Two-Faced Day Pt 1
It was one of those mornings where you get up and feel perfectly fine. Not drowsy, not icky; just perfect. It felt nice to be away from the usual dreadful mornings where I take forever just to get out of bed.
I pulled the curtains back to reveal a nice sunny 8:30 morning. I washed up in the bathroom and approached the closet. I felt like being a little dressy just because it was my birthday, but not too much to make a commotion. I put on my dark jeans and a white long-sleeve top, with a dark teal no-sleeved hoodie over it; and tied a black jacket around my waist. I grabbed my brown boots and decided to go leave it by the front door.
I opened my door. Instead of finding the vast hallway, I found a giant plank of wood blocking my way. …Who put the bookcase in front of my door? I set the boots down and tried pushing the thing. It wouldn't budge. I banged on the shelf. "Hey! Let me out!" Silence.
The doorbell rang. I wondered who would care to visit early in the morning, but something registered in my mind- Sydney and the twins. I gasped and hammered the bookshelf again. I heard footsteps go toward the front. "Do not answer the door! It's for your own good!"
"Okay, comrade."
I sighed in relief. "Can you move the shelf while you're there?"
"I can't do that, comrade."
I hit my head against it. Great… I hurried to my window and opened it completely, knocking out the screen in the process. I put on my boots and jumped out. Luckily, my window faced the front of the house on the first floor so I could get out just fine. I went to the front and found Sydney waiting by the door.
She spun around on her heels once I got closer. She raised a brow. "Where did you come from?"
I laughed. "My family's crazy and wouldn't let me out to answer the door."
"Then why didn't they just answer the door?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Probably that busy or something."
She had a suspicious look but she swept it aside with a smile. "Well anyway," she held up two gift bags, "Happy Birthday."
I took the pastel-colored bags and matched the smile. "Thank you so much. The twins couldn't make it?"
"Ja, it's a shame too since Ly wanted to come so badly." Sydney crossed her arms. "That silly girl got herself sick from eating a strange combination of things for dessert."
I wonder what it was… "Well, can you tell them 'Thank you' for me? I'll text them later too." When I get my new phone…
She nodded. "I was going to go back to them anyway." She made her way towards the gate. "I hope you enjoy your day. Cherish every moment of it, you hear?"
I smiled. "Yes ma'am." I watched her off until she turned a corner. I quickly returned to my room's window. I climbed back inside and set the bags on my desk. I had this tradition where I opened all the presents at once. I found it more fun that way. I walked over to the bookcase and pressed my ear against it. I heard clatters of plates and shouting and bickering and laughing; the usual commotion times five. It was only nine in the morning yet they were that busy. Sheesh…
I didn't feel like lingering in my room for long so I decided to go take a walk to school and back. Just twenty minutes, they won't miss me, right? I climbed back out and closed my window in case someone tried to sneak in.
It was a little chilly but the sun's presence was comforting. I put my hands in my hoodie pocket and strolled down the street. Birthday already, huh..? I kicked at a rock. I've only known the guys for eight months. It's only been several weeks since we moved over here. It's been forever since I last worked. It's been eight months since my mother's death.
I sighed. She would always try making a cake but something would go wrong. She wasn't the best baker so she relied on April's bakery to whip up some special cake for me. Then my mother would take me out somewhere, wherever her budget could take her at that time. Last year she took me to see a movie and then we had a nice lunch at a Thai place. Dinner was always on Ciro. He was seriously like an uncle to me. Melancholy and nostalgia meshed inside my head. I missed them so much. It's all different now.
"Hey~!" A hand smacked against my back. Once I was out of my trance, I was immediately greeted by a hug. Elizabeta let go and greeted me with a huge grin on her face. "Happy Birthday!"
I laughed awkwardly since I was caught off-guard. "Thank you, Elizabeta."
"I didn't think I was going to run into so early. I was going to visit you later this afternoon." She took my hand and started walking in a certain direction. "Come! I want to give you your present."
