Finding Myself - 9. Chapter 9: Aedan’s Birthday

January 21 2018

Boston, Massachusetts

I climbed out of the back seat of Jake’s dad’s Jeep. Tomorrow, I was turning fourteen, and as a gift to me, Jake took me to an NBA game. Jake and his dad were in Boston Celtics shirts while I had on a navy blue hoodie from my middle school basketball team. I was super excited because I have never been to an NBA game before, as tickets were so expensive.

“Dude, you’re gonna get assaulted for wearing that...” Jake laughed, teasing me. “Navy blue is the visiting team’s color.”

“Sorry, Jake,” I smirked. “I don’t have any Celtics gear.”

“Maybe we’ll have to fix that,” Jake skipped down the row of cars in the parking garage.

“You’re serious, bro?!” I put my hands in the large front pocket of my sweatshirt. Jake nodded.

Not long later, we entered the arena to get to our seats early, as the place was supposed to be packed full of fans. I definitely got some weird glances regarding my choice of clothing. We had seats in a special section, on the second floor with a better view of the basketball court.

Jake took me to one of the fan stores to pick something out for me. “I’ll get you a jersey if you want one. I know you love basketball.”

“Dude, a t-shirt’ll be fine,” I drawled. “Those jerseys are expensive as hell!” I exclaimed after reading a price tag.

“Nah, it’s not a problem. Hopefully they have your size.”

“I just grew out of the youth sizes so I’m probably a mens small.” I shrugged. Jake and I found a black and green sleeveless basketball jersey. It was pricey, as expected, but Jake paid with a credit card and I changed into it on the walk back to our seats.

Steven gave us a look when we returned to our seats. “You got him that?”

“Yeah,” Jake shrugged and handed him the receipt.

“Holy shit, son!” Steven swore and I blushed.

I sensed a confrontation and piped in to save Jake’s ass. “Sorry, sir! We can return it if—“

“No, lad, keep it.” He then turned to Jake. “This cost is coming out of your allowance, Jacob.” I saw my best friend scoff and roll his eyes. “Fuckin’ nearly 200 quid for a damn jersey…” Steven muttered under his breath.

“Thank you, sir,” I stammered awkwardly. I was already on thin ice with him, given his thoughts about me as a troubled teenager. This probably wasn’t helping me out any.

The game went well for the Boston Celtics, with the game lasting a couple hours.

Outside of the warm, excited, packed arena, the cold January evening air nipped at my arms, left bare by my sleeveless jersey. I put my hoodie on as we walked to a nearby pub to get food before driving back home. “Thanks again for taking me to the game. And gettin’ me the jersey,” I smiled to Jake “You’re too generous.” I paused awkwardly. “Oh, and, uhm, sorry about gettin’ you in trouble with your dad…”

“Nah, Aedan. You deserve it.”

“I do?”

“Yeh, take it as a thanks from me for being my only friend.” I saw Jake’s cheeks blush again as he turned away to look at the NFL game on the TV in the pub. If I was his only friend, then people really were missing out. Jake is fucking awesome.

January 22 2018

Avalon, Connecticut

I groggily woke up at 7AM to my annoying alarm clock, which I punched off. Jake was lying next to me in his boxers. I nudged him awake. “Come on bruh... we have to get to school.” I rolled out of bed.

“mhmmm...” Jake sat up, rubbed his eyes, and checked his pear phone. “Oh. It’s the 22nd... happy birthday, Aedan.” Last night, Jake slept in my room for my birthday sleepover. We didn’t stay up as late as we wanted because of a school night.

“Oh, thanks,” I blushed and smiled sleepily, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my shorts. “I’ll see you in the kitchen, Jake.” I waved and left the bedroom without getting dressed. The smell of pancakes greeted me in the kitchen when I entered, still shirtless from last night. My stomach instantly growled. I saw some pancakes cooking on the griddle on the stove.

“Happy birthday, baby,” mom greeted me as I entered the kitchen and hugged me. I blushed with embarrassment. Mom then measured my height up against the wall, as she does every year for my siblings and my birthdays. She also got my weight. I had grown to about 5’6, having grown nearly five inches since my 13th birthday, and I weighed 115 pounds. “I made your favorite breakfast. Blueberry pancakes with sprinkles.” She put a stack of 3 pancakes on a plate for me “Thanks, ma,” I mumbled and grabbed the syrup from the pantry. I sat down and began eating.

River entered the kitchen with Jake a few minutes later. River was in his pajamas while Jake had gotten dressed and was in jeans, sneakers, and his favorite grey hoodie. “Aedan gets pancakes? No fair!” River whined.

“Dude,” Jake scoffed. “It’s his fourteenth birthday.”

“Oh...” River facepalmed. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY AEDAN!” He squeezed me.

