He wakes up to the sun shining bright in his face. With the curtains opened, he rubs his eyes of the sleepiness loitering and looks outside at the sky. The sun was shining and everything was at rest, the puffy white clouds move slowly against the light blue canvas.
Sitting up, the green ghost covered blanket falls off his bare chest and into his crossed lap. A smile plays at his face as he realizes he finally gets a name! After thirteen years of life on this 13th of April, the young man chooses a name that will stick with him for the rest of his life, something that'll help him identify as a human, what would it be?
"john. john egbert. sounds good, doesn't it, casey?" He diverts his green eyes from the scenery outside to look at the stuffed toy salamander sitting next to his computer. He doesn't expect an answer per usual and slides out of bed instead.
While getting up, he notices a cake next to the poster he hasn't put up yet. Giving a chuckle, he looks at the white frosting and blue candles placed randomly around the top of the cake. A small piece of paper lies beside the cake and he grabs it to read, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SON. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. John smiles, revealing his goofy teeth.
Being careful not to shake the dresser, just in case the cake falls, he opens a drawer and grabs his shirt, seemingly the only shirt he wears. The green ghost sits proudly on the white cover of his shirt and he walks over to the computer.
With his room clean and orderly, he passes by posters of movies hanging around on every wall and doesn't trip over anything useless, especially the heavy magic chest placed nicely in the corner. His unusual liking to lame movies and shows could leave anyone wondering what's so amazing that this young man finds in them? Nick Cage? Cliche explosions? What else is new? Seriously, there's nothing original in anything he likes, at least that's what his friends hope to let him see, but as usual he turns a blind eye to their comments on his viewing preferences.
His heavy steps leave clues of sleep resting on his body but takes no notice as John sits on his black spinny chair. He logs onto Pesterchum, finding no one there and no messages.
John shrugs, not knowing what to do now. Well, he guessed no one was up this early. That is until TurntechGodhead leaves a message
TG: happy birthday egbert
EB: thanks, Dave!
TG: ready for some rad shit dude
EB: yeah! Are Rose and Jade gonna be there?
TG: once we all get there
EB: cool! I'll see you there then!
TG: yeah
Grabbing Casey on the way out, John looks out the window again. This time he stares at the ground, searching for his father. Not finding him there, he looks to the mail. The red flag still raised high, attached to the wooden contraption, he assumes it's safe to go out without his dad stopping him. He opens his door slowly and looks into the hallway. The brown, poster covered door creaks loudly, betraying him.
"shhh..." He says to no one imparticular, just the inanimate door. Giving himself a face palm, he feels the red sting on his face.
"not hard enough to bruise, but hard enough to sting," he comments to himself again,or perhaps Casey; well, not like she heard him. He looks into the hallway, cautious of any silhouettes or shadows of the grown up he knew from birth.
"go go go!" He whisper-yells as he rolls out his room, throwing his beloved "daughter" from his arms and in the air. Not calculating how that would've worked out, she stumbles down the carpeted steps 10 feet away, making John run after her.
After catching up to the yellow salamander, he looks around cautiously. No Dad, he reports. The same goes for when he opens the door to go outside. The bright sun blinds him, but he feels the summer air on his legs, not covered by shorts, and the blistering wave of heat shower through his long sleeved shirt. Holding Casey under his armpits, he rides his bicycle the few miles to their meet up.
"John!" Her unmistakable yell is mixed with the sounds of technology around them.
"hey, Ja- Oof!" The glomping hug throws the air out of his lungs as he wraps his arms around her. She gets off of him, smiling widely and holding out the carefully wrapped package.
"Happy birthday!" She says repeatedly as the walk to a bench placed inside the entrance of the two story building. John takes the present, wanting to wait to open the present.
They sit, letting others walk by to go have fun, and talk there way through subjects cut off from their previous conversations on the online chatting site. Their talk of school and such is cut off as the two blonde siblings walk in.
Dave gives a nod of the head as Rose waves to Jade and John. Taking a green box out of her purple purse, Rose says with a smile,"Happy birthday, John!" Dave also wishes a happy birthday and holds out a red box of his own.
John takes them as they walk to the cafeteria tables and sit. Jade urges John to open the presents as they talk and he does, wanting her to stop her barking.
Chuckling after she calms, he opens Jade's gift to him first. Once the fancy space themed wrapping was torn away, three manga books lay on the table, gawked at by John and Dave, slightly.
"damn, dude jade" he swears. "where'd you get them?" Dave questions, marveling at the hard to find comics.
"Magic~," she jokes, swishing her pointer finger in the air as if she were a witch with a wand and powers.
John and Rose chuckle and John gives her a hug, thanking her for the amazing gift.
Rose asks John to open her present next and he obliges. The purple ribbon slips easily off and the box opens without any tear. John smiles as he pulls out the rabbit. The bunny with its robotic features is stitched carefully and Rose smiles at him, knowing he would like it. "wow, rose!" He says happily surprised. "thanks!" He gives her a hug too and Dave pushes his presents closer to John, waiting.
John lets go of Rose and opens the red box open easily. Inside is a case of CD's, all labeled with a different title. Things like "Saviour of the Waking World," and "Blackest Hearts," are written in Dave's somewhat messy handwriting but are still eligible. John smiles at the CD's, thinking of how long it must've took Dave. John turns to Dave, who is sitting down and he opens his arms, waiting for a hug.
"egbert that's gay."
"c'mon, dave, the girls got hugs, now you to!" He gets closer to the boy as the girls watch them, laughing.
Dave rolls his eyes, not like they can see that anyways and gives John the "brohug", as Dave puts it. Their hug lasts no longer than two seconds and John puts all the presents in a bag, along with Casey. All four of them walk out the cafeteria after eating pizza and go over to the real fun.
With four hours left until closing, the four friends go over to their favorite machine. "Homestuck" is written colorfully huge on the top of the arcade style game. Gray creature with horns are drawn on the sides, portraying the twelve main trolls on the left side and their ancestors with cherubs and other characters on the right, including the self-inserted creator, Andrew Hussie. John, Rose, Jade, and Dave already know which troll from Alternia is which and they already know their stories.
Of course, they haven't defeated the game yet, no one has. But with all four of their scores combined, they've defeated the "alpha kids" who come in during the week: Jake, Roxy, Dirk, and Jane. But no one has beaten the one score that lay above their's in gold at the top, "Ms. Paint." No one has seen her, they don't even know if she comes in anymore. (Or if she is a she)
But that doesn't matter to the "beta kids", as they call themselves, while they play on John's birthday, a game for fun and enjoyment.
How it should've been.