Chapter 3 : Happy Birthday to Me

*Delilah*

The next day at school was uneventful, for once. I was grateful but nervous. I didn’t see Kendra at all. I also slept without dreaming for the first time in about a week. Maybe it was a birthday gift.

I groaned and rolled over in my bed, not wanting to get up yet. It was my birthday. I was finally going to come into my full powers as a shifter.

I stopped and lay still, trying to see if I felt any different, but I couldn’t tell if something had changed.

A soft knock on my door broke me from my thoughts.

“Come in,” I called out, hoping it wasn’t Kendra.

My dad opened the door and poked his head through. “You decent?”

I laughed. “Yes, Dad. That’s why I said come in.”

He smiled at me and said, “I’m glad to see you’re already up. Happy birthday, Del. When you’re ready, we have some things to give you in the kitchen.”

“Okay, I’ll be right out.”

He nodded and left, shutting my door behind him.

I lay back on my bed, not ready to face them all, even if they were giving me gifts. My dad took Kendra’s side so often it was almost weird when he showed thoughtfulness toward me.

Sighing, I threw the covers off and got up, walking to my closet.

I opened the door, pulling the string light down to turn it on. The small bulb barely illuminated my clothes, but I wasn’t picky anyway. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, throwing them on before slipping into my sandals.

I left my room, closing the door silently behind me as I always did. Walking down the hall, I could smell the scent of something that had recently been baking. It smelled like lemons, and I hoped it was a lemon cake.

I walked around the corner and into the kitchen and saw the table had a few presents and the lemon cake I hoped for sitting in the middle.

Dad and Jennifer were sitting there, smiling at me. “Happy birthday,” Jennifer said. “I hope you like the cake.”

“Thank you, my mouth’s already watering,” I replied with a throaty laugh.

I sat down and pulled the presents toward me, going for the card first. It was the polite thing to do. It was a silly card, and Jennifer had signed Kendra’s name for her, but I appreciated it either way.

I opened the presents and found a new pair of headphones, Beats that were all black. The other present was a book, a romance by my favorite author.

“Thank you both so much,” I said, standing and hugging Jennifer first, stiffly, and then my dad.

He hugged me tightly.

“You’re welcome. Glad you like it all. Do you want cake for breakfast? It is your birthday.” He grinned at me as I sat down in my chair again.

I smiled from ear to ear. “Of course, I do.”

Jennifer cut me a large piece and put it on a paper plate, sliding it to me as she handed me a fork.

I dug in greedily; lemon cake was intoxicating to me. It was delicious and gone in no time.

“That’s fantastic, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I love it too,” Jennifer said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

I got up, placed my fork in the sink, and threw my plate in the trash.

“I’m going to finish getting ready. Thank you both for the gifts and the cake. I love it.”

My dad smiled at me. “You’re welcome. Have a good day at school. Try to stay out of trouble.”

“Thanks,” I said as I turned to go brush my teeth.

Ready for school, I left my house, backpack thrown over one shoulder. It was a pleasant day with a nice breeze, a little overcast. It really was perfect weather to me.

I walked down my familiar forest path, enjoying my solitude on my way to school.

As soon as I walked in, I knew it was going to be a bad day. The previous happiness from the food and walk fled in an instant. On the wall when I walked in was a huge picture of me. It looked like I was in a straitjacket. Kendra stood against a wall, laughing with her friends.

My face hardened as my insides shattered. Would she ever stop being mean to me?

I walked down the hall, ignoring the picture and the group of girls as best as I could.

I’d almost made it to my class without incident when I heard Kendra call out, “Not even going to say anything about your picture, birthday girl?”

I stopped where I was, lingering in the doorway of the class. I knew I could just walk in and act like I didn’t hear her, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t follow.

I turned and faced her. She and her friends had moved closer, standing just a few feet in front of me.

“Well, do you like it?” The grin on her face made me feel sick.

“It’s not real, so no. I’m not insane,” I said, slowly. I wanted to make sure she knew I’d never admit to her false rumors about me.

She laughed, her mouth wide open and showing all of her teeth. Turning to her friends she said, “She’s a liar and insane. Got it.”

