Six Feet Under the Stars.

July 8, 2003; 9:00pm —

“Your birthday’s tomorrow.”

“I know. Do you have a birthday gift for me?”

“Nope. I’m too lazy to buy one.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t love me? That I’m not as important in your life as I think I am? That I’m not really important enough for you to fight off the laziness and buy me a gift for my birthday?”

“Wait a minute, why are you even asking me that? You know how much I love you, Kath. I’m just too lazy to buy a gift. That doesn’t mean that you’re not important and that I don’t love you. How could you even think of that?! After all the times I said I love you, how cou—”

“I’m just messing with you. Sheesh, lighten up Alex.”

Alex frowned at his best friend’s amused expression.

The two teenagers were seated on the same conjoining roofs outside their bedroom windows, the same one where they became best friends a couple of years ago. After that night when they first talked, they agreed to see each other every night on the roof and watch the stars above their heads. Their friendship grew from that, and they became the best of friends. Now a bunch of 15 year olds (Kath’s turning 15 tomorrow), they still go to their roofs and talk. Only, this time, they don’t talk about stars anymore. They weren’t 7 years old anymore, so they talked about a lot of things now. Like friends, family, high school, teachers, music, the future, parties, popularity, success, life, love… And some other things.

“Don’t give me that look, you dork.” Kath said, sticking her tongue out at him. She sat in a way that her arms where hugging her legs.

Alex sighed, and looked away. He gazed up above their heads and sighed again. “You’re not fun to be with anymore.”

“Ouch. Ain’t that a bit harsh?” she said, pouting at him.

He looked back at her and smiled when he noticed her expression. He lifted both of his hands and placed them on both of her cheeks. Gently, he tried to lift the ends of her lips with his index fingers to form a smile. But, she was stubborn. She took his hands away from her face and held them in her hands.

“No. I won’t smile.” she said, pouting even more. “You said I’m not fun anymore. And that hurts.”

“I’m just messing with you. Sheesh, lighten up Kath.”

She playfully punched him on his shoulder, which made him laugh quietly. He grinned at her, which made her roll her eyes while she crossed her arms in a stubborn way. He tried to put his arm around her, but she just slapped his arm away.

“Kath,” he said, taking her hand in his and intertwined his fingers with hers. “Why are you so upset with me? Can’t I joke around too?”

“No. You’re not allowed to joke around.” she said as she stuck her tongue out. She still held his hand. “That’s my job. Your job is to be the supportive and loving best friend who would laugh at my jokes and gives me gifts.”

“That’s exactly what am I. I’m supportive. I express my undying love for you every second of every day. And, I always laugh at your jokes. Even when they’re sometimes corny.”

“You’re forgetting something.”

“What?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Something about birthdays and gifts or something…”

“What the fuck is it with you and gifts? You didn’t act like this last year. Or the years before that.” he said, slightly getting annoyed.

To his surprised, she giggled at his frustrated expression. She let go of his hand and scooted closer to him. She gently placed her head on his shoulder and hugged him. Alex shook his head and eventually, he gave in and smiled. He slowly wrapped his arms around her thin frame and gently rocked both of them sideways in a slow rhythm.

“To tell you honestly, I don’t really care about the gifts.” she whispered, laughing quietly. “I just wanted to annoy the shit out of you.”

“I hate you.” he mumbled into her hair, placing a quick kiss on it.

“I love you too, Alexander.” she whispered, a smile never leaving her lips. She looked up and placed a kiss on his cheek, which made him blush a little bit.

Silence followed after that. Neither one of them knew what else to say, so they kept quiet. They just sat there, holding each other. Alex looked up at the night sky while Kath closed her eyes and sighed. After a few moments, she broke the silence.

“Alex,” she whispered, her eyes still closed. “I’m scared.”

He hugged her tight and whispered, “Why? What are you scared of?”

“We’re attending high school in September.”

“So? What’s wrong with that? Why are you scared?”

“I don’t know. It’s just, well, I have a feeling that… things might change. And I don’t want that.”

“Things like what?” he asked, though he somehow knew what she was talking about.

She sighed and cuddled close to him. Then, she whispered, “You. You might change, Alex. You’ll find new friends. Then you’ll forget about me.”

“That won’t happen.”

“You wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

He looked at her and placed a quick kiss on her forehead, which made her open her eyes. He saw worry and sadness in those pair of emerald eyes, and he wanted to replace them with happiness. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He shook his head and chuckled.

“Here,” he said, taking his arm off her and showing her his hand. His pinky was outstretched, offering to intertwine it with hers. “I’ll pinky promise you.”

She stared at his outstretched pinky, and then she shifted her eyes to his. She shook her head slightly and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“That is so 3rd grade, Alex. I can’t believe you offered me a pinky promise.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of a pinky promise. It’s the most awesome thing ever.”

