Finding Laila: Some Changes Are Necessary Part 18

"Great," I groan as I log into my account to see what chatter there is this morning.

My feed is filled with timeline pictures of 'friends' who were at my party. By all accounts, it looks entertaining, until I read the comments.

Thank G.o.d Nixon wasn't there. What a looser!

Nice, moron...the least you could do is spell it right.

You know the guys are only friends with her because she's easy.

Funny how little they know about me.

Poor Bailey has to actually hang out with her just to be with Joey.

Most of these I can ignore, but this one really p.i.s.ses me off. What if this is really how Bailey feels? I look over my shoulder and see her looking intently at her phone. She furrows her brow before exhaling and moving her thumb again.

"Do me a favor," she says, still not realizing that I'm look at her until she raises her head, "don't go online today."

"Too late," I say, pointing to my screen.

She jumps off the bed and kneels down next to my desk to see what I'm looking at and I can tell her eyes land on the entries I've read when she mumbles parts of the words aloud. We take turns scrolling through the feed and I feel like a glutton for punishment. I know what these people have to say about me, they never keep it a secret, so I've grown a thick skin. But Bailey eyes it all and occasionally covers her mouth in disbelief before clicking the b.u.t.ton to close out the browser.

"Enough of that," she states with finality as she stands up. "I'm going home to change and get some things. What do you have the rest of the day?"

"No idea. I still haven't seen my parents, so I guess I'll spend most of the day with them," I shrug.

"All right, well, call me later and we'll do something," she heads to the bathroom to change but stops and looks at me, "with or without the guys."

I lean back in my chair and smile at how easily she can change the mood around her and I nod in agreement.

She is quick to dress and head out the door but shocks me when she gives me a hug, similar to one my mom would give me.

"Happy Birthday, Laila," she says when she releases me.

"Thanks, Bay," I answer and catch the nickname I seem to have given her all of a sudden. She laughs and departs the room as if we are old friends, and leaves me in silence.

Who would've thought Bailey Butler, one of the princesses, would end up being my friend?

"How was your night?" Mom asks, scooping eggs onto my plate.

"I'm a star," I laugh excitedly.

She gives me a bemused grin and I explain about the gift Haden gave me last night in the quarry. When I finish recalling the evening, her eyes carry the same wonder and excitement that mine do.

"I always knew you were."

"What did you know?" Luka asks as she skips into the kitchen.

"That your sister is special," Mom answers before putting eggs onto Luka's plate.

She stares at it and wrinkles her face in disgust, which causes a laugh from Mom.

"What's that about?"

"I don't want eggs," she protests. "Lala said I could have cake today."

"She's right, Mom." I bring my plate to the sink and set it down, opting to open the Tupperware box with the cake in it. "You said anything I want for my birthday."

Mom nods in defeat, because she knows it's a losing battle today. My sweet tooth chose to make an appearance today and I'm going to indulge it.

"There's the birthday girl," Dad says when he walks into the room. "How does eighteen feel?"

"A lot like seventeen," I admit. "Wait, I'm an adult now-that means I don't have a curfew."

"Excuse me?" Mom asks, with the mom-look only she can give.

"Yeah, like I said, feels like seventeen." I smile in defeat.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" Dad asks.

"I was going to ask you both the same thing."

Mom and Dad exchange a look that says so much, even though I have no idea what it is. Luka walks up and asks for more cake, but Mom denies the kid the treat.

"You're going to Grandma's house so Mommy and Daddy can be with Laila," Mom tells her. "Hurry and get your bag together so we can drop you off."

Luka doesn't waste a moment before rushing upstairs to load up. I, on the other hand, look at my parents to wait for some sort of explanation, but both seem to ignore my questioning glare.

"What's going on, Mom? Where are we going?"

"Dad and I just wanted to spend some time alone with you," she says with tears in her eyes. "You're eighteen now, and before long you'll be off at school. We just want to..." She trails off and Dad finishes for her.

"Take you out."

"What's the plan?"

"We'll drop your sister off and then go anywhere you want," Mom answers.

I don't wait for them to change their minds before I jog up the stairs to relax until they're ready to go, but Luka distracts me. She's in her room across the hall and I can hear her struggling with something, so I go check on her.

"Luke" I laugh, "what are you doing?"

