Chapter twelve
Devyn
Birthdays were supposed to be a happy time. At least that was what everybody always said.
So why did mine feel so weird?
I sat in class staring out the window while my teacher explained something about European history. I wasn’t paying attention… not really. My mind kept drifting back to Atlanta, home, and Dylan.
To the birthday parties I had before Switzerland. Last year I spent my birthday at my father’s estate. The year before that too. Now I was sitting in a classroom thousands of miles away pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t.
The bell finally rang.
Thank God.
I gathered my books and headed towards the dorm. The second I reached my room, something felt off. The door was closed and locked, which was strange because Sahara was usually inside by now.
I frowned. “What the…”
The door suddenly flew open. “SURPRISE!”
I literally screamed. The four girls busted out laughing as my hand flew to my chest.
“Oh my God!” I cried.
Sahara was bent over laughing. “You should’ve seen your face!” she said.
“Holy crap!”
The girls laughed even harder. For several seconds I just stood there staring. Then I noticed the decorations… pink balloons, streamers, snacks everywhere, a birthday banner stretched across the wall and sitting in the middle of the room was a cake. A real birthday cake.
“You did all this?” I asked.
Sahara grinned. “Well, obviously.”
My throat tightened like a lump rose in it. Because honestly, I hadn’t expected anything… not here in Switzerland after such a short amount of time.
“Happy birthday.” The words came from a blonde girl named Holly that was standing near the window. She was from England and was funny, loud and totally incapable of whispering.
Beside her stood Ivana, a gorgeous Serbian girl who somehow managed to look like a model every hour of the day.
“Happy birthday,” Ivana said with a smile.
For a second I couldn’t even speak. Then I laughed a small, shaky laugh.
“You guys are crazy,” I said with a smile.
“We know,” Sahara said as she grabbed my arm. “Come on.”
She practically dragged me inside as I looked around again... still shocked.
“You planned all this?” I questioned.
“Yep,” Sahara replied.
“How?” I asked.
Sahara looked offended. “Girl, please. I’ve been here long enough to have connections.” She scoffed.
The room erupted into laughter while I rolled my eyes. “You sound ridiculous,” I joked.
“Thank you,” she said.
That made everyone laugh harder. Then Sahara pointed dramatically towards the cake.
“I even got permission from the headmistress,” she informed me.
My eyebrows shot up. “You did?”
“Yep.”
“Seriously?” I questioned.
She nodded proudly. “Took forever for her to give me the okay too,” she admitted.
Now I felt bad because she had gone through all this trouble for me. And all I could think about was how I wished I was with Dylan.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” I said.
Sahara immediately pointed at me. “Don’t do that.”
“What?” I asked.
“That sad birthday nonsense,” she said.
“Exactly,” Holly agreed.
“This is a celebration.” Ivana smiled.
“You only turn fourteen once,” Sahara said.
The realization made me groan. “Fourteen sounds so old,” I said.
“You’re still a child Devyn,” Sahara said.
“So are you.” I laughed.
“True,” she acknowledged.
The room exploded into laughter again.
For the next hour we ate cake, I opened presents, and the four of us acted completely ridiculous. Sahara’s gift was a pretty bracelet… nothing expensive or flashy. Just a simple silver bracelet with a small heart charm, but I loved it.
Because she had actually thought about it.
“You like it?” she asked.
I immediately hugged her. “Yes, thank you.”
“Aww.” Holly pretended to wipe away tears.
“Friendship is everything,” Ivana said.
“Ain’t that the truth?” I said.
I didn’t want to bring anybody down, but receiving the bracelet from Sahara made me think about the bracelet that hung from my right wrist. It was the one Dylan had given me for Christmas.
By the time night arrived, all four of us were sprawled out across the room in pajamas surrounded by junk food. Somehow the conversation drifted towards boys, which was apparently inevitable.
Holly started it. “I have a question.”
“That’s dangerous already,” Sahara said.
“Very,” I agreed.
Holly ignored us and asked, “Has anyone ever been in love?”
I immediately groaned and shook my head. “Nope. Not going there.”
“We absolutely are,” Sahara said.
“Uh uh,” I said.
The girls laughed as Ivana pointed at me. “You go first Devyn,” she said.
“Why me?” I asked with my mouth wide open.
“Because it’s your birthday,” Sahara replied.
Apparently, that made perfect sense to everyone except me. I sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
The girls leaned closer looking immediately invested.
“There was this boy,” I began.
“Aha!” Holly yelled. “I knew it.”
I rolled my eyes. “His name is Dylan,” I said smiling.
Sahara smiled knowingly. “Of course it is.”
I threw a pillow at her, and she caught it as she continued to laugh.
“What?” I asked.
“You talk about him all the time,” Sahara replied.
“I do not,” I denied.
“You absolutely do,” Sahara said.
The other girls immediately agreed.
“So, what happened with Dylan?” Ivana asked.
The room got quieter because unfortunately that answer wasn’t funny.
“My dad sent me here,” I said.
The girls exchanged looks. Then Holly sighed. “Parents.” She scoffed.
