Chapter Text
Sasha bolted out the door in her Saint James uniform, skateboard tucked under her arm. She set it down and jumped on mid-stride – which would have been a totally awesome pose, had anyone been watching – and let the hill speed up the skateboard for her.
Today was one of the most important days in history – June 11th. Anne’s birthday! Sasha was eager to see her and Marcy. She had already decided, she was going to give Anne the best. Birthday. Ever! Anne hadn’t seemed too into her thirteenth birthday party. She treated it pretty much like every other birthday, which was lame since it was her thirteenth birthday! She was going to officially be a teenager! And Sasha was going to give her a day to remember.
After the six-minute ride to school, Sasha went inside and wrangled her skateboard inside her locker. Pretty easy to do since it was mostly bare, aside from a bunch of pictures of her and Anne and Marcy. Then she walked back outside and sat on a bench, waiting for Anne. The trio usually met in front of school to walk to class together (although Marcy had texted she couldn’t make it because she was at the library. Probably doing some nerd stuff, like reading or studying – not like Marcy ever needed to study!)
Sasha pulled out her phone and began scrolling when she heard yelling.
“Hey! Get your own Thai mom!”
Sasha stood up and put in her phone in her pocket. Anne and Margot were… fighting? Over Anne’s khao niew bing snack? Why did Margot even want that? Sasha decided she’d better step up and help Anne out.
“Hey, Margot!” Sasha called out.
Vince began an electric guitar riff, which probably couldn’t have happened at a better time. “Leave her alone.”
Without turning around, she added, “Also, nice guitar solo, Vince.”
“Yeah!”
Margot’s cheeks had turned red, and she sneered. “Oh, yeah? Or else what?”
Sasha walked coolly over to the two girls. “Or else you can forget coming to my awesome house party next week. It’ll be really sad when the whole class is enjoying the pool… without you.” She smirked in a cute listen-to-me-because-I’m-rich smile. That seemed to do the trick.
“Aw, jeez, Sash. I was just playing. Here.” Margot shoved Anne’s snack into her chest before sulking off.
Anne brightened. “Thanks, dude!”
“No worries!” Sasha waved it off. “You just gotta speak their language. But never mind that! Happy birthday, girl!”
They squealed together and Sasha spun Anne around.
Brrring! It was at that moment when the school bell decided to ring. Sasha sighed. “Buzzkill.”
She had to go through the entire first half of school without seeing Anne again, because they only shared science, lunch, and art class together. (Which Sasha was mostly horrible at. She left the art to Marcy. And Anne was kind of good at it. It was probably the only class she had an A in.)
“How’s your birthday so far?”
“Well, I didn’t have to read Shakespeare out loud today in English, so… score!”
Anne, Marcy, and Sasha were sitting at lunch together. While Anne and her talked about their morning, Marcy was playing some game on her Nintendo Switch, too zoned out to keep up a conversation, but not zoned out enough that she forgot to wish Anne a happy birthday.
Anne and Sasha walked to class together before the second bell could ring. Although, Mrs. Virk never minded when kids were late. She was a pretty chill teacher. And, in Sasha’s opinion, a total pushover.
When she walked in to class, Sasha knew she was in for a handful. There were three big words printed on the whiteboard – Frog Dissection Day!!! Mrs. Virk was wearing gloves (always a sign that they were doing something hands-on, and it was a good idea to stay at least ten feet away from Marcy), and there was a sheet rolled down that showed pictures of the insides of a frog.
At one o’clock, the bell rang.
“All right, class! Today’s your lucky day, ‘cause it’s frog dissection day!” Mrs. Virk threw her hands in the air, welcoming a chorus of groans.
Sasha was starting to form an idea.
“Ugh, frogs are the worst,” Anne grumbled. That clicked the last puzzle piece into place.
She scooted over to Anne. “Right? Let’s get outta here.”
Sasha pretended to gag. “Mrs. Virk, the sight of blood… I’m gonna be sick!”
Mrs. Virk walked over. “Oh, dear. Anne, why don’t you take Sasha to the sick room before she desecrates these beautiful frog bodies with her vomit.” Mrs. Virk shoved one of them in her face, which actually didn’t help. Neither did the mental image. If Sasha stayed here much longer, she might actually throw up.
“Thank you!” Mrs. Virk called before walking back to the front of the class.
Sasha and Anne exchanged a grin. Let the games begin.
Sasha walked out holding her stomach, but dropped the act as soon as the door shut behind her. She and Anne ran through the halls, knocking down posters and giggling. Sasha kept running, but stopped when she heard Anne call out from behind her.
“Yo, Sash! Sick room’s over here!”
Sasha sighed. And, there was the end to the fun. Unless…?
