Never Be The Same {H.S}

chapter 10

"So, what do you want for your birthday?" Aria asked me as we walked down the hallway and I shrugged.

"I don't need anything." I said and Aria rolled her eyes.

"What's the plan tonight?" Liam asked and I thought about it for a moment.

"I think we'll just hang out at my house. Harry said he'd bring cake from the bakery and I'm ordering pizza." I said and they both nodded.

"17 is so weird. Like you can't drink yet, but you can drive." Aria said and I laughed a little, nodding.

"In America, you have to wait til 21 to drink." I said and Liam laughed.

"That sucks. Next year we'll all be able to go out and drink to our heart's content." Aria replied and told Liam goodbye as we passed his classroom. "Want me to bring drinks?"

"Sure. We can swim if we want to." I said and she nodded, taking her seat in art.

Class went by quickly and we got out of the school fast. Since Harry was going to the bakery, Aria drove me home and she reassured me that she would see me later on tonight. I walked up my driveway and went inside, shaking my jacket off. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and read the text from Harry, asking what color I wanted the icing. I smiled a little and shot him a quick reply, making my way towards the stairs to go up to my room. Just as I passed the living room, something caught my eye. There was a stack of probably twenty different sized boxes so I went over and noticed a piece of paper on the ground.

Sorry I can't be here tonight. See you Wednesday. Happy Birthday. -Dad

I glanced back at the gifts and sighed to myself, setting the note down on the coffee table. I carried them up the stairs and to my room, setting them on my bed. I cocked my head to the side and eventually opened one, pulling the tissue paper out. There was a gift card to a store downtown and I couldn't help but smile a little. I continued to open the boxes and they all either had cash or a gift card. The last one I opened had a stack of letters and I furrowed my eyebrows, taking the string off from around them.

I flicked through them and noticed that they were all ranging from birthday to Christmas to Halloween cards from my dad. The stamps showed that they were going back to when he left us four years ago and there were probably thirty letters. I sat down on the edge of my bed and opened one, seeing a hundred dollar bill fall to the floor. What the hell? I opened all of the letters and they all had money in them. In every single card, he wrote that he was sorry and that was it. He thought he could buy my forgiveness.

I put all the money in my dresser and got new clothes out, not wanting to worry about it. Everyone would be in over in an hour and a half and I had nothing ready. I went to the bathroom and turned on my curling iron, taking my hair down. This is going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, babe." Harry smiled, coming around the couch to kiss me.

"Hey." I smiled and he sat down next to me, taking a breath. "How was baking?"

"Good. I put it in the kitchen." He said and I nodded, taking a sip of my water. "I guess I'm the last one here."

"You're always late, Haz." Liam laughed and he rolled his eyes, grabbing a Coke from the table.

After a bit, the pizza got to the house and everyone dug in as we hung out in the living room. I took small bites from my slice and laughed at something Aria said, taking a drink. I turned my head to see Harry staring down at my half eaten slice of pizza with a small frown on his face. He looked up and saw that I was watching him so he sent me a cocked eyebrow. I ignored it and went back to talking to Aria, not wanting to get into it tonight.