Effortless

Twenty-eight

I stared at my foot as I dragged it around on the ground. "I dunno. I just didn't want it to be alone with Justin."

"Okay, but you have other friends."

"You also seemed like you'd be good at picking out gifts. Clearly Benji is really bad at it."

"How does one 'seem like' they'd be good at picking out presents?" Javier inquired with a confused yet humored smile.

I shrugged, his smile was contagious. "You just do, alright?"

Javi chuckled. "I guess you're right. I'm not sure that I would want Benji picking out gifts for my birthday. I think I would rather get no gift."

"I don't think that you would rather get no gift at all." My tone was playful but my words had meaning.

I would rather get a crappy present over no present at all as I never was given them when I was younger. My aunt was never keen on gift giving to me nor my siblings. Since she was our caretaker that meant that we wouldn't get one at all. It was not until I was a little older that I started getting gifts for my birthday, and that was only because I had made true friends.

When I was little it made me sad that I never got a present from my aunt because I saw all of the other kids getting them. But as I grew older it didn't bother me so much. I didn't feel like I deserved a gift at that point. Even now I didn't feel like I deserved one but my friends refused to not give me anything for my birthday.

He eyed me as he tried to decipher the meaning behind my words. Trying to stare clear of his gaze, I glanced at the boys in line for the corn dogs and saw that they had barely moved at all.

"When's your birthday?" He asked.

"In December.."

"Oh, cool. My mom is a December baby too." Javier said. "What day?"

"The 22nd. When's yours?" I asked. I was trying to change the subject to him.

"July 29th." He answered.

The employee finally called his name and handed him his pretzel. After he grabbed it we went to search for a table. The mall was packed and there weren't many tables open, but we eventually found one in a corner.

"We both have real sounding birthdays. Like, have you ever met someone with a birthday that just sounds fake?" Javi asked before taking a bite out of the soft pretzel.

I raised an eyebrow, confused. "No?"

"Our birthdays sound like real birthdays. Don't ask me why, they just do." He explained. "But September 28th? That shit doesn't sound real. Do you get what I mean?"

"That makes zero sense." I said through laughter.

"Just think about it, Eli." He was laughing as well. I was starting to realize that he knew how ridiculous the words coming out of his mouth sounded. He was just trying to make me laugh.

I decided to play along. "Yeah, March 40th doesn't sound real either."

I only realized how stupid that sentence was after I had already said it. I facepalmed and forced myself to laugh like that was what I had meant to say in the first place even though I think that it was obvious that it wasn't..

"You're right, the 40th doesn't sound real at all." He teased.

"I meant the 14th." I muttered as I continued to force myself to laugh. He continued laughing as well until we were left sitting in front of each other with grins on our faces.

We sat silently for a moment. Javier opened his mouth and closed it like he was wanting to say something but didn't know if he should. He did that until he worked up the courage to ask.

"I've always wondered what you do when your birthday is so close to Christmas." Said Javier. "Do you have a birthday slash Christmas party and gift? Personally, I think you should get separate presents for each just like everyone else does because it isn't your fault you were born so close to a holiday."

I shrugged. "It depends on the person giving the gift."

"Do you normally get both or one?"

Normally it's neither, but I wasn't going to say that. The holidays at home aren't the best time of year since the entire house gets really moody around that time. That has nothing to do with the holidays itself, it has more to do with the fact that it's the time of my birthday which is the same day as the anniversary of my mothers passing.

One would think that Easton and Emerson would be more cruel to me in December because of this. They were known to lash out so it would make sense for it to get worse since they blamed me for both of our parents' deaths, but they don't. They become distant instead. It's like they can't even stand to be around me long enough to insult and berate me. As crazy as it may seem, I rathered the insults over the avoidance.

So, normally I spent my birthday sulking in my room alone while my siblings were out doing whatever it is that they do. I was usually grounded around my birthday because it was the only form of punishment my aunt knew to give. She blamed me just as much as my siblings blamed me, so she looked for any reason to give punishment. I didn't mind it so much because I never wanted to celebrate my birthday anyway. It was just a reminder of the fact that my mere existence was the cause of both of my parents' deaths.

I shifted in my seat. "My friends usually get me a Christmas and birthday present separately, but not my family."

"Really?" He seemed surprised.

"Truly."

He seemed like he wanted to say something else but decided against it, thankfully. I then glanced at the pretzel in his hand subconsciously, I was really wanting to take him up on his offer from before. I realized that he noticed when he tried to hand it to me. I denied it once but when he insisted I gave in because I had wanted it all along. That was when Benji and Justin had finally shown up after waiting in the long line. Justin had three corn dogs in his hands while Benji had one.

"You two are sharing food?" Benji asked as he sat down and almost dropped his food in the process.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Javi asked him, the lightheartedness in his voice before now nonexistent.

Justin had already eaten half of the first corn dog. "If I were you, I would have made Elias get his own pretzel. They aren't big enough to share."

"I don't think that Javi was talking to you." I told Justin.

Justin smiled smugly. "But his ex-girlfriend was."

Well I hadn't expected that to come out of Justin's mouth. Javier rolled his eyes, he honestly didn't seem like he cared in the slightest. I couldn't tell if he was faking it or if he genuinely didn't care at all. Either way, I felt the need to stick up for Javi.

"She went from Javier to you?" I scoffed. "That's a downgrade for sure."

"Not officially, but hopefully soon." Justin said simply as he leaned back in his chair. "And by the way, the opinion of someone whom everyone only tolerates being around isn't relevant to me."

Benji was indifferent to the animosity between everyone, he ate his food in peace. Justin awaited my rebuttal but I didn't have one.

"I'm willing to be around him, so it can't be everyone." Javi spoke up. "I never have to tolerate being around my friends."

"You're an exception." Justin muttered.

After that Justin went back to enjoying his food. He and Benji ended up finding something to talk about, I wasn't paying enough attention to know what it was about. All I could think about was how Javi had called me his friend. I subtly grabbed his attention without drawing Justin and Benji's. I mouthed to him, 'Friends?' . It took him a second to read my lips, but once he did, he smiled. He then mouthed back, 'Friends.'

After they finished eating we continued shopping for another hour and left the store with absolutely nothing for Emerson nor Easton. Three hours of my life that I could never get back gone just like that. Though, I couldn't complain too much because something good came out of this.

My rival and I were friends.