Excuse the typos

ONE

nothing was out of the ordinary on that cold day in January. Analynn- or lynn as she preferred to be called- sat staring out the window, carelessly sketching in her notebook. All of her classes had been canceled due to an accident the college that killed three students & 2 professors.

She began to feel the familiar itch in her hand as she sketched a new picture. First eyes...dark eyes, then a face. she had no control over what she was drawing & looked it admiringly. it was a face of a man with dark hair & dark eyes. He wasn't smiling but something told her he had a brilliant smile.

she shook her head & put the notebook in her bag. the sun was setting and she was supposed to be getting ready to go to dinner with some friends. she quickly grabbed her clothes off the counter and went to take a shower. she turned the water on, undressed, and got it.

the hot water felt good against Lynn's cold skin. she washed her hair and shaved her legs before turning the water off, wrapping her towel around herself, and going to the sink to brush her teeth. After her teeth were clean she got dressed, dried her hair, and grabbed her keys to leave.

Her friends were already at a table waiting when she arrived. it was 8:30pmand the restaurant was packed. Connor, a dishwater blonde with green eyes was sitting at the fatherst end of the table arguing with Ethan, who was sitting to his left, about sports. Jamie was next to Ethan, reapplying her already too think make-up. across from them sat Jason and his girlfriend, Annie. The 2 of them were engaged in their own private conversation about their date the previous night. Finally, Lynns closest friend, Addie, was at the end opposite of Connor. She had started biting her lip and picking at her nails, a habit she had picked up from lynn, worrying that she wasn't coming.

"Sorry I'm late..." Lynn said as she gave Addie a quick hug. Addie was close to the same height as lynn with auburn hair that fell in layers to her shoulders and bright hazel eyes.

"It's fine," she said returning the hug and smiling "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"I wouldn't do that to you..." she was going to say more but Annie interrupted

"Analynn!" she said in her too loud, nasally, voice. "It's about time you got here."

"It's Lynn." Addie and Lynn said at the same time. Annie wasn't apart of the group and was only tolerated because she was with Jason.

"I didn't know she was coming..." Addie whispered as Lynn took her seat next to Jamie. Lynn shook her head to tell her not to worry about it before giving her order to the waiter. They had all eaten and had been sitting around talking when Addie excused herself to go out to her car. After a few minutes she returned holding a bright green gift bag with sky blue tissue paper.

"Happy 23rd birthday, Lynn!" she said

She never knew why but for as long as she could remember, Lynn hadn't liked her birthday. She did her best every year to get by with out celebrating it, but rarely succeeded.

"You cant get mad... I know you'd rather forget your birthday...but I couldn't call myself your best friend if I didn't get you something..." she said as she handed Lynn the bag.

Lynn took the bag and opened it. Inside was a white gold necklace with a cresent moon pendent. The cresent was filled with delicate swirls and 3 small diamond settings. Hanging from the top was another stone. This one was a purple amethyst. Lynn had always preferred the night to the day and loved looking at the moon. Somehow no matter where she was or how she was feeling it made her feel like she was home.

"Thanks, Addie! I love it." Lynn said giving her a hug. Addie was the only one who had bought a gift, but the rest of the group (aside from Annie) pitched in to pay for her dinner. The group made their way to the parking lot and one by one dwindled until it was only Lynn and Addie. They talked for a while before going their separate ways. Addie had a test to study for and lynn was exhausted from not getting any sleep the night before. Lynn got in her truck and was getting ready to pull out when her phone lit up.

-"Hey...It's me. Im going to be in town...see ya soon. -D"

Lynn looked at the number but it wasn't one she recognized. she looked at the message again before deleting it and passing it off as a wrong number.

It was about Midnight when Lynn finally crawled into bed. It was January 17th. Her birthday had officially arrived.