Chapter 22

I could hear the faint noise of the door unlocking, which made me wake up from my slumber. I slid my hand under my pillow, grasping my pocket knife drowsily. The door creaked open, and I kept my eyes closed while slow footsteps approached me.

Did they find me already?

"Happy birthday to you!" Kenneth yelled at the top of his lungs, making me sit up in a haste.

I flicked the knife open with wide eyes, and saw that the couple was standing in front of my bed. Kenneth held a birthday cake with a single candle on top. Wesley stood behind them, holding two bags of snacks and whatever drinks they brought.

"How did you guys manage to get in?" I asked in bewilderment, hiding the knife under the pillow again.

A giggle was heard from the door, and a lady in her mid-fifties showed her face from the door. "Well, dear, this group of friends came to me and told me it was your birthday, I just had to help with the surprise," she explained, holding a set of keys in her hands.

"And we thank you very much for that, Mrs. Brown," Danielle said kindly, giving her a big smile.

"Oh please, call me Georgia, dear." The woman—Georgia—chuckled, before giving me a bright smile. "Happy birthday, Jessie!" With that, she left the room, and three sets of grins flashed at me.

Wesley took out a lighter and lit the candle on the birthday cake. I let my shoulders relax and chuckled at them. Now I knew that I couldn't even trust the janitors. I was lucky enough that it wasn't one of the bad guys.

"Make a wish!" Kenneth urged, and I rolled my eyes at his eagerness. I leaned forward and then blew the candle out, and before I knew it, my face was buried into the cake.

"Classic move." I groaned as the others laughed, and I couldn't help but smile. I wiped some frosting off my face and licked it off my fingers. As soon as the cream cheese frosting came in contact with my taste buds, I moaned in content.

Danielle handed me a paper towel and Wesley—being his Wesley self—licked off some of the frosting from my cheek. I grimaced at this and shoved him playfully, making him laugh.

He was already a grown-up man that acted like a child. He was thirty-four years old, for crying out loud.

"Well then, birthday girl, how does it feel to be twenty-two?" Danielle joked, obviously using the age of my fake ID.

"I don't know. I've never been this old before," I joked back, and she chuckled.

After two hours of eating random snacks and drinking wine, the three of them left to do their own things but promised to stop by later.

I stretched my arms over my head and yawned a bit, glancing at my clock to see that it was almost midday. My phone vibrated on top of the nightstand and I picked it up, furrowing my brows at the text from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: Hello there, Amelia. Coach speaking. The boys told me about your decision yesterday morning, and I'm glad you decided to join us. I'm well aware that you don't need introducing, but even so, there's practice today at 4 o'clock to introduce you to the rest of the team. Hope you can handle that much testosterone.

Me: Why, hello there, Mr. Coach. I'll try my best to not be late, but I won't make any promises. As to how you got my number, I won't even ask, but do know it's very creepy.

Unknown Number: Good to know your humor is still intact. I'll meet you with the rest of the team at the soccer field. As for your information, it's either Coach or Mr. Crawford.

Me: Whatever makes you sleep at night, Mr. Coach. See you in a couple of hours.

I didn't wait for an answer and instead set his number under 'Mr. Coach' with a chuckle. Later, I decided to open the tons of messages I've received from both my so-called mother and my stepfather. I ignored all the threats he left me and the desperate messages from my mother, erasing them all.

Who knew that turning eighteen would be so troublesome?

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts, and I quickly grabbed the pocket knife again. Better safe than sorry. I walked to the door and held the knife behind my back, before opening it slowly.

A head of blonde greeted me before I was nearly tackled to the ground, catching me off guard.

I flicked the knife open and was ready to stab the person when a pair of familiar chocolate brown eyes greeted me.

"Happy Birthday!" Izzy giggled, hugging me tightly and completely oblivious to the knife I was holding, ready to stab her at her side.

I quickly relaxed and flicked the knife close to hide it in my waistband, before she could actually see it. "Izzy, Chase, what are you doing here?" I asked when Izzy finally pulled back.

She grinned and placed a party hat on my head, before walking inside the bedroom. Chase smiled guiltily at me, holding two birthday presents in his hands.

"Danielle told me yesterday that your birthday was today, so we decided to stop by and say happy birthday," Izzy explained, and I motioned for Chase to come inside.

He nodded and entered the room cautiously, then I turned to see Izzy looking around the room in awe.

