"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Genevieve smacks me with my pillow. I immediately sit up with my eyes half-open. I look at Genevieve who has an eager smile on her face. I groan, hiding under the covers.

"Wake up, birthday girl!" She tugs at my blanket.

I try to kick her and she gasps. "Kick me one more time and I'll bust out my singing voice." She threatens.

"No! God no!" I groan. I slip my hand out of the covers, grabbing my phone. "It's nine in the morning! Are you crazy? How did my parents let this slide?"

"Get up grumpy pants! I have the whole day planned out for us. First, we go for breakfast then we'll go get manis and pedis, and then maybe we'll stop by the mall to do a little shopping, and the final thing is my surprise!" She explains.

"What's the surprise?" I peak out.

"It's not a surprise if I tell you. Now get up! We have a whole day full of fun!" She claps her hands eagerly.

☆

"I think that lady might've cut my cuticles." I look down at my hands, hissing in pain.

"Ooh, did you get Miriam? Yeah, she's the feisty one. Ugh, I should've gotten Sue to go your nails, her hands are the hands of an angel." She looks over at my hands and presses her lips into a flat line.

I shake off the pain, then continue to scroll through the clothing racks. Genevieve and I buy a couple of outfits at a few stores then she takes me over to her place to "get ready".

"Why do I have to get ready? I thought I was already ready?" I pout as she starts putting makeup on my face. I scrunch my face at the cool makeup being spread all over my face. She starts to dab my skin while she ignores all my comments and questions.

She does a simple look which I really like, then she fixes up my hair.

She takes out the outfit I bought today and holds it out. "Hurry and put this on!"

I take it from her and look at her weirdly. "You in a rush?"

She looks down at her phone, then responds with,

"Yes."

I put on the white off the shoulder top, being extra careful to not stain it with my makeup. Then I slide on the light blue skirt which fits perfectly. "There! You happy?"

"Very much! Now let's go, we're running late!" She drags me all the way to her car. She opens up one of the compartments, taking out a thick piece of fabric. "Put this on."

I hesitantly take it, looking it strangely. "Where?"

"It's a blindfold. Don't tie it too tight, though. It might ruin your makeup." She looks over her shoulder as she backs out of the driveway.

"I won't look at the road, I promise-"

"Put it on! Now!"

I whine as I wrap it around my eyes, then tying it around my head.

After a few turns and a lot of Genevieve cursing under her breath, we finally come to a stop. "Alright, you can take it off now."

I slowly pull it off of my eyes then-

"Is this a joke?" My question comes out as a laugh.

"I got us a cake so we can watch movies all night in your room! Surprise!" She gets out of the car, rushing over to my side. As we start entering my house I start to question everything.

"You mean the surprise drive was just to my house?!" We start going up the stairs.

"Exciting right?" She squeals.

"Man, do you over exaggerate everything." I open my bedroom door-

"Surprise!" Genevieve squeals behind me.

I feel my mouth slightly drop as I see my room. There are balloons covering the entire ceiling and my bed is filled with gifts.

"Grayson." I slightly gasp when I see him holding a bouquet of roses. I look back at Genevieve and she has a big grin on her face.

"Well birthday girl, we hung out the whole day today so I'll let Grayson have an hour." She smiles, then closes the door. I hear her heels thumping on the stairs as they fade away.

"Holy shit. You guys did all this?"

Grayson nods and rests the flowers on my bed. He makes his way to me and inches away from each other. He takes my hands in his, and I feel my heart start to beat faster. I feel how cold his hands are and how warm mine are.

"These last few months with you have made me realize something." His voice comes out shaky.

He's nervous? I'm making him nervous? Holy shit my heart is beating out of my chest right now.

"I think the day I really knew I liked you was the day you slept over, and we cuddled in that small recliner. I knew for sure I liked you when my mom told me that you'd drive forty-five minutes to visit me. I've wanted to tell you since the minute I knew but I couldn't. I didn't know when the time was right. You still seemed so upset about Calvin that I decided to keep quiet."

I feel my face burning up as I remember that month.

"What I'm trying to say- - ask- - What I'm trying to ask is-"

I put my hand over his heart and feel the strong pulse of his heart. I look down at my hand and back at him. His heartbeat is just as fast as mine. "Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?"

"Well, it's no fun like that." He cracks a smile. "I wanted to ask you."

I clear my throat, looking up at him again. "I'm listening."

He grins, squeezing my hands tighter. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

The balloon blowing up inside of me has finally popped. I feel the rush of relief as soon as those words leave his mouth. I get up on my tippy toes, pulling him closer to me by his neck.

Our lips meet and everything feels safe again. He rests his hand on my waist, then closing the gap between us.

I'm his girlfriend. His girlfriend. I'm Grayson's girlfriend.

I like the ring to it.

We pull apart and I can't help but stop smiling.

"So our anniversary is my birthday, huh?"

"Now you have two things to look forward to on your birthday." He takes a strand of my hair and sets it behind my ear.

We're a couple now. Everything I ever felt for Calvin is out of the door. The pain he caused hasn't but anything romantically is.

Ever since that night at the hospital I've been wanting to be his girlfriend. But I didn't want to rush things. I also didn't want to accept the fact that I was moving on quickly. I thought it'd take me months to get over Calvin.

This time everything feels right.