Truly.”
Some clapped awkwardly. A few avoided eye contact. Kayla sat frozen, tears streaming down her heavily made-up face.
On the way out, my mom grabbed my arm. “That was cold-hearted, and you’ve always been so ungrateful,” she hissed. I met her glare head-on.
“No, Mom. What was cold-hearted was hijacking my birthday and expecting me to foot the bill for Kayla’s circus. But I am grateful that you paid for your daughter’s party.”
I walked out of the restaurant into the cool night air, the salty breeze from the bay filling my lungs.
My best friend, Jenna, hurried to catch up with me. “Honestly?” she said, looping her arm through mine. “That was sooo cool!”
I laughed, the tension melting from my shoulders for the first time that night.
Later, as I sat on my apartment balcony with a glass of cheap red wine, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Kayla. “You really embarrassed me,” it read.
I stared at it for a long moment before typing back: “I hope you learned something.”
No heart emojis. No smiley faces. Just the truth.
I didn’t care at that point. For once, she couldn’t talk her way out of it. And for me, that became the best birthday gift ever!
Source: amomama