I wasn't quite sure on how to react so I decided to just go with it. She led me into an alleyway that I never knew existed. A little while, past some foliage, I found a tent and a pile of charred sticks by an abandoned building. She finally let go of my hand and crawled into her makeshift tent. She lives in a place like this..?
She came back out with a small box and placed it in my hand. Her silent excitement beckoned me to open the little case. I did just that and found a little doll keychain. Judging by the material, it looked handmade. The doll reminded me of a matryoshka but it looked like me. I giggled. "It's so cute, thank you."
She clasped her hands together. "I'm so glad you like it!"
I asked her how she made it, and before I knew it, forty-five minutes had flown by. She stuck her cigarette against the concrete ground and tossed it in a trash bag. I was surprised that she smoked. Apparently her old owner was a smoker and it just caught on to her. The wind was going away from me so it didn't bother me that much. I got up and dusted off my pants. I thanked her again for the gift and told her to stop by later at night for dinner.
I ran back home in fear of what the guys would do if they found me gone. I didn't have a phone to tell them anything so I knew they would flip. I scampered back home and just as I had dreaded, I heard frantic shouting.
"Oh mon dieu, where did she go?!"
"There is no way she could have slipped past that shelf, daze!"
"Way to go, commie!"
"It was your idea to block her door, da?"
When I got to the window, I propped my arms up on the sill. I rested my chin on my arms and decided to watch them panic for a little more. When I thought it was long enough, I tapped on the glass to get their attention. A huge look of relief swept through their faces. Yong Soo opened the glass and I removed the screen. I got myself up but Alfred pulled me in completely and held me bride-style. I just stared at him. "Uhh… thanks. Can you put me down?"
He smirked. "No way man! It's time to get your birthday started!" He bolted out of my room with me still in his arms. He set me down at the dining room and before me was a hearty plate of pancakes all stacked up and frosted with whipped cream. Written sloppily with syrup on top was 'Happy Birthday'.
I laughed and waited for the rest to take their seats. "You've got to be kidding me. A pancake-cake?" And whose idea would this be?
"Do you like it? Do you like it? Feliciano piped from his seat across from me. The look in his eye and his eager excitement told me that it was his idea. I wasn't surprised.
"Si." I smiled at him. I picked up the knife and hacked away at it to share with the guys.
After breakfast, Ivan told me that they had planned to take me ice skating. I've never done it before in my life so I was pretty excited. We commuted to the indoor ice skating rink by bus and were relieved that not many people were there. I mean it would have been fine if it was packed so that I didn't have to make a fool of myself alone from potentially falling over so many times, but the open space was nice too.
I had Ivan do my skates' laces since he said that they had to be tied a certain way. Him being a man of winter, I trusted his words. I glanced over at the rink and saw that Alfred, Gilbert, and Arthur were already on the ice. They glided across as if it was nothing. I started to get nervous because I couldn't even imagine myself being able to stand on the ice.
"It will be all right, comrade." Ivan tugged at the laced for the last time. He pulled out a pair of gloves from his coat pocket and placed them in my hands. He smiled at me. "We can help you through, da?"
His large hands were really warm compared to mine. I glimpsed at the rink again and back at him. "Well, if you say so."
"So." He grinned. He helped me get on the rink.
I clung onto the edges. Come on, Nana… You can do this… I carefully slid forward with my right foot. I moved about half a foot forward. Okay, I got my balance… I moved with my left foot. Then right. Then left again.
"You're doing very well, padrooga!" Ivan called from behind me.
I think I actually got the hang of this…I carefully turned around while holding onto the wall. I smiled to myself in triumph. I went about seven yards without falling. Feliciano waved at me from the other end and I waved back. I saw that Yao was sitting in the sidelines drinking tea from a thermos he brought. Francis, Yong Soo, and Gilbert were up to something but I really didn't want to know what at the moment. I decided to go back to my starting point. When I was halfway there, I heard a warning yell but I couldn't move away in time. Someone slid right into me, held onto my waist, and his weight forced me to fall over with him.
The guy chuckled nervously and slowly sat up. "I'm terribly sorry. It's my first time here and I wanted to practice before my date got here." He seemed to be in his twenties and by the sound of his voice, it wasn't the first time he crashed into someone.
