Dani dug her fork down into her slice of cake until it clanked into her plate. She enjoyed the soft, chocolatey bite; her reward for putting up with Ryan and Simon singing Happy Birthday in her ear. It was from a bakery in town that Dani had never been to but always heard customers, and sometimes co-workers, raving about when compared to the lackluster food at The Mug.
I gotta talk with Andrew about improving our desserts.
The thought reminded her of a different incident at work.
“Oh, by the way,” she said after sipping some water to rinse the cake down, “Maddy at work, the girl who started when I did, she asked about hanging out. Like, outside of work.”
Her two roommates – Ryan, who was on the couch next to her, and Simon, who was on a separate chair – had their own plates of cake. They had decided to sing and eat before opening her gifts, mostly at Dani’s request.
“That sounds fun.” Simon was cutting small, deliberate forkfuls, careful to not lose more than a crumb or two before delivering them to his mouth. “Although, isn’t she way younger than you?”
“Nice,” Ryan said. “More girl friends for you to hang out with.”
Ryan’s cake was almost untouched, with only one bite taken from it. He had set his plate on the arm of the couch and although he participated in the conversation, he would take a peek at his phone every minute.
“Well I kinda politely said no.” Dani tucked her feet under her on the couch and stared at her plate. “Like you said, Simon. She’s in high school still and I don’t really want to hang out with someone that young. It’d feel like I was babysitting or something.”
Simon nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. Sometimes the kids I teach have older siblings pick them up and they still feel like kids, weird as it sounds.”
“Right, do what you gotta do.” Ryan was once again looking at his phone as he spoke. He didn’t even appear to be using it, just looking at the screen frequently while tapping his foot.
Wonder what he’s so stressed about, Dani thought before eating the final delicious, delicate morsel of cake off her plate.
She also wondered if she should have said her other reason for turning down Maddy’s offer to spend time together. The age issue of course felt strange, and would have been a deal breaker anyway, but something else felt off to her. The way her co-worker had been pleasant but never showed interest in getting to know her until she came out. As if she was an oddity to add excitement to Maddy’s life. The last thing she wanted to end up as was a different version of the “gay best friend.” Even if Maddy was the same age as her, Dani didn’t think she would have taken the offer.
Oh well, not everyone can be Rachel.
Dani leaned forward to take the last slice of cake off the coffee table before looking around. “Um, does anyone want–”
“It’s your birthday, take it. We got it for you.” Simon covered his mouth and let out a small yawn before pointing at the table. “Go on. If we’re still hungry we’ll reheat leftovers or something.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Dani smiled as she slid her fork under and scooped up the last quarter of the small cake.
However, as delicious as it was, she hesitated to devour it right away. Part of her felt embarrassed she was the first one to finish out of her two roommates, but she nullified that worry due to birthday privilege. Her other fear was that she wouldn’t be hungry for her dinner with Ryan later. When he put his gift – a small box that couldn’t fit anything larger than a softball inside, sloppily wrapped in brown paper – on the kitchen counter, he also told her they would be going out later. Together, just the two of them. He said it while Simon was out of the room, which Dani appreciated, as she was still worried about him feeling uncomfortable around them as a couple.
But if we eat somewhere fancy, that means it’s expensive. And so if I eat less, then it would save him money! He would appreciate that I bet.
She looked to Ryan in search of any clues as to what he was thinking, only for him to give her a smile, check his phone, then seemingly remember his plate next to him and take another bite.
Seriously, what is he so worried about on his ph–
Her train of thought was interrupted when her own phone began to ring. The cheery default tone that she usually had on mute blared out from her pocket.
“Sorry, probably spam or something.” She pulled out the noisy device and lowered the volume. When she did, she noticed the name on display.
Noah, her brother.
Without saying a word, she stood up and walked to her room, all the while staring at the screen in disbelief. She thought she heard Simon or Ryan ask what was wrong, but ignored them and closed her door.
Is it really Noah calling? What if Mom or Dad are using his phone to get in touch with me? No, that doesn’t make any sense, it’s not like I blocked either of their numbers. They just don’t want to talk to me.
Afraid that if she worried any longer the ringing would stop, she answered the call and waited.
“Hello? Is this Danny?” It was Noah’s voice. He was speaking in a hushed tone but even through that, Dani could tell his voice was deeper than she remembered. The twins’ voices had been getting lower for over a year before she left and that didn’t seem to slow down without her there.
“Yes, it’s me.” She responded in her trained voice without thinking.
Is my new voice going to weird him out? What if he doesn’t believe that it’s really me?
There was no response. Dani double checked to see if the call was disconnected when her brother finally spoke again.
“Seriously? Wow.” He was still speaking slower and quieter than normal. Dani wondered if his parents were home and he was trying to call her without them knowing. “Well, I just wanted to say happy birthday. I know we haven’t talked since you left… But we miss you. Caleb and I.”
