Page 23 of A Twist in Fate
“It's your birthday,” she puts her arm around me and pulls me tightly onto her.
“I think that means you’re not allowed to kick me.” I reach over her and grab my phone from the bedside table.
00:01am
“Did you really wake me up at midnight just to tell me it's my birthday?” I say, laughing ever so slightly but still whispering, careful not to wake Abigail.
“Yes. I love you and I want to thank my best friend on her birthday.” She squeezes me even tighter, forcing a weird noise out of me. Any attempts I had of trying to wake Abby were ruined when Bailey started kicking her leg into both of ours, at the same time. “Abby! Wake up! It's Ivy’s birthday and I want to give her presents.” Abby stirs in her sleep, her red hair spread across the pillow. She slowly starts to sit up, yawing and rubbing her eyes.
“Ugh, fine. You did warn me you'd do this,” she says, sitting up and then facing me. “Happy birthday, Ivy. Any anger I hold right now is definitely not about you. I'm just tired.” She turns to Bailey, glaring for a moment. Bailey spins around, pulling something off the floor as I sit up, rubbing my eyes. She passes me a pink sparkly gift bag that's clearly making a mess all over the duvet, but I don'tmind. I didn't really expect anything, so this warms my heart instantly.
“Okay. So, we didn't really spend much, but I hope you like what we got you. One thing was all six of us and the other was just from me and Abby. We will give your cards in the morning.” I smile at them both and lift up the tissue paper, peering into the bag.
I reach my hand in and pull out the first thing I feel. It is a yellow picture frame, with a large chocolate bar taped to the back of it. I turn it over and the frame has blue sunshines and pink waves painted all over it. It's adorable. Inside the frame is a picture of me, Bailey and Abby, all in bikinis by the lake. This was a photo Bailey forced Alec to take on our first week here, when we spent most nights by the water. The sun is setting in the background, and Bailey has one arm around each of us. I do not remember what was happening at the time, but we were definitely mid laugh, clinging onto each other.
“I love it,” I say, wrapping my arms around both of them and pulling them into me.
Abby ruffles my hair and says, “C’mon open the other one. I know you will love it.” I smile at her sweetly, a blush coming over my face and go back to the bag.
I pull out a brown scrapbook that has ‘Happy nineteenth birthday’ painted in the same paint as the picture frame and it's secured by a black bow that I untie, carefully. I flip through the pages, each one is covered in photos of me and my friends, stickers and mementos from my trip so far.
“We each designed a page and then we did the rest together. It was actually really difficult to do it when you weren't around because we are all so used to hanging out together,” Bailey says, and I continue to flip through the scrapbook. There's a photo of me, James and Alec posing at the camera with bright striped glasses on. There's another one of us girls at the beach where we are falling over each other, almost on the floor. Bailey quickly swipes an envelope out of the bag and before I can ask her what it is she says, “Oh, it's just your card. I forgot I left it in there. I'll just wait until morning to give it to you.”
Each page also has a song written on it and tears start to well in my eyes as I continue to stare at the book. I turn over to one of the last pages with a picture of me and Lucas in the middle. The photo in the middle is one of us I have never seen. He is looking down at me and me up at him, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, holding me close. I don’t even know who took it. The page is coveredin yellow sunshine stickers and has other small pictures of me from our time together, so far.
“This one is my favourite,” Abby says, and then lowers her voice when she whispers in my ear, “I think that boy is obsessed with you.” I feel my cheeks start to warm up at her words. The photos include one of me covered in paint after the colour wars, another of me posing with Jacob, Theo and Miles with bows and arrows after archery and there's another of me leaning out the window of the car after we went to the clearing by the waterfall. I look so carefree, nothing like the photos I have of myself in London. The song in the corner written in his scruffy handwriting is ‘21 - Gracie Abrams.’
“I didn’t even know he knew who Gracie Abrams is.” Abby smiles over my shoulder, looking at the page.
“Neither did I,” I say, intense emotion running through me. “I love you guys.” They wrap their arms around me again and soon after we drift into deep sleep. I really don't want to leave here.
I have pancakes for breakfast that are covered in syrup and fruit that Bailey personally made for me, after tellingevery single person in the dining hall that it is my birthday. I facetimed to my parents, and they told me how much they missed me. We talked about a lot that has been on my mind, and they told me that they apologise if they have been distant. They said that they can’t wait to see me in a few weeks and that they are just busy with work. I’m glad. The table we sit at everyday was covered with helium balloons and since then I have been forced to wear a tiara with bright pink gems, given to me by Violet, Daisy and Mila. Now, after lunch, I am sitting in the same hall, a few hours later, making bracelets with all the children, while some of the other adults set up streamers, balloons and mattresses for the slumber party. They surprised me with it this morning. My wrist is covered in bracelets that people keep giving me. I'm between sitting Violet and Mila, at a table with a few of the other girls from the camp, when Miles hops over to me and a string covered in beads is shoved into my face.
“Ivy, please can you tie this for me?” he says.
“Of course I can.” I take the string from his hands and make multiple knots to properly secure it, and he thanks me before running away, when I pass it back.
“Ivy, we are out of blue and pink beads. I want to make two, so we have matching ones,” Mila tells me, picking up the box of beads that's slowly running out.
“Okay, I need to grab some from the supply cupboard so I will be back. It will just be a second.”
“Thank you, Ivy,” she says, and I get up to walk over to the cupboard, shutting the door behind me. It's more of a shed then a cupboard as it has a second door to outside and holds all the equipment for all the activities we do. The room is a little dark, but the sun pours through the high windows, lighting up the room ever so slightly.
As I open up one of the cardboard boxes labelled crafts, I suddenly feel warm hands on the bare skin of my waist. I flinch and squeal for a moment but then my mouth is covered and all I can hear is a laugh. His laugh.
“Lucas.” My voice is muffled against his hand, and he continues to laugh, holding my waist with the other arm and pulling me tight against him. “What the hell are you doing? You scared me,” I say, as he finally removes the hand from my mouth, moving down to my waist and spins me around to face him. Butterflies erupt in my stomach all over again. Being this close to him doesn't feel fair.It is addictive. Intoxicating.
He suddenly notices his hands are still sitting on my waist as our laughter dies down. He quickly removes them and clears his throat saying, “Sorry, I just wanted you alone so I can give you your gift.”
I smile up at him and he covers my eyes with one hand. When he removes it, he is holding out a small red box in front of me.
“You didn't have to. The scrapbook is enough," I say, but instantly after I take the box from his hands and start undoing the ribbon on it. He laughs again, a smile spreading brightly across his face, watching me. I lift up the top of the box and in black cushion, there sits a gold necklace in the shape of the sun with a yellow gemstone in the middle, much like the one I lost.The light pouring from the high windows reflects on it, illuminating the room around us lightly.
“Bailey told me that necklace was from your grandmother. I felt terrible that we lost it so I went back and well I couldn't find it, but I did find that gem. I have no clue if it's the one from your grandmother's necklace but when I saw this in the window without a middle stone, I knew this necklace would be perfect for you, sunshine.”
I don't let him talk for another moment because I pull him into a tight hug, wrapping my arms around his body and his wrap around me too.
“Thank you so much.” I pull away, studying the necklace once again. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