“Thanks bro...” I croaked. “Holy shit, you’re strong, Riv...” I laughed as my younger brother released the hug. River and Jake settled for cereal and sat with me. “Did Violet already leave?”

“Yes, Aedan,” mom kissed my cheek, which made Jake giggle. “Have fun at school, boys,” mom grabbed her purse to leave for work. “I’ll try to make your game this evening, okay?”

“Promise?” I asked. Mom had only made it to a couple of my basketball games so far this season out of, like, ten. I get that she’s busy at work a lot, but it’s still a little disappointing.

“I promise, sweetie,” she nodded before leaving.

When I finished my pancakes and orange juice a bit later, I went back to my room. In the bathroom, I washed my face, put on deodorant, and brushed my teeth for a few minutes. The one bad thing about having braces is a bunch of food can get caught in them, even soft fluffy pancakes. I flexed a little bit in front of the mirror to admire my muscles that have developed when River walked in. “Gah!” I jumped and blushed a little bit, using my arms to hide my bare chest. That was embarrassing.

“Bro, how are you not dressed yet? Catherine is taking us to school,” River said. Catherine was Jake’s mom. “And were you flexing in front of the mirror? Weirdo.” Riv rolled his eyes and walked off. I sighed and got dressed in a t-shirt, my favorite Hollister hoodie, and jeans. I also sprayed on a little bit of cologne and some hair gel to look more decent than usual. I put the ball shorts I had slept in into my backpack to have something to change into if it got too warm in the school. I had packed up all my notebooks in my backpack the previous evening so I’d have less to do in the mornings. I put my backpack on and turned off the lights in my room before leaving. I grabbed my water thermos in the kitchen and filled it up when I met with Jake and River. “There you are Aedan,” Jake smiled. “Sorry we have to go in early today. I have history tutorials.”

“Mhmm. It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll just hang out with Nina in the library before homeroom.”

I sat in the backseat of Catherine’s Mustang Convertible (Jake’s parents are still crazy rich in case you forgot) and got some texts from my friends and girlfriend wishing me happy birthday. I don’t have a lot of friends, but I have been able to make some through art and basketball this year.

At school, I entered the library and found Nina doing homework at one of the study tables. “Hi, Nina,” I smiled. “Procrastinated on homework?”

“Hey, birthday boy,” she blushed. “You look nice today.” I blushed at her comment. “And, yeah, I am finishing up my Algebra homework. Can you help me?”

“Nina, you know I’m not smart. I’m not in Algebra. I’m in regular 8th grade Pre-Algebra,” I sat down and pulled out my sketch book. In my free time, I was learning how to draw anime and manga characters. I wasn’t very good at it yet.

Nina was super smart in math, so she’s a year ahead of me in math. I stood up to go find a book in the art section of the library to help me actually get good at drawing anime style people.

I found a good guide book and checked it out at the desk. “Hi, Aedan,” the elderly librarian woman addressed me. I had been in the library before to check out art books, so she knew me pretty well. “Checking this out?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I nodded. “Thank you,” I said after she scanned the book for me.

“I’m finished with this homework,” Nina said when I got back. I sat down next to her and placed the book on the table. “Time for your kisses, birthday boy.”

“Um-- I was actually gonna-----” I was cut off by her lips meeting mine and a light blush flooded my cheeks.

“Hey, no PDA...” the librarian said from her desk. Nina and I separated.

“Um, sorry, ma’am...” I muttered, embarrassed.

We left our stuff behind, and went to one of the quiet rows of shelves where we proceeded to continue making out.

For seventh period, I had my favorite class of the day: Art 3 with Miss Nakamura. It was a nice relaxing class to finish off the day. Lunch had been fun because Jake purchased a cupcake for me from the cafeteria. I was working on my crosshatch shading when the bell rang. 3:50 PM was the time when most students would go home, but I had to go to the gym to warm up for the basketball game at 4:30. We had a pretty light practice during first period so as to not tire us out too much before an important game.

“Dude, I can’t believe the Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl this year,” a shirtless Connor Eastman said in the locker room.

“Tell me about it,” I pulled my hoodie and shirt off together. “I wanted ‘em to win so bad. And it was so close too!”

“Yeh, man,” Connor shook his head. “I’m glad the Pats won...” Connor grabbed his jersey and put it on over his torso. We were in our navy blue jerseys and dark grey shorts today for our home game uniforms. I pulled off my jeans and sat there in my boxers and socks. The team gathered around Connor, the team captain for his pre-game speech. Other than me, the team was made up of Connor Eastman, Ian Voss, Kevin Wilcox, Max Keller, Dustin Shapiro, Brandon Lee, Jason Udell, Ryan Newton, Hayden Noceda, Greg Jefferson, and Matt Fayette.