Dani had to rush the phone away from her head and down by her waist to not let him hear her sniffling. Tears that had been stealthily building up since seeing Noah’s name ran down her face, only stopping when they reached her closed-lip smile. She had missed her brothers before, but had no clue how bad it was until hearing it from them too.
The sound of some shuffling and whispering came from the other end until a new, almost identical voice spoke.
“Danny, I’m here too.”
She recognized Caleb’s voice immediately, even if it had deepened.
“I also wanted to say happy birthday,” he continued. “I don’t know why Noah only included himself in that part.” More sounds of shuffling and what Dani assumed to be muffled bickering came through the line.
Yup, that’s them alright. She didn’t bother wiping the tears off of her face, but did try and dampen her voice to hide the fact she was crying. Even if it was from joy, she didn’t want to worry them.
“Thank you both, so much.” She walked to the edge of her bed and sat down in the dark. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell either of you anything. I should have–”
“We aren’t upset with you,” Caleb said. “But listen, we have to go. Mom and Dad are in a bad mood today and we aren’t sure what will happen if they find out we called you.”
Dani frowned at her apology being interrupted. Still, she was impressed with Caleb. Out of the three siblings, he was always the most loyal to their parents. If one of them was going to tattle, it was him. If one of them was going to follow what they said blindly, it was him. The fact that he was sneaking behind their back wasn’t something she expected to witness ever, let alone on her birthday…
“We’ll call again sometime this week,” Noah said. “Texting is risky in case they decide to read my messages, but we want to see you. Like, in person.”
“We can figure it out next time we call.” Caleb whispered in a worried tone. “Goodbye, happy birthday! We’re glad you’re alive.”
“How is that any way to end a conver–” The call ended with Noah’s complaint being cut off.
Dani sat on her bed for a few minutes, soaking in everything that just happened. The call was hardly a minute long, yet her whole world felt different now. Her family wasn’t some messy piece of history that she was totally cut off from. They were alive and reaching out to her.
Eventually she got up and opened the door, hoping her drying tears weren’t too obvious to her roommates. Earlier in the day she was curious at what Simon and Ryan had bought her, but now all she could think about was how great her brothers’ gift was. It wasn’t something she could wear, or a game to play, or food to eat, but it was her favorite gift she had ever gotten.
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Dani dug her fork down into her slice of cake until it clanked into her plate. She enjoyed the soft, chocolatey bite; her reward for putting up with Ryan and Simon singing Happy Birthday in her ear. It was from a bakery in town that Dani had never been to but always heard customers, and sometimes co-workers, raving about when compared to the lackluster food at The Mug.
I gotta talk with Andrew about improving our desserts.
The thought reminded her of a different incident at work.
“Oh, by the way,” she said after sipping some water to rinse the cake down, “Maddy at work, the girl who started when I did, she asked about hanging out. Like, outside of work.”
Her two roommates – Ryan, who was on the couch next to her, and Simon, who was on a separate chair – had their own plates of cake. They had decided to sing and eat before opening her gifts, mostly at Dani’s request.
“That sounds fun.” Simon was cutting small, deliberate forkfuls, careful to not lose more than a crumb or two before delivering them to his mouth. “Although, isn’t she way younger than you?”
“Nice,” Ryan said. “More girl friends for you to hang out with.”
Ryan’s cake was almost untouched, with only one bite taken from it. He had set his plate on the arm of the couch and although he participated in the conversation, he would take a peek at his phone every minute.
“Well I kinda politely said no.” Dani tucked her feet under her on the couch and stared at her plate. “Like you said, Simon. She’s in high school still and I don’t really want to hang out with someone that young. It’d feel like I was babysitting or something.”
Simon nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. Sometimes the kids I teach have older siblings pick them up and they still feel like kids, weird as it sounds.”
“Right, do what you gotta do.” Ryan was once again looking at his phone as he spoke. He didn’t even appear to be using it, just looking at the screen frequently while tapping his foot.
Wonder what he’s so stressed about, Dani thought before eating the final delicious, delicate morsel of cake off her plate.
She also wondered if she should have said her other reason for turning down Maddy’s offer to spend time together. The age issue of course felt strange, and would have been a deal breaker anyway, but something else felt off to her. The way her co-worker had been pleasant but never showed interest in getting to know her until she came out. As if she was an oddity to add excitement to Maddy’s life. The last thing she wanted to end up as was a different version of the “gay best friend.” Even if Maddy was the same age as her, Dani didn’t think she would have taken the offer.
Oh well, not everyone can be Rachel.