"Grandma doesn't have Barbies like mine," she grunts, shoving another Barbie into a bag.

"She has plenty," I remind her.

"Nu-uh, the girls she has are all gross and ugly. And she doesn't have any boys," she holds up one of her girl Barbies that she managed to cut the hair off of, "so I'm bringing Ken."

"What about your clothes?" I laugh, noticing her empty duffle bag.

I go to her drawers and throw a change of clothes into a bag, along with the other things she'll need while she's at Grams' place. Luka doesn't skip a beat as she continues to load up her Barbie dolls.

"Luka, hurry up. Grams is waiting for you," Mom calls to her.

Luka runs into my arms and gives me a wet kiss on my cheek.

"Save me some cake, Lala," she whispers before she disappears from the room.

I hear the front door close and I hurry down the stairs to see Mom setting her purse on the kitchen counter.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask excitedly.

"Well," Mom drags, "we're going to stay here."

Great, so much for anything I want.

"We just wanted to be with you alone. Eighteen is a big year," Dad says with a smile when he walks into the room.

"Yeah, well, so was seventeen, and even it was a bigger deal than this," I argue, my temper and disappointment finally getting to me. "Well, I suppose I'll be upstairs if anything exciting happens."

I see the hurt look on their faces, but I can't seem to be bothered when I make my way up the stairs and close my bedroom door behind me. I grab my phone from my side table and notice a few missed texts from Haden, but I don't read them. I pull up the last message from Joey and send him a quick text.

Me: 18 sux.

Joey: What's wrong?

Me: Nothing Joey: Are we getting together later?

Me: YES! I need to get out of here Joey: Did Bailey leave?

Me: Yeah. BTW, I really like her.

Joey: Me 2 Me: Don't mess it up ;) There's radio silence after my last text, but I don't expect a response anyway. Before I set my phone down, Haden calls my cell as a faint knock sounds at my bedroom door.

"Hey, Searle," I answer the phone.

Despite ignoring the knock, my parents enter but remain at the threshold.

"Happy birthday, Lai," Haden says, and I can almost hear his smile.

"Thank you again for my present. I loved it," I answer, unable to hide my smile.

"I'm glad," he answers.

"Laila," Dad calls out and waits for me to acknowledge him so I give him what little attention I'm inclined.

"Give me a sec, Haden," I say into the phone before facing my parents. "Can it wait? I'm on the phone."

"We need to talk," my dad says as he steps into the room.

Mom follows him as they completely ignore my current need for privacy. I cup my hand over the phone and try to get my parents to leave, but they don't seem eager to please.

No surprise there.

"Haden, can I call you back?"

"Yeah," he starts, "or just call me and we'll meet at the quarry when you're done."

"Okay," I concede. I'd much rather be with Haden than held prisoner in my room.

"I love you," he responds. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks. And," I look at my parents who are waiting and clearly have no sense of privacy, "I love you, too."

We disconnect and I glare at my parents like I've never done before. I know I should feel bad, but then again, it's my birthday and their idea of celebrating a huge milestone is to do nothing?

"Laila," Dad says as he sits at the edge of my bed and waits for me to look at him, "we need to talk."

Mom walks further into my room and sits closer on the bed than Dad is, and I'm suddenly very alarmed.

"Oh my G.o.d," I sit up and cover my mouth, "what is it? Is it cancer?"

Dad looks from Mom to me in shock. "Is what cancer?"

"You? Mom? What's going on? Will someone answer me?" I almost yell at the two of them.

"No," Mom shakes her head, "no one is dying. There are just some things we need to tell you."

Here it is. They're going to divorce.

"Okay." I tuck my knees protectively to my chest. "I'm ready."

"I don't even know how to do this, Garret," Mom says to my dad with tears in her eyes. "I've thought about it for so long and now, how do I do this?"

"Mom, just say it. I'm here." I reach for her hand and her eyes meet mine. She nods and takes a few steadying breaths before speaking. She reaches for my face and runs her hand down my cheek.

"My beautiful girl," she whispers. "You know how much I love you, don't you?"

"Of course I do," I furrow my brow and look at my dad in confusion. "What's going on? You're starting to scare me."

"The day you came into our lives was by far one of the best," she says.

Dad walks over and sits next to Mom and reaches for her hand before looking at me. "Our little miracle."

I smile at the sentiment they have repeated my whole life.