"You didn't have to, you know?" I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and her head snapped to me.

"Of course I had to! You're eighteen already, this needs a celebration. Plus, I still can't get over the fact that you're five days older than Chase," she said with a giggle.

This certainly got mine and Chase's attention.

"Is that so?" I asked mockingly, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Apparently," he grumbled lightly, making me chuckle. "That's not the point, either way."

"I agree with you there." Izzy chuckled and snatched the presents from his hands, handing them to me. "Open them up!"

I chuckled a bit at her enthusiasm and eyed the presents in my hands. One was a small box wrapped in a polka dot birthday wrap, and the other one was a small paper bag.

I opened the box first, feeling quite uncomfortable as their gazes bore into me. I eyed the present, which was definitely Izzy's, and stared at it in awe. It was a simple necklace with a small ruby wrapped around a heart design. It was being held up by a golden chain, the heart that held the ruby designed with small diamonds.

"I'm not such a fan of jewelry," I admitted. "But I must say, this is beautiful."

"Thanks!" Izzy chirped, and I looked at her. "I noticed Chase staring at it before we came here, so I bought it and had it wrapped."

My eyes widened a bit at the confession, and my eyes snapped to Chase, who was looking at the ground. My chest warmed up at this and I smiled, walking toward him.

"I love it," I said, and he finally looked at me. He blushed a bit and smiled back at me, then I handed him the necklace. "Would you help me put it on?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, and I turned around, brushing my hair off my neck and draping it over my shoulder.

I felt the cold material of the necklace brushing over my collarbone and felt Chase's fingers on the back of my neck, making me smile a bit.

The sudden flash of a camera snapped us both out of our trance, and I suddenly remembered that Izzy was also in the room. She was smiling from ear to ear, holding her camera steadily in front of her face. "I swear, that is the cutest picture I've taken on this phone," she chirped, and I held the urge to roll my eyes.

I stepped away from Chase, giving him another smile, and he gave me one of his own before proceeding to hand me the next present.

I peered inside the bag and raised an eyebrow when all I saw was black. I decided to reach inside and pulled out whatever was inside it, raising an amused eyebrow when I pulled out some black workout gloves.

"I kind of figured out you might need them since all you use is bandages for the punching bag," Chase explained, a sheepish smile forming on his lips.

"There's still one more thing!" Izzy said, motioning for me to dig in again.

I chuckled at this and reached inside the bag once more, pulling out a beautiful black leather jacket.

"Well, this is certainly something I'll be using for the rest of my life," I commented, and Izzy giggled.

"I thought it would look bomb with those boots you seem to wear all the time," Izzy said, and I smiled at her genuinely.

"Thanks," I forced out a bit. "I'm not used to receiving any type of presents, so I don't really know what to say."

"Don't be silly, you don't have to say anything," she waved off with a friendly smile.

Alright, I admitted that I might have been too harsh with her at first.

A phone rang all of a sudden, and Chase snatched his phone out of his pocket. Our attention turned to him as he read a text message and then typed away. With one last click to his phone, he stuffed it back in his pocket and looked at us.

"Uh, Mom wants us to meet her at the house. She wants us to go have lunch with your dad," he said, his words directed to Izzy.

"You can also call him Dad, you know? We've been living with you for nearly twelve years now." Izzy chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm still not quite comfortable with the idea yet," Chase said with a grimace.

"You might eventually," she said and turned back to me. "It was nice stopping by; I'll see you on Monday!"

"No worries. See you on Monday," I responded, and she gave me one last smile before walking out the door. I turned to Chase and he stopped in front of me, glancing at his retreating stepsister, before looking at me again.

"Have you changed your bandages? Are your bruises alright?" he asked, his eyes showing concern.

I smiled. "Yes, I have indeed. I feel much better," I said, and he grinned. "You are fit to be a nurse. A doctor, even."

"I was planning to go to a medical school after graduating..." he trailed off, a silly lopsided grin on his face. "I guess I will see you on Monday, I better get going," he said, and I nodded in understanding. With one last smile, he headed over to the door and left.

The last thing I saw was the door shutting close as he walked out.

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[Edited: August 30th, 2020 by michh_44]

Awee, wasn't that just cute? I totally ship those two. Also, don't you think that the coach is kind of creepy? I wouldn't trust in a man like that at all. Comment your thoughts and vote if you enjoyed Chase's and Amelia's exchange! Best regards ♥