Dani leaned forward to take the last slice of cake off the coffee table before looking around. “Um, does anyone want–”
“It’s your birthday, take it. We got it for you.” Simon covered his mouth and let out a small yawn before pointing at the table. “Go on. If we’re still hungry we’ll reheat leftovers or something.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Dani smiled as she slid her fork under and scooped up the last quarter of the small cake.
However, as delicious as it was, she hesitated to devour it right away. Part of her felt embarrassed she was the first one to finish out of her two roommates, but she nullified that worry due to birthday privilege. Her other fear was that she wouldn’t be hungry for her dinner with Ryan later. When he put his gift – a small box that couldn’t fit anything larger than a softball inside, sloppily wrapped in brown paper – on the kitchen counter, he also told her they would be going out later. Together, just the two of them. He said it while Simon was out of the room, which Dani appreciated, as she was still worried about him feeling uncomfortable around them as a couple.
But if we eat somewhere fancy, that means it’s expensive. And so if I eat less, then it would save him money! He would appreciate that I bet.
She looked to Ryan in search of any clues as to what he was thinking, only for him to give her a smile, check his phone, then seemingly remember his plate next to him and take another bite.
Seriously, what is he so worried about on his ph–
Her train of thought was interrupted when her own phone began to ring. The cheery default tone that she usually had on mute blared out from her pocket.
“Sorry, probably spam or something.” She pulled out the noisy device and lowered the volume. When she did, she noticed the name on display.
Noah, her brother.
Without saying a word, she stood up and walked to her room, all the while staring at the screen in disbelief. She thought she heard Simon or Ryan ask what was wrong, but ignored them and closed her door.
Is it really Noah calling? What if Mom or Dad are using his phone to get in touch with me? No, that doesn’t make any sense, it’s not like I blocked either of their numbers. They just don’t want to talk to me.
Afraid that if she worried any longer the ringing would stop, she answered the call and waited.
“Hello? Is this Danny?” It was Noah’s voice. He was speaking in a hushed tone but even through that, Dani could tell his voice was deeper than she remembered. The twins’ voices had been getting lower for over a year before she left and that didn’t seem to slow down without her there.
“Yes, it’s me.” She responded in her trained voice without thinking.
Is my new voice going to weird him out? What if he doesn’t believe that it’s really me?
There was no response. Dani double checked to see if the call was disconnected when her brother finally spoke again.
“Seriously? Wow.” He was still speaking slower and quieter than normal. Dani wondered if his parents were home and he was trying to call her without them knowing. “Well, I just wanted to say happy birthday. I know we haven’t talked since you left… But we miss you. Caleb and I.”
Dani had to rush the phone away from her head and down by her waist to not let him hear her sniffling. Tears that had been stealthily building up since seeing Noah’s name ran down her face, only stopping when they reached her closed-lip smile. She had missed her brothers before, but had no clue how bad it was until hearing it from them too.
The sound of some shuffling and whispering came from the other end until a new, almost identical voice spoke.
“Danny, I’m here too.”
She recognized Caleb’s voice immediately, even if it had deepened.
“I also wanted to say happy birthday,” he continued. “I don’t know why Noah only included himself in that part.” More sounds of shuffling and what Dani assumed to be muffled bickering came through the line.
Yup, that’s them alright. She didn’t bother wiping the tears off of her face, but did try and dampen her voice to hide the fact she was crying. Even if it was from joy, she didn’t want to worry them.
“Thank you both, so much.” She walked to the edge of her bed and sat down in the dark. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell either of you anything. I should have–”
“We aren’t upset with you,” Caleb said. “But listen, we have to go. Mom and Dad are in a bad mood today and we aren’t sure what will happen if they find out we called you.”
Dani frowned at her apology being interrupted. Still, she was impressed with Caleb. Out of the three siblings, he was always the most loyal to their parents. If one of them was going to tattle, it was him. If one of them was going to follow what they said blindly, it was him. The fact that he was sneaking behind their back wasn’t something she expected to witness ever, let alone on her birthday…
“We’ll call again sometime this week,” Noah said. “Texting is risky in case they decide to read my messages, but we want to see you. Like, in person.”
“We can figure it out next time we call.” Caleb whispered in a worried tone. “Goodbye, happy birthday! We’re glad you’re alive.”
“How is that any way to end a conver–” The call ended with Noah’s complaint being cut off.
Dani sat on her bed for a few minutes, soaking in everything that just happened. The call was hardly a minute long, yet her whole world felt different now. Her family wasn’t some messy piece of history that she was totally cut off from. They were alive and reaching out to her.
Eventually she got up and opened the door, hoping her drying tears weren’t too obvious to her roommates. Earlier in the day she was curious at what Simon and Ryan had bought her, but now all she could think about was how great her brothers’ gift was. It wasn’t something she could wear, or a game to play, or food to eat, but it was her favorite gift she had ever gotten.
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