Birthday parties were always a lot of fun, especially when they were Mark's or her own. Monet loved the colors, the cheerful attitudes, the games, and watching people open the gifts that she had bought for them. Maybe that was why she enjoyed her birthday so much. Not because she enjoyed the attention or the gifts or the focus all on her. That was her least favorite part. No, it was because she had a twin that made it feel like it was someone else's birthday as well. That's probably why she was so excited about today. After all, it was Mark's birthday and that meant that she got to spend the whole day with him and Jasmine, doing whatever they wanted.
Okay, sure, there were going to be other kids there today, but that was beside the point. Monet didn't care too much about that. They were just going to be kids from school that she had known for most of her life. They were in her third-grade class last year and she was sure she was going to see some of them in her fourth-grade class this year. It couldn't be that bad.
Jasmine was with her at the moment, standing in front of Monet's closet and looking through it. She had insisted that she would help Monet pick out an outfit for the birthday party since she seemed to think that Monet couldn't do it herself. Monet didn't care too much about how she looked, so long as it met her standards, but Jasmine did seem to care about that kind of thing so Monet just let her do whatever she wanted.
"I really can't believe you were going to wear that," Jasmine said with a small huff, turning back to look at Monet. "I mean, a tee shirt and those shorts aren't very dressed up for a birthday party." Monet sighed and shrugged her shoulders a bit. For being nine years old, Jasmine seemed to know a lot about fashion, probably more than someone her age should but that was probably just because of her new job as an actress.
"I was planning on it?" Monet replied quietly, leaning back against the headboard on her bed. She sighed when she saw Jasmine make a face at her words, making her disgust clear. "If you care so much Missy, why don't you pick me something out?" Jasmine jumped on the chance and instantly started digging through her closet and dresser, trying to find something decent for Monet to wear. Monet watched her for a moment before speaking. "You do know that it's just Mark, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it doesn't mean that we don't have to look nice," Jasmine replied with a shrug, not looking away from her work. Monet didn't respond. Instead, she reached over to the wall next to her bed and grabbed her guitar. She hadn't been playing for that long, only a year and a half, but it was a little longer than she'd been taking martial arts, which was a year, and when she started playing, her mother said that she had a real talent for it so she stuck with it. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with it right now so she just strummed a few strings for fun and tried not to think about later. She had to bring it to the party because for her gift, she had written Mark a song. She couldn't come up with a good gift and she didn't really have any money for one anyway so she settled on a song for her gift but now she was starting to regret it.
"What did you end up getting Mark for his birthday, Jassy?" Monet asked, setting her guitar down next to her on the bed. She leaned forward to rest her arms on her crossed knees and watched Jasmine. Jasmine shrugged her shoulders slightly as she pulled out a pair of jeans from Monet's dresser.
"Aunt Melissa and I got him this really cool camera that when you take pictures with it, it spits them right back out at you!" Jasmine explained, clearly excited for the idea of the present that she'd gotten. She picked up the outfit that she'd picked out and held it out for Monet to take. Monet took it and inspected it, trying to make sure it was something she was actually comfortable in. Jasmine actually did a good job, remembering how much she liked jeans and jackets. Jasmine really did know how to throw an outfit together. "You remember how he said he likes to take pictures, right? So we got him a camera. I dunno. I couldn't think of anything better. Your gift if probably better. What'd you get him anyway?"
"Oh, I don't know. Yours is probably better," Monet shrugged her shoulders again and stood up. She quickly slipped her shirt off, ready to replace it with the shirt that Jasmine had picked out, but she froze for a second, letting Jasmine run her fingers gently over the bruises that had formed on her skin already. Monet tried really hard not to think about why they were there in the first place and went back to the topic at hand, pulling her shirt over her head. "I mean, I only wrote him a song. But I think he's gonna hate it. It's not very good."
"At least you got him a cool gift! He's gonna love it, I just know it!" Jasmine giggled slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's better than my spitting camera for sure!" Monet shrugged her shoulders and pulled her jacket on.
"I bet it's not. I bet yours is better," Monet replied, turning back to her bed to grab her guitar.
"It is too!" Jasmine protested.
"Jassy," Monet sighed softly. "I don't wanna fight with you 'bout it. Let's just go to Mark's house." She placed her guitar inside its case and closed it up, picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder. Then, she picked up her colorful sheet music before turning to Jasmine, ready to leave.
