TUTORS ; E.D.

FOURTEEN: BIRTHDAY

The sound of the front door opening startled them enough to get Aphrodite to pull away from her boyfriend and sit up. She was finally relaxed, but that brought her right back to the edge.

"Hades! Dee!"

"You have to be fucking kidding me," she whispers to herself, not even able to get out of her bed before her door swings open. There stands Bruce, carefully eyeballing Ethan when he spots him. "Dad. You're home."

"Yes... why is your door closed when there's a boy in your room?" He asks, acting as if he's ever been a caring father. "Try not to do that--hey, kiddo."

Hades immediately whisks their father into a discussion about his fight today, dragging him away from Aphrodite's room. The second he's out of sight, she throws her face into one of her pillows and lets out a scream. Her father was home for the first time in three weeks, and she wished he would've stayed gone.

Not only did he decide to make an appearance, he also scolds her about who she has in her room? She didn't understand if he was delusional or just trying to convince himself that only speaking to your children a few times a month at most was okay as long as you pretend to care when you come home. It was probably the latter, and it made her sick.

Ethan frowns, pulling the frustrated girl into his arms with a small, "Shh," from his lips. "I'm sorry, Aph. We can go to mine? Or... just get out of here."

"Yeah. Not your fault, y'know?" She huffs, reaching for her shoes. "I hate his guts."

"C'mon, I'm here," he mumbles, grabbing his hoodie. By now, Ethan has helped her more than a few times after her dad shows up out of the blue. He's the only one who knows about it other than Hades, and he's happy to help.

Bruce returning home only ever puts Aphrodite in a horrible mood. Sometimes it's gone the next morning, other times it lasts for a few days, but it's definitely not ever a good thing. Ethan knew she was already upset over something before this, but Bruce coming home was bound to make things so much worse.

Twirling her keys around her finger, they leave her room and get ready to go anywhere else. Bruce is in the living room with Hades, and the discussion makes her stop cold.

"Of course I'm home, Hades. You think I'd miss your sisters birthday? Oh! Dee, come here!"

Ethan tilts his head, his jaw going slack. Aphrodite's birthday? He had to have it wrong, right?

She bites her tongue, foot tapping the ground impatiently. Aphrodite is going to explode if she doesn't get out of the house in the next two minutes.

"Happy birthday, Dee. What do you wanna do for it?"

"I actually have plans with friends already. Why don't you take Hades out for something though? I'm heading out now." Her answer comes out through grit teeth, but it barely phases Bruce. He doesn't spare her another glance as she drags Ethan out the door and toward her car. "Fuck!"

"...it's your birthday?"

"Yeah, it's not a big fucking deal, I didn't want you knowing," she spits, hitting her steering wheel a few times. "God, I hate him! He couldn't just stay away, could he? He had to come home, and he had to tell you it's my birthday, and he had to ruin fucking everything."

Aphrodite lets out a frustrated huff of breath, starting her car and getting away from her house as fast as she can. Her birthday is her least favorite day of the year.

In fact, that's one of the things she keeps secret from her friends too.

They'd asked, they'd pried, they'd bugged her about it for years... but she didn't want them buying her gifts or surprising her. Carla used to know, since they were friends for years, but she can't remember the date. Just the month.