Chapter 1: The Birthday Girl: Part 1

        I usually have this dream in which I see myself dancing with a shadow man and the look on my face tells that I'm unhappy about it, it's almost as if I was forced into it.

        Whenever I wake up, I would talk to my mom about it and she would tell me that it's just a nightmare, but I'm not convinced anymore. And the most suspicious thing is that it always occurs the night to my birthday and I didn't know what it meant. It was until my 18th birthday that my mom revealed something shocking to me, she told me that she couldn't bare a child and because of that, no man wanted to get married to her, so she invoked the moon spirits and after years of crying to them, they finally granted her wish. But it came with a cost though, the deal was that her child would be offered as a life partner to the moon on their 18th birthday, but she pleaded with them and they gave her an extra year and no more than that.

         When I heard this, I was in great shock and didn't know what to do. I was just dumbfounded, I didn't know if I should be angry or sad or heartbroken, what I knew for sure is that happiness was not one of them.

         I thought to myself that I have only one year before I get married off to what was my literal nightmare. My mom wanted to make it up to me and she said that I could throw a party and I knew that it might probably be my last as a normal human.

        So, I decided to obey her even though I was still having mixed feelings. Shortly after, I sent off a bulk text to my closet friends inviting them to a party at my house by 8pm. Then I decided to start a video chat with my closest friend Aria, to get my mind off it, and we talked for a while till my mom called me down so we could go shopping. I tried talking to Aria and convince her to come shopping with us but she politely declined saying that she had to help her mom out with something but she promised to be there early with the others. My mom took me out to buy new dresses and jewelries for my birthday, but the thing that I noticed was that when buying my dresses, she bought a beautiful white wedding gown. I asked her who it was for and she said that it was for a friend, but after the story she told me, I immediately knew that it was mine, but I pretended to believe her.

          It was 7:30pm and my closet friends arrived to help me prepare for the birthday. I have three close friends whose names are Aria, Jennie and Charles. Aria is a tan skinned girl, with black long curly hair, Jennie is a white Australian exchange student whose dad is bloody rich, while Charles is a golden yellow skinned guy who has a potential body to be a model, but he has a childlike face and gets teased because of it. I didn't mind, infact I thought it was cute and I kinda have a crush on him, but he doesn't notice my feelings because there are a lot of prettier girls who are crushing on him as well. So I never bothered confessing my feelings for him.

          I'm fair, have a blonde hair and I like to wear black clothes and don't know why. Despite my mom knowing how much I love the color black, she went on to buy me a white crop top and a blue knee-length skirt with silver heels. Honestly I didn't like it, but I had to make an exception just because of her.

           Soon it was 8:00pm, I was all dressed up and all the guests had arrived, both from school and beyond for the birthday. I was thrilled and unhappy at the same time. Thrilled because my friends were with me and unhappy because I have an uncertain future in front of me. And so I came down to enjoy the party. I met with a few friends and reunited with a few, it was a fun experience and nothing could ruin it for me except the thought of what's to come.

           I came across Charles who asked for directions to where he could use the bathroom, I took him over to the bathroom and while I was getting back, I could help but hear a burning sound which was getting louder and louder and suddenly I didn't hear it again. I was still scared and immediately I saw the house light up in flames, then I fell the ground and all the flames went out, I stood up and shortly Charles came out, "You didn't have to wait for me out here, I know the way back to the party" "I was on my way back, but I saw a rat, so I tried to kill it but it escaped that's why I'm still here" I lied, "No wonder I heard a loud thud" "Yeah, that was me tryna catch the rat", then we both smiled at each other and I couldn't help but feel the urge to kiss him, but I think he read my mind first, the next thing I know, our lips were locked in a hot kiss and within me I could feel so much joy, but I didn't want to overreact so I just played it cool and I dragged him over to my room and we continued until we we both on the bed. As soon as we were about to take things to the next level, we got interrupted but a knock on the door and we arranged ourselves up and sat on the edge of the bed, "Who's that?" I asked, "It's us Aria and Jennie" said Jennie, "come in" I said, and with that Aria and Jennie walked in. They both stared at Charles and I and I couldn't help blush, "OMG" they both said simultaneously and screamed afterwards, "Don't tell me that you guys intended on keeping this a secret" said Jennie "Uhm.... there's nothing going on" I said, but was halted by a kiss to my lips by Charles and I was in a state of shock, "Are you guys satisfied, were a thing now" Charles said with a smile on his face and all I could do was stare at him. "Took you guys long enough, it was overdue" said Aria, "I'm so happy for you guys, but..." she turned over to me "Dylan's in the house and he's touching things all around, I even saw him close to your microwave and I bet he's gonna burn this house down if he tries to use it". "Ok, let's all get back to the party" I said, they were all at the front and I was at the back staring at my surprising new boyfriend.

           I heard my name "Tanya" from a distance, and as I turned, it was the biggest jerk of the century, it was Dylan, a school jock who thinks he's a hotshot and goes around tryna impress the girls not knowing that he's just fooling himself, but still some girls find him attractive and funny but I don't. He brings trouble for me whenever he's around me because he likes me, but I don't feel the same way. But the girls who are crushing on him thinks that we're a thing and hate on me for no reason.

           So he started coming closer and closer and I was stepped backwards, away from him, Charles wanted to face him, but I stopped him saying that I can handle it and I turned to Dylan, then he said " You just turned 18 and you don't have a boyfriend and you're still a virgin as well, but I can fix all of that. Just kill two birds with one stone by letting me....", I didn't let him finish his sentence, immediately gave him a slap across his face. And because of that, he grabbed me be by hand and pulled me close, but something unusual happened to him which shocked everyone including me, he's hands got burnt when he grabbed my hand.