❝ My kind of time's meant to carelessly spend

And my kind of nights are the ones that don't end

My kind of fun doesn't make any sense

And my kind of love you won't ever forget❞

- Alessia Cara, My Kind.

River burst into laughter, causing a rumbling in his chest, and I looked up at him with sleepy eyes. His eyes remained on the TV though, his hands playing lazily in my hair and I liked the feel of it. He laughed again and I used the opportunity to intertwine our legs together. He looked down at me, "You really should watch this show with me, Renée."

"I would, but I'm so tired," I replied, yawning.

And I really was. Immediately after school, I went to work. Luckily, Sky let me work until five and River waited for me while I worked. Right after, we came to his house. While I worked on my homework, he laid down, watching The Other Two.

I groaned, "How am I so tired already? It's only Monday."

"Well, you had to work," he looked down at me. "Will you stay for dinner?"

I nodded, rubbing my eyes, "Mhm. That reminds me, so my dad wants us to have like a family dinner, and my mom wants you to come."

"So, I'll get to see your dad?" I mused, and Renee chuckled, "Does that scare you?'

"Well, is he intimidating?"

"He's in the military."

"Who do you think you're trying to scare, Renée? I know your dad's a lawyer."

She laughed, "You have nothing to worry about. I'm sure my dad will love you. Just come dressed in tux, Italian shoes and gelled hair."

"What?" I retorted in horror. "Gelled hair? Italian sho—"

She burst out laughing and I rolled my eyes, "Are you messing with me?"

"It's so fun to," she nodded, chuckling.

"You're so silly," I poked her cheek and she groaned, "River."

"You secretly love it," I smiled and she rolled her eyes, yawning.

"It's only pregnant women who yawn so much." I told her.

"How did you know that?" She asked, clearly amused.

"When my mom was pregnant with Riley, she was a yawning mess."

"I'm really tired," she closed her eyes and I poked her cheek annoyingly, "What do you want for your birthday?"

"Nothing," she answered sleepily. "Wait... no, fro-yo... and you."

"That all?"

"Mhm," she nodded, and then, fell asleep slowly.

*

It was almost an hour since Renee fell asleep, and after another episode of The Other Two and my hands playing lazily in her hair, I felt myself starting to fall asleep.

The knock on the door stopped me from drifting off to sleep, though.

"Come in," I called lazily.

Mom poked her head in, a smile on her face, "Aw, look how cute you two are."

I chuckled, "Mom."

"Dinner's ready. I'm sorry it took so long, but Riley was ticking and I had to channel all my focus on her."

"That's fine, mom. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, and she's run off somewhere in the house with Waffles. Is Renee okay?"

"She is. Just tired, but we'll be down soon."

"Alright," she nodded before leaving.

I shook Renee, "Wake up sleepyhead."

"I'm up," she answered, her eyes open and a small smile on her face.

""Since when?"

"Since your mom said I was cute."

I chuckled, "Dork."

*

Renée

I woke up to my phone going off. Groaning and rubbing my eyes, I checked my recent messages. It was a text from my dad.

I smiled, replying their text, which led me to replying about five more texts. One of the most stressful things about birthdays had to be trying to catch up and reply every single text. Still a bit groggy, I yawned while stretching.

Just then, my door banged open and Tanner came in, yelling, "Happy birthday, baby sister!"

I shrieked and fell off my bed.

"Well, that's a great way to start being 17," he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and was about to get up from the floor when I was tackled back to the ground by Tanner who planted kisses all over my face as he said, "Happy birthday, happy birthday!"

I tilted my head from side to side, giggling, "Tanner!"

He smiled widely, "Happy birthday. I love you."

I playfully pushed him off, "Well, thank you."

We both got up and he pulled me into a hug. "You're the best sister in the world. I'm so proud of you too," he ruffled my hair.

"I love you," I flung my arms around him.

"Now, go get for ready for school, I'll get your breakfast ready."

