3
1188 Words
SELENA
“It’s my birthday?” I said as my thoughts ran in different directions while I tried to remember today’s date.
“You really forgot?” she asked, and I glanced at the cake, which had been decorated with icing and sprinkles.
“It’s so beautiful. Thank you, Nonna,” I replied and forced a smile onto my face, ignoring her question.
She looked sad at the thought that I had forgotten my birthday, and I didn’t want to push things further knowing the effort she had put into baking a cake for me.
We had spent most of my birthdays together. My way of coping with the fact that I didn’t have any other family members or friends to celebrate such an important day with was to completely ignore the existence of a day like that.
My grandma often remembered and would bake a cake to celebrate. When she didn’t, or was too paranoid about people finding out about my identity, we stayed as still as water, and I never brought it up.
“Yes, it’s your twenty-first birthday, and I thought it’d be great to celebrate a little differently this time.”
“Thank you so much, Nonna,” I said and glanced again at the cake, eager to change the topic and possibly go into my room for a while. “It’s a really beautiful cake. Too bad I don’t have any friends to share it with, but on the bright side, we’re going to have enough cake to eat for days.”
She chuckled, and her eyes sparkled a little more than they did earlier. “I know how hard it is for you to keep your identity hidden, stay out of the spotlight, and still blend in with the others, but it’s the only way we’ve been able to stay alive so far. But I’d like to think it hasn’t completely robbed you of your chance at experiencing life, and this is the age you get to pick who you want to do it with.”
“What?” I asked and frowned. I didn’t understand a word of what she just said. I was trying to wrap my head around it, but she had genuinely lost me at the idea that being a wallflower hadn’t robbed me of experiences.
I wasn’t going to say anything because I knew she meant well, but I’d lived my whole life in the shadows. I didn’t participate in any extracurricular activities throughout elementary and high school.
Saving up for college had been a tedious task, especially if you’re trying to earn a living off a coffee shop salary. There was the looming probability that I would never leave this town because I had to take care of my grandma.
She had spent her entire life making sure I was safe. I needed to make sure she spent her last days feeling happy, even at the expense of my own happiness.
“What I mean is,” she began, and I focused my attention on her. “Your 21st birthday is the age where you pick who you want to be mates with. So you can get married…”
“Whoa, Nonna—marriage? That’s such a leap. I don’t want to do that. At least not right now,” I interrupted, and she stared at me with a sad expression.
“You have to start your own family, my dear child. I won’t be here forever, and I need you to—” she started, but I shook my head.
“Stop saying things like that. You’re not going anywhere, are you?” I teased, and she smiled a little. “If you’re scared I’m alone, I promise you I’m fine. But marriage, mating—whatever terms are used to describe it—are the least of my worries right now. What I want is for us to eat this delicious cake while I count the hours until it’s time for the meeting.”
“Meeting? What meeting?” she asked in a confused tone.
“The pack meeting scheduled for tonight,” I replied and arched an eyebrow. “You didn’t know?”
She frowned for a bit, then her eyes twinkled. “Oh, yes. The pack meeting. Of course.”
“Nonna?” I asked, squinting at her. “Is there anything I need to know about this meeting?”
“Um… just that I won’t be there because I have to… I have to bake another cake,” she answered, and I chuckled.
“You’re such a terrible liar,” I replied, and she laughed. “Why would we need a second cake?”
“Maybe… because you’re taking this one to the meeting?”
“I’m confused. Was that a question or a suggestion?”
“Both. I think it would be a good idea to—” she started to say, and I shook my head.
“That’s not happening,” I insisted. “I’m not walking in there looking like I desperately want my ass kicked.”
“Not if people see it as a warm gesture,” she replied, and I chuckled. “Really, think about it. I’ll just bake another for us to eat. I was planning to anyway.”
“Not everyone is as kind as you are, Nonna,” I said and made my way up the stairs to my bedroom.
*
The hall was bubbling with activity when I stepped inside. I stood by the door, trying to secure a seat, but the available ones seemed to be taken by cliques and people I didn’t want to breathe next to if I could help it.
Most of the people present were young adults like me, which made it a little weird, because the last meeting I had been to had a healthy mix of adults and younger werewolves. They all treated me the same anyway, so there wasn’t much to miss.
It certainly didn’t help that I stuck out like a sore thumb, holding the cake my grandma had baked. I had tried to put up resistance, but when I came downstairs, she had already baked another cake, and I caved in.
“Oh look, the coffee girl brought cake. How sweet,” a voice said from behind me, and I turned around to lock gazes with the speaker: Hailey Greystone, queen bee and resident cool girl with a main character syndrome everyone had to endure.
“No… I…” I began, but she waved dismissively.
“Oh, I don’t care. Stop talking,” she stated and brushed past me, making her way through the crowd until she got to the row where Kieran was seated.
“Of course,” I muttered and scoffed. I started to move away from the door when a bell resounded throughout the room, and everyone stopped in their tracks.
“Welcome!” a voice bellowed from the podium, instantly grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.
It belonged to Kieran’s father, Alejandro McCain, the man I had been raised all my life to keep my identity from.
- Writer
