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Her 4th birthday was the best day ever. Of course, she was only four years old, so there weren't all that many days to choose from. But still, Anne Boonchuy was convinced. This was simply, fundamentally, the best day EVER! Afterall, it was her birthday! She was an entire year older (take that, November birthday Maggie), got the coolest presents (the brand new Bakugan 7-in-1 Maxus Dragonoid, which may in fact be the coolest thing Anne had ever seen), and had her favorite food of all time (mango sticky rice). Best of all though, her parents brought her to the park where she met the COOLEST PERSON EVER! Sitting at the edge of the park next to the trees, a little girl in a blue-green sundress, poking at the ground with a stick and rambling to no one. Anne, of course, was instantly intrigued. Here, in the middle of what very well may be the most wonderful place on earth, surrounded by potential friends, was a small girl bouncing on her heels and stabbing the dirt with a twig. Obviously the only thing to do was walk up to her.
"Hi!"
The girl in green jumped at the noise, spinning, stumbling backward, and tumbling to the ground.
"Omigosh are you okay?" Anne scrambled to help her maybe hopefully brand new friend, but being only four years old, didn't really do much aside from leaning over her with a concerned expression.
The raven haired girl simply blinked at the bright brown eyes staring down at her. Then she giggled. Anne's face flashed briefly to confusion, then to terror as she felt tiny prickles against her nose and gazed forward to see a small, red bug.
She shrieked. And then fell. And the bug flew right onto her shirt.
Anne stared. Then blinked. Then took a deep breath in. Before she could scream again though, the other girl shot up and blurted out an "It's okay! They're friendly!" She put her finger beside the small creature and it slowly crawled off Anne's shirt and onto her hand, earning another small giggle.
"
See?" she held the bug up, "It's a ladybug! But some people like to call them ladybirds, since technically it isn't really a bug. They're super duper nice though!"
Anne stared at the bug, and then at the awe filled eyes of the girl before her. And she smiled. "Coooool. I'm Anne by the way. What's your name?"
The girl seemed to be caught off guard by the question. She looked down and brought her hands to one side, and shyly responded, "Oh. I'm uh, Marcy."
"Hi Marcy! Do you wanna be my friend?"
“Oh!” Marcy looked genuinely surprised. “Uh. Yes! I’d like that!”
And so it was. The two spent the rest of the day together, playing, laughing, even sitting down and reading together, which was basically a miracle for Anne. But she managed to contain her boundless energy. For her brand new best friend. And Anne was certain. Together, they'd be unstoppable.
Get ready, world, to face the power of Anne and Mar….sha? Marcel? Whoops. Uhhh. Mar… mar? Yeah! Get ready, world, for Anne and Mar-Mar!
— — — — — — —
This was the worst birthday ever. Thirteen isn't a particularly high number, but Anne was pretty sure nothing would ever beat this for the most terrible birthday. Starting out strong with Maggie bullying her, smoothly moving into an admittedly fun but very uncomfortable school ditch day, and tumbling down to go commit a crime. Now this would all be pretty terrible on its own. But no. Today refused to be outdone. Because instead of hanging out at home with her parents, eating cake and getting presents and watching dumb straight to tv movies with her best friends, Anne was sitting in a cave. Alone. Except for the bugs, of course.
Yep. Of all the terrible birthdays out there, Anne was pretty sure that this was a uniquely terrible one. Thank god she at least had her backpack and phone with her. Obviously she didn't know she would end up stranded on another world, but indecisiveness and possibly undiagnosed ADHD sure made her pack like it.
She squirmed, trying to get comfortable against the rocky floor, pulling the sweatshirt-turned-blanket closer. In the corner of her eye, she saw some type of beetle, or ant, or something skitter by. She bet Marcy would know what it was. She turned to look at her lone decoration on the cave wall. A single polaroid photograph of her and her best friends. And now they were lost. And so was she. Cold, alone, scared. Anne didn't know if she would ever get home. Worse, she may never see her friends again.
Sasha could probably take care of herself. That girl was nothing if not persistent. But Marcy? Clumsy, goofy, adorably oblivious Marcy? Anne didn't want to think about what might be happening to her. And yet, she couldn't keep her out of her mind. All she could think about was her.
She started to cry.
Yeah.
Worst. Birthday. Ever.
— — — — — — —
Today was Anne's birthday.
There wasn't really much more to say so far. And frankly, 10 years after the chaos that was her thirteenth birthday, Anne was mostly okay with that.
She went to work, like the responsible adult she now was. And honestly, when your job is to teach kids about how crazy and cool and wonderful amphibians are, Anne was perfectly fine with incorporating work with her personal festivities. A little extra spring in her step, a little more attention payed to a certain tree frogs exhibit, and a handful of especially eager kids made the work day feel extra special. But really, what Anne was looking forward to was after her shift.
When she'd get to see Marcy again.
Now, they hadn't quite drifted apart, but she wouldn't say they exactly stayed close either. Between school, work, time zone differences, lots got in the way of her spending time with Marcy. It was… unfortunate. Anne certainly would've preferred to spend more time with her oldest friend, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Not today though. Today, Marcy Wu was flying back to L.A. specifically for Anne's birthday. The thought made her smile. Made butterflies swirl in her stomach. And Sasha was coming too! It was a little less special, since Sasha lived only a couple minutes away and they still hung out when they could. In just a few hours, Anne would go from spending time with her frogs, to spending time with not one, but both of the people she loved so much.
And then, the hour finally came. Her shift had ended, and as Anne was saying goodbye to the last couple kids and putting Sprig back to bed, in they walked. Sasha and Marcy.
Tears welled in her eyes when she first saw them. Sasha Waybright, cool and beautiful, as usual. And Marcy Wu. Unkempt hair, loose clothes, wild silly grin. Yep. That was Marcy alright.
Anne raced toward them, embracing them both, saying how much she missed them, and crying a perfectly reasonable amount.
After about fifteen minutes of crying, holding, and general expressions of joy, Sasha finally pulled away and suggested they actually leave the closing aquarium. So, together, they walked to Sasha's car (Anne lived close enough to walk), and March climbed into the back with Anne. After 10 years, it felt like almost nothing had changed. Of course, they had each grown, learned, become more themselves. But the relationship, the closeness, the pure love and attachment. That remained. Like they'd never stopped being together.
And so the night went on. Together. Singing, dancing, playing games, watching movies, even just chatting. All was done together, in a way that felt like it was meant to be.
Anne didn’t know if this was the best birthday ever. She’d had a lot of pretty solid birthdays, and a lot more still to come. But here, right now, as Sasha snored beside her and Marcy nuzzled into her arms? Anne had to admit that it was a pretty great one.