I shook my head. "It's okay, it's my first time skating too." I struggled to get back up but the man helped me out.
"That's great." He grinned. "Well I have a bit under an hour more to practice. Sorry again for tackling you." He hurriedly skated away. I watched him and expected him to be a klutz again but when he didn't, I decided to continue making my way back to my starting point.
Arthur greeted me when I got there. "Are you okay, love? I saw that twit crash right into you."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It was his first time here too so I forgave him." I skated in a small circle around the Frenchman. Now I got the small turns down.
He had a concerned look on his face as he looked out at the rink but when he noticed me staring, he flustered a little then cleared his throat. "Well, I am glad you are getting comfortable with the ice."
"You learn very quickly, aru." Yao stood by the wall near me.
I turned to face him. "How come you aren't skating?"
"I am not that well at it so I decided not to." He stuffed his arms in his sleeves, either because he was getting cold or because he felt a little frustration.
"I'm sure you can't be that bad." I sat up on the wall since it looked solid enough.
Yong Soo snickered as he decided to butt in. "He fell right on his back after taking his first step. He said 'never again… never again…' while Kiku treated his back."
"Oh…" I imagine that to be extremely painful and traumatic.
"Zhu zui [Shut up]!" Yao scowled and stormed off to where he was sitting earlier.
I glanced over at Yong Soo. "Look what you caused."
He just grinned mischievously. He then took my hand after I got off the wall. He started skating really quickly. I could not keep up so I clung onto his arm while I was glided around. He then suddenly swung his arm out, causing me to let go. Unable to control myself at the speed, I fell into Francis' grasps. He then did the same thing as the Korean had and I was passed to Gilbert. At the point, I was completely terrified and didn't care who I hung onto. I tightly wrapped my arms around him.
"Y-you guys are e-evil!" I felt myself shaking. "What was that for?!"
"Hey hey, calm down! It was just a joke." He wanted me to let go but I wouldn't budge. He scoffed and patted my back. "People are staring, you know?" He whispered in my ear.
"I don't care!" I muttered in his shoulder. On any other occasions I would, but right now, I did not care at all. I needed to be on some ground with actual friction. "Take me to where Yao is."
He sighed. "Fine."
I was grateful to be able to step on a ground without having to slide around. I sat right next to Yao heaved a huge sigh of relief. He handed me a cup of tea. I gratefully took it and let it warm my hands for a bit. "That wasn't fun…"
He frowned. "I was watching. That was very rude of them, aru, especially since it was your first day."
I nodded slowly and stared into the steaming tea.
I heard him unzipped his bag and he put a knit hat on my head. He smiled in satisfaction. "Happy Birthday, aru."
I slowly raised my hand and felt that there were cat eats on it. I have to admit, they were cute but for me to wear them… I laughed softly. "Xie xie [thank you]."
He nodded and refilled my Styrofoam cup of oolong tea. Feliciano and Alfred came over to make a fuss over my hat. I blushed when they mentioned how it looked 'cute' on me and so on. I tugged the hat down over my eyes and took a sip out of the tea. It may have been fifty-some degrees in the rink but I was feeling something more in the seventies.
Aaaaand that's part one, ladies and gent(s) (are there any guys reading besides SubZeroIceDragon? There's no shame here, I promise).
[Edit:] I think I should rephrase my question- Are there any BOYS reading this fic besides ^ that guy?
Yay birthday~ I've been waiting to write this chapter for MONTHS (…I bet you guys were waiting forever for me to update too). I'm more excited for the second part, which you might absolutely hate me for. Buuuut I have to keep 'drama' a part of this fanfic. No more spoilers, I will hush about that now ;)
I have 4 weeks left of school and the bulk of my classes are shimmering down with projects. Luckily, like now, I am finding time to update (yaaaay). I am very excited because I will finally be able to work on developing another story… ORIGINAL story.
I will shut up now and let you continue on your merry way. Thank you as always for the continuous support. Less than three. Warm and fuzzy feeling for days~.
