Dirt

I woke up the morning of my birthday party in the best mood. My dad always made the biggest deal out of my birthday. My mom did when she was alive, and he had no problem picking up and running with the tradition. But it wasn't my dad's birthday greeting that put a smile on my face first thing, it was Matt's. He had texted me sometime close to midnight.

"I wanted to be the first to wish you Happy Birthday. I can't wait to see you at the party and give you your present. Enjoy your day and I'll see you later."

I smiled to myself as I rolled out of bed, put on my kitten slippers, and went downstairs for some breakfast. Matt was very sweet when no one was looking. It was kind of endearing how much he clung to his bad ass persona in front of other people. I got downstairs, and there was Pop, putting the finishing touches on breakfast. I chuckled and shook my head. By the looks of things, he made enough food to feed about twelve people. I kissed his cheek as I made myself a big plate of eggs, french toast, and some english muffins with butter and strawberry jam.

"Happy Birthday, Princess!" my dad told me. "You're finally able to drink, legally. So to celebrate, I got you a choice of either a beer with breakfast, or some wine if you want to be classy," he said while presenting the open fridge, which was really stocked with a six pack of beer and an unopened bottle of wine.

I laughed for a long time at that one. "Wow. I love you, Pop. And I appreciate the thought, but I think for breakfast, I'll just stick with juice. Good one, though."

He laughed along with me. "Well, don't say I didn't try." Then he fixed himself a plate, and sat down at the table beside me. We ate in a comfortable silence. That's one of the best things about him. My dad always had this way about him of making those around him comfortable. Of course, he could turn that off at will, and then he could make his enemies feel very unwanted. "So what are your plans for the day?"

I shrugged. "I didn't really make any plans. Probably just hang out with Erin and Jess until it's time to get ready. Why? Did you have something planned?"

"Not really. Just thought it might be nice to see your face around here today."

I smiled. He missed me. "That could be arranged, you know. Do you care if the girls come hang out over here?" Not at all, he told me. He said it would be like old times. So I texted both of them and told them that since I was the birthday princess, they had to do as I said and come to my house. There were quite a few expletives in their replies, but they agreed anyway.

A couple hours later, the girls and I were lounging around my living room watching old eighties movies. The current one was The Dark Crystal. Sometimes Jim Hensen could produce some creepy ass puppets. On deck was either The Labyrinth or Legend. There's just something about David Bowie in tights, and young Tom Cruise covered in glitter, that captivated our attentions. The doorbell rang, and I dragged myself off the couch to go get it. When I got there, no one was there, but a small package wrapped in brown paper was sitting on the porch. It wasn't addressed to anyone, so I picked it up and walked back inside with it, curious about its contents. As I walked back into the living room, I heard the girls talking quietly.

"I mean, I just can't believe it," Erin said.

"I know, to think her dad would-" Jessi started to say, but noticed me in the doorway and cut her sentence short. "Who was at the door?"

I shook my head. "No one. I got there and the only thing I found was this," I said while lifting up the package for them to see. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Erin said with a flick of her wrist. "What's in the package? Do you think it's a present?"

I furrowed my brows. That was weird. They were obviously talking about something. Why wouldn't they tell me? Was it my dad that they were talking about? I threw away my doubt. These were my best friends. I would trust them with my life. If they said they weren't talking about anything important, then that what they meant. Then why couldn't I shake the bad feeling I had? "I dunno," I told her quietly. "It's not addressed to me, so I can't just assume it's for me. But then, Pop won't mind if I open his package. So, let's just see what's in it."

The three of us walked into the kitchen and set the box down on the table. I peeled away the brown wrapping and smile upon seeing the writing on the light pink box. It was a box from Patty-Cake Bakery, my favorite bakery. I quickly opened it, and found a dozen of their famous cake balls. They were beautiful. Pop was the best. I knew he ordered these for me. I picked one up and bit into heaven. They were vanilla cake with chocolate coating, drizzled with white chocolate. They were the best thing I'd ever tasted. The girls and I had those finished off in just about no time.

"We should have saved some for later," Jessi said absentmindedly. "Remind me to tell your dad that I want those for my birthday, too." I laughed and told her I would. After that we decided to watch glitter covered Tom Cruise in Legend. It really was an amazing movie. Anything where the devil chased after unicorns was alright by me.

That night we got ready for my party at my house. My girls were looking especially good. Jess had gone slightly feminine with some red twill skinny pants, a snake skin print sleeveless sheer blouse, and some open toe black booties. She pulled her hair up in a messy bun with some wisps down around her face. She looked stellar. Erin had chosen to go with a simple blue, knee length cocktail dress. She paired it with some strappy black heels and a wide black belt. She left her hair down in waves and she looked stunning. They helped me pick out what to wear, and the result was pretty good.

