Half Blood Revenge

Surprise!

I hear the alarm go off on my phone around 7. That was a nice refreshing nap to get me ready for the evening of surprise. I decide to wear the dress I wore to graduation since it received so many compliments. I trade in for a comfier pair of shoes. I touch up my make-up the best I can and head downstairs. I find an empty wine bottle on the table and lots of laughter coming from the living room.

I come to find mom and Aunt Shelly looking at an old picture book. They are laughing so hard they are crying. They are going to have a good time tonight, I think to myself.

They pull me over and show me some old pictures of them growing up. Although my mom had that awkward teenage years too, she is a true beauty. She really grew into herself and I hope I do the same.

I laugh looking at some of the pictures and them telling stories of how Jimmy always had a crush on her and followed her around like a lost puppy. My mom taps Aunt Shelly, laughing and heads into the kitchen for a refill. She signals me to follow.

“Looks like you guys have a fun night ahead of you,” I say with a big smile.

“Ya, you know me and Aunt Shelly. We will be up all night BS’ing and reminiscing about old times.” Mom says. “I hope you have just as much fun tonight as well.”

“I wish I knew what was in store for me tonight, but I am just going to get out of my comfort zone and go with it.” I say.

Mom looking at me starts to look teary eyed. She runs her hand through my hair and onto my cheek. “You’ve grown into a beautiful strong woman.” She says to me. I wish I believed that too.

“I am so proud of all you have accomplished and how mature you have become. Just remember tonight to let loose and have fun. Just no drinking!” She exclaims.

“I know mom, I won’t partake if it is happening.” I reassure her.

A big shout of laughter comes from the living room. “I guess I better refill and get back in there” she says.

“Sounds good, Mom. Sophie and Max should be here any minute” I say.

“Come sit with us until they arrive.” She says.

Not even 5 minutes later, Sophie comes bursting through the door with one of those party poppers. My mom yelled at Sophie about making a mess, but in a teasing way. Sophie offered to clean it up, but my mom dismissed her and sent us on our way. Max was at the car waiting for us to.

“Looking good in the dress again Ms. Melody,” he winks at me. I blush a bit.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” I ask. I do feel a bit more confident dressed up and looking good.

“Just have a seat and enjoy the ride,” Sophie says with a smile.

I climb in the backseat, Sophie blasts the music and we start cheering, singing and I am enjoying having some friends care about me.

We first start out by heading out to dinner at my favorite ramen place. After dinner is done, we head to get some fancy desserts from on of the local bakeries. I LOVE cheesecake and choose one that comes with a raspberry topping.

“I cannot thank you both enough,” I tell Sophie and Max. “Tonight has been so much fun.”

“Hold up sister,” says Max. “We aren’t done yet.” He has a sneaky smile on his face.

“What else is there to do?” I ask. It’s now almost 10pm, so not many places are open to hang out and we aren’t old enough to go to the bars.

“Once again, sit back and enjoy the ride.” Sophie winks at me.

We climb back in the car and she drives us away. We drive about 15 minutes and pull into a long driveway with a huge house at the end. I recognize this place, it is Ava Campbells house.

“What are we doing here?” I ask, not to happy to be here.

“Ava is throwing a big party and half the school is going to be here.” Sophie says.

“I wasn’t invited and not sure I belong here,” I mention to her.

“Nonsense. You are graduating senior, I was invited and you are my guest.” Sophie says.

We pull in next to the piles of cars and walk up the driveway and around to the back of the house. There must be 100 kids sprawled all over the yard. When I say yard, there are acres of land that lead into a forest for her backyard.

“Let’s mingle,” Max says with a smile. He grabs my hand and drags me into the party. I am glad to have someone be by my side as we arrive.

“Don’t leave me alone tonight you two,” I warn them with a stern look on my face.

They chuckle and reassure me tonight is about me since I am the graduate and it’s my birthday in less than 90 minutes!

We start to mingle and find a few bonfires happening. I end up chatting with a few people whom I really never associated with during the year. They state that they wish I was this social during the school year as I was a lot of fun that night. This made me realize that I was the one really holding myself back from making friends.

As the night went on, I got more comfortable and didn’t mind that Sophie and Max did leave me for a little while before coming back to check in on me. I was chatting with a girl named Macie when I saw a familiar large figure heading my way.

“Hi Mel,” Alex says as he approached me. I kind of like that he used my nickname. “It’s good to see you here.”

“Thanks, I am actually having a good time.” I tell him.

I end up chatting with Alex for about 30 minutes and I found out that he used to move around a lot too. His Dad was in the Army and his mom was out of the picture. I didn’t realize we had so much in common. They have been in this area since he was a freshman, so he has made a lot of friends in the area.

He asks if I want to take a walk and I agree. We head towards the forest and he talks about a path that takes us around the lake behind Ava’s house. As we are walking, I take a look at my watch and realize it is now 12:01am.

“Oh wow.” I say outloud.

“What is it,” Alex asks.

“It’s officially my 18th birthday,” I tell him.

To my surprise, he leans over, places a kiss on my cheek and wishes me a happy birthday. I mentally passed out for a moment until Alex grabbed my hand and laughed. I was still touching my face when I started to get a weird feeling inside my body.

We continued around the lake and are making our way back to the party. Alex thanks me for the walk and said he enjoyed the peace and quiet for a bit. As we arrive back we split off and I head to find Sophie and Max. They see me coming and have huge smiles on their faces.

“Ummmm, did you just come down that path with Alex Cirillo?” Sophie asks.

“Yes.” I say shyly.

“Woah, someone is really opening up tonight.” Max teases. I grab both their hands and thank the again for a wonderful birthday.

“Let’s call it a night, I am tired,” I tell them both. They agree and we head back to the car to head home.

When I arrive home, I find Mom and Aunt Shelly passed out of the couches with pictures scattered everyone and a couple empty bottles of wine. I start to clean up the food and drink and put the pictures away. One picture really stands out to me. Mom is holding the picture in her hand; she is pregnant and there is a guy standing next to her with his hand on her stomach. I have never seen this picture before. I take a closer look and I see this amazing good-looking man with wavy blond hair, muscular build and deep blue eyes. I can see some of my own features in this man.

I gasp. This must be my father. Mom said she didn’t have any pictures of him. I stare at the picture for what feels like forever. I leave the picture in mom’s hand and head up to bed.

“Can it really be?” I think to myself. Why would she not show me this picture, I wonder.

I am exhausted and once I hit the bed, I am out heading to dream land.