It was the day of my Nineteenth birthday and I was woken up by the screeches of my roommates.
‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS SADIE BELL!’ Grace yelled through the covers that I was buried deep under. I slid out with a tired look on my face and smiled them a thank you. I didn’t expect them to make me pancakes or get me anything. They both put together and got me an expensive bottle of champagne and a handmade photo frame with a picture of us in it. I was so glad to have such nice friends here. It was a Friday and I skipped lessons to go to a spa day that my mum had organised for me and my roommates to go to. As we soaked up in the hot tub I imagined what the night ahead of us was going to be like. The girls said that they had arranged for us to eat in The Olive Garden with all my close friends from campus. So meaning, Taylor, Jeff, Chris, Alana, Chuck and Grace.
You couldn’t have gotten a limo? You know… with champagne?” Alana questioned from her squished position between Taylor and Jeff in the backseat of the taxi van.“Yeah, aren’t you guys famous or something?” I asked. I couldn’t help but constantly eye the stack of presents that were sitting on the empty seat next to Chuck.
“We should’ve put Sadie farther away from those,” Taylor said to Jeff, nodding his head in the direction of the gifts, “You know how she gets.”
“Well Taylor, if your gift from last year is any indication, I should be up here anticipating what… Play Dough? Legoes?”
“You love that Nerf gun,” Taylor muttered.
“Love shooting you with it,” I said under my breath, though not quiet enough for it to be lost on the others riding in the van. Chris just reached out his hand to accept a low-five from me. When we reached the restaurant, Taylor paid the driver and he and Alana finagled the stack of presents into the restaurant. Once we were seated with a pitcher of margaritas and some guacamole and chips on the table, I was finally allowed to open her presents.
“Open mine first,” Chris said, sliding a small box across the table to her. I grinned like a little kid on Christmas and tore open the paper, shoving it unnoticed to the floor before opening the box. Inside was a necklace with a cursive S pendant. “I saw it in the store and thought it was very Sadie.”
“I love it! It’s perfect! Thank you so much, Chris!” I exclaimed, taking it carefully from the box and holding it in Taylor’s direction, who I’d gotten stuck sitting next to, “Will you put it on for me?”
“Are your fingers broken?” he countered, mouth half full of chips.
“Are you a heinous asshat?” I spat, turning and handing it to Chuck, who did the job without complaining.
“Me next!” Jeff said, setting a stack of three presents held together with ribbon in front of me. I opened the top present and found a tiara inside. “You already act like a princess, I just thought that we should make it official.”
“Birthday crown! Score!” I did a little dance in my seat as Jeff placed it on my head. I opened the second to find the pair of red Steve Madden pointed toe heels I had drooled over every time we walked past a small boutique that had them in a window display. The final present in the stack was very thin and I actually opened it carefully after being scolded by Jeff to do so. Inside was a 12-month calendar, each month with a picture of us from throughout the two years they had known each other in college.
“It took me forever to narrow it down to twelve pictures, but I think it turned out really great,” he shrugged, being his ever humble self.
“I want to see it!” Alana said, snatching it unceremoniously from my hands and flipping through it with Chris.
“Thank you so much, Jeffy,” I smiled, giving his hand a quick squeeze before cleaning up the paper and setting it on the floor next to her chair.
“I guess that leaves me,” Taylor said once everyone had calmed down again. He set his present in front of me. I took a deep breath before unwrapping it. The year before I had gotten a Nerf gun from Taylor and the year before that it had been a year long membership to the Mushroom of the Month club even though I had hated mushrooms. I honestly had no idea what to expect, so when I opened the lid to the box and saw its contents, I gasped out loud.
“How awful is it?” Chuck asked, pouring himself another margarita. I ignored the question and continued to stare into the box.
“Is this for real?” I asked, turning to face Taylor.
“Read the card,” he replied simply. I picked up the note card sized piece of paper that was tucked into the frame and read it aloud.
“Original production drawing from ‘Cheerios’- Road Runner,” I said, still unable to process what was sitting in the box in front of her. I had always loved the character and had any Looney Tunes VHS tapes and DVDs that had Road Runner cartoons on them, and here was an original drawing of him and it was mine!
“Wow…” Grace said, “Can I see it?” I clutched the box to my chest protectively and they all laughed at me.
“Thank you so much, Taylor,” I said sincerely, still slightly in shock. It was not only the most thoughtful gift I’d ever received, but the fact that it was from Taylor of all people was all the more unseemly. We finished dinner, sharing our entrees in addition to several pitchers of margaritas. The original plan was to go out to the bars, but we had all drank plenty and were more in the mood to sit around and talk than go out to the loud clubs and dance.
“And she still has the crown on,” Jeff laughed as I danced on the stairs to our building as Taylor struggled with the lock.
You could help us carry these, your highness,” Grace laughed, carrying one of my presents. I just ignored her and kept dancing my way down the hallway to the music apparently only I could hear. Once we were inside, we opened a bottle of wine and got comfortable in the boys dorm.