“Forget the sick room. Forget school! Let’s get out of here and celebrate your birthday in style.”
Anne had that look on her face. That goody-two-shoes, I don’t know if this is a good idea, kind of look that Sasha frankly found annoying.
“Oof, skip school?” Anne rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t know, Sash—”
“Anne, this is your thirteenth birthday. You only get one of these. So, let’s make it the best birthday in the history of birthdays.” Sasha waved her hand out in front of them, letting Anne visualize what her best birthday consisted of. She could see Anne mulling it over.
“Well… all right,” Anne deflated. “I gotta be home by six, though. My parents are throwing a big party and they really want me to be there.”
“Right, right, you got it.” Just to appease her. “Now, let’s get this thing started!”
They took Anne’s bike, with Sasha holding onto Anne’s shoulder, her feet planted on the bars near the pedals. Sasha would have just gone right away, but Anne said they should wear helmets, so they stopped by Sasha’s locker on the way out the door. Anne’s helmet was in her backpack already.
I left my backpack at school – maybe should have thought that one through. But it didn’t really matter anyway. Sasha could just say she got sick and left in such a hurry that she forgot her backpack. Which was half-true.
Sasha suggested the mall, and Anne agreed. They went to the arcade area, heading straight for Super Dance Fun Time Fusion, which Sasha had the highest score on. It was her favorite game in the arcade, and it was even more fun with Anne. After a really complicated series of steps, the game ended. In two-player mode, Sasha and Anne won together.
“Whoo, top score!” Anne called out, and sat down to catch her breath. Sasha wasn’t all that tired (she had to work twice as hard when practicing for cheerleading). She kicked the coin box, a trick she’d picked up from her brother, and it started spewing coins.
Anne and her giggled, while Sasha continued to catch the falling quarters in her hands.
“Hey, follow me!”
“Where are we going?” Anne asked.
“Just watch.” Sasha had bought a few cans of spray paint at the mall and was now in a back alley behind it. While she sucked at most art, spray paint was actually really fun for her. It was sometimes the only outlet she got, when all she wanted to do was scream into her pillow. There were things at home that she couldn’t really tell Anne and Marcy. They wouldn’t get it. They never did, so Sasha had stopped talking about stuff like that. But maybe she could show Anne how fun it was to mark something as your own, to leave a footprint on the world.
She started by outlining her name in black. Then she filled it in with colors, blending them together and making it look like white light was reflecting off the top of her name. Making it 3D. Coloring the background in green.
Anne was watching, but she was quiet. Sasha didn’t know whether that was good or bad. She decided to offer Anne the opportunity to do something herself. It was her birthday, after all!
Anne hesitantly took the can of spray paint. She started to spray on the wall for a split second, smiling a little, before a police car drove by. Anne gasped and dropped the can, backing to the wall, as if she thought the cops were after her. Sasha had laughed at the look on Anne’s face.
“I have the best idea.” Sasha had taken a shopping cart from the market (not like they were gonna miss it!), and coaxed Anne into sitting in it. Sasha took a running start, then jumped on the back part of the cart, gripping the handle so hard her knuckles turned white.
“Whoo, here we go!” Sasha jumped into the back part of the cart with Anne.
They went flying over hills, making people jump out of the way, and somehow by sheer luck, staying on the sidewalk. Sasha shouted out to the people, while Anne screamed by her side, so they could dive out of the way in time.
“Uh, Sash…?”
Sasha opened her eyes, mid-scream, to see that they were about to veer off the sidewalk. She continued to shriek joyously. The grass and rocks managed to tip over the cart, and Sasha and Anne ended up lying on the grass no worse for wear.
Anne was panting after that. Sasha met her eyes. “Ice cream?”
Anne smiled. “Ice cream.”
They met in their favorite coffee shop, Money Coffee, which also had the best ice cream there was.
“How ‘bout Unicorn sundae?”
Anne’s eyes widened. “Absolutely.”
Sasha paid for two Unicorn sundaes, which was basically an ice cream that had practically every kind of fruit and sweet and sprinkle you could think of. Somehow, mashed all together, it did taste good. They picked up those tacky sunglasses as well, which never looked tacky when they were on Sasha. She got Anne the yellow starry ones. She got herself the pink ones that you could barely see out of.
Anne slurped up her Unicorn sundae. “So that’s what a unicorn tastes like. Corn syrup!”
Anne’s phone started to ding. “Huh?”
Sasha kept slurping at her sundae, briefly wondering who Anne was texting, before Anne shoved her glasses up enough for Sasha to see her wide eyes underneath. “Oh, shoot! It’s almost six o’clock! I gotta go, dude.” Anne stood up, and Sasha was starting to realize that Anne meant it.
