Page 95 of Scars Like Wings
“No, we didn’t,” Maisie said.
I looked at her incredulously. “Okay, now, I’mreallyfucking confused because we are driving by private jets right now, so it seems like you chartered one.”
“Well,wedidn’tcharteranything,” Maisie said with a shit-eating grin that made me want to pinch her.
“But take a look at what wediddo.” Simone pointed ahead.
A massive banner floated on its own in front of a very clean, newer cerulean, navy, and slate gray jet. A pastel galaxy full of cotton candy pink, periwinkle blue, and lavender purple moved with cloudy wisps of stars going across it. Planets glowed distantly in their orbits as the scene played out like I was looking through a telescope at a distant universe. Fireworks blasted from the bottom to the top of the banner, exploding to say “Surprise!” Spelled in the stars below like a constellation of words linked together in brilliant white was “Happy Birthday, Byrd!”
I covered my mouth as I cried. Like big-fat-ugly-tears cried. I was speechless.
“I told you we definitely shouldn’t have let her drive,” Maisie said, using her magic to take the wheel from me to stop me from swerving into the jet.
I shook my head. “I’m so sorry, I just can’t believe this! It’s—It’s just—I have no words! Thank you both so much. I can’t believe y’all.”
“Oh, we can’t take full credit for this. Maisie did the banner, of course. I helped with some of the logistics and planning. But the rest?—”
“How about you park and then we will show you the rest?” Maisie smiled, guiding the steering wheel still.
My jaw found a way to drop even further. “There’smore? What’s more than aprivate jetand this beautiful banner?”
Maisie’s smile widened. “Park, and we’ll tell you.”
I shook my head, shocked, but I wiped most of my tears away. I took hold of the wheel again and pulled the car forward to park on the side of the hangar where I had seen other cars do the same. I turned off the car, and the three of us stepped out. I pressed the trunk button for us to start pulling out our luggage.
“Now, I know that isn’t the birthday queen thinking she can get her own luggage like a peasant,” a deep, husky voice said from behind me, immediately scattering butterflies within my tummy.
I looked over at a beaming Simone and Maisie, mouthing “No fucking way” to them, even though every part of me knew already.
“You wanted to know what more we had in store. Welp.” Maisie gestured behind me, and I turned.
Quinn approached with Cole and Cody beside her from the direction of the jet. It had only been a couple of weeks since we had last seen each other. I had no idea if it was just because I liked her so much or if it was just a lesbian thing, but I had missed seeing her in person. Even though we had talked every day either via text, phone, or FaceTime, seeing her here and now just hit different and turned me into a mess of giggles and nervous energy.
It didn’t help how she always found a way to look good in the most normal, regular clothes. Today, Quinn wore another pair of those freaking jeans that hugged her hips and thighs so well,and an olive green shirt with the sleeves rolled to show off her thick biceps and triceps. Her curls were pushed back today with a headband, but somehow it made them look more wild as they tried to rebel and frame her beaming face. Her rich hazel eyes glowed so brightly toward me that I could see them from where I stood.
If I was honest, if Quinn was the only gift I received for my birthday this year, I would be totally fine with that.
I took off in a run toward her. Ever the considerate one, she bent down a little just before we met in an embrace. I wrapped my arms around her neck, and she literally swept me off my feet as she encircled her arms around my waist and lifted me from the ground. I laughed in pure joy as she spun us around a few times. Soon, she set my feet back on the ground, but her arms remained around my waist, holding me close and tight against her.
In her arms, this near to her, I felt Quinn’s heat seep through my cropped teddy hoodie and leggings. How had I forgotten so quickly how toasty she was, how warming being in her arms was? More so, how had my body already started to crave it, starve for it like I needed it to survive? I had started to miss her sweet and smoky scent of melting chocolate at a bonfire in the short time we had known each other and been apart, too. I breathed it in from her shirt along with the citrus smell from her hair.
“Happy birthday, sweetness,” Quinn whispered in my ear before peppering me with enough kisses to make me giggle. “I hope you like what I have planned.”
I pulled back a bit, but I remained in her arms. “Thank you, but wait. Whatyouhave planned?”
I felt Quinn’s fingers fidgeting on the small of my back. She shook her curls, and I could tell from the twitch of her hands that she wanted to run her hands through them despite herheadband. It was her nervous tick.“I, uh, kind of took over your birthday plans? I’m so sorry. I really hope that’s okay.”
I don’t think I would ever be able to find my jaw again as it buried itself into the earth. “Youplanned my birthday weekend?”
Quinn nodded sheepishly. Her eyes darkened, and they refused to meet mine anymore as she looked anywhere else. “I—I just had so many ideas after the party and after talking to you the past few weeks. When Simone was talking to Cole about planning your birthday weekend, I—I just jumped in and volunteered to help, but it kind of just became this whole thing instead. Simone and Maisie mentioned that they planned it every year, and they made it like it wasn’t a big deal and they didn’t mind at all.
“But then, Nat made this stupid comment about how it seemed like I had just commandeered the whole thing. And Iknowit was stupid. Iknowit was a silly joke. But I can’t stop thinking about it. I can be kind of a control freak, but I don’t mean to. So, if this seems like that, that wasn’t my intent at all. I just—I just really wanted you to have a great birthday—not that your friends wouldn’t have planned one—butIwanted to gift you a great birthday since it’s the first one we get to spend together. And I—I like you, and—that was a shitty time to say that, but I’m just trying to say that I hope everything is okay—perfect, actually. And I hope that it’s all that you wanted—would want for your birthday. I would just hate to ruin anything?—”
I interrupted Quinn’s rambling with my lips using my arms around her neck to pull her down into a kiss. At first, she froze when our lips met. All her uncertainty and confusion were there on her soft, cool lips. But as I kissed her, I could feel the tension ease. I felt her calloused hands settle directly on my lower back from my cropped hoodie riding up, sending sparks through my whole body. I felt her melt into me. I felt her relax. The kiss waslike a lamp left on for when you came home: soft, present, and comforting.
I broke our kiss and met her eyes again, moving my hands to hold her face on each side. There wasn’t any darkness in her eyes now. Instead, they were a bright honey color, sweet and precious. The kiss wasn’t enough to make me breathless, but just staring into Quinn’s eyes had that effect on me. “Hey.”
One side of her mouth quirked up. “Hey.”