“So, did you have a good birthday?” Jeff asked me as I flung myself down in an arm chair, almost spilling my Merlot all over the purple and black dress I had purchased just for my birthday.
“I did. Good presents, good food, good company. I can’t complain,” I shrugged, relishing in the warm feeling the wine was spreading through my chest.
“I just can’t believe you didn’t want to go out to the bars and pick up someone,” Alana laughed, “You know, have a really happy birthday.” I thought about it for a second.
“That does sound awfully tempting…”
“Oh here we go,” Taylor rolled his eyes, “Keep it clean, Sadez, you’re in mixed company.” I rolled my eyes right back at him and settled into the chair, sipping my wine and watching my best friends joke around with each other. I loved life at that moment.
“Really? You’re just going to put your feet up on the table with your shoes on?” Grace asked Jeff.
“Don’t bother, Alana. They’re animals.” I scoffed
“Like you’re perfect,” Jeff said, reaching over to lightly kick my leg with his foot.
“Of course I’m not perfect. But I’m also not a dirty, smelly boy.”
“None of us smell,” Taylor said.
“You just think you don’t smell because you’re used to your own stink,” I said matter-of-factly. Taylor, who was already getting up to head to the kitchen for more wine, looked incredibly irritated. He came over and bent down, putting his neck in my face.
“Do I smell?” he asked. Knowing I couldn’t get him away from me without complying with his request, I leaned forward and inhaled, finding myself surprised to catch a faint whiff of cologne laying there.
“Surprisingly… no,” I said. He made a face at me before heading for the kitchen. Everyone after that retired to their rooms leaving Taylor and me to pick up after everyone.
“I can’t believe you’re not throwing a fit having to pick up on your birthday,” Taylor said to me as we both shuffled to the kitchen with handfuls of wine glasses and bottles. I just shrugged and set them on the counter.
“I’ll bring them in here but I’m not doing anything with them. That can wait until the morning,” I said resolutely before turning off the light behind us.
“That is some dress,” Taylor said, surveying my outfit as I was just about to leave the room.
“I know and I can’t believe I wasted it on you dorks,” I said.
“Yeah, you usually save your slutty clothes for when we go out to the bars,” Taylor smiled, ducking from my reach before I could even muster up the energy to hit him.
“It’s not slutty!”
“If that’s what you want to tell yourself, then that’s fine.” I aggressively sighed at his comment..
‘You know what Taylor, don’t tell me I look nice when you clearly don’t think I do’ I said walking down to my dorm and him following me holding me up from my drunken state.
“I never said you didn’t look nice,” Taylor said before repeating the sentiment, “I never said that.” Then, he took the liberty of closing my door, letting the latch catch softly instead of the big bang I’d been hoping for.
I forced myself to take a deep breath before changing out of my dress and putting on some shorts and a plain gray tank. Once my dress was hung up safely in my closet ready to be taken to the dry cleaners, I went to shut off her light. I was halted, however, by the presents on my dresser. First, I replaced the Ben Barnes calendar on my wall with the one Jeff had given to me. Then, I took off the necklace Chris had given to me and put it safely in my jewelry box. I put the shoes that Jeff had given to me neatly on the floor of my closet and set her tiara on top of my TV. Once all of that was done, all that remained was the box containing Taylor’s present. The mere sight of it made my stomach tingle with excitement.
It was still completely unseemly that an original drawing of Road Runner was mine, which I could hang it on my wall and look at it every day. Taylor had obviously put some serious money into the present as well as a lot of thought, both of which were completely uncharacteristic for him and his history of gift giving. He even usually bought joke gifts for his family, buying them things they would get a kick out of rather than things they truly wanted or needed. The amazing thing about this gift was that it was something I would never have thought to ask for or seek out on my own. It was the perfect gift for me and somehow, Taylor of all people had come up with it.
I laid down in bed and tried to go to sleep but the drawing, now on my bedside table, kept calling to me, drawing my eyes open to look at it just one more time. I wasn’t sure if it was only because I was in disbelief that I owned it or if it was confusion as to why Taylor’s record with gift buying had changed so drastically with this gift. Regardless, I needed to know the answer to the last question.
After giving the drawing one more fleeting glance, I opened and closed my bedroom door before going up to Taylor’s dorm knocking lightly on his door. He called out for the knocker to enter and I did so to find Taylor sitting at his desk surfing the net.
“What’s up?” he asked as I shut the door behind me.
“Why did you get me the drawing?” I decided that getting right to the point was really the best route to take in the situation. I was tired and beating around the bush didn’t sound appealing in the slightest.
“Um, it’s your birthday. See, in many cultures such as ours, people give gifts to others on the day of their birth.”
“Taylor, come on, I’m being serious!”
“Fine. Do you like the present?”
“Of course I do,” I hesitated, “It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”
“Then just enjoy it and let it go,” he said uncomfortably, standing and heading for his dresser where he started fussing with the things on top of it to avoid making eye contact with me.