*

So far, my day was going good. Messages from family and family friends kept rolling in, and my smile got wider when I got a text from Zee too. I was just about to reply her text when Harper sat beside me, placing her tray on the table but with a disappointed look on her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine."

I nudged her softly, "You can tell me. What's wrong?"

She hesitated before saying quietly. "He doesn't like me."

I swallowed, "Jace?"

She nodded again. "Yeah. He never liked me."

"I'm so sorry," I looked at her, and she shrugged, "It's not your fault."

"On the game day... I saw him with some other girl by the bathroom. I-I was going to tell you, but—"

"It's okay, Renée. I'm stupid."

"Don't say that. You're not stupid. He is. Because he doesn't know what he's missed out on. You're beautiful, Harper."

"You're a good friend," she let out a breath before giving me a hug.

"Bubbles! Happy birthday!"

I turned to see Logan and I smiled, "Thanks Logan," I suddenly remembered Kaleb. "Actually, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," he sat beside me, before his gaze dropped on Harper, "Hey."

She gave him a light smile, nodding as she brought her eyes to mine, "I'll be right back."

"Okay," I looked back to Logan who had a smirk on his face, "She's cute."

"Shut up,' I chuckled. "So—"

"Wait," he stopped me. "I got something for you," he reached into his bag and brought out a box, but I didn't need anyone to tell me it was a chocolate hamper. But there was something in there I couldn't figure out. It felt soft, though.

"Oh my, Logan you're so sweet," I gave him a hug.

"I know, I know," he cockily shrugged. "But what's up?"

"Uh so," I cleared my throat. "It's about Sydney."

He ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah?"

I nodded. "Do you... do you—"

"One thing you should know is, I don't like Sydney. She's hella forward. Plus, she tried to get with Aiden, and then Cameron, and then she tried way too hard to get Kaleb, which she did. But I think she just wants to be that girl who dated the basketball dude in high school."

"So, like, she doesn't take her relationship with Kaleb serious?"

"Something like that," Logan shrugged. "She knows how girls would want to date a basketball or football player, so she went for one. Why are you asking?"

I went ahead to narrate what had happened with River and he chuckled in the end, "I'm sure that wasn't her first time trying to get with some other guy. Kaleb's a fool for her. That's it."

"Can you maybe... tell him about it?"

"Why don't you tell him about it? You guys are like DJ Khaled and yelling. Inseparable," he laughed at his own joke.

I couldn't hold back a chuckle but I sighed and told him, "I'm sure you've noticed this. Me and Kaleb aren't speaking—"

"You always make up. Remember that one time in 6th grade when you had that fight over spaghetti," he laughed loudly.

"Yes, but that was food. Food I thought was mine but was actually his. This is over a girl he really likes. We're not speaking but I still care loads about him. I can't tell him. Someone else has to."

"So, you want me to be the one to break my man's heart?" He feigned shock.

"That sounded wrong, but yeah, he'll believe you, I'm sure," I nodded.

He thought for a while, "Okay, I will."

"Thank you, Logan." I smiled.

"Anything for you," he smiled back, nodding. "I'll see you later, okay?"

I watched him leave before turning back to face my food. Harper returned with a can of Mountain Dew.

"Do you feel better?" I asked her.

She nodded, a smile on her face. "I actually do. I'm sorry I had no idea it was your birthday today, I know it's small and it's something you can get for yourself, but I hope it's okay," she handed it to me and my heart melted, "Happy birthday, Renée. I'm glad you're my friend."

*

It felt weird. I felt weird.

This was the first time ever that I didn't see or hear from Kaleb on my birthday. I hated this. So much. On days like his, he would come over to my house, singing the birthday song terribly before going ahead to give me what he had gotten for me, and when he did this, he would explain why he got that particular gift. On weekends, we would go out for dinner, and on weekdays, we would stay in and binge on ice cream and grilled chicken his mom would have made.

But today, I didn't see him at all.

I bit my lip and pushed the door to the bakery open and my eyes widened as the biggest smile on my face came up.

*