“Guys, this is one of the biggest games of the season. Against our rivals from Gravesfield Middle School. We just have to get out there and win. We’ve been doing great at practice. Just be sure to call out their fouls.” Connor paused. “Also, as we all know, today is Aedan’s birthday. He’s 14 now. So let’s get this W for him!” The team cheered, and I blushed. I wasn’t a fan of attention specifically on me. “Anyways,” Connor said, as we all put a hand in the circle.

“1 2 3..........Let’s go Bears!”

“Hey, Aedan,” Max muttered after the team huddle disbanded. Max Keller was the youngest and shortest member of the team at 5’2” with dirty blond hair and brown eyes. “Erm, happy birthday,” Max blushed. He was somehow even shier than me. He had a t-shirt on under his jersey, as usual. Likely because he’s self-conscious about going sleeveless.

“Thanks, dude,” I fist bumped him as I put on my knee length shorts. “Good luck in the game,” I said. Max was often sitting out in games. He’s not very athletic, but I guess he had enough talent to make the team. I then pulled on my sleeveless navy blue jersey. My jersey number was 37 and had my last name Jackson on the back and “Avalon Bears” on the front.

“Yo, Aedan,” Dustin came over and helped me up. I maybe had a tiny crush on him before. He looks pretty cute with his middle eastern complexion. “Happy birthday, bro,” he helped me up from the bench.

“Thanks, Dusty,” I smiled.

“Wait up for me!” Max jogged to catch up with Dustin and I as we left the locker room.

As gametime neared after some warmup, I learned I would be playing for the first half as a Shooting Guard, which was my usual position. Hayden would be Center, Dustin would be the Point Guard, Ryan was the Power Forward and Max was the Small Forward, much to everyone’s surprise. Spectators began to enter the gym. My face lit up and my eyes widened when I saw my mom enter with Violet, River, Nina, and Jake. I wanted to say hi to them, but I had to continue warming up with the team. The Gravesfield team looked pretty formidable. Most of them were taller than me, and honestly didn’t even look like middle schoolers.

During the basketball game, I scored some points for the Bears. Not as many as Dustin or Hayden, but I got some 3-pointers as well. During one play, a very tall Wizard (that’s the Gravesfield team name haha) player elbowed and shoved me when I was trying to make a basket. “Hey! Back off!” I muttered, panting from having run up the court. I dribbled a few times, but he was very close. Dude! Seriously?! He took the ball. I panted and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“Number 24 Personal Foul on Number 37.”

“Ref come on,” the Wizard player #24 whined. “He’s just a sore loser.”

“You fouled him.”

Number 24 growled before walking by me. “Dumbass hillbilly boy...”

“Very mature...” I rolled my eyes and took the ball from him to get my 2 free throws.

“Unsportsmanlike conduct, technical foul, #24,” the ref said plainly. I stifled a chuckle.

“I’ll technical foul your ass...” Number 24 muttered. He was then thrown out of the game. I managed to make my two free throws successfully. Those were my last points scored before halftime. We were in the lead 34 to 31. I sat down on the bench with Max while 5 other teammates went up for the second half. “Nice shots, Jackson,” Kevin fist bumped me as I grabbed a towel to wipe my sweat off.

“Good luck...” I smirked at him. “Nice playing, little dude,” I high fived Max. He had scored 10 points, more points in this game than any other. Most of them were from him being fouled and making free throws. I watched the rest of the game while rehydrating with some water. Connor and Ian were doing really well, scoring way more points than I could manage. Avalon’s fans all cheered when the game finished in our favor with a score of 73 to 65.

That evening, we were back at home and had some pizza for dinner. Nina was allowed to come with us to eat pizza and watch me open gifts before she had to go home. There was also some carrot cake mom picked up at the store with the words Happy 14th Aedan written in icing. I had declined a slice of cake, since Jake had already given me a cupcake and I was full from eating 3 slices of pizza, so a cake slice was saved for me to eat tomorrow. Birthday gifts were less numerous than Christmas, but I saw why: Mom had gotten me my own Pear Phone XT 6!! “Oh my God...” my jaw dropped. “Thanks mom!!” I hugged her.

“No fair!” River and Violet gasped.

“River, hun, you’re only twelve. And Violet, your birthday’s in two weeks.” Mom responded to my siblings while I was enamored with my new red pear-shaped smartphone.

This had literally been the best birthday ever.

Later that evening, after Nina went home, I was in my pajama pants sitting on my bed finishing my math homework based on the Pythagorean Theorem. It was pretty simple. I closed my notebook when suddenly I heard a knock at my bedroom door. “Come in!” I announced

“Hey, Aedan, done with homework?” Jake stepped in.

“Mhm,” I nodded, kicking with my feet a little. “That was my only homework.”

“How was your birthday?” Jake sat at the foot of my bed. He was also in his pajamas.

“So awesome...” I smiled. “I don’t want this day to end. But, I’m tired and we have school tomorrow. Night, Jake,” I stood up to head over to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

“Night, Aedan,” my best friend smiled and turned out the light.