Matthew and I stood before a carnival hand in hand. I've never been to a carnival before. Today is March 27th. The day before my birthday. To celebrate Matthew brought me here. The sign standing feet above us was bright, with lights glowering down on the sidewalks.
"You ready to have the best day of your life?" Matthew asked.
"You bet." And with that, we went in.
I saw the dizzying lights flash around us as the cart speed faster. He struggled to keep up to me running from ride to ride and finally suggested this one. He must've thought it'd keep me dizzy enough to stop exploring. I don't know about that, but I know this is the best birthday I've ever had. But before I knew it, the ride had ended.
Then Matthew brought me to the gift shop and turned to me. "Get whatever you want Max. Candy, toys, hoodies. But be fast. I wanted to give you your gift tomorrow, but I can't wait. I want to get home quickly enough to show you."
Without another glance his way, I ran into the shop mesmerized by all the cool toys. In less than 5 minutes I was meeting Matthew in front of the register with a blue hoodie, a cup of chocolate bars, and a necklace of an elephant. I looked up to see Matthew grin wider than I've ever seen him do before. I don't know what his gift is but I know I'll love it. I was practically jumping up and down to leave the park. I've never celebrated my birthday like this before. My mom never spent money to give me a party or to buy me a gift. I really want to know what it is. Once we got in the car we started talking about what cake we were going to make.
"So, I say vanilla."
"Vanilla?" I said in disgust.
"No?"
"No way. I love chocolate!"
"Ha. Of course, you do."
"Why don't we change it a bit."
"To what?"
"We could make it an icecream cake! With chocolate icecream on vanill-
"NO VANILLA!" '
A few minutes later we reached the motel to strip ourselves of our jackets and shoes. Matthew ran to the closet and pulled out two boxes. He pulled me to the carpet and sat next to me in front of the bed. One present was big and covered in baby blue wrapping, the other was small and in purple. I grabbed the purple one first and immediately unwrapped it. Inside was a necklace. The cord was black with two white beads right above the pendant. The pendant was a cream-colored crescent moon.
This reminded me of a painting we went to see. I got up to wrap the necklace on my neck and gaze at myself in the mirror. It was a little long and passed down three inches below my collarbone but I would grow into it. In fact, I'll never take it off.
"You like it?" I looked straight at Matthew.
"I absolutely love it."
I reached to take the other gift when a knock interrupted. I looked at Matthew. Confusion filled his face. We weren't expecting anyone.
"Matthew-"
"Stay here. I'll take care of it." He went to open the door and on the other side,
was my mom.
YOU ARE READING
Mute Yourself
Teen FictionMaxwell Antonio is the main character in this series. His mother who has PTSD from losing her child at birth and losing her husband tries to convince herself Maxie never died. After having Maxwell, she dresses him like he was a girl, even as far as...
