Dear Diary, I'm Finding Myself

Birthday Girl

We get picked up from the airport by my parents. They’re overjoyed to see us, and the feeling is mutual. If I thought they’d notice that Hunter and I weren’t in the best place right now, I was wrong. They don’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Okay, maybe this trip helped. We’re not as tense around each other as we were these past couple of weeks. It’s all good now. As long as we’re together and as long as we’re communicating, we can get past anything.

“Sweetie, how’s your internship? You barely tell me anything about it,” my mom asks from the front seat, making me offer her a restrained smile. I find myself lying about it before I’m able to stop myself.

“Oh, it’s great. I’m already doing some small tasks around the office and they’re letting me learn from the best. They have quite the promotion system, so I might have a chance to work with them a little longer than I first thought,” I tell her, making her smile in response.

“That’s amazing! Fox is a great company, one of my college friends works there. Maybe you know her? Judy Meyer?” she tries to find out, but I shake my head after thinking about it. She tries describing her, but I don’t recall anyone like that. Or maybe I recall too many people.

I mean, there’s a lot of women with short brown bobs, walking around Fox. “Sorry, mom. I don’t think I know her. She’s probably in another department,” I tell her. She quits asking around after that.

As I look at Hunter, I realize he’s staring at me with a disapproving gaze. Yeah, okay, I lied about what I do at Fox. But it just came out on its own. I was afraid my mom would be super disappointed if I told her I’m just a coffee runner.

“Hunter, how’s your work at the lab going? You are still interning there, aren’t you?” my dad suddenly speaks up, genuinely interested in what my boyfriend will have to say. Hunter nods, then starts talking as he realizes my dad can’t exactly keep staring at him in the rear mirror. He needs to keep his eyes on the road.

“Yeah, I’m still working there. It’s really awesome, they let me do some real work. I’ve truly learned a lot in the past year and they’re a little more trusting to me in this semester. I got more responsibilities now,” he answers, making me watch him in secret.

I stare at the way his jaw flexes as he talks. The way he shifts as he tries to be as communicative as he can with my dad. How light bounces off his perfectly curled, dark lashes. A familiar feeling rises at the pit of my stomach. Perrie, this is so not the time to be horny.

The ride lasts quite some time, jumping from moments of comfortable silence to moments we can’t seem to shut up. It’s all good, though. I must say I missed my parents. A lot. I’m only realizing this now, but not having them around every day is weird.

As we drive up the familiar street, I can’t help but smile. Hello, neighborhood. Hello Hillsboro. I missed you. Well, a little bit. I can’t say I missed the nosy people that walk around the streets, but hey, nothing’s perfect, right?

“Are Leslie and Aiden here yet?” I ask my mom as we park on the driveway. She nods, making me smile. Amazing. This means I can literally jump into their arms as soon as I step into the house.

But first, we have to drag our suitcases up the stairs, before managing to get to the front door. As we open it, we soon get greeted by an excited squeal, coming from somewhere nearby.

Before I’m able to put my suitcase away properly, someone’s already running at me and I spread my arms just in time to catch my best friend. She literally leaps through the air to come hug me, and I have to try my best to catch that tall girl.

“Perrie! Oh my God I’ve missed you so much!” she squeals into my ear, almost bursting my eardrums. But I don’t mind that, as long as I’m able to be around her again.

“I’ve missed you too! Happy birthday, Leslie!” I say, realizing that I don’t really talk. I squeal back, just as much as she did. Maybe even more. We’re giggling like little girls, unable to let go of each other, before finally, Hunter protests behind me.

“Hey, some of us would like to get in,” he informs us, forcing us to pull apart and move away from the door. I drag my suitcase away, then meet another familiar face. I smile brightly, feeling quite happy with this little reunion.

“Hey bro!” I greet Aiden, whose face falls at my choice of words. He glances at Hunter, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Did you hear that? She burst her vocal chords for her best friend, and I just get a ‘hey bro’? What am I, adopted?” he complains, making me roll my eyes at him. I walk towards him and pull him into a hug.

