Nobody remembered my birthday. I know I have been acting like I don’t care about it but it’s not enough reason to forget it. Mum didn’t remember, Daddy didn’t too. We left for school extra early today, throughout the ride I kept expecting him to pull up on me with a surprise but nothing. Even Benny forgot it.
School was extremely boring for me. During lunch hour, I was barely chatty. Ben either didn’t notice or he didn’t care. I couldn’t be mad at the band because they didn’t know my date of birth but my supposedly perfect boyfriend didn’t remember.
I don’t like him so much right now. I don’t like how he’s staring at me. Ben pinches my nose to elicit a reaction from me but all I give him is a sneer. Even that doesn’t bother him.
His arm hangs outside the car, head pokes outside so the sun is shining on his face. I slap his leg for no reason and he lets out an exaggerated groan.
“What is it?”
Everything. “Nothing.” Under his gaze, I am so tempted to spit the words out but nothing happens. Deep lines appear on his forehead and he purses his lips. “Do you have something to tell me?”
“No.” My heart breaks again. I can easily tell him it’s my birthday but it’s no fun. I will be mad at him if he forgot. Ben inserts the key into the ignition without starting the car. “Do you?” There’s nothing to say to him. He eventually starts the car and it jerks to a slow pace. We drive out of the school at the same speed, keeping to the slow lane. “Let’s go out.”
A small smile lifts my lips. Maybe he has a surprise for me. “Okay. Where to, Benny?”
The car picks up speed and we switch lanes. “I was thinking an ice-cream shop like the one at San Francisco.” Not bad. I love ice-cream. “You like?”
I clap like an overexcited school girl on her last day of school. “I love. Let’s get ice-cream.”
Hitting the radio, a familiar song comes on and we sing along. Ben stretches his hand on the console and I interlock our fingers. I am still grounded but my parents didn’t remember my birthday so this is some sort of rebellion against them.
We drive up the highway in silence, I perk up when he slows down in front of an ice-cream parlour. It’s quite different from what we are used to. There’s a short line of people waiting to get their ice-cream.
After our order, Ben suggests for us to eat it in the car. I agree. His phone rings as we are about to step out of the ice-cream parlour, he gives me his bowl and excuses himself. I try not to think too much about it but it’s the only thing on my mind when he returns.
Outside, he leans on the roof of the car. “Your ice-cream is melting,” he says to the untouched bowls of ice-cream on the console. Sliding inside, he picks one bowl. He scoops a spoonful and brings it to my mouth but I refuse to open. “Gracie.”
Because Ben looks so cute with that grin, my mouth opens. Halfway into feeding me, I stop him. “Who was that?” His scrunched brows make me add, “The person who called.” His shoulders rotate casually and my heart clenches. He is hiding something. Something I guess starts with an ‘o’ and ends with an ‘a’. We haven’t talked about her. “Benny.”
“It was no one, I am serious.” Liar. No one and he spent four minutes on the call. Ben scoops more ice-cream into his mouth, then attempts to feed me. I turn my face away from him to the window. There’s a couple by the window of the ice-cream parlour feeding each other. “Gracie, come on. What did I do? Tell me. It’s not just about the phone call.”
Sparing him a look, I say, “I’m tired, that’s all.”
A ringtone blasts through the air before Ben replies, he opens the door and steps outside the car to receive the call. The ice-cream loses its sweetness in my mouth, I cover the bowl and push it under my seat. Ben is a few metres away from me, too far for me to hear a word he is saying to the caller.
Jolts of pain flicker through me. I might be paranoid but that is the behaviour of a cheating partner. My phone rings before I can dwell too much on it.
Maria. I half-smile.
“Hey,” I say into the phone and she bursts into a birthday chorus. My lips twitch in a smile and my eyes follow Ben walking towards the car. He stops behind the car before his and massages his forehead. Maria’s chorus comes to an end, the ensuing silence reminds me I have to speak. “Thank you, bestie.”
“Whatever. What’s the plan?”
“Benny took me to get ice-cream.”
“Ouu, nice. Where is he now?”
Ben waves at me and I roll my eyes. The award of worse boyfriend of the year goes effortlessly to him. I bring my legs to my chest. “On a phone call.”
The rest of our conversation is a blur, she ends it with a promise to get me a present. The laughter in her voice hints at the naughty present that will come my way but the thought dies down once Ben gets into the car.
Stretching across the seat, he palms my face and presses his lips onto mine. I’m angry but my lips part for his tongue to slide inside. Ben pulls away from the kiss with a grin and says, “Let’s make out.”
“Is that why you wanted us to reconcile? So we can make out?” I snap. His expression crashes. If I listen closely, I might also hear his heart breaking. I am upset. I am hurt by the fact he forgot my eighteenth birthday. “Let’s just go home. I want to go home.”
