Starboy

Chapter 37: Birthday Boy

Brandy

Benji and I are born exactly one month apart, exactly four weeks from each other. Growing up, he would always have these elaborate birthday parties at some fancy revenue, and I would stick to pizza and movies at my house.

Weirdly, we've both kind of preferred the small gatherings, the intimate ones. At my house, we had privacy and we could just talk about whatever we wanted to, without Benji having to take off every two minutes to say hi to someone.

Of course, I also loved his birthday parties. It's kind of a tradition. Every year I would wear the same black dress from the department store, mostly because my dad was on a budget and I haven't grown since eighth grade. This year, however, I feel like I'm finally growing again. Not physically, but I feel like I'm growing as a person and also as a woman. I finally want to wear clothes that make me look good.

As predictable as it sounds, I'm not much of a party person. I've never liked dressing up and making small talk with strangers. Benji has had years of practice so he knows just about everything from surviving boring nights.

We slept in separate beds last night because I wanted to wake up and surprise him with some breakfast. He put in so much work for our first date and I just want to give him an equal amount of effort. It is his nineteenth birthday, after all. That's a pretty big deal.

I whip up some pancakes, toast and coffee and prepare everything on the table. I've memorized his schedule by now so I know what time he wakes up.

I quickly change into something a little less comfortable and tie my hair back with a dark purple elastic. I glance at the clock and realize that's it's already nine o'clock, and that he should be getting up soon. Starting school at NYU has changed his entire routine. He used to wake up at eleven and now here he is, a little brighter and a little earlier.

His door creaks open and he has that whole messy hair thing going on. He's in his grey sweats and a white t-shirt, which he somehow looks out together in. We mutually smile and I run up to him and he pulls me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist.

We kiss and he falls back into the wall, and I lean in even more. I part my lips from his and smile again. "Good morning, birthday boy." I grin.

"Good morning to you, beautiful," he says, kissing me again. He notices the spread of food and looks at me. "You're too good for me."

"Sit," I say. "I'm no chef, but I did my best. Then again, most people can make pancakes and buttered toast. It's not like a super special dish-"

He places his hand on mine and interrupts me. "It looks amazing. Thank you, B. You really didn't have to do this."

I shrug. "It's your birthday—you deserve to have everything today. And... I have a special plan for tonight."

He smiles. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Shh," I say. "I'm just teasing you. I can't tell you what it is, it'll spoil everything."

He laughs. "Right, sorry. I'm looking forward to whatever it is. It can't be any worse than the party tonight."

I think about Miles coming tonight and debate telling him I'm bringing a 'date.' I also suddenly remember Benji promising to never see Natalie again. "I thought you and Natalie were over." I sigh.

"We are. It's just one more night," he promises.

"It's your birthday." I sigh. "Everyone is going to think she's with you, as your date. I want that to be me." I complain.

"That is you," he says. "You know how I feel about you."

"She's going to ruin everything," I say. "Didn't you talk to your dad about this? You said that you would, Benji."