Harper's Rules 1 & 2

Chapter 61: Harper

A/N: Mature content 🏃‍♀️🤪🎂.

Thursday morning, I woke up with just one thought in mind.

Fuck, I hate my birthday.

I also woke up because my girly, sparkly, Hello Kitty adoring roommate had her own ideas about today.

"Happy birthday!" Li chirped out like a morning songbird.

My dry throat rumbled with a groan as I buried my pillow over my face and considered self-suffocation. She ripped it out of my hands, which fluttered a few stray strands of my hair across my nose and forehead.

Before I asked how she even knew today was my birthday, she shoved a small plastic bag up onto my bed. "I got you this. Sorry it's not wrapped, college budget."

"It's fine. You didn't have to -" I started when she shoved the bag closer to my face. "Fine, lemme log roll out of bed before I smash my head on the ceiling."

With a grunt, I swung my legs over and pretended I was overjoyed at the pink and white UCLA shirt she'd gotten me. With the long pink sleeves and pink collar, the shirt reminded me of a kids' softball shirt. The UCLA script with 'Bruins' written on the tail of the A screamed for distortion when I stretched it over my breasts.

This had better be Harper-boob sized, not Li's mosquito bites.

As if my pint-sized roommate read my mind, she added, "It's stretchy. I... thought you might want to wear it to some of the remaining UCLA games."

My eyebrows lifted up to the floor above us. "Who says I'm going to those?"

I can think of a thousand other more enjoyable activities.

Donating an ovary. Removing my tastebuds.

Sucking on Jake's - wait, no.

"Oh, I just..." Li's dark brown, almond-shaped eyes rounded with a slight pleading emotion and the corners of her thin lips turned downwards. "I thought since USC is away after this weekend, you might wanna... go with me?"

"I'd probably rather self-wax my eyelashes off, but the shirt's cute," I flipped it over my right shoulder and stretched my arms overhead. "Thanks Li."

"Sorry," I mumbled at her crestfallen expression. "I'm just... not feeling it today."

My bad mood, for once, had nothing to do with a certain assclown quarterback who'd decided my personal outlet of getting my jollies off whenever I needed was better off in a trash dumpster.

The worst part? Since Sunday, my dildos had sat, dried out, lined up, ready for action, and completely discarded on my desk. I had no desire to use them. My anger had subsided under the usual tidal wave of feelings that surfaced around my birthday. Today was one of the only two days out of the year that my mother had ruined for me.

I shouldn't give her that power and control over me, but fuck it's hard not to be wanted by your own damn mother...

Only Dad and I knew the real truth, that Mom had packed her bags and left us on October twenty-seventh. Not even Ellie and Jake knew more than the simple fact that I hated my birthday. They'd assumed I hated it, like Christmas, since my womb donor sent me cards on those days.

Before the dust from Mom's peeled out tires settled on the driveway, I found she'd left me a birthday card on the kitchen counter. I hadn't gotten further than the first three words before I'd thrown it in the trash.

Harper, I'm sorry...

Even at thirteen, I knew she wasn't sorry. Sorry meant she stayed, held an actual conversation with me and Dad about what happened to our family. Instead, she'd selfishly packed up her shit and disappeared from our lives like somehow we were the burden, the problem.