Adopted by Dan and Phil (editing in process)

13

CLARA'S POV:

I woke up pretty early and tried to remember why I was so excited. It took me only a second to realize that it was July 18! My birthday!

Nothing special ever happened on my birthday at the orphanage until Emmi started working there.
She would sneak me some pancakes from a restaurant across the street and she always had a tiny present. One year it was a sketchbook and 150 prismacolor pencils, and the other it was a charm bracelet that I wear everyday. It only has two charms on it- a compass symbol, because I've always wanted to travel the world, and half a heart. Emmi had the other half on a shoelace she kept around he neck.

I didn't expect anything today, but it would be the first birthday I would remember outside of the orphanage.

I got dressed in a shirt with pineapples all over it and some white shorts. I went into the kitchen with a huge smile. Both Dan and Phil were still sleeping, so I tried to be quiet.

I went on Twitter and replied to as many nice birthday messages as I could. Everyone was so nice! I followed some people with particularly sweet messages and retweeted Louise' and Zoe's birthday wishes:

A happy birthday to Clara! Hope it's as wonderful and sparkly as you are💖

My beautiful Clara is turning 14! Happy birthday, love! Hugs and kisses! 💜😘

A bunch of people were using the hashtag hbdbeautifulClara and it filled me with happiness. I got tons of DM's and tried to reply to all of them, but there were so many!

Finally Dan woke up and came into the kitchen, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He signed.

"Thanks!" I replied.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"For breakfast, where do you want to go?" He said as if it was obvious.

"I don't know, wherever." I shrugged.
He nodded and I knew he had someplace in mind.

"You might want to change into something a little fancier." He said.

I went back into my room and got dressed into a slightly dressier shirt and black skinny jeans and put my charm bracelet on.

...

I got out of the car and followed Phil into a fancy restaurant with Dan right behind me.

Phil talked to the waiter at the front and she nodded, leading us to a private section of the restaurant.

I smiled when I saw Louise, Zoe, Darcy, Marcus, Joe and Caspar all sitting around a huge table, with three seats left.

I went around and hugged each one of them. My first birthday party!

I sat down in between Dan and Darcy and only then did I see the pile of wrapped gifts at the end of the table.
"No you didn't!" I signed.
Mostly everyone got the idea, but Marcus, Casper and Joe didn't really know sign language besides 'Hello' 'How are you' and 'My name is,' so Phil translated.

Everyone smiled. "Of course, love!" Zoella said, "It's your birthday!"

The waiter came and took our order, and we started talking.
Louise asked permission to vlog, which was kind of pointless since she already had her camera out, but I said yes anyway.

"This food looks amazing!" She said, pointing at her steak and mashed potatoes.
I had ordered a stack of pancakes with chocolate syrup drizzled all over it and a fruit cup.
"Look at that chocolate, Clara!" She said showing the camera my smile and then my huge plate of food.

When the plates were cleared away, and Darcy's spilled drink was cleaned up, the present time began.

The first one I opened was from Marcus. It was a boxed set of my favorite series, 'The Hunger Games." I smiled and thanked him.

Joe got me a P!ATD shirt that I absolutely LOVED and Caspar got me a pair of earrings that were really cool opal studs.

Zoe's gift was another charm for my bracelet- a pencil to symbolize my drawings. Dan helped me clasp it next to the heart.

Louise' gift was a collection of Lush products. I thanked everyone individually and then opened Dan and Phil's present that was wrapped in a black gift bag with a yellow bow with white polka-dots tied to the handle.

Inside was a picture of all of us and their signatures on the frame.
It was kind of cheesy, but then I realized what it meant. It was something I could keep when I went back to the orphanage. The two-month time limit was almost over.

I looked at the people who had changed my life, who had done so much for me. And hugged them.
"Thank you." I said. I didn't sign it. I used my parrot voice and told them with all my heart, thank you. Thank you for the gift and thank you for the life they gave me the past few weeks.

..............................................................

SNIFFLE.
I can't believe it's almost over😩 Why! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this cute, little birthday bash.
Vote, comment, and KEEP READING! I have some exciting plans up my sleeve, hehe😏

~ Isabel💜