"So, what do you want for your birthday?" Katerina asked Bella. It was only six days until January 21st and Bella and her girlfriend were laying on Bella's bed, cuddling and watching Drop Dead Gorgeous. The younger girl let out a heavy sigh at the mention of her birthday; it was a very sore subject for her. "I don't know," she replied quietly. "Well, there has to be something you want; you've had to at least thought about it," the nineteen year old pressed, oblivious to Bella's discomfort. "Not really." "You're turning seventeen, though. You can finally go to a rated R movie without an adult. It's a big step," Katerina teased, then kissed Bella's cheek. "Come on, one thing you want." She shifted her position so that her head was lying on Bella's stomach. She slowly traced Bella's skin on her neck, forcing her girlfriend to pay attention to her instead of focusing very intently on the movie. Bella shuddered slightly at the feather light contact and looked down at Katerina, her eyes almost pleading. "To stop talking about my birthday," she said in reply to what she wants for her birthday. Katerina picked up on this. She gave her a concerned look. "What's the matter, Bella? Why don't you want to discuss your birthday?" she asked, propping her head up and leaning against her elbow on the other side of Bella, so she was laying perpendicular to the younger teenager. Bella avoided eye contact and looked out her window instead. "We're still talking about it," she whispered. Katerina could hear the pain in her voice and decided to let it go for now. She nodded. "Okay, we can stop," she said. Bella finally met her eyes. "Thank you," she murmured. Katerina gave her a serious look. "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" she asked. Bella gave her a small smile. "I do." Katerina returned her smile and leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend tenderly for a few seconds. Bella believed that, after a while, she'd grow accustomed to the way Katerina could make her feel when she kissed her; however, they still held the fire and electricity that their first one had, which Bella was not complaining about in the slightest. They settled back into their cuddled position and went back to watching the movie, more relaxed and comfortable than should be legally be allowed.
With only a few days left until Bella's birthday, Katerina was starting to get a little worried about the soon-to-be seventeen year old. She was growing slightly more depressed as each day passed and she refused to talk about it, shooting down Katerina down every time she mentioned her birthday. She was at a loss as to what to do. Bella had been aware of how she's been acting and felt slightly guilty for getting irritated with Katerina; she knew not why Bella was against celebrating her birthday. However, she still refused to talk about it with her girlfriend. Most teenagers are excited at the prospect of their birthdays. They are one year older, one year closer to becoming adults and leaving their childhood home to venture on and live their own life. They are allowed more privileges in life such as driving and buying pornography. They spent the day with their family, then at night they would have a party with all their friends and receive all the gifts they wished for. However, this was not Bellatrix Christine Peterson's feeling about birthdays. She feared that day and tried her damndest to not think about it, however, it never worked. Every year, January twenty first arrived and she would succumb to the annual depression she felt like she was destined to feel once a year for the rest of her days. Then, the dreaded, in Bella's opinion, day came. She woke up in the morning with a groan, her stomach and heart feeling as if ice were now coated in an outer layer of ice. This was one of the few times she cursed the heavens for having her birthday be on a Saturday. She wanted school to be a distraction from the horrible feeling that was lying in her heart, but it was not to be. She eventually dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. She took about an hour long shower, trying to no avail to wash away the emotions storming through her: sadness, anger, and, the most prominent one, guilt. She finished her shower and dressed herself in baggy sweatpants and a slightly oversized tee shirt. She wasn't planning on leaving the house, so there was no need to dress up. She barely glanced at her phone, knowing what it would say. Zero text messages and zero voicemails wishing her happy birthday from her friends; they learned long ago to never mention the anniversary of Bella's birth to her face lest they wish to avoid a harsh verbal lashing. Not even Kayla, the only one brave enough to stand up to Bella when she was truly angry, dared not say anything. She reached the kitchen and saw her mother, still in her silk pajamas and bathrobe, sitting at the table, reading the paper and drinking her morning coffee with some toast and scrambled eggs on a plate in front of her. "Morning mom," Bella said, kissing her mother's cheek hello. She then poured her own cup of coffee and sat across from her mother. "Morning sweetie," Diane replied very softly. She put down her paper and ate her breakfast, both of them completely silent for about five minutes. "Bella, honey, don't you think—" Diane started. "No," Bella interrupted firmly, glaring into her caffeinated drink. They had this conversation every year for the past five years and Bella never wanted her mother to finish those sentences. "But sweetie—" "I said no, mother," Bella said with some anger laced in her voice. She only addressed Diane as "mother" when she was angry or embarrassed with her. Diane dropped it and didn't say anything again for a long moment. However, she couldn't take it anymore and cleared her throat. "So...what are you going to do today?" she asked, trying to sound normal, when she actually felt a pain in her chest, knowing her daughter was hurting terribly. While Diane felt Bella's pain as well, she always tried to never show it for Bella's sake. Her daughter shrugged in reply to her question about her day and didn't give her a verbal answer. "Do you wish to be alone?" "What would you do?" "There is probably something I could to do at the office, but if you want me to stay then I can—" "No, you can go. I'll make dinner at five if you can be home by then," Bella answered. Diane sighed inaudibly and nodded, even though Bella wasn't looking at her. "Very well. I'll go get ready," she said. She stood, abandoning her half eaten food, and began walking to her bedroom. She stopped next to Bella and hugged her tightly and kissed her head. "I love you, Bella, more than you could ever know," she whispered. Bella didn't return the hug, but felt her throat clench as she tried hard not to cry. "I know...I love