Song: Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol

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On Friday, I wake up, feeling a new sense of positivity. I'm finally 18. Oh goodness, I'm getting old. I can finally vote, and I'm a legal adult right now. I jump myself out of bed, and go downstairs to the smell of croissants delighting my nostrils. When I get downstairs, my mom is taking a tray of croissants out of the oven.

"Happy birthday, Sophia!" my mom chants. I smile.

"Thanks, Mom!" I cheer, and my mom pulls me into a warm hug.

"How are you feeling?" she asks, curious. I sigh.

"Old, now that you mention it," I say, and she laughs.

"That's expected. I felt the same way when I turned 18. It's not a fun feeling," she says, and I smile, while my nose registers something delicious in the air. My eyes catch sight of the flaky pastries sitting on top of the oven.

"I see croissants on the tray. And croissants are something that I can't resist. May I?" I ask, my mouth watering. My mom grabs a plate and she puts a hot croissant on it. She also hands me a cup of hot coffee.

"Your grand-pere gave me a cup of coffee on my 18th birthday. He said that now that I was an adult, I could start having it more often. Best day ever," she says. I smile.

"Speaking of which, did nonna and grand-pere call, by any chance?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"Nope. They should anytime soo-," my mom says, but is cut off by the abrupt ringing of the telephone.

"Speak of the devil," my mom says, and she runs over to pick up the phone. I sit down and I start to munch on my croissant, I hear my mom talking to my nonna.

"Hi, Mom! Yes, she's here eating breakfast," my mom says. She then hurries into the dining room and gives me the telephone. I take it, and I happily talk.

"Hello?" I say.

"Sophia! Happy birthday, bella!" she coos. I smile.

"Grazie, nonna!" I tell her. My grandmother smiles.

"What would you like for your birthday? Which dish? I'll make you anything that you'd like. And your grandfather wants to know what would you like," she says. I smile. Every year, each grandparent makes a dish from their respective cuisines. So I gain a good 3 pounds every year on my birthday, solely from the food that my grandparents make.

"Some cassata and creme brulee is more than okay, nonna," I tell her. I'm salivating thinking about it. It's going to be amazing.

"Ok. I'll make that for you. Hold on, your grandfather wants to talk to you," she says. I hear the line click, and my nonna say, "Sophia."

"Bonjour, Sophia!" he says. I smile.

"Bonjour, grand-pere!" I greet back. (Hi, grandpa!)

"Bon anniversaire, ma cherie!" he coos. I chuckle. (Happy birthday, sweetie!)

"Merci beaucoup, grand-pere!" I thank. (thank you so much, Grandpa)

"Comment allez-vous, Sophia?" he asks. I shrug. (How are you, Sophia?)

"Je vais bien, merci. Je ressens vielle, toutefois," I tell him. (I'm good, thanks. I feel old, however.) He starts to chuckle his signature laugh.

"Bon, bon. Ecoutez, tu veux un crème brûlée?" he asks. I nod. (Good good. Listen, you want a crème brûlèe?)

"Oui. Si tu peux faire le crème brûlée," I tell him. (Yes. If you can make the crème brûlée)

"Bien sur. Pour toi seulement," he says. I smile. He's the best. (Of course. For you only.)

"Grand-pere, je doit aller au lycée. Au revoir!" I tell him. (Grandpa, I have to go to school. Bye!)

"Au revoir, Sophia," he tells me, and I give the phone to my mom before running back to my room. (Bye, Sophia)

I feel so good today that I put on one of my nice tops. I then add a flowing skirt, some light pink lipstick, and I leave.

"Sophia!" a voice says as I walk out of my room. I turn around, and Anthony is leaning against the doorframe.

"Happy birthday," he tells me, and he wraps his arms around me in a tight hug.

"Thanks, man," I tell him. He lets go of me, and he looks me in the eye.

"Already an adult. Time goes by too fast. Crap, I sound like Mom," he says, and I laugh.

"You do. Really," I say, and he smiles.

"Get to school. We'll celebrate later," he says, and I obey. I head downstairs, and my dad is standing there.

"Happy birthday, love," he tells me. I smile.

"Thanks, Dad," I say, and he rubs his hands together.

"You know, just because you're a legal adult does not mean I'm going to kill every guy that touches you," he says. I sigh.

"Dad, I'm 18. And by that logic how have you not killed Ray yet?" I ask. He shrugs.

"Good question. But thanks for the idea," he says, and I shake my head. I head into the kitchen to grab my lunch, and I hear my dad say, "I'm kidding!" I just ignore him and I drive to school.

