Remember when you got all dressed up and used up the last of your favorite eyeshadow for a dude named Todd?
Okay, he didn’t know about the last two things, but I wouldn’t put it past him to find out.
I tucked my hands deeper in my pockets and turned the corner, eager to put as much distance between myself and Satan’s spawn as possible.
The Bronze Gear had been located on a lively street of restaurants, with music wafting in the air and people spilling onto the sidewalk even in wintertime. The one I was walking on now, while only one street over, was eerily quiet. Shuttered shops lined both sidewalks, and scraggly bunches of weeds sprouted from cracks in the ground. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but the lengthening shadows lent an ominous air to the surroundings.
I walked faster out of instinct, though I was distracted not only by my run-in with Josh but also the dozens of items on my to-do list. When I was alone, my worries and tasks crowded my brain like children clamoring for their parents’ attention.
Graduation, bar prep, possibly reaming Todd out over text (no, not worth it), more apartment searching online, Ava’s surprise birthday party this weekend…
Wait a minute.
Birthday. March.
I came to a dead halt.
Oh my God.
Besides Ava, I knew someone else with a birthday in early March, but…
I fished my phone out of my pocket with a shaking hand, and my stomach plummeted when I saw the date. March 2.
It was her birthday today. I completely forgot.
Tendrils of guilt squeezed my insides, and I wondered, as I did every year, whether I should call her. I never did, but…this year could be different.
I told myself that every year, too.
I shouldn’t feel guilty. She never called me on my birthday, either. Or Christmas. Or any other holiday. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Adeline in seven years.
Call. Don’t call. Call. Don’t call.
I worried my bottom lip between my teeth.
It was her forty-fifth birthday. That was a big one, right? Big enough to warrant a Happy Birthday from her daughter…if she cared about getting anything from me.
I was so busy debating myself I didn’t notice anyone approach until the hard barrel of a gun pressed against my back and a raspy voice barked out, “Give me your phone and wallet. Now.”
My heart jolted, and I almost dropped my phone. Disbelief hardened my limbs into stone.
You’vegotto be kidding me.
Never ask the universe questions you don’t want answered because it turns out the day could, in fact, get a lot fucking worse.