"I searched the sand for sound, my eyes forced to the ground. The wind it laughed wild and shrill - my heart it tried to spill its crazy tears." -Donovan

Belated Forgiveness Plea

An hour before the sun rose, Dwayne took Rosalie home on his motorbike - she was hesitant to get off and of course, Dwayne knew so.

"Thank you," she said, standing next to the him with her jacket wrapped tightly around her arms. "I guess I'll see you soon."

"Yeah. And Rose?"

She turned to look at him from halfway up the drive.

"Yes?"

"Happy birthday." Rosalie couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face, and she turned around to hide her blush. Dwayne took off on his motorbike and Rosalie tip-toed up the front porch, used the key to unlock the front door, and stepped into the living room.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed Amy standing a few feet away in her pajamas, slippers, and hair in curlers. Her arms were crossed over her chest.

"Where have you been?" she asked angrily, eyebrows furrowed. "Do you know how long I've waited up for you? Six hours, Arabella!"

"I'm sorry . . . I-"

"No excuses. You know the curfew, and I expect you to obey my rules. I am your mother!"

"No, you aren't!" Rosalie finally exploded, tears pricking her eyes. "I'm sorry, but you are not my mother! Carlie will always be my mother, my true mother!"

Amy's face went incredibly stony, and Rosalie realized what she had said.

". . . I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It's not that I don't appreciate you trying. I do. But you can't just make 13 years-"

"Go to your room. Now."

"But-"

"Now, Arabella. You are not going out anymore, only straight to work and back. You will come back when your brother does and that is it."

"I said I was sorry!"

"I don't care." Rosalie was now angry, realizing she wouldn't get to see her friends for however long. But she decided to be glad with the fact that her brother spent his nights getting drunk and not coming home until early in the morning.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? It's my birthday."

"I know very well what day it is." She glared at Rosalie, and the glare was returned as Rosalie brushed past.

"Happy birthday to me, huh? I hate this place." Rosalie stomped up the stairs and into her room, making sure to slam her door as hard as she could. She let out a deep sigh and flopped onto the bed to stare at the ceiling as she thought of Carlie.

Carlie would have never done this to her on her birthday. Rosalie never got in trouble with Carlie.

Then again, I never felt a need to rebel this way . . . Rosalie rolled over onto her side, watching as sunlight began to stream across the floor. She knew that by now, Dwayne would be asleep in the cave with the others. Dwayne . . .

He's not as bad as I thought. We like a lot of the same things, Rosalie thought to herself, eyelids suddenly growing heavy. I hope I get to see him soon. Especially now that I'm on fucking lockdown.

Her eyes closed and didn't open until late morning, when she was awoken by the phone near her bed ringing. She picked up the heavy receiver and held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Happy birthday!" Despite being upset, Rosalie cracked a smile at the cheery tone of Cindy's voice.
"Thanks."

"What're you doing tonight?" Rosalie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Nothing. Mom has me on lockdown."

"What? Why?"

"Okay, so most of it is my fault, but . . . I stayed out most of the night with the boys. She caught me sneaking in, grounded me, I said some things that were true that I didn't mean . . ."

"Damnit, Rosalie." Cindy paused. "Maybe I can talk to her, ask if she'd be okay with me taking you out or something. I'm sorta trustworthy, no?"

"You have your moments."

"Shut up." Rosalie smiled and moved the receiver to her other ear. "So . . . how's things with you and Mr. Mystery going?"

"Since when do you call him that?"

"Since now."

Rosalie laughed, then said, "Well . . . I don't know. Things are just really confusing, and . . . he kissed me last night."

"Oh wow! Really? How was it?"

"Unexpected, kind of angsty. I mean, you know, I do like him, but I just don't know him all that well. We have some things in common but I haven't seen much of him yet."

"Okay . . . I'll give you a test."

"A test."

"Just trust me. Okay, does he look at you a lot?"

"All the time."

"And does he smile when he looks at you?" Cindy asked.

"No, I mean - wait, Cindy, are you reading this from a magazine?"

". . . No."

Rosalie rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"Tell me about you and Marko."

"Things are going steady. I like his company, and he has the sweetest smile." She smirked, and then heard shuffling. "Shit, Rose, I gotta go. Dad's gotta use the phone. I'll see you later, okay? I'll stop by the house or something."

"Okay, Cindy. Bye." She set the phone down and ran her hands over her forehead, then stood up. Rosalie decided she needed a shower and a fresh change of clothes, even if she was certain she would be stuck in the house all day.

By the time she had gotten done with a shower, her makeup, and her clothes, there was a knock on the door. She didn't reply as she pinned up her hair and caught a glimpse of Amy in her mirror.

"Where're you going?" she asked, taking notice that Rosalie wasn't wearing her normal outfit. Rosalie didn't turn.

"It's my birthday. Even if I'm not going out, I want to look nice." Amy sighed.

"Arabella, we were both upset earlier. I understand that you're angry, but I was worried, is all. I didn't know if something happened again." She caught her breath and Rosalie glanced up at her. "I want you to spend today with your family, and if you behave, I'll let you go out for a few hours. But after that, you're grounded."

Rosalie was tired and decided to take what she could get.
"Thank you," she said, and stood up to straighten out her skirt. She followed Amy down the stairs into the dining room, where her family sat around a cake with seventeen candles.

"Happy birthday!" Laddie cried, running towards Rosalie to hug her. She couldn't help but smile. "I got you a present!"

"Did you?" she asked, and Laddie nodded as he pulled her towards the table where a crudely wrapped present was.

"Open it! Open it!" he said as soon as she was seated. She smiled as she peeled away the newspaper to look down at the thick card with stick people drawn onto the cover.

"That's me, and that's you, and that's Cindy!" he said, pointing to each of the characters. Across the top were the words 'Hapee birtday' in two colors of crayon that made Rosalie smile even wider. "Do you like it?"

"I love it, Laddie. Thank you." She hugged her little brother tightly before Amy lit the candles on her cake. She started to sing Happy Birthday under her breath, growing louder and louder and forcing the others to join in. Rosalie stared down at the pink cake in front of her and once the song ended, she blew out the candles.

I wish for a star-filled sky.

Laddie clapped as the smoke travelled in spirals through the air, and as a slice of cake was placed in front of him. When Rosalie went to take the first bite of cake there was a knock at the door, and Amy went to answer it. She came back with Cindy.

"Happy birthday!" Cindy said, sitting next to Laddie before Amy slid a piece of cake her way. Cindy then slid a box across the table. "I got you something."

"You didn't have to!" Rosalie said, and then peeled away the wrappings. She gasped as she held up a handmade friendship bracelet with her name on it. "Cindy, you sweetheart!"

Cindy tsked and ate more of her cake, and Amy stood to pick up a present that had been sitting in the kitchen. Rosalie looked at her curiously before she opened the present as well to see new clothes, money, and a pair of red Converse. She couldn't help but smile at her family's kindness and thanked them.

When Cindy was done with her cake, Amy allowed them to leave the house so long as Rosalie was back by midnight and no later - Rosalie took what she could and decided it was better than nothing, even if it was still clear she would have a lack of freedom.