Lucky for me, all my favorite songs are playing on the radio. Lots of Ed Sheeran and Christina Perri are playing on the radio and brightening my morning even more. When I get to school, I go to my locker and I start to grab the needed books.

"Sophia!" someone yells. I turn to where the voice is coming from, and I'm greeted with a mane of blonde hair in my eyes. Arms tightly wrap around me and nearly choke me to death.

"Happy birthday, girl!" she says. I wrap my arms back around her.

"Thanks, Sonia," I cheer, and she lets go of me.

"I have something for you!" she says, and she digs into her backpack immediately. She pulls out a little container, and inside are little dumplings dusted in powdered sugar. I look at her, surprised.

"You made vareniki?" I ask her. She nods.

"Yeah! Well, my mom made them and I helped her by adding in the pinch of salt. But same difference!" she says, and I roll my eyes. I open the container and pop one into my mouth. The sweet cherry filling tingles my taste buds.

"Delicious. Thanks, Sonia," I say. She smiles.

"Hey, anytime. But, I'm most excited for what Ray has to give you. I know it's going to be pretty awesome," she says. I smile.

"Oh believe me. I know it too," I say happily.

When I get into AP Chemistry, I see my clan hurdling towards me with hugs.

"Happy birthday!" they all scream in my ear loud enough for me to almost go deaf. I hug them all, and I receive the butt load of chocolates and posters that they all got for me. I set them all down on my lab table, and when I do, I feel two strong hands at my waist. I smile, and I turn around. Ray's looking at me, with a big smile on his face.

"You're finally an adult, Sophia," he says. I nod.

"I am. I'm getting old though," I say, and he laughs.

"Happy birthday, belle," he says, and he plants a kiss on my lips. I can hear Rosemary squealing in the background, but I just don't care. I'm happy right now, and no one can stop that.

"I have so much to give you, but it can wait. I'll do it at lunch," he says, and I blush. Such a charmer. I love it. I eventually make it through a chunk of my day, but not without wondering what Ray has in store for me. He's sometimes such a mystery, but that's what makes him unique.

When I get to lunch, I see Sonia and Pete sitting there, with the most weird look on their faces. Pete looks like he saw an X rated film and is imagining me as the female lead. Sonia, I can't describe it. It's just weird. I raise an eyebrow at them.

"You guys look strange. I'm suspicious. What is going on?" I ask. Sonia doesn't move a muscle. The look on Pete's face intensifies. I feel weirdly scared at this point. I'm tempted to just grab my things and run as fast as I can out of school.

"Oh, you'll see," she says, and she furrows her eyebrows. I gulp. I've never been this weirded out when it came to Sonia and Pete. Sonia's straightforward. Pete, well let's say deciphering Morse code is simpler. Still, they look like they're watching the brutal torture of someone they hate, and it's satisfying them.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" I ask. Sonia doesn't budge at all. Pete just snickers a little bit. All of a sudden, two hands cover my eyes, and a familiar voice whispers in my ear,

"How about I'll show you what's going on?" The hands remove themselves from my eyes, and I turn around. Ray is standing there, with a gift bag in his hand.

"Ray! Thank gosh you're here! They're looking at me really weird. Should I be afraid?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"No. I don't think so, at least. I think you'll like what I have in store," he says. I cross my arms.

"Knowing you, you're filled with surprises. But the best ones. You're making me excited," I say, and I smile. Ray throws a warm smile back at me.

"I'm glad you are, belle. Because this is going to be awesome," he says. He hands me the bag, and I look inside. There's a thick layer of tissue paper that prevents me from seeing what is inside. I rip off the tissue paper, and inside, is a little pillow. When I pull out the pillow, I see something on it that makes my heart melt.

On the pillow, there's a picture of Ray and I when we were two years old. I know because I recognize myself when I was chubby and I had shoulder length hair. Ray looked even cuter, however. His hair was almost invisible due to it being so short. But, we were both smiling, and we looked genuinely happy.

I feel some threading on the back of the pillow, and I flip it over. In gold threading, the words,
"16 years later, and here we are. I wouldn't trade those years for anything else."

Tears start to fill my eyes. I can't believe that he would do this for me. My heart is all warm because of the gift. I turn to Ray, and my arms fly around him. His arms tightly wrap around me, and he plants a kiss on my cheek.

"Ray. This is the most beautiful present that I've ever gotten. Thank you so much," I say. I let go of him, and he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Those words are the truth, belle. And there's one more thing that is in the bag," he says. My eyebrows raise.

