* * *
Sometimes I wonder why I do this kind of stuff. This was awkward, and my relatives didn’t like it anyway. But still, I couldn’t help being happy. It was my birthday after all.
A timid smile twitched up the corners of my lips ever so slightly. I looked around at the relatives that surrounded me; wanting to shy away from the attention, yet enjoying it all the same. Their mouths were cranked up in wide grins that made mine seem even more inexistent than it already was. Even thought their smiles were probably false, they looked way better than my genuine one.
“Happy birthday to Trinity,” they sang. “Happy birthday to you . . .”
They probably thought I was cold and stoic. Some of their grins were already going stale—probably from looking at my expressionless face for too long. I could see their jaws tiring from keeping their faux friendly faces up, and the smiles were turning upside down from the effort it took to force their teeth to keep baring. I didn’t mean to be like this, seriously.
“Make a wish!” shouted my five-year-old twin cousins, Ricky and Tommy, jumping erratically, silly grins plastered on their faces. Those two were the only ones who didn’t mind my Ice Queen looks. They could always see straight through me and into my true feelings that my body refused to show. I loved them for that.
I wish. . . . I don’t know what to wish for.