"Okay, okay, fine. Wanna race?" Jasmine asked, jumping up to her feet again. Monet rolled her eyes slightly and gestured to her guitar case on her back.
"Only if you're gonna buy me a new guitar when we're done," Monet replied with a small giggle. Jasmine laughed and opened Monet's bedroom door, making way for Monet to get through before closing the door again, a habit that the two of them had formed back when they lived together. Then they made their way down the hallway to get to the door.
"I miss it when you lived here with me, Jassy. You know what I mean?" Monet asked with a sigh. They stepped into the hallway of the apartment building and shut the door, Monet turning around with her key and locking the door behind them. Then, she slipped the key back around her neck where it belonged.
"Yeah, me too. I miss being here with you and Mark and being able to see you both every day. It's sad that I have to live so far away," Jasmine groaned, shaking her head. "But that's all I miss about being here. Aunt Melissa and Uncle Henry have a big house and I get my own room and they're nice to me. I wish that I could just take you and Mark with me. That'd be waaay more fun." Monet nodded her head in agreement.
"I guess that's true. But I do get to see Mark every day and go to his house while Daddy's at work," Monet agreed, shrugging her shoulders. "It's a lot of fun but Julia gets really loud when she doesn't get what she wants right at that moment."
"So is Tommy!" Jasmine agreed, probably more excited than she meant for it to sound. "Oh well. I guess it can't be helped. They are babies after all." After that, the rest of the walk to Mark's apartments was silent. It wasn't a long walk, just down two flights of stairs and then some so it didn't take them long to get to Mark's house. There were going to be a lot of kids in a small apartment but other than that, it was going to a fun, right?
"Okay, ready?" Monet asked, knocking on the door. Jasmine nodded her head and smiled at her. Rebecca let them in rather quickly and they were swept up in with the rest of the birthday kids. Birthday parties were fun, Monet repeated to herself quietly, trying not to get panicked by all the kids around her. They are supposed to be lots of fun.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
"What are you doing?" Jasmine heard Mark ask as she set up her camera on the table in front of her. The party had been over for at least an hour but since Melissa and Rebecca were chatting, Monet and Jasmine were still around. Jasmine finished setting up her camera and turned to Mark, giving him a weird look. Was that even supposed to be a question? She gestured to the camera before pointing over at Monet, who was setting up her guitar and sheet music. She had been too shy to give Mark his gift at the party so she was giving it to him now.
Mark nodded his head like he finally understood what Jasmine was doing before looking back at Monet. Jasmine smiled a bit and nodded her head, leaning down to check the camera. Monet hadn't noticed it and Jasmine was glad because if her sister had seen it, she would have told Jasmine to turn it off. Jasmine wasn't going to post it anywhere, especially not her channel, but still. This was something that her mother would have done. Clara would have said something about how this was a memory that they shouldn't forget and recorded the whole thing just for that reason. In a way, it was the closest that Jasmine could get to imitating her mother.
Monet hadn't looked up from her papers even though she was finished setting up. Jasmine could see the way her cheeks flushed as she spoke. Monet was nervous and shy but this was just Mark and Jasmine watching. It wasn't like they were going to make fun of her or anything.
"Ready?" Monet asked, still refusing to look up.
"Yeah!" Mark replied, nodding his head. Jasmine quickly pressed record on her camera, trying to make sure that she didn't miss a second of this.
"Yep!" Jasmine nodded with a small giggle. And then, Monet started to play. It was just a simple tune, nowhere near a professional level but then again, this was a nine-year-old playing. Still, Monet was better than the average nine-year-old guitarist. They listened to her play quietly, completely fascinated by it. Monet was no amount less shy than she was before. She fumbled over words, her voice shook with every line, and at one point, Jasmine could have sworn that she had skipped over an entire voice. And yet, it was still an amazing song. She'd written about friendship and Mark and what a good friend he was. She had captured their friendship almost perfectly. That and the fact that Monet could actually sing just made it seem like she was a shy performer on stage rather than a nine-year-old in a living room. Needless to say, Monet's gift was far better than Jasmine's.
When the song was over, Jasmine and Mark clapped their hands for her. Monet blushed and hide her face in her hands. Mark stopped clapping for a second, reaching for his new camera and held it up, snapping a picture of the scene. Monet heard the click and looked up, scanning the room until she found what he did.
