I woke up at five a.m. with the worst headache of my life. God, could you have a hangover headache if you didn’t drink the night before? Hell this was worse than a hangover headache. I leaned over and opened the window near my bed and a cool breeze came through. My queen bed sat against the wall to give me more space for a small chaise and a desk and chair. I had asked for a television, but my parents were old fashioned. They didn’t think I would ever leave my room if I had a television. I didn’t disagree.
The sun was about to rise, but I was too tired to want to get out of bed. I put my head back on my pillow willing the horrible pounding in the front of my head to go away. After some time it finally subsided leaving a dull ache in its place. I was still wide awake and thought back to everything that had happened this weekend. It was like I was a new person and I was darn happy about it.
It looked like Antonio was listening to me and not calling any more thankfully. It had been two days since I’d seen him and he hadn’t called once. Today would be the true test since it was my birthday. I really hoped he wouldn’t come and make a scene like he was so accustomed to doing.
I thought back to what I had been doing. Friday I had met him and Sunday I felt like I knew him my entire life. Kohl. I talked with him the rest of Friday night completely forgetting about Julio, which he later rubbed in my face. We talked about families. Our shared love for swimming and every other topic I could possibly imagine. He stopped maneuvering around my questions and answered them. What he told me only made me want to learn more about him. He was honestly like a birthday wish I hadn’t even made.
Yesterday, we had taken a walk and had a picnic by one of the rivers. I had told him about all the stories surrounding the Solimões since he was new to town. Before our picnic he didn’t even know about the legends about the Encantado and how dangerous this area was supposed to be. I couldn’t wait to see if he would actually come to my birthday party. He was the only person I was interested in seeing. I had even completely forgotten about my big party Sunday night because I was too engrossed in our conversation. This guy had put some kind of spell on me that I had no intention of breaking.
I sighed and turned around to watch the sun rise in my window. The purples, pinks, and blues making me feel like today was really the day. I was finally eighteen and in two months I would be away at university in Rio de Janero trying to attempt to make my parents proud of something I had done. Instead of dwell on all the bad things I had been doing since I was fifteen. The party girl in me was subsiding or I was going to make it subside. Julio was right I was too old to live like I was a fifteen year old anymore. I needed to grow up and stop acting like I didn’t have a care in the world.
I rested in bed until I heard bustling in the kitchen. My mother was on the move making a robust breakfast to remember, the way she always did for my birthday. Julio would be stopping by soon to make sure I was alive and had not snuck out to some insane party. He was more protective than my parents in some ways, but I couldn’t ask for more caring people around me. An attempted knock on my window told me Julio was checking up on me.
“Hey! You are here and awake?” he asked in obvious disbelief.
“Yup, besides a headache I can’t wait for today.”
“Wow, why are you this happy?” He snapped back as he climbed through my open window and landed beside me in my bed. It was funny watching him climb through my window he was too tall to make squeezing through a small window smooth.
“I’ll give you one guess.” I said with a smile I couldn’t attempt to suppress.
Julio rolled his eyes, “Kohl. This guy has got you flipping your life around in two days.” Julio said it with that worried big brother tone, but I knew he appreciated the change just not why it was occurring.
“Don’t give me that look, Julio, he really is a nice guy.”
“You thought Antonio was a nice guy.”
“But I never felt like this about Antonio.” I said trying to explain the huge difference in Kohl and Antonio. Kohl and Antonio were night and day. Antonio had a wandering eye, and could sweet talk my socks off and other things if I was being honest. Kohl didn’t try any of those things. He was real. He told me what I needed to hear not what I wanted to hear. When we were together his attention never wavered from me, like we were the only two people in the world. Where Antonio had tried to get action and kiss me only moments after we met. Kohl hadn’t even attempted to kiss me in two days. Yet, I couldn’t tell Julio this he would think I was blinded by a new play thing. Maybe I was, but I was trying to appreciate my new happiness not overanalyze it.
I left my room with Julio ready for a big breakfast that would probably slow me down for the rest of the day, but I didn’t care because it was my birthday. How many times did you turn eighteen?