Sticks and Stones

Three: It's My Party and I'll Drink if I Want To

As it turned out, Tatum was right to not believe Isaac.

"Happy birthday!"

Tatum blinked in surprise. The entire living room was covered in birthday decorations. There was a banner over their fireplace that read, "Happy 3rd Birthday!" that was coated in glitter. Everyone present had tiny party hats on their head. There were balloons all over the room in every color imaginable. She couldn't help but laugh, they probably didn't know which color she'd like best. And so, they settled for all of them.

"Hearty!" And that was when she noticed all the little hearts covering the room. She didn't bother to stop the joyous and shocked noise that left her mouth. Isaac came into view, a sheepish smile on his face. His arms were stretched out as he greeted the two girls.

"Thanks for not going over the top," Tatum quipped sarcastically, raising her arm to give him a quick hug.

Isaac grinned as he shrugged. "I'm a man of my word."

"Third birthday?" Tatum pointed out in a questioning voice, pulling back from the hug.

"Third year as our favorite PT assistant!" Isaac called out happily.

"Birthday shots!" another player shouted loudly, coming over with an absurd amount of shots in his hands. Tatum smiled as she accepted the small glass into her hands, careful not to spill it.

"Shots! Shots! Shots!" everyone chanted, holding their glasses up to the ceiling. Tatum was the first to throw hers back, wincing as the taste of cheap tequila entered her mouth. The others cheered, taking their own shots quickly.

"Let's get you a drink, hearty," Isaac suggested happily after finishing his shot, clapping her on the back before turning to Kinsley. "And one for you too, of course."

"Of course," Kinsley agreed easily with a pleased smirk as he went off to fill some empty red solo cups.

Tatum always had mixed feelings with her birthday. There was something so exciting about it when she was younger. She loved it because it was her special day with her Mom. Having a September birthday, she usually found herself sitting in a classroom for the day unless it was a weekend. But her Mom still found ways to make it special. She would add special treats in her lunchbox, put notes throughout her backpack wishing her a happy birthday, and even buy her a new outfit for the day. She would pick Tatum up from school and make the rest of the day as exciting as she could.

Her mother would always cook her favorite dish to celebrate the day— a family recipe for the Lebanese dish bazella. Her family had been making it for as long as she could remember. Her Mom would spend the whole day baking her whatever extravagant cake she wanted, which always ended up being some sort of colorful fiasco. Her Sitto would even bring over her home-made grape leaves when she came for dinner. Everything about it just felt special.

But eventually, her birthday had began to be twinged with something else. She didn't know how to describe it, really. It almost felt like nostalgia, in a way. Like nothing could touch how she felt when she was little. She would feel such an involuntary thrill that came in the weeks prior to the day. But when the day itself came, she couldn't help but be saddened by it. She wasn't sure if it was the realization that she was growing up or if it was everything going on in her life at the moment, but everything just felt different.

"Oh my god, Julian's here," Kinsley told her, smacking her arm quickly.

"You're kidding," Tatum remarked, eyes darting over quickly to get a glimpse of her ex-boyfriend.

She and Julian's relationship never felt that serious to her. Tatum hadn't dated much in high school and wanted to give herself some time to have some fun while her classes were mainly gen-eds. Neither considered it a very serious relationship. They would hang out when they could and maybe even get dinner sometimes, but they ended up hooking up more than they did anything else. He was fine, honestly. They had fun times, but she just never considered it as anything more than temporary. She decided to end things when her schedule got busier.