Autumn Leaves and Teenage Dreams

12. Celebrations

I wake up in a panic to find myself being suffocated by a tongue licking all the sides of my face. I am covered in a gratuitous amount of slobber. When I finally will myself to open my eyes, Fry is wagging his tail happily as he pounces around my bed. He gives me an extra share of birthday kisses once I begin to acknowledge him through gentle pats. My mother is in the corner, laughing to herself, and while I giggle from Fry's celebratory kisses, a glance at my clock reveals it's only eight in the morning. On my first day off. So much for sleeping in.

"There's some waffles downstairs. I have to head off to work, but we'll all go out to celebrate tonight," my mother says as I shoo Fry off my bed. Wiping the slobber from my face, I nod and slowly stretch.

Seventeen years old, huh? I don't feel different, though I certainly like the sound of seventeen better than sixteen.

When I make my way downstairs after scrubbing the slobber off my face, Oliver is the only other one sitting at the kitchen table. He sits at the table with a plate of waffles, which he happily digs into.

"You know, those were for me," I say.

He rolls his eyes. "There's more than a dozen of them on the counter. Mom said they're for all of us."

I grab a plate for myself and take a seat across from him. I swirl generous amounts of maple syrup around the waffles and munch on a slice of crispy bacon that my mother specially prepared.

"Happy birthday, Callie," Oliver says at last.

I thank him and watch as my phone begins to light up with texts from my friends and distant family members.

"Well, you're popular," Oliver teases.

Getting the texts makes me feel warm inside, though I'm a bit disappointed I won't get to see any of my friends today. Most are out of town for the break, leaving me to enjoy my siblings' company. At least I'll get to have a nice meal tonight at my favorite sushi restaurant. My mother made the reservation weeks in advance. It's all I've been looking forward to for the past few days.

Olivia doesn't make her way down the stairs until an hour later, when I'm busy cleaning dishes. I can't imagine that seventh grade requires so much sleep, though she seems exhausted as she pours a glass of orange juice for herself. At the sight of fresh waffles, her eyes light up.

"They're not warm anymore. You'd have to heat them up," I warn.

"Aren't you going to wish Callie a happy birthday?" Oliver questions when my sister merely grumbles and starts rummaging through the cabinets.

"Oh. Right. Happy birthday, sis. You know what they say. Seventeen and the dancing queen and all that," Olivia says as she stands in front of the microwave, watching her plate of waffles spin round and round without a care in the world.

"Gee, thanks," I mutter.

"Are you hanging out with friends today?" Olivia asks.

"No. They're all out of town," I answer.

"She wants a ride to the mall," Oliver whispers quietly to me.

"I mean—if you were going to the mall, then I was going to ask to tag along," Olivia says. "A few of my friends are going. To hang out. Well, also because a few boys from our class were talking about going the same day. Not that we planned that—"

"I don't want to spend my birthday babysitting you," I grumble.

"You don't have to watch me! You can do your own birthday shopping or whatever," Olivia begs.

"No."

"Aw, c'mon, Callie? You're not going to do anything with your car today? When I'm sixteen, I'm going to drive everywhere. Go to the mall every weekend. See movies all the time. Your life is so boring. You don't even have a boyfriend, and you're over halfway through high school," Olivia complains.