To stop him from talking, I kiss him again. His frown intensifies, he hooks his finger under my jaw, searching my face for an explanation. “Are you okay?”
“I’m perfect.”
Back propped against his seat, he drums his fingers on the steering. “Gracie, are you mad at me for something?” Yes. He is hiding something from me. “If I did something you don’t like, please tell me.”
“It’s fine,” I reply with enough false enthusiasm and pinch his cheeks. “You’re perfect too.” I swat his hand from touching my face and he groans. “Take me home, Benny. I’m still grounded, remember?”
“Yeah. Sucks to be you right now.”
It’s a joke. I’m well aware of that but my chest tightens. It does suck to be me at the moment because my boyfriend, brother and parents don’t remember my birthday. The only person who remembered is miles away.
I take the hand he stretches out and we continue the ride in silence. Our new house comes into view, a one-storey building with more rooms than the people living in it. Mum is converting one of the rooms to a store.
We are halfway out of the car when something hits me. My hands flatten on the roof of the car while I wait for Ben to lock up. Today has been weird but this is the height of it. Ben looks up to me glaring at him. “How do you know the way to my house?”
Shock and confusion spreads all over his face but he covers it with a smile. “Gracie, you told me.”
“I didn’t.” We haven’t spoken about my house. He doesn’t even know what my bedroom looks like. He shouldn’t know the location. Has he been stalking me? He did that once. Ben draws closer to me. I take one step and he covers it until I am backed up against the car. His hands are on each side of me, keeping me caged between him and the car. I need answers. He needs to start talking. “Benny, how…”
Ben kisses the rest of the words from my lips. This kiss is more urgent than the last. It leaves my lips bruised, toes curled. His arms slide around my waist and he nibbles on my neck. With his lips on mine, I can’t think straight. He breaks it off but I am still dazed.
“You told me,” he says. “Have you forgotten?”
“I guess so. Sorry.” We start for the entrance of my house. I hesitate but Ben drags me up for the porch. My parents don’t know we are back together. I have been too much of a chicken to tell them. “Benny, I don’t think you should come inside with me.”
We are in front of the door but none of us knocks. He pecks me on my lips and knocks. “Why not? I want to. I need to properly apologise to them.”
“There’s no need.”
But he knocks again, harder. There’s scrambling behind the door and I smack the back of his head. He is too stubborn and I’m madly in love with him.
The door opens, we take one step inside and stop. Something is wrong. Everywhere is dark. My hands blindly reach for Ben and he’s right beside me immediately. A switch goes off, bright lights pour down from the ceiling. I squint so my eyes can adjust to the sudden brightness and a birthday chorus breaks out somewhere behind me.
Ben is in front of me clapping and singing. The chorus goes closer. Calum, Leah and Mira are also singing. Maria is here too. Oh, my God. Mum and Daddy are grinning sheepishly. They played me.
Mum grabs my hands and hugs me. She didn’t forget. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.” Dad follows behind her and murmurs something similar. I laugh as they pull away, feeling so stupid and loved.
The guests take turns to hug me. Calum is the last. His hug is stiff but I grin from ear to ear when he says, “Happy birthday, Tessa.”
Maria returns to my side after Calum is gone. This witch. I pinch her nose and she grins. She called me but she didn’t mention anything about this surprise. What are best friends for? I hug her again because I have missed her and I’m super happy to see her. We break away from the hug smiling at each other.
“You’re so stupid, Maria.”
Maria gasps, a hand goes over her mouth. Her blond hair is in perfect curls flowing down her shoulders. “That’s not what you say to someone who came all this way for you.” She juts a finger at Ben. “It was your boyfriend’s idea to make it a surprise.”
Ben throws his hands up in surrender, I shuffle towards him with my cheeks the colour of tomatoes. He holds out a balloon with birthday girl written on it. I accept it.
“You didn’t forget,” I whisper. Tears coat my eyes. Happy tears. I wipe them before they fall. The pad of his thumb brushes my cheek, he looks like he’s about to kiss me but changes his mind. Our parents are watching, our friends too. I damn the stares and kiss him. “I thought you did and it hurt my feelings.”
“Of course not. Come on. How can I forget my Gracie’s birthday?” I shrug. In my defence, he acted too indifferent about it. “Give me some credit, you are my favourite person in the whole world.”
I am pretty sure it is Asher and I am content with being his second favourite person. But I punch his shoulder. This is payback for keeping the surprise away from me.
“The first call was from Maria and the second one was from your mum. She was giving me directions to the house.” I knew it. We haven’t discussed my house before today. “Sorry I couldn’t tell you. Sorry I lied. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. I didn’t forget your birthday. Happy birthday, Gracie.”
I grin. “You’re the absolute worst, Benny.”
“And you’re the absolute best, Gracie.”