Love or Die

All About You

It took a few days, but by the weekend Jade seemed to have gotten over the incident. She insisted it was because of Travis but he hadn’t actually done anything other than keep her company.

            Once Jade was over her worry about her mother, a new worry seemed to take its place; she had completely forgotten that her birthday was the upcoming weekend. Jade never liked her birthday, always thinking she could literally feel a change happen both mentally and physically as time went on. Her mom claimed she used to love her birthday and couldn’t wait to get older but Jade didn’t remember this naive version of herself and wished she could go back in time to yell at her to never want such a thing. To hope to stay a child for as long as possible. With her birthday so close, Jade couldn’t help but feel the same feeling of dread.

            Travis picked up on her mood but when he asked what was wrong she insisted nothing. At first, he thought she was still worrying about accidentally hurting someone but then he realized that wasn’t what was bothering her either. It wasn’t until he asked Liz that he found out Jade’s hatred for her birthday. He didn’t understand why she hated it so much, but he decided to make her feel differently about it this year.

*          *          *          *          *

The Next Saturday

            “Travis, where are we going?” Jade asked, trying to pry his fingers from her eyes.

            “I can’t tell you,” he answered with amusement in his voice. “Just wait a little longer.”

            “I’m impatient.”

            “And I know this,” he laughed. “Which honestly makes this better.”

            “You’re evil,” she smiled.

            “On occasion.” Jade stumbled slightly as Travis guided her on their path. Jade tried to figure out where he was taking her but she had no idea. The area around them was quiet; the only sound she recognized was the sound of passing cars and far away conversations. There was a slight whooshing sound and she heard a sudden burst of voices surround them.

            “Travis,” Jade groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t throw me a birthday party.”

            “I didn’t,” he answered sincerely. The sounds around them seemed to contradict his words but she stayed silent as he continued to lead her. Finally they came to a stop and Travis’ hands moved away from Jade’s eyes, allowing her to take in the mall around them.

            “Why are we here?” Jade asked in confusion. The entire walk there, she had not expected to find herself in the mall.

            Travis stood in front of her and smiled at her surprise. “You didn’t want a birthday party,” he said. “And you apparently hate your birthday. So I decided to show you something.”

            “Show me what?” Jade asked.

            “Where I fell for you.”

            Jade looked at his intense eyes and couldn’t help but blush under the weight of them. “But we didn’t meet until the CD store.”

            “Right,” he said, smile growing. “We didn’t meet until the CD store. But I saw you before that; I saw you walk right by here.”

            “You did?” Jade said as she tried to remember the day they met. As far as she could remember, the first time she had seen him wasn’t until Liz pointed him out looking at a CD.