Cracked Part 1

September 1, 365 Days Ago


September first of last year was my birthday. And not just any birthday. My Sweet Sixteen. I remember waking up in a blinding sweat somewhere around two in the morning. I took some deep breaths to calm myself, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what had scared me so badly.

Finger.

I couldn’t remember anything about the dream I’d assumed I’d had, but that word sounded important to my mind. Staring at my ceiling, I wished myself a happy birthday and tried to fall back asleep.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the smell of pancakes and bacon and scrambled eggs and something incredibly sweet. I smiled, tossing my covers aside and bounding down the stairs in my normal summer pajamas: a tank top and thin, randomly patterned pants. These happened to have polka dots on them.

“Happy birthday!” everyone in my family shouted. Including my older brother, Andrew. He’s in college, but he came down for my sweet sixteen. How…sweet. I smiled and gave my parents and Andrew a hug, thanking them for going over the top. I took my place at the table and scarfed down some pancakes, bacon, and eggs before heading back upstairs to attempt to find something suitable to wear for tonight. I knew it would take up half my day, and I had been right.

I ruled out sweats first. Then jeans. I needed something special. I must have tried on every skirt and dress I own before picking a deep blue dress with spaghetti straps that rested just above my knees. Screw shoes; I wasn’t going anywhere other than my backyard. I liked being barefoot anyway. When I went back downstairs, I found my favorite spot in the living room surrounded by presents. Oh, they didn’t have to do this… But they did. And I said “Thank you!” so many times that Andrew threatened to take away my present if I said it one more time. I ripped through the wrapping paper to find a shoe box. Interesting.

When I opened it, I gasped. Screw what I said about screwing shoes, I thought to myself. These blue and silver and sparkly and strappy heels went perfectly with my dress. Perfectly! It was love at first sight. And when I tried them on, they fit surprisingly well for them being from my brother and all. I all but squealed and threw myself into his arms, hugging him and thanking him to no end.

“Okay,” he said, “give me your feet. I’m taking these things back.”

“Never!” I laughed, running around the house in them away from Andrew.

“Come back here, Autumn!” He eventually caught up to me and picked me up by my middle, making me scream and laugh at the same time. “You can run pretty fast in these things,” he observed before setting me back down on my feet. “Now go. I know you have a party starting soon.”

Oh, my gosh, he’s right, I think. I hurried and got outside to the backyard where everything was perfect. Speakers were set up on a small stage. All of the decorations were a beautiful mix of blues and pinks and sparkling silvers. The left side of the stage had a table full of decadent finger foods: everything from cookies to chocolate covered strawberries. The right side was a smaller table for my friends’ gifts. In the very center, there was a circular table for the cake. My parents wouldn’t let me see it until the right time, so guessing what it looked like occupied me until my first guest arrived.

Dylan.

He hugged me and said happy birthday and gave me a cutely wrapped box that was the perfect size to be holding jewelry. He leaned in to kiss me, but a loud “Hey!” cut Dylan off.

“Hey, Drew,” Dylan returned as I laughed and bounced off to put his gift at the front of my gift table. Then I heard a car horn, and ran to my driveway to find Michelle, Catherine, and Ashely climbing out of Ashely’s car. She’s a year ahead all of us, but we all still have way too much time for each other. Which is a good thing; we’re an inseparable group of friends, and I love having them around.

The rest of my friends arrive shortly, and we dance and laugh and eat the food for what feels like forever and not long enough before my parents bring out my cake. And oh, was I glad they waited to show me. It was a three-tiered circular cake with blue and pink decorations all over it, with “Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Autumn!” written in fancy lettering at the top. Sixteen lit candles surrounded the top layer’s rim, which was full of icing ruffles. Gosh, it looked delicious. And it was.

I opened all of my friends’ gifts after stuffing my face full of cake, and after that, Dylan pulled me up to my room. He kissed me, not softly at all, and pushed me against the wall. I had a weird feeling of déjà vu, but I couldn’t figure out why. When he started getting more hands-y, the feeling intensified until a wave of anxiety overcame me.

Dylan pulled away, looking me over. “Are you okay?” I stay silent, waiting for… What am I waiting for? I asked myself. I didn’t have an answer at first.

Then I did. “Dylan…” I started, about to get away from him.

“Autumn!” he shouted, jumping away from me. He pointed at the mirror, then covered his lower lip with his hand. I saw blood seeping through his fingers. In the mirror, I saw cracks on my lips, and one piece was broken. Black mist was slowly seeping out, and I realized that was what had made Dylan bleed. Oh, my gosh! Dylan! I turned to see him unconscious on my floor. My head whipped back to the mirror to watch the cracks spread. A quiet sound like glass cracking sounds while my face breaks.

I told myself to calm down and took some deep breaths. Turning back to Dylan, I crouched beside him and shook his shoulders. He came back quickly and looked at me with confused eyes, not scared eyes. Good. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think. What happened?”

I told him he had gotten nauseous and fell over. Luckily, he believed me. As we headed back outside, I looked at myself in the mirror. Just a little of the black mist remained, and the cracks were gone. If it hadn’t been for Dylan, I would’ve taken the whole thing to be in my head. We made our way back to everyone else where they all assumed we had a hot make out session or something. Even better. Things wrapped up a few hours later, and Michelle, Catherine, and Ashley all spent the night. I had no explanation for the cracks I saw on my lips, but at least they didn’t show for the rest of my birthday.

But that was just the beginning.