“Exactly,” I said.
“Mine are awful too,” Holly added.
That got my attention. “Oh really?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” Holly replied as she flopped onto her back. “My parents sent me here because I kept failing classes.”
We all started to laugh except Holly.
“What?” she asked. “It’s not funny.”
“It is a little funny,” Sahara said.
“Rude,” Holly said.
Sahara sat up. “My story is worse,” she said.
We all looked at her and waited for her to explain what she meant.
“My parents sent me here because I kept sneaking out to see Lincoln,” she said.
We all started to laugh again.
“What?” she asked looking offended. “I was in love.”
“You’re thirteen,” Ivana argued.
“So?” Sahara stated.
We started laughing again, but I didn’t even know why. I understood exactly where Sahara was coming from because we had spoken about this several times. It was almost like we were sharing the same experience.
Then all of our eyes turned towards Ivana. She sighed and said, “I got caught skipping school.”
The room went silent.
“That’s it?” Sahara asked.
“That’s it,” Ivana said as she shrugged.
We all stared at her like she had left something out of the equation then we busted out laughing.
“You got sent to another country for skipping school?” I asked.
“Apparently,” she said.
By this point we were all laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. The funny thing was for the first time since I arrived in Switzerland, I felt normal… not homesick or lonely, but normal.
Eventually the conversation shifted again to clothes and fashion, which was a much safer topic or so I thought.
“What is wrong with American fashion?” Holly asked.
I sat up. “Excuse me?”
She pointed dramatically. “You people wear hoodies for everything,” she said.
“We like comfort,” I admitted.
“That’s not fashion,” Ivana stated.
“It absolutely is,” I said.
The debate lasted about twenty minutes, but nobody changed their opinion. Then we ended up discussing our parents again, which turned out to be way more interesting.
“My mother tracks my phone,” Holly complained.
“Mine too,” Sahara said. “Mine hired a private investigator once.”
The entire room seemed to freeze at that moment.
“What?” I asked.
Sahara shrugged. “It’s a long story.”
“That is definitely not a short story,” Ivana agreed.
We immediately demanded details. I laughed so hard my face hurt. For the first time all day, I hadn’t thought about Atlanta or about missing home or about being angry at my father.
I was just… happy.
The realization caught me off guard. Maybe because happiness had felt impossible a few months ago.
Then my phone buzzed and my heart jumped immediately. The girls noticed too. The way they were looking at me you would think they could see my heart beating through my shirt.
“Who is it?” Holly asked.
“No one,” I lied.
“That’s a lie,” Sahara teased.
I checked the screen and smiled so hard my face hurt. Of course, it was Dylan. He was the absolute only one who could make me smile like that.
Sahara immediately pointed it out too. “That’s her boo texting now.”
“Oh my God,” I said as I smiled.
The girls busted out laughing.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Sahara said.
“It doesn’t look like nothing,” Holly added.
I rolled my eyes then opened the message.
Dylan ??: Happy Birthday, Dev ?????? I thought about buying something nice, but everything I wanted to give youwas already too far away. I can’t give you Atlanta. I can’t give you the stables. I can’t give you another afternoon sitting beside me while you laugh at my reading.
So, I wrote this instead…
Some days I still look for youbefore I remember you’re gone. Some days I learn something new and wish you were here so I could tell you about it.
Some days I smile for no reason and realize I was thinking about you. You’re thousands of miles away, but somehow, you’re still part of my everyday life.
I hope Switzerland is being good to you. I hope you’re smiling. I hope you’re happy. And if you’re not, just remember there’s somebody in Atlanta rooting for you every single day.
Love, Dylan
A bigger smile spread across my face without permission or warning. What surprised me the most was when I wiped a tear from my eye. I didn’t even know that I was crying until I felt a drop hit the back of my hand. I read it once, twice, even a third time.
I couldn’t believe Dylan had written this for me. I used to have so much trouble getting him to read, so for him to have taken the time to write this especially for me on my birthday.
“What are you crying for?” Sahara asked as she watched me from her bed.
The room immediately erupted in laughter as the girls teased me as I smiled.
“There it is!” Sahara said.
“What?” I asked.
“That Dylan smile,” Sahara said.
“Dylan and Devyn sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Devyn with a baby carriage,” Holly teased.
“Stop it!” I said as I threw a pillow at her.
“Uhm hmm,” Sahara mumbled as she batted her eyelashes. “That’s the Dylan smile.”
All I could do was laugh.
Then typed back.
Me: Thank you so much Dylan. No one has ever done anything like that for me before. You actually made me shed a tear or two ??
Dylan ??: Wow! I’m glad you liked it
Me: Are you kidding? I love it ??
Dylan ??: I miss you so much
Me: I miss and love you ??
Dylan ??: Love you too. Enjoy the rest of your night
Me: You too
And for the first time since arriving in Switzerland, I realized that maybe those two things could exist at the same time. I could miss Dylan, miss home and miss Atlanta and be happy here too.
The thought felt strange, new and a little scary too. But maybe that was okay.
Maybe growing up was learning how to carry both.