Brielle awoke to the repetitive ping! of her phone.
She groaned, rolled over, and blindly reached for it.
The screen was already flooded with notifications.
She opened the group chat.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SIS :D
WE ARE GETTING YOU DRUNKKK
BRIELLE ARE YOU WEARING THAT BLUE DRESS??
Her eyes fluttered shut again.
She was still half-asleep when she heard—
Juliana sat at the kitchen table.
In front of her was a fresh plate of French fries and bacon. In the background, Matthew sat on the couch, completely absorbed in whatever he was playing on his Nintendo Switch.
Juliana reached for her phone.
Paige immediately snatched a fry from her plate.
She was too busy reading the message.
I'm going to my friend Brielle's birthday. Wanna come?
Her pencil was already in her other hand.
Brielle called out before walking over to her bedroom door.
She opened it and leaned against the frame.
Her mother stood in front of her, holding her phone in one hand.
“Your father wants to see you.”
Brielle's smile didn't disappear.
Her father hadn't seen her in a while.
They still communicated occasionally. Phone calls here and there. He remembered birthdays. He sent presents sometimes.
But he didn't really know her anymore.
“He said he's coming over.”
Juliana's plate remained untouched.
The occasional pencil scritch, scritch echoed through the room.
She'd already decided to draw a card for this Brielle.
One of her dads walked by and glanced over her shoulder.
“A frog wearing a party hat.”
Juliana continued drawing.
“You know, you could sell these.”
She looked back down at the card.
Her eyes lingered on the name.
She crossed that out too.
Then let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Brielle decided to let her father come.
Her mother wasn't thrilled, but she didn't want to ruin Bri's birthday.
Someone brought a ridiculously ugly cake.
Brielle was actually having fun.
She ran around the house, greeting people, checking on the food, talking to everyone at once, and somehow simultaneously forgetting where she'd put her phone.
Hadley eventually caught her by the arm.
Brielle stared toward the door.
“Oh, you've got to be kidding me.”
She walked over and opened it.
Brielle smiled, though it did little to hide her discomfort.
She stepped aside, allowing him in.
Brielle ignored the comment.
For a while, everything seemed almost normal.
Eventually, her mother brought out the cake.
Everyone gathered around the table.
“Happy birthday to you...”
Brielle laughed as everyone sang horribly out of tune.
The cake was placed in front of her.
“Bri, I found your phone!”
One of her friends called out, placing it beside Brielle on the table.
Maybe she'd been too comfortable.
Maybe it was the pink and orange flag on her phone case.
Maybe she'd simply forgotten that he didn't know.
She tried to sound casual.
Brielle's stomach dropped.
She looked down at the case.
She tried to say it plainly.
Her father stared at her.
“This isn't how I raised you.”
Brielle's expression hardened.
“...You didn't raise me.”
Before he could say anything else—
“Don't speak to my sister like that.”
Her father looked at her.
“This is exactly why I needed to talk to her.”
“You come to your daughter's birthday party uninvited to lecture her?”
Her mother's expression didn't change.
For a moment, nobody moved.
The door slammed behind him.
Eventually, someone cut the cake.
People started talking again.
Someone turned the music back on.
The party slowly resumed.
Then the doorbell rang again.
She walked over and opened the door.
An unfamiliar girl stood in front of her.
She was taller than Brielle, with medium-length brown wavy hair and a few cream-colored streaks running through it.
The girl gave a small smile.
Before Brielle could answer, one of her friends appeared behind her.
Juliana visibly recoiled.
A little stiffening of her shoulders.
A sudden shift in her expression.
Like she'd just realized everyone was looking at her.
She took one step forward.
And abruptly dropped the birthday card she'd been holding.
Her face went bright red.
She turned around and disappeared through the door.
The door shut behind her.
The card was still on the floor.
On the front was a drawing of a frog wearing a party hat.
Despite everything that had happened that day, she couldn't help it.
She chuckled at the ridiculous little frog.
She looked toward the door.
She had absolutely no idea who that girl was.
Yet somehow, that was the nicest thing anyone had given her all day.