"Why'd you do that?" Monet asked, tilting her head. She watched him take the picture that got spit out from the camera and waved it in the air like he'd been taught how to do.
"To remember the song you played for me today, obviously!" Mark replied, shaking his head like it was just as obvious as the fact that the grass was green. Monet's face flushed red again and she scooped up her papers, shuffling them so that they were back in order again. Mark spoke up again. "Hey, Miss Knight? Can I keep the song? Unless you want to keep it, of course!" Monet looked up at him, processing the question for a second.
"Oh, sure?" Monet said though it was more of a question than an answer. She shrugged her shoulders slightly and held her papers out to Mark without so much as a second thought. "You can have it, I guess." Mark smiled and took the song from her. Jasmine looked over his shoulder, her eyes scanning the page. She didn't know how music or notes worked but the sheet was written with different colors so it was pretty to look at.
"I like that you did the notes in different colors. The page is really pretty," Jasmine commented, looking over in time to watch Monet put her guitar back in its case. Monet's face twisted into slight confusion at her words.
"Thanks?" Monet replied, a little more than confused. "It's not that special. I didn't even try on the handwriting or anything. It's super messy. If I had known I was gonna give it to Mark, I would have made my handwriting better and my notes colored in better." Jasmine frowned. Monet didn't seem to know what she was talking about.
"No, no. She means the colors. The colors make the page really pretty," Mark said, setting the sheet music down next to his camera and developed photos. Monet frowned like she didn't quite understand why they were having this conversation in the first place.
"Oh, that? It's just easier for me, I guess. It's easier to remember the notes and how they're supposed to sound when I see the colors on the sheet. It reminds me what they're supposed to sound like. Notes are hard and stuff." Monet finished putting her things away and stood up, sitting down on the couch. The two of them stared at her as she moved, completely missing everything that she said. None of it made sense to her. Monet frowned again and hugged her knees to her chest, leaning back against the back of the couch. "What? I know no one else does it but it makes it easier when I can see what the notes sound like when I see their colors."
"What do you mean seeing color and hearing the notes?" Jasmine asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Like, do colors sound like notes or do notes sound like colors? Like, do colors have sound? Like if I played a note, would it be a color?"
"Wait, wait, wait. You don't hear the colors?" Monet asked, sitting up. Her eyes went a little wide. This whole thing came as a shock to her, though she looked a little more interested in the conversation now. "Like, you don't hear the colors at all? Like, when I played the song, you didn't hear the colors?" Mark and Jasmine slowly shook their heads. "So I'm the only one who can hear colors then?"
"I guess so," Mark shrugged slightly. Monet let out a heavy sigh and slumped back against the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest again and hugging them. Her whole world had just started to fall apart, like everything had been a lie. Jasmine frowned slightly and fell down next to her, laying her head on her shoulder. She didn't understand why it was bothering Monet so much but she knew that it really was bothering her sister and so she felt bad.
"It's okay, Mo," Jasmine said softly, patting Monet's shoulder gently. "I guess that's just what makes you different. Like me. I'm different too. I'm in a movie. That makes me different from other people." She flashed Monet a smile, trying to make her feel better. Monet only sighed and nodded her head but she didn't look convinced. "Mark's different too. He's best friends with girls. See, everyone's got something that makes them different." Monet nodded her head again.
"Yeah. I guess you're right. It's just that... I dunno. Sometimes it feels like I'm extra different." Monet rolled onto her side to face her friends. She looked serious about this. "I mean, I play the guitar. I take martial arts, I don't make friends very well, I don't have a mom and my dad's never home. And now I'm the only one who hears the colors. It's like I'm extra different." Jasmine didn't need to ask her for more information. She knew exactly what Monet as getting at when she talked about her family. It was their little, secret way to talk about their father and the way that he was constantly hurting one of them. They had known that it wasn't normal for almost three years now but now they were too scared to do anything about it. It was something that Jasmine constantly thought about. After all, it was their fight and she had left Monet alone to fight it on her own for almost two years now.
"It's okay, Miss Knight," Mark said comfortingly. He reached a hand over to pat Monet's shoulder, stretching over Jasmine to reach her. "You're not any extra different than anyone else. If anyone's going to be extra different, it'd be Jasmine. I mean, she's got her channel. And everyone knows who she is now. Even when we got to the park. I think she wins." Monet cracked a smile and Jasmine giggled.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. No one's more different than Jasmine. That's for sure."