“Taylor, you gave me a Nerf gun last year. One year you gave me a giant inflatable penis. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
“Obviously not,” he said, still not looking at me.
“Why is this year different? Why did you give me the perfect present?” He looked at me exasperatedly and almost pleadingly, as if he was begging me to stop, but I would have none of it. “Taylor, just tell me.” He sighed a long, drawn out sigh before turning to lean himself against his dresser.
“I was thinking about what to get you, and as soon as I thought of it, I couldn’t stop until I found what I was looking for. I knew it would make you happy,” he shrugged.
“But you’ve never cared about whether or not your gifts would make me happy before,” I pointed out.
“And I might not ever care again, so just enjoy it, okay?”
“I am. I’m just a little confused, that’s all,” I confessed, going to stand right in front of him.
“Well don’t be,” he said, “Enjoy the last few minutes of your birthday.”
“I think my birthday was over a few hours ago,” I admitted.
“Nope. It’s your birthday until you go to sleep.”
“Well, thank you again, Taylor. And I meant it when I said it was the best present I’d ever gotten,” I said. I looked at him for a second, at last taking in the blue scrub pants slung low on his hips and the wifebeater tank fitting snugly against his torso. To make up for what could have been a very awkward move on my part, I reached out to hug him, thankful that it was appropriate in the situation since I’d just thanked him again for the wonderful present. While I normally would have pulled back quickly from a hug with Taylor to avoid a potential bout of teasing, I relished the rare kind moment between us and sunk against him as he hugged me back, tightly. I found my nose next to his neck and again took the time to note how much I liked his subtle cologne.”I like your cologne.”
“I told you I didn’t smell,” he laughed lightly, but still didn’t let me go. Instead, he tilted his head to lightly sniff the sensitive spot right below my ear. I couldn’t help but shiver at the light contact of his nose against that place. “You don’t smell so bad yourself.”
“Thank you,” I said, running my hands down his back before reluctantly pulling from his embrace and attempting to take a half step back, but Taylor held me by the elbows, close to his body. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” he said softly and honestly before pulling my body flush against his and pressing his lips to mine.
For a fleeting moment, I considered pulling away from Taylor’s insistent kisses, but it felt so good in my intoxicated birthday-giddy state, that stopping the wonderful flood of sensations quickly moved to a very low spot on my list of priorities. One second, the words “What are you doing?!” would pass through my brain, and the next second I was allowing him to slide his hands under the back of my shirt. I had no idea how it had started, but I certainly didn’t want to stop to ask as his mouth moved to my neck, kissing the skin there exactly the way I liked it. It was then that all questioning and rationale flew out the window.
I grabbed the bottom of his tank top and pulled it over his head, breaking the almost desperate contact of our lips for a mere second before dropping it beside us. His tongue moved sinuously against mine as my fingertips danced over his taut stomach, loving the chance to find out what it felt like after a weeks of speculation. Taylor worked to remove my own top, almost growling when he revealed that I wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. One of his hands moved to explore her newly exposed flesh while the other went back to my hip, pulling my lower body closer to his and putting me in direct contact with the hardening bulge in his pants.
“Oh god,” I groaned, completely overwhelmed with the sensations.
“Do you want to stop?” he asked breathlessly in my ear. Instead of responding, I untied his pants and shoved them to the floor along with his boxers. Before I got the chance to take in the entirely new visual experience of naked Taylor, he spun us around and pushed my shorts to the ground before lifting me and setting me down on the edge of his dresser. Parts of my brain wanted me to slow down and to process what was happening, but in this situation, my body was winning over my brain and all I could do was hook my legs around him and pull him closer until he was fully inside of me. Almost half a minute passed before I realized neither of us had moved at all.
“Are you okay?” I asked, smoothing my hands down his arms, the ones I had watched flex while he played the piano a thousand times before, but had never fully appreciated until right then.
He nodded and mumbled an apology into my neck before starting a steady rhythm with his hips. The feelings Taylor was eliciting in me were so unlike anything I’d experienced before that all I could do was hold on and try to match his movements with my own body. If someone had asked me how long we’d gone at it before I lost control, my fingernails digging half moons into the smooth skin of Taylor’s back and bringing him right after me, I wouldn’t have been able to come up with even a close estimate. Once he was able to do so, Taylor took an almost staggering step back to sit on the edge of his bed.
“What did we just do?” he asked, acting like he’d just woken up from a dream.
“Do you really need me to explain it to you?” I retorted nervously, lowering myself gingerly to the ground and quickly pulling my clothes back on. I could feel Taylor’s eyes on me as he bent over to grab his pants and slid them on before forcing himself to stand.
“Sorry, I just… I mean….” he stammered before smiling, “Wow.”
“Pretty much,” I said, desperately wanting him to stop looking at me with that half smile on his face. It was definitely not a look I was used to getting from Taylor. “I should, uh, go to bed.”
“Yeah,” Taylor said, ruffling the back of his hair and watching as I walked towards the door. “Sadie!”
“Yeah?” I asked, pausing with my hand on the doorknob.
“Happy birthday.”
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