“Oh, shut up already. If I squealed into your ears, you’d wrap a pillow around my head,” I predict, making him chuckle. That’s when I realize that he’s totally joking. I smile again, shaking my head in disbelief.

“You’re a hundred percent right,” he lets me know, then pulls away from me to greet his best friend. “Dude, life isn’t the same without you,” he lets him know, making Hunter grin at him in a playful way.

“Tell me about it. Life with girls is tough, am I right?” my boyfriend speaks up, making both Leslie and I start protesting. My mom puts an end to it soon enough.

“Play nice, kids. You haven’t seen each other for two months,” she reminds us. Like we don’t know that. We’re just playing around. My brother shakes his head at her.

“Mom. We’re kidding,” he assures her. Hunter walks towards Leslie and pulls her into a hug as well.

“Hey there, birthday girl. How’s it going?” he says, making her smile at him as they pull away from each other.

“Better now that we’re all back together,” she lets him know, then turns towards me to send me a conspiratory wink. Ah. I’ve truly missed her.

We all drive to her mom’s house after we finish unpacking, because we’re not leaving her out of the celebration. We’re just going to have a casual dinner, but Leslie still dresses up a little. She’s allowed to do that, it’s her birthday after all.

Leslie’s mom greets us all like we haven’t seen her for years. She takes especially long, greeting her daughter, but no one can blame her for that. The woman lives alone after all. I can’t imagine how hard it must be.

We’re just helping her set up the table and finishing the dinner, when the doorbell rings again. Leslie seems surprised, while her mom looks like she’s expecting someone. “Honey, would you go open the door please?” she asks her daughter in a completely causal way. It almost sounds a little too casual.

My best friend clearly picks up on it as well, because she exchanges looks with me, before shrugging and saying: “Sure, ma’.” Then, she walks towards the front door. A moment later, I can hear her gasping. “Dad! What are you doing here?”

“You know I wouldn’t miss my little girl’s birthday,” a male voice travels to my ears. I look at Leslie’s mom, who seems to be … Well, okay with this. I smile as soon as she lifts her gaze from the kitchen counter.

“That was a really nice gesture,” I tell her, earning myself a smile back. She doesn’t say anything, because Leslie and her dad already come to the kitchen, my best friend basically radiating happiness. Her smile is contagious and I keep it on my face for the whole dinner.

As we finish eating, we finally give her our presents. She claims that we didn’t have to get her anything, but I know she secretly loves it. I mean, we’re her friends and family, what kind of people would we be if we didn’t spoil her a little?

Once she starts opening our present, I nudge Hunter. He smirks at me, clearly amused by my excitement. It’s something that I picked very carefully, in hopes that she’ll like it as much as I think she will.

As she touches the package, she tilts her head in wonder. “What is this?” she asks, before she even starts unwrapping the paper. I share an amused look with Hunter, who is clearly confident that Leslie will like our gift.

“Something to help you with your academic achievements,” I tell her, making her frown in response. Finally, she shrugs, and tears the paper apart. What she sees beneath it, makes her gasp.

“Oh my God! I was looking for something like this to help me keep myself organized! Thank you, it’s perfect!” she squeals, pressing the academic planner against her cheek. “It’s so soft and fuzzy,” she practically purrs, making the whole table chuckle.

We got her a planner, because I knew she was looking for one, she just never remembered to actually buy it. I saw this one by coincidence, and I knew it was perfect for her as I saw the cover was made of artificial fur. In a light pink color.

“Damn, I was looking at the exact same thing, but I sensed that my sister would buy it for you. This is why I got you the bracelet,” my brother speaks up in a joking tone. Leslie looks at him, laughing at his sarcasm.

“Oh, stop whining. I like everyone’s gifts. Thank you,” she says, addressing the whole table as she looks around. Everyone seems to be in a good mood, smiling and appreciating each other’s company. It’s one of those moments that you know you’ll never get back, no matter how much you want to. And out of an unknown reason, it makes me sad.