I wore a black and white damask patterned short dress, with gold strappy heels and gold accessories. I had a small blue clutch and Erin spent almost an hour straightening my hair. I picked a gold and brown motif for my eye makeup and a bright red lipstick. The girls said I looked so good.

As we came downstairs to go to Tim's bar and restaurant, Pop had me wait behind everyone else. "I wanted to give you your present early. You know, before you become too cool to hang with your old man tonight." He handed me a small blue velvet box.

I opened it up and started tearing up. It was my mom's heirloom broach that was given to her by her mother, who was given the broach by her mother. I'd almost forgotten about it all together. "Pop. I don't know what to say. We looked for this so long. Where did you find it?"

He smiled his knowing smile. "I'll never tell. Let's just say it wasn't as lost as we originally thought."

"So it was under our noses the whole time?"

"Pretty much, yeah." With a laugh we were out the door and in the car.

Tim's place was already packed by the time we got there. Cars and bikes lined the parking lot. The music was loud and could be heard clear as day from outside. We walked inside, and even though I knew what was going on, everyone yelled surprise. I laughed. I was immediately handed a shot, and was showered with a chorus of Happy Birthday from everyone around me. There was a small stage to the left of the front door in the club, and Tim stood on top of it with a microphone in his hand.

"Everyone, shut the fuck up!" he yelled, then gave a big cheesy grin. "Thanks. Okay, pumpkin," he said addressing me, "what do you want to do first? Cake, presents, or drinking and dancing?"

I smiled when everyone turned to me. I looked down at the shot in my hand and quickly slammed it back. "Does that answer your question?!" Everyone erupted in cheers and some guys climbed up on stage to start playing music.

We were all having the best time. I mingled with just about everyone. I had to peel myself out of Erin's mom's grip. She wouldn't stop hugging me and telling me how beautiful I've become. If I hadn't gotten away when I did, she would have made me cry. Eventually we did cut the cake. It was huge. It had five tiers and looked like a macabre wedding cake, but it was really delicious. One thing kept bugging me, though. Where was Matt? I ran into Zee, who hugged me and wished me Happy Birthday. Johnny and Lacey gave me an awkward group hug, and Brian even gave me a side hug. Jimmy slow danced to three songs with me. Granted, none of the songs we danced to were slow, but he told me that was the only way he knew how to dance, so I went with it. And yet, no Matt.

That is, until I spotted him in the crowd a few yards away. I slowly worked my way through the crowd over to where he was. I tapped him on the shoulder and as he turned to look at me, I saw a girl who was clinging to his arm. She was pretty. She was taller than I was and had pretty blond hair. She looked at me like I was trashy, though. Matt looked panicked and guilty at the same time.

"Hey, Ash! Happy Birthday!" He was trying to cover for...what? Was he here with this girl? "Uh, this is my...this is Val. Val, this is Ash. It's her birthday."

"Ash?" she asked like my name had a horrible taste. "What kind of name is that?" I could tell straight off that she was drunk. "Anyways, it's nice to meet you, or whatever. I guess Happy Birthday. How do you know my boyfriend?"

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, but before I could speak, Matt cut in. "We're not together Val. We talked about that this morning." I didn't want to have this uncomfortable moment anymore, so I walked away. Matt came after me, though. "Ash, wait. She's not my girlfriend. She's drunk. That's my ex. We're not back together, though."

"Then why'd you bring her? How in the hell did your ex wind up at my birthday party?"

He sighed in defeat. "I knew it was stupid to bring her, it's just...she came over this morning, and was already drunk. She broke up with her newest boyfriend, and she needed someone to talk to. She asked if we could get back together, and I couldn't tell her yes. I didn't want to tell her yes. I have feelings for someone else now."

"Don't do me any favors. You know, you should go back to your girlfriend, Matt. She needs you."

"Ash, don't be like that." I didn't say anything. "Can I call you later?"

I just scoffed and shook my head. "No." I walked off. I wanted to be upset. I really wanted to pull the typical girl thing and go cry in the bathroom, but I refused to do any of that. It was my birthday, damn it, and I was going to enjoy it. So I did just that. I drank, and had more cake, and danced with just about everyone. I opted out of opening presents there, so some of Pop's guys loaded them into the back of Pop's car. I'd open them later.

A few hours later I was pretty drunk and tired. I waved to Jessi from across the room and mouthed that I was leaving. She mouthed that she loved me. Erin caught me on my way out the door. "Hey! Did you have a good time?" I told her I did. "Good, I'm glad. So...I guess you saw Matt and what's her face." I just nodded. "Do you want me to ditch Brian and come home with you?" I told her to stay and have a good time. She gave me one last big hug, and let me get in the car.

I got home and changed clothes. Just before I climbed into bed and drifted off, I allowed a few tears to slide down my cheeks. Stupid emotions.