Rule(22)

It sounded awesome all of it sounded awesome.  I was about to launch myself at her in a huge hug of gratitude when she held up a hand.  “I’m not done.”  She disappeared into her room for a minute and came back out with a card in a pink envelope.  “The you are going to take this very cool, very necessary birthday present I got you and come out with me and I don’t mean out to Dave and Busters or Old Chicago’s, I mean out, out and I will cram a good time down your pretty little throat if it freaking kills me.”

I opened the card with mild trepidation.  I didn’t know what she meant by out, out.  Inside the card was a shiny wrapped present that at first glance looked like a credit card.  After I read her sweet birthday wishes I carefully pulled the paper off and gasped when I saw what was looking back up at me.  “Ayd I can’t use this.”

The Id had my face on it, my birthday only one year older and looked exactly like a Colorado driver’s license.  In fact it looked so much like the one in my wallet there was hardly any difference.

“Oh yes you can.  You’ve spent twenty years being everybody’s good little girl, and I’m sick of you killing yourself over it.  Most girls your age go out, sneak into clubs, kiss boys, have sloppy one night stands, get into ridiculous, drama filled fights with their girlfriends, Shaw you don’t do any of that.  Tonight you are taking that Id and coming out with me and acting like every other idiot twenty year old I know.  We’re going to drink too much, act silly and have fun, you deserve it.  I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile or laugh.  You’re letting your soul wither away trying to be someone you’re just not and I can’t stand by and watch it happen anymore.”

“I turn twenty one next year.”  I’m not sure why I thought that was a valid argument to all her more than accurate points, but for some reason it’s what popped out of my mouth.

She shook her dark head.  “Who cares?  You’re twenty today and you’re living like you’re fifty.”  It stung because on the last trip to Brookside Rule had said pretty much the same thing.  With a sigh I remembered my resignation last night to just turn myself over to Ayden’s plan, to for once just let go.  I tucked some hair behind my ears and squared my shoulders.

“Okay.”

Ayden looked up under raised eyebrows.  “Okay?”

“Yep.  Let’s do this.  Let the birthday fun and debauchery commence.”  She squealed loud enough to make my ears hurt and rushed around the table to wrap me up in a hug that squeezed the life out of me.

“Trust me Shaw, you will never forget today.”  She was right because by the end of the night this birthday would prove to be life changing.

Breakfast was amazing and we stuffed ourselves so full of fried goodness that by the time we hit the mall I needed to do a few laps just to keep moving.  I tried on a million pairs of jeans and ended up buying quite a few.  I grabbed a pair of Chuck Taylors that I always wanted but was never allowed to have and stocked up on boring old t-shirts and tank tops.  At the thrift store I scooped up an awesome old school leather jacket and a couple western style shirts with pearl buttons that I knew would look awesome with my new skinny jeans.  At the vintage store I went a little crazier because I just fell in love with all the fifties and sixties style dresses.  I looked like a character out of Mad Men in a few of them and like Bettie Page minus the height in a couple more.  I bought a pair of heels that were peacock blue and had sequined feathers on the side and a sweet pill box hat that I probably would never wear but adored.  More importantly I laughed with Ayden for hours while we tried thing after thing on and felt like a giant weight was off my chest.  It was fun, plain and simple and the fact I forgot what that felt like was just sad.

At the salon I got a hot pink mani-pedi and just for kicks had them add little black stars.  It was cool and totally against the normal pale and pearly colors I went for.  The lady doing it had bright green dread-locks and a tattoo across her forehead so I was thrilled when she grinned at me and told me she approved.  Everyone that worked at this salon had a cool, rock and roll kind of vibe and while I normally would have felt out of place and reserved, they were all so nice and friendly that it was impossible to do anything but relax and have a good time.  The guy in charge of my hair was a big, obviously gay, African American dressed head to toe in leopard print.  His shiny bald head had a big tattoo of an eye on the back and his shoes probably cost more than mine, but he was sweet and told me my hair was gorgeous and suggested I just put some layers in it to give it body and life.  I was all on board and even asked if he could do something new with the color.  My hair was so pale I normally avoided dying it simply because it went too far in the extreme.  His dark eyes gleamed in excitement when I asked for something kicky but still respectable, what I got was my normally ash blond with a shadow of chestnut brown underneath.  It was awesome, different but understated enough not to be alarming.  My favorite part was that he had bisected my super straight bangs in half and added the darker color to one side.  It was trendy and hip and so different from what my hair normally looked like I hugged him hard in glee on my way out.  He hugged me back more than likely because I tipped enough to take a weekend trip on, but who cared, I looked awesome.