But, he seemed kind of disappointed, not very talkative, afterwards even though they won. Almost like he expected something or... someone else to come. This was after every game though, so I didn't think much of it.

"I'm so excited about my birthday next week!" I told him the day after his game.

"Umm.. do you think you could help me pick out my outfit the day before? I think if you helped me, it would make it more special,"

"Make what- uhh. Yeah, sure whatever," He nodded, once again. I don't think he was listening to me, but he agreed so I will definitely hold him to it.

It was finally the day before my birthday, so naturally, like we planned, I called Nick. He called me two hours later than we originally planned and he didn't cooperate too much. He kept on getting annoyed and seemed like he just wanted to hang up, but he didn't, so I guess it was fine. We stayed on the call until midnight trying to pick out that outfit. But, I will say, it was worth it. That outfit was really cute and it made me more excited for the next day, like I had hoped. I wondered if he was going to get me anything.

When I got to school my friend Maya was waiting for me. She was the first person that I met at this school.

"Hey birthday girl!" She said as she hugged me. She had a bag with wrapping paper coming out of it. It was really nice.

"Aww thanks, Maya." She handed me the gift.

"So are you excited to see what Nick will give you? Or at least see if he remembers?"

"Oh I know he'll remember. He helped me pick out the outfit and everything."

"Luna! You're so lucky!" She said.

That Wednesday, I walked through the halls with my birthday crown slowly, but surely, collecting balloons and gifts from others. I wanted to see Nick before class started, so I dropped off my gifts in my first period class. I walked back out of the classroom and turned the corner. Almost immediately, I saw Nick. He looked... shocked to say the least, when he saw me.

"Hey, Luna," He said, wide eyed.

"Oh, hey Nick!" Perfect, he's here. Right on time.

"So um.. that outfit is... special huh?" He said, perplexed.

"Yeah! Well I feel like it should be, at least for today," I don't understand. Why is he acting so weird? "Thanks for helping me pick it out last night."

"Yeah no problem, it's just.. uh... what's with the crown? I mean I know you're starting to get more popular around here, but don't you think the crown is a bit much?" I stared at him, confusion overwhelming me, as I slowly let my crown fall into my hand. A small smile started to grow on his face. Is this some kind of joke or prank?

I started to feel small, "Well, I don't know, I just thought today it would be nice," I mumble. I look up at him and see a slight annoyance in his eyes. Am I crazy? Did he just expect me to be casual about my birthday?

"What is so important today Luna?!" He shouted, like he was angry with me for some reason. Sadness rushed through me and suddenly, I exploded.

"What?! I can't believe you! We have been talking about this for over a week! Do you even listen to me? Do you not even remember why you helped me pick out this outfit? Is that why you were so annoyed yesterday?!" I stop for a moment, seeing that he's looking the other way, "Am I even... important to you?" He looks back at me, but he looks confused. Like he only caught part of what I said. "That's it! I've had it. We're done!" I snapped, anger was all that I could feel at that moment.

"Wha- what do you mean we're done?" He said, baffled.

"Do you really want to know, Nick? Or are you just going to nod and ignore me like usual? Cause I'd rather not waste my voice anymore," I want to be done with this. I want to be done with him. How can you, as a decent person, forget your own girlfriend's birthday?!

"No, I really want to know!" He blurted.

"Today is my birthday! I have been talking about it for over a week!" I yelled. He looked.. shocked.

Irritation flowed into his face as he said, "Sorry, but you never told me."

I can't do it. I won't do it. I don't want to continue with him. What is going through his head? I wanted to know. But, I had much more of an urge to leave. I start forward and pause to finally end this, "Goodbye, Nick," and I walk away. Free from this hardship that I've had to deal with, all on my birthday.

But dignity was a great gift nonetheless.