"Hope you're birthday is filled with lots of love, laughter and cock*
*Cake - Damn you autocorrect!"
They say birthdays were supposed to be the best day of our lives.
That wasn't the case for me.
My parents were getting a divorce today.
And I wasn't the least bit happy.
I didn't expect them to remember.
What I did expect was a gift card from Elena.
She handed me an envelope in the middle of the night. The green envelope had different shades of green stones pasted onto it. Inside were two pictures. One- we took when I was seven while she was just a few months old. She was in my arms and I smiled at her. It was a really beautiful picture. Another was (It's above) a picture of me ruffling her hair and she smiling at the camera - being adorable as ever. It was a recent picture - the one we took at the mall.
It wasn't supposed to be the best birthday that I ever had in all of my eighteen years (Wow, I was finally eighteen!) I know, I should've been excited - I should've jumped up and down but I didn't. Not when I knew today was the day my parents would get a divorce. Ever since I heard they'd be here for my birthday, I knew it would be my worst birthday ever.
But now, it escalated to the worst of worst.
I was freshening up and preparing myself for the day spent in court rather than in school. Right now, I kinda missed being with them - my friends. They knew how to make any tense atmosphere lighter. But they might not miss me. Why would they? I never gave them any reason to.
Oh, what I would do right now to escape my reality!
There was a sudden knock on my door. Lucky for me, it was Elena poking her head into my room. "Ready, Jakey?"
I took a deep breath, steeling myself. "As ready as I'll ever be."
__
The time spent in the courtroom went uneventfully. The usual drama, the usual crying, and the last verdict of the Judge declaring the couple divorced.
But the best part?
I could still retain my old life - meaning, both our parents would have to support us until we both graduate. For me, it was less vital as I was already eighteen and I would have to look for ways to support myself. But for Elena, they'd have to support her until she became eighteen. Our parents had to give up the mansion for us as they never seemed to stay there and divided the rest of the bungalows between themselves.
Getting divorced was tough.
Caught in between a divorce was tougher.
After the final verdict, people emptied the courtroom and now only the four of us were left.
"So, what now?" I asked, looking back and forth between Father and Mother.
"We go our separate ways," Father uttered.
"Not so quickly, we still have joint custody of our kids." Mother interrupted.
Elena sighed. "Yeah, that's the worst part."
Father glared at her. "Did you say something, young lady?"
Elena stared at him, blankly before continuing, "No."
"Remember that you're still staying under our roof. No rebelling or you both get kicked out, understood?"
"You won't be here to kick us out," I muttered under my breath.
This time, it was Mother who glared.
"Never mind."
____
Leaving the courtroom, I had a sudden urge to check my phone.
Seventy-seven missed calls?
Twenty-seven texts?
Opening the call log, I saw most of them were from Jelly and Candy asking me about my whereabouts and why the hell wasn't I picking up the phone. Apparently, Jelly was pissed that I ditched their party that they planned yesterday and Snow White was mad at me for ditching school. She had to go through the bullying alone as I wasn't there.
It didn't make any difference.
But maybe they bullied her more because I wasn't there.
I'll admit - they bullied her less when I was around.
I decided to call Emma.
She was the safest option.
After three rings, "H-Hello?"
"Emmy? How's everyone? Something wrong?"
I could hear soft sniffling.
Was she crying?
"Emma, you okay?"
She continued sniffling.
"Emmy, damn it! Talk to me!"
"A-Alex....H-Hospital..." She hung up.
I'll be right there.