I rolled my eyes and walked into class. She had a different class, and she and her friends turned to walk toward it when she said over her shoulder, “Today is going to be a real treat, just for your birthday.”

I stood in front of my class, a few students filing in as the time approached to start the day. I knew she wasn’t lying. She was going to make this day absolute hell for me. I walked to my seat in the back, as usual.

I lowered myself into the seat and leaned back. I didn’t know if I could take anything else from her. But I did know I was never going to let these people see me cry.

My cold demeanor didn’t help my insanity case, but I didn’t care. If they knew how I felt inside, they’d be even worse to me. I had to show no emotion to stay remotely safe.

The teacher came in, lecturing about the history of shifters in the 1500s, but I couldn’t pay attention. It was normally my favorite subject, but I just kept thinking about what was waiting for me in the hall.

He dismissed the class, and I picked up my stuff, waiting for everyone to leave before I walked out. I slipped into the hall, hoping to move like a ghost.

But of course, she was waiting. She’d been leaning behind the door, and I smelled her as she moved fast toward me.

She launched into me, sending me flying into the ground. She followed my fall and knelt on my chest.

My bag was pressed awkwardly under my head and with her knee on my chest, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. She smiled down at me cruelly, seeing my struggle.

She stood and kicked me in the ribs hard, but not hard enough to leave a mark.

“You should leave. Nobody wants you, not even on your birthday.”

I scooted back from her and got to my feet. If looks could kill, she would have been dust, but they couldn’t. My chest heaved with righteous anger, my entire body vibrating with the desire to pounce on her.

The only win I got all day came then. I saw her take a small step back, and a look of uncertainty crossed her features. My mouth twitched in a small smile.

“I’m done with this,” I said, grabbing my bag and walking out of the school.

She didn’t call after me that time. Nobody did.

I walked briskly into the forest. Midway down my path I stopped and dropped my bag. I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer. I yelled, a guttural scream that sent birds rushing into the air. It felt good to let it out, but it didn’t make me feel completely better.

I wiped my tears away, snatching my bag from the ground. I continued walking and was quickly bounding up the steps to my house.

I thought I’d at least be there alone, but my dad was sitting in the living room when I walked in.

“What are you doing home?”

I sighed, walking toward my room. “Don’t feel good.”

“Hey!” he called after me, following me down the hall.

I opened my door and walked into my room, launching the bag into the wall harder than I intended.

“Woah! What’s gotten into you?” he said as he walked through my door.

“What’s gotten into me? Oh, I don’t know. My stepsister bullies me relentlessly and nobody believes me. I have no friends. My own dad won’t even believe me!” I screamed the last part, tears falling down my cheeks again.

He looked at me as if I’d struck him. I glared back with indignation. It was all true, and he needed to hear it.

“Sisters have hard relationships sometimes, but don’t pretend you don’t bully her too,” he said. “She’s told us just as many bad things as you have. She really wants to be close with you. I’m sorry you don’t have any friends, but your reputation doesn’t help that. You just have to work harder.”

I was speechless for a moment. My mouth hung open, and I may have even stopped breathing momentarily.

“What?” I managed to croak out.

“We were rogues. It took a lot of convincing on my part too. I wasn’t always liked. But when Jennifer and I married, I was accepted. You just have to prove to them that you can be trusted. If you just keep working, I know they’ll see it, just like they did in me,” he said earnestly.

The tears stopped as anger took over.

“You did this to me. It’s not something I can just work on and fix. It’s not that simple. Kendra–” I tried to finish, but he cut me off.

“I don’t want to hear that shit about her spreading rumors about you again. Grow up, Delilah.” At that, he turned and left, leaving my door open. I heard him slam the front door behind him before I heard his engine turning over.

I walked to my door and closed it, feeling eerily calm.

Sitting on my bed, I breathed slowly at first. My breathing started to increase the more I thought about what he’d said.

Why couldn’t he just defend me for once? Was it so hard to ask a father to support his daughter?

Tears welled in my eyes again, and I threw myself on my bed, burying my face in a pillow as I sobbed.

Happy birthday to me.