With that being said, she laughed. She couldn’t believe how weird and childish her best friend is, but that’s one of the many reasons why she loves him. So, even though she thinks it’s unnecessary, she entwined her pinky with his.

“Here’s my promise to you, Miss Kathleen Emma Thompson,” he said, smiling at their entwined pinkies. “I promise to always be the supportive and loving best friend that will always be there for you. I couldn’t really promise that I won’t change, since change is inevitable. But, I promise to be with you through thick and thin. To tell you honestly, I couldn’t imagine us drifting apart. You’re a big part of me, Kath. And I’m so grateful to be able to say that you’re my best friend. You don’t even know how happy I was that night when you knocked on my bedroom window and asked me to come with you outside. You’re an amazing and wonderful girl, and I would be very, very, very stupid to forget you.”

She smiled, a single tear slipped down on her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and chuckled. “That’s the sweetest thing I ever heard from you.”

“Well, it’s the truth.” he shrugged.

She punched him on his sides playfully, and they both laughed. He wrapped both of his arms around her again, and they stayed like that for the rest of the night. At around 11:40, Kath felt sleepy so Alex carried her in his arms and brought her to her room.

“But, it’s only a couple of minutes left before my birthday.” she mumbled, trying to fight off the tiredness in her eyes.

Alex gently placed her in her bed and tucked her in. “I know. But I think it’s best if you sleep now. Tomorrow’s your day, and I want you to rest. Besides, you’re already tired. So go to sleep, KittyKath.”

“KittyKath? That’s a weird nick name.” She mumbled as she closed her eyes and smiled. “But I like it.”

“I’m glad you do. Now go to sleep.”

“Okay. Good night, Alex.” she whispered. “I love you.”

He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead, and whispered, “Good night, KittyKath. I love you too.”

Kath feel asleep quickly. But Alex didn’t leave until the clock struck 12mn. When it did, he gave her another kiss on the forehead and whispered a “happy birthday” before he left and went back to his room.

______________________________________________________________

July 9, 2003; 9: 00am —

Kath woke up the next morning with a groan. The sun shined brightly through her bedroom window, and it hurt her eyes. She looked at the clock and realized that it was already 9 in the morning. And it’s already July 9th.

She’s finally fifteen years old.

She got up from her bed quickly and walked towards her window. She looked across to Alex’s room to see if he’s there, but what greeted her was a huge sign that he taped on his window.

Look at your study table. I left something for you. It read.

She looked to her left and saw a guitar case on top of her study table. It had a red ribbon on top of it as well as an envelope. She walked towards it and grabbed the enveloped first. She opened it and read Alex’s letter.

Dear Kathleen,

Happy birthday! Do you remember when you asked me last night if I had a birthday gift for you and I told you I got nothing? Well, I lied. I bought this one a month ago. I asked my parents to hide it so you wouldn't see when you went over. I’m so clever, aren't I? Oh, screw that. I’m a fucking genius!

Anyway, I hope you like it. I know how much you love mine, so I thought you would want to have one too. You could bring it over to my room and we could jam around our favorite songs. And maybe I could teach you a few tricks I learned from my guitar lessons! That’ll be fun, right?

So, I guess that’s it. Happy 15th fucking birthday, KittyKath! I love you so very much!

Your dork,
Alex

P.S.
You’ll probably read this when you wake up, which might be around 8 or 9 in the morning, but I’m not so sure. Anyway, I’ll just go ahead and inform you that I woke up around 5 in the morning just to write this shit down and sneak into your room so I could surprise the fuck out of you. I hope you like the effort I put into this.

Love you!

She smiled as she placed the letter back into the envelope. Next, she carefully took the red ribbon on top of the case and placed it on the table. Then, she gently opened the guitar case and looked at what Alex bought for her.

It was an old electric guitar. She could tell that it’s a bit old since it’s a bit yellowish in color and that there’s a few scratches on the body. The sign said that it’s a Fender guitar. She’s heard a lot about it from Alex, and that some of the bands that they listen to uses this kind of guitars. As she stared at it, she can’t help but tear up a little. She can’t believe Alex would buy her an electric guitar. She didn’t have enough money to buy one, so she settled with an old acoustic guitar instead. But now her best friend gave her one, and she feels so lucky to have someone as generous as him in her life.

A huge smile never left her lips as she closed the guitar case and walked out of her room. She went down stairs and was greeted by a plate full of pancakes and syrup. Her mother gave her a long hug and a kiss on her cheek, and sang her “happy birthday”. She laughed and thanked her mom with a kiss on her cheek.

Her morning started off really great. And that was thanks to her mysterious and loving best friend Alex, who woke up around 5 in the morning just so he could surprise her and make her the happiest girl in her birthday.