Page 37 of The Penalty

“Go on,” he encourages. “Make a wish.”

I look at the candles on the cake. They’re dripping fast, so I know I need to hurry.

A wish? What do I wish for?

I wish to find true happiness.

I blow out the candles. I don’t even know what true happiness means to me. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. What do I want to get out of my life? Maybe that’s how I’m thinking because I’m in my last year of school. In the spring, I’ll have to decide what to do next. Where to go. I’ll have to make some big choices, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.

I turn to Kylie and hug her. She squeezes me tight in return. Then, without thinking twice, I walk over to Tyler and wrap my arms around his neck. He doesn’t move for a moment, but I don’t back down. He finally wraps his arms around me in a hug.

“Thank you,” I whisper into his ear.

“Happy Birthday, McKenzie.”

Reluctantly, I break our hug.

“Ok, go get cleaned up,” Kylie instructs. “We’re making you dinner, and then we’ll do cake and presents.”

“You guys really didn’t have to do all this,” I say, hating that they spent time planning all this out today. I’m not used to being the center of attention.

“Stop. Go shower.” Kylie pushes me out of the kitchen, and I make my way up to the bathroom I’ve been using. I quickly shower and freshen up, throwing on leggings and a La Vista University long-sleeve shirt.

When I get back downstairs, Kylie and Tyler are in the kitchen cooking together. She’s at the cutting board, and he’s doing something at the stove, and they’re talking and laughing together. It’s a really sweet moment. A moment I feel like I’m intruding on. And another reason I need to stop staying here so much. They need this time together. Without me.

But I’ll think about that tomorrow.

I take a few more steps and say, “Something smells good.”

Kylie looks over her shoulder at me. “Dad is grilling steaks and making mashed potatoes. I’m in charge of the salad.”

“You like steak, right?” Tyler asks me.

I chuckle. “I’m from Nebraska. Of course, I like steak.”

The other night during one of our card games, I mentioned to him that I’ve lived in Nebraska my whole life. I’ve been to Colorado and Iowa, but that’s pretty much it.

He told me how he loves to travel. He did it all the time when he played, and he lived wherever football took him: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee. He misses traveling but doesn’t know where he would go these days.

He smiles at me like he’s remembering our conversation, too. “I know. I know. Just making sure.”

Kylie brings over a giant bowl of salad she made. It’s the best-looking salad that I’ve ever seen. Then she asks Tyler to pop a bottle of champagne. They really went all out for this.

She pours three glasses and sets them at the table as Tyler brings over the steaks and potatoes.

“You guys, this is seriously too much,” I say again.

“We’re happy to do it, McKenzie. It’s your birthday, and we’re your friends,” Kylie says.

I smile at her and then look at Tyler. Is he my friend? I guess so at this point. He’s not really my teacher, and I certainly don’t consider him a father figure of any sort. I suppose friend would be the best term.

He raises his champagne. “To McKenzie. Happy Birthday.”

Kylie and I raise our glass to clink against his before we all take a sip.

After dinner, they make me open the gifts they got. Kylie got me a gift certificate for us to get our nails done together, which is honestly so sweet. I can’t remember the last time I got my nails done.

Tyler got me Uno cards, which makes me laugh. Kylie doesn’t seem to understand it, but neither of us explain it. Our late-night card games are something just for us. They also got me a new pair of shoes because, apparently, they both agree that my sneakers are worn out.