"One more? Ray, you're spoiling me!" I squeal. He chuckles.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Plus, Spanish tutoring is at a high for me since the second semester just started and people having mushy brains from finals. Surprisingly, Czech tutoring has been going up a lot too. Mostly freshmen and sophomores, because they want that unique language on their resume," he says, and I chuckle.

"I'll take your word for it. You're the best," I say, and my hand drops into the bag again to pick up the other gift.

"Hey, we all know it's true," he says, and I look at him, annoyed. He smiles.

"Just kidding. Check your other gift," he says. I pull out the other gift, and look at it. It's a fuzzy grey scarf that's really soft and comfy. It reminds me of a scarf that I once had in the 10th grade that Pete and Ray accidentally destroyed.

"Ray! This is so comfy! I love it!" I exclaim. He rubs the back of his neck with his hand, and smiles nervously.

"I didn't think that you would like it," he says. I smile.

"Well, I do. Did you knit this by yourself?" I ask. He nods.

"I'm quite proud of myself. I did it by myself. With my mom telling me what to do, and then giving up and doing it myself after screwing up," he says. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Is the last part true?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"Nah. But my mom did tell me how to do it. It's surprisingly easy," he says. I smile. I tie the scarf around my neck.

"Thank you, Ray. This is one of my best birthdays I've ever had," I say. He smiles.

"Of course. I'm glad to make it magical," he says, and I rub my blush ridden cheeks.

"You guys are so precious," a voice says, and Sonia's looking at us. She has the happiest look on her face. Pete just looks like he wants to drink bleach after watching us.

"Did you know about this, Sonia?" I ask. She shrugs.

"Not really. Ray gave me vague details. But I didn't tell you because I'm evil," she says, and smirks. I scoff.

"Well, thanks. But I didn't know you were that big of a fangirl," I say. She raises an eyebrow at me.

"Are you serious? You guys are like the golden couple," she says.

"Golden couple? Wow. Never thought of it that way," Ray says.

"Well, it's true. That's what a lot of people are saying about you guys," she says. I look back at Ray.

"The most golden thing about this relationship is your heart, Ray," I say, and he smirks.

"Picking up on the smoothness. I'm proud of you, Sophia," he says, and we both laugh. We then sit down with Pete, and continue to enjoy the rest of lunch.

When I get home, surely enough, there's heaping plates of my favorite dishes on the dining table. Cassata, creme brulee, bougatsa, and sticky toffee pudding are all on the plate. Gosh, I'm going to have to run a mile with Anthony after eating all of this food.

My mom comes into the dining room and hands me a spoon. "Your grandparents delivered these today. We all had our share. Your turn," she says, and smiles.

"Awesome, thanks!" I say, and I start to devour the desserts. They're all so delicious, and I'm grateful for my grandparents making these desserts. While I'm enjoying my meal, my phone rings. With a mouthful of bougatsa, I answer the phone.

"Hello?" I say, with my mouth full.

"Hey, Sophia. Bad time?" Ray's gentle voice asks. I shake my head. "Never a bad time. What's up?" I ask. Ray inhales sharply.

"Are you free tomorrow night at 6?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah. Olive Garden will be letting me off early tomorrow as a birthday present. Why?" I ask. He smiles.

"Well, because I wanted to take you out. I thought we could go somewhere for your birthday, and mine too. Dual gift," he says. I gasp. Ray is really spoiling me right now. I feel so pampered.

"Ray, you don't have to do that! The gifts were enough!" I say, surprised. He chuckles.

"It's no big deal. I want to take you out anyways. Plus, you were down for a second date," he says. I nod.

"If you insist. Where are we going?" I ask. I can feel him smirk on the other line.

"It's a surprise. You'll have to wait," he says. I snicker.

"Fine. I like surprises. See you tomorrow at 6," I say.

"See you, belle," he says. I hang up, and I continue to eat. Now, I have something else to look forward to.

Our second date, because I know he's going to make this night more amazing than I can imagine.

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Oooh. I wonder too. Where do you guys think Ray will take Sophia for their second date? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! How are you all? I haven't asked this in a while, but another request. If you're fluent in French or are a native French speaker, and if my French isn't correct, please let me know. It's gotten better since I first started writing INI, but it's not top notch. Thank you!

Also, out of curiosity, who is your favorite character from INI? I've asked this, but I didn't get a lot of replies. Since I have more readers, I'd like to know your guys' opinions. (95% of my friends favor Sonia).

That's pretty much it. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all this Sunday with a new chapter of I Never Imagined! Have a great rest of the week!

Love you guys,

Shree