you, too, mom," she replied very quietly. Diane let go and went up stairs. Bella took a shaky breath and regained control over her emotions, pushing back the tears that threatened to spill over. She then cleared her mother's plate and washed the dishes. She then decided that that's what she was going to do. As soon as her mother left, she would clean the house top to bottom with her iPod blaring in her ears. And that's what she did. She started with her room. She organized, did her laundry, dusted, vacuumed, and washed her windows. She then went to the bathroom and cleaned it very thoroughly. The mirror, sink, counter, toilet, and shower. She organized the linen closet and also did a load of towels. She did this throughout the entire house. She listened to loud, angry music, blocking out everything else in the world. By the time she was finished, it was four thirty and she decided to start dinner. She had settle on spaghetti with salad and rolls. It was simple enough, but it required enough attention to keep her busy. "Hey, Bells. It smells great," her mother complimented when she came in the house from work. She kissed her daughter's temple and went up stairs to change into more comfortable clothes. "Bella, the house looks fantastic. I can't believe how clean it looks," Diane said when she came back into the kitchen. She truly was awed at how great it looked. It was rarely this clean. "Thanks. I was bored," her daughter replied as if it was nothing. She was trying her hardest to pretend like today was like every other day. "Need some help?" the older woman asked, rolling up her sleeves. "Yeah, that'd be great. The salad needs to be mixed," Bella replied. Both women worked on cooking dinner in silence. Both of them knew that nothing could be said to ease the pain and slight awkwardness between them. Dinner was eaten in the same manner with very few words exchanged. However, in the middle of their meal, they're silence was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. They looked at each other quizzically. "Are you expecting someone?" Diane asked. Bella raised an eyebrow, clearly asking, was that even a real question. "I'll get it," Bella stated, then walked to the door. She was very surprised at who was standing on the other side. "Hey, Bells," Katerina said quietly, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Kat? What are you doing here?" Bella asked, praying that it wasn't what Bella was thinking. "I thought it'd be obvious," her girlfriend stated with a smirk. Bella hung her head and sighed. "Kat..." she whispered. "Before you say anything, I just wanted to show you that for whatever reason you hate your birthday, I want to show you that it can be special," the nineteen year old said. She pulled her hand out from behind her back and presented Bella with a blue rose, blue being Bella's favorite color. "I decided on blue instead of red in order to not make this anymore corny than it already is," Katerina said, chuckling nervously since Bella didn't look happy at all to see her. "Come with me tonight? I have a picnic in the car and a moonlit stroll on the beach." Bella heard this and gritted her teeth. She was becoming more angry by the second. "Kat, I told you I didn't want anything for my birthday. I just want this day to end and move on. I've been doing this for a few years and it's worked out just fine," Bella said, trying not to lose her temper. "Well, that's a very sad way to celebrate the birth of my girlfriend. I think it's time you make a new tradition," Katerina replied. "Kat," Bella said, but she interrupted her. "Come on. I made brownies with the caramel swirls you love," her girlfriend continued. "Damn it, Katerina! I said no! Why can't you just understand that I don't want to do anything? I don't even want to know what day it is, I don't want to celebrate it, I don't want to remember today ever happened or any other birthday in the future or past! Why can't you just get that?" Bella exclaimed, raising her voice and glaring at Katerina. "Why can't you just let it go and respect my wishes?" Katerina was extremely shocked. Bella has, for as long as she's known her, always been a level headed person; never quick to anger or lose her temper. For her to blow up like that was very out of character and the older girl realized she may have misjudged the intensity of Bella's feelings toward her birthday. "Bella...I just wanted to make this day a happy one for you. No one should be depressed on their birthday," Katerina said. Bella took a deep breath, trying to reign in her anger by reminding herself that her girlfriend has no idea why she loathes this day so much. Before Bella could reply, Diane arrived at the door, concerned when she heard the yelling. "What is going on? Katerina, is that you?" she asked. "Hello, Diane," Katerina greeted. "What are you doing here?" she asked. Diane quickly glanced at the rose in the nineteen year olds hand, but then back into her eyes. "I'm trying to convince Bella to do something with me for her birthday." Katerina saw the same pain she's seen in Bella's eyes lately flash across Diane's for a moment before the mother turned to her daughter. The two stared into each other's eyes, Diane silently asking Bella a question. Bella shook her head in reply and Diane sighed. "Bella..." she said. "I know," her daughter said. Katerina stood there, confused, but remained silent. Bella took another deep breath and looked at Katerina. "Come on, Kat. There's something I need to show you." Katerina looked at her questioningly, but followed Bella to her own car and they silently began driving. The girl in the passenger seat didn't want to ask where they were going because Bella looked very deep in thought. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up to an old, weather beaten, white church and a worn down dirt road. It was completely empty, five o'clock mass already finished. Bella didn't say a word and Katerina followed her, remaining two paces behind her. Soon, they stopped in front of a gravestone. It was simple granite stone that came up to Katerina's knees. She squinted, but was unable to read what name was carved into it because of the absence of light. "Bella, what's going on?" she eventually asked when her girlfriend wasn't saying anything. Bella sighed and answered, staring at the headstone, her voice filled with pain and grief. "Katerina...I'd like you to meet Keira Samantha Peterson," Bella said just above a whisper. Katerina gasped quietly at the last name. "My twin sister."
Author's Note Okay, so this was pretty short. But I think I'm going to keep it like this; the chapters shorter, I mean. That way, I'll be able to spit them out faster for you guys. Again, all comments/e-mails are welcomed :) Keep on reading! As always, support my blog. www.princessauthor.blogspot.com
Brianna