Celebrate

Hearing the door, Aaron turned his head a little to see Sam, then simply returned to his stare at the candle that was now over halfway gone. The wax had melted into some of the chocolate chips, making the center inedible but he didn’t care. He ignored Sam’s comment for a few moments until he finally spoke. 

“I was nine. I had this little cake with green frosting my mom had made.” His eyes remained glued to the tiny flame. “We didn’t have much, and I knew I wouldn’t have many gifts but I didn’t mind as long as she and my sister were there.” He shrugged. “She told me that night, she said, ‘Aaron…no matter what happens in life, you’ll always have your birthday. So always make sure you celebrate.’” 

He paused as he watched a drop of wax slowly roll down to the cookie where it cooled and hardened. “On my tenth birthday, I got home from school and…she wasn’t there. My sister was at a sleepover and…my mom was out getting drunk somewhere. She’d completely forgotten. So, I… found an oreo cookie and a candle. Burned myself lighting it. And…that was the last time I celebrated at home. Every year after that til I was out, I made sure I wasn’t home on my birthday.” Tonight had been no different. He had refused to stay in the infirmary. 

Finally lowering his arms, he nudged the paperclip around with his finger on the table before flicking it across to Sam. It was better than being searched top to bottom to make sure he didn’t still have it for another breakout. Leaning forward, he blew out the candle before the flame reached the cookie. “Wishes never come true. They just disperse in the air like the smoke.”


Garret chuckled and shook his head. He was sure Nate was pretty worried about what had gone on at the office earlier. “I didn’t kill anybody,” he assured. “Actually, the whole thing was Reese. He came, got me out, set everything up and got me to the dance. Told me that he couldn’t stand to see me locked up any longer without knowing for sure I was guilty, and threatened that if I did anything to get in trouble tonight, he’d string me up himself.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t going to argue with him. Then when he dropped me off at the dance, he told me I didn’t have to go back. That I could just come back here. So…that’s what I did.”

Pausing, he sighed. “Hate to say we’ve got some mutual trust going on but…maybe that’s what it is, I don’t know. He at least isn’t a hundred percent convinced I intentionally harmed Scott, so I guess that’s a good thing. I’m not sure what you told him either but…I’m sure that had something to do with this.”