“Family party, right? Lame.” Who ever had fun at family birthdays? Sasha only enjoyed her birthdays when she was with her friends. Her parents never seemed to know what to get her. When Sasha had turned thirteen, her mom got her earrings, despite the fact that Sasha hadn’t pierced her ears. Her dad got her a birthday card. Caleb got her a guitar, something she’d been talking about for months. He was a pretty cool older brother, by her standards.
“Let me guess, a clown?” Sasha continued, pushing her glasses down. “With balloon animals?”
Anne flushed and looked away. Evidently, she thought this party was as lame as Sasha did.
Sasha scrolled through her texts from Marcy. They had been chatting about Anne’s birthday, and Marcy had sent a picture of some weird music box with brightly colored gems on it.
“I know it’s not the coolest, but this is important to them.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Sasha replied before gasping at the picture. She straightened up. “Oh my gosh. Marcy says she found the perfect gift for you downtown.” She replied to Marcy’s text – LOL !!, with a crying-laughing emoji – before directing her attention back to Anne. “A frog music box for the frog lover.”
She mumbled to herself, “I wonder if those gems are real?” She didn’t really want Anne to leave. She didn’t really want to go home tonight.
Sasha faked a grin and pushed Anne along, toward the door. “Come on, let’s keep this party train rolling. Choo-choo!” She grabbed Anne’s arm and raised it to the ceiling.
Anne pulled her arm away. “Sorry, dude. You don’t understand. I really gotta go.” She began walking away.
Sasha felt stung that Anne was ready to just leave her here. Even after she gave Anne an awesome birthday!
Please don’t go.
Her mouth moved before her mind could catch up, but thankfully it wasn’t the words she had been thinking. “Oh, I understand, Anne. You’re a good little girl who’s gotta go home to her mommy and daddy.” Sasha could stay out as late as she wanted and none of her parents seemed to notice. Caleb did that too, and they never said a word. Surely Anne’s parents wouldn’t care if she was late to a six o’clock birthday party, right? “Come on. Hang out with your friends that love you!”
Anne turned around. “Sasha, I’d really like to, but –”
Sasha put her hand up. “Anne, this isn’t cute anymore. We are meeting up with Marcy right now. End. Of. Discussion.”
“I guess it’s okay if I’m a little late…?”
Sasha internally cringed. She hated when she sounded like her dad, but at least it had gotten Anne to soften up. At least it had worked. At least she had an excuse to avoid home.
Sasha smiled brightly at her.
“Boom! I knew you’d change your mind,” she said as they walked out the door together.
The day was beginning to grow a little dark. Anne hadn’t said anything much since the coffee shop. Sasha hadn’t either. Part of her just wanted a relaxing conversation, but the other part of her wanted Anne to notice something was wrong and maybe bring it up. Although Sasha wasn’t sure what she’d say if Anne did mention anything.
In the end, neither options happened. Marcy was sitting on a bench outside the pawn shop, waiting for them. She popped up and nearly tripped over her own feet.
“Hey, Anne! Sasha!” Marcy pointed to the display glass window, at the frog music box she had taken a picture of earlier. “There it is!”
“Cool, cool,” Anne said. “Except… I’m all out of cash.” She pulled at her empty pockets, which just had some lint and their Polaroid photograph.
“You could just take it,” Sasha suggested.
“Ooh, good idea, Sash!” Marcy exclaimed.
Anne didn’t look too happy about the idea, but Sasha gave her a gentle nudge toward the door. “Go on!”
She and Marcy put their faces to the display glass window and watched Anne take the box and put it in her backpack when no one was looking. The old lady sleeping at the counter didn’t stir. Anne quickly walked back out.
“Why don’t we go to the park?” Sasha suggested. “The old one we played in when we were kids.”
Anything to keep me from going home. Just let me stay with you all a little longer. Please.
Marcy nodded enthusiastically. Anne smiled weakly and they all began heading in that direction, Marcy chatting up a storm about Creatures and Caverns as they went. Anne seemed a little lost in her own thoughts, Sasha noticed.
“Anne,” she nudged her.
“Oh, uh, yeah?”
“After this, we can walk you back to Thai Go for your party. And the box can be your keepsake for your birthday!”
Anne didn’t seem to be in a better mood after that. Sasha knew that something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. Anne just didn’t seem to want to talk that much. She wasn’t as good at hiding her emotions the way Sasha was.
They arrived at the park, and it was already dark. A plane passed by overhead, and Anne sat down on a bench, box in her lap. Sasha and Marcy peered over her shoulder. Anne opened the box. There were rainbow colors sparking out of the box, and then everything was lit by a brilliant white flash.