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When Constanze wakes, the first thing she notices is how uncharacteristically quiet her room is. And considering what day it is, the silence only strikes as even more jarring.
If there was one thing Constanze had assumed, it was that her birthday would be the perfect excuse for her teammates—namely Amanda—to rouse her awake with cheers and shouts, keen to celebrate with an excitement they didn’t typically harbor so early in the day. Such had happened the morning of her last birthday. She hadn’t been expecting it then and the surprise had shaken her so much, she nearly fell out of bed. Jasminka actually had to catch her so she didn’t end up on the floor.
That was the reason she had thought to prepare herself this time around so she wouldn’t get so caught off guard. However, the silence that meets her ears catches her more off guard than anything.
Her eyes flutter open, taking in the morning light. She looks around and sees Amanda and Jasminka’s beds are empty—only Jasminka’s is neatly made. Then her eyes fall to the other end of the room where she’s met with the two of them seated together at their desk. Neither of them notice she’s awake, so she takes the moment to study them. They’re both already dressed for the day, suggesting they had been awake for a while. That only throws her off more as to how she hadn’t been awakened until now.
She shifts in bed only a little, but it’s enough to catch the attention of Jasminka who peeks in her direction.
“Oh, Constanze,” she says cheerfully.
Amanda perks up and her eyes dart to her bed as well. “Hey, you’re awake.”
She and Jasminka then share a look and together they both smile.
“Happy birthday!”
And though it’s different and a lot calmer than what Constanze imagined, she finds herself appreciating it even more than any boisterous activities they could have planned.
“Glad you’re finally up. We thought you’d like it more if we let you sleep in instead of doing anything crazy,” Amanda explains as if hearing Constanze’s previous thoughts. “Besides, I’m sure you’ll get plenty of crazy later when Akko rolls around, anyway.”
Constanze playfully rolls her eyes—how could she forget about her most boisterous friend—and Amanda and Jasminka chuckle at the reaction.
“And since we know Akko’s probably gonna do some over-the-top thing,” Amanda continues, “we thought we’d give you your gift now before she steals our thunder.”
Constanze sits up in bed, surprised. She hadn’t expected, or wanted, a gift. Maybe she should have told the girls she would have been fine without one.
Amanda and Jasminka, however, seem all the more eager to stand and join her on her mattress. Their weight makes Constanze bounce and it’s times like this that she wants to laugh at how much bigger they are than her. She peers up at them on either side of her and notices Amanda has a hand hidden behind her back.
“Soo, I know we didn’t really give you a present last year and just ate some cakes Jasminka made, but I thought this time we could actually get you something. We had no idea what at first because what do you get a girl who could just build anything she wanted? Plus, if you needed anything specific, you would’ve just told us.”
Constanze nods along.
“It took us some thinking, but in the end Amanda had a rather nice idea,” Jasminka smiles. Constanze looks to her curiously.
Amanda averts her eyes, growing the tiniest bit sheepish. “Well, it’s not much, but…”
She pulls her arm from behind her back and holds out her hand, presenting Constanze with their gift.
In her hand is a thick, lengthy emerald ribbon, silky and shimmering as it dangles in front of her. Her eyes travel over it, not knowing what to say. It isn’t what she expected, though she admits to herself that it does look nice.
She points to herself as if to ask “For me?”
“We know you always wear that one ribbon in your hair and we thought you could have a new one, if you like,” Jasminka tells her.
Constanze accepts the ribbon from Amanda and studies it in her own hand.
She had never put much thought into it, but her old ribbon was pretty worn down. It frayed at the ends, had faint smudges of oil and soot here and there, and had a good few years to its name. She figures she could use a new one, and if that new one was a present from her friends, she wouldn’t be the one to turn it down.
Constanze sends the two of them an appreciative smile, which they return upon seeing her positive reception to their gift.
“Glad you like it,” Amanda says. “Although…”
“There is just one other thing,” Jasminka announces.
Constanze furrows her brow, silently asking what the other thing could be.
It’s Jasminka who answers first. “Well, getting you that ribbon made me think maybe I could use some new ribbons for my hair.” She reaches for one of her pigtails and it’s only then that Constanze notices a change.
Tied around each ends of her hair are ribbons, but instead of the pink ones she normally wore, they had been replaced with two shiny, green ones. They look exactly the same as Constanze’s.
“And,” Amanda now catches her attention, “since Jas went and got her own ribbons, I didn’t feel like being left out.”
She pulls back the cuff of her sleeve and reveals her own identical ribbon tied around her wrist. “Sorry I’m not one to put stuff like this in my hair,” she grins, “but I figured this could be good enough.”
“Now we all match!” Jasminka sings, holding her hands together.
“It’s pretty corny, but I guess I don’t mind,” Amanda quips.
Constanze looks back and forth between the two of them and she can’t help the amused smile that grows on her face. She hops down from her bed and heads to the desk, grabbing a pencil and notepad. She scribbles something down and holds it up for Amanda and Jasminka to see.
You two are silly.
The two of them crack a smile and Amanda calls out a playful, “Hey!”
Constanze turns the notepad back around and writes out one more thing on a new page. She shows it to the others.
Thank you.
She rejoins them on the bed and they only find it fitting to drag her into a hug, squeezing her from either side. And though Constanze is still getting used to such displays of affection, she doesn’t fight them off or squirm away, ultimately happy to celebrate her birthday morning as the three of them, together.