I was going through my old files on my computer to delete all the school stuff that i dont need no more when i came across this essay that i wrote for if im not mistaken Interact.
SIXTEEN
by Diviyia
The air is hot ... 16..15... The sound of people chattering echoes in my head ...14...13.... The light from the fire is glaring into my eyes.... 12....11....There I was trapped like a prisoner in the middle of a mob of people 10...9......Sweat begins pouring down my face...8..7..6... There I stood feeling like an insect being observed under a magnifying glass....5..4.. My heart begins to beat faster....3...2... The atmosphere begins to get noisier .... 1... The clock strikes 12.... The crowd bursts out with an off - tune rendition of Happy Birthday ... I then patiently blew out all 16 candles on my cake. I was then showered with hugs, gifts and witty remarks on how old I was getting. With a smile plastered on my face, I thanked everyone profusely for everything. I finally managed to catch the corner of my mother’s eyes. She must have felt the angry vibes that I was sending out to her. You see, This family reunion was not my idea of spending my sweet sixteen birthday. My idea of celebrating my sweet sixteen birthday was something like the extravagant parties that I watched on the MTV show "My Sweet Sixteen ". Unfortunately, My mother had plans of her own!
I looked around; everyone seemed like they were having a good time except for me. Feeling lost, I saw my cousins sitting on a table not far from me engrossed in a conversation. I took some of the presents that I had received and walked over to them. Not wanting to disturb their conversation, I quietly dragged a chair to the table and sat. I begun shaking all the presents as if to guess what’s in the boxes to amuse myself. I did hint here and there on what I wanted for my birthday. Nope, I did not ask for anything extravagant, just as few necessity of life such as an I pod, an electric guitar, a new pair of sneakers and etc. After deciding that it would be rude to rip open the presents in public, I begun reading all the cards that came with the presents. Some had funny messages like “smile while u still have teeth” and * Hey its your birthday...another good excuse to have a great party *hint *” and some were inspirational. As I reached the end of the pile, I read the last card that was given to me by an aunt. It was a really plain card compared to the others. All that was written in the card was " Reflect on your past 16 years”. As lame as it sounds, I decided to do what the card instructed. I placed the card down n begun rewinding my memory to as far as I can remember.
Flashes of my childhood begun playing in my head like a movie that I just cant seem to stop. I remembered my 5th birthday. Just a vague picture of mini-me pulling the tail of the A & W party bear made me smile. I see me and my cousins playing musical chairs. As usual, I was the winner !! I cant believe I was so short when I was 5. Everything seemed like a scene out of a Hollywood movie without the scripts and special effects. Everyone was truly happy with nothing to bother them. Suddenly that scene had vanished and replaced with one from my first day of school. I can see me sitting on my assigned place and my mother leaving the classroom. I remember wanting to get up from my place and run to my mother to convince her not to leave me. But I decided against it and sat in my place quietly. There I was sitting and hoping for the day to end when my class teacher begun introducing everyone. Pretty soon, I found my own clique. School days magically from a drag to heaven. We all transformed from sweet innocent kids on the first day of school to brats of the school with every teacher wishing that for once we would cause no trouble.
I then began thinking of my 12th birthday. The birthday after UPSR. To me at that time UPSR was the most important exam ever. Sadly on one told me that the worst was yet to come. Anyway, moving on, the crowd that attended my 12th birthday was bigger than my previous birthdays. This was because not only my whole family was invited, my school friends and tuition friends were invited also. Might I add that my family was horrified when they heard I was going to invite about 30 people. After much bargaining, I agreed to invite only 15 people. Birthday games turned from pin the tail on the donkey to karaoke and dancing. We might not be good dancers or singers , but we tried !! Days turned into months, Family outings to the malls turned into hangouts with friends. My Parents were getting annoyed because the house phones were constantly engage and the phone bills were sky high. To my defense, I kept telling them that I had no choice but to call my friends to discuss about our “ homework.” They finally gave up and decided to get me my own hand phone to get me off the house phone. It did work for awhile.. then I decided that using the house line was better than spending my credit.
Time passed by and it was time to move on the secondary school. Most of my primary school friends went to different schools. We were all separated. First day of secondary school felt like the first day of primary school. Pretty soon I found a whole new clique of friends again. Old friends were forgotten. I did keep in touch with one or two of my old friends thanks to the invention of MSN messenger. Friends who I used to talk for hours with in school and on the phone last time now have nothing in common. Life in secondary also meant entering the world of teenager. Pretty soon, boys became the appetizers of every conversation. Fashion style went from wearing jeans and black tees to planning what to wear from head 2 toe...every small detail of material or accessory was taken into account. Mature-ness brought on perverted thinking. Every word had a hidden meaning behind. Classes in school became time for naps. Everyone wants to be the “popular” one, although till today, I haven’t figure out what being popular is all about. Although I hope it’s nothing like the movie Mean Girls. Imagine having a gang of plastics in school!!
I snapped out of my trip down memory lane as I realized my cousins were talking to me. They were all talking about their future and what they wanted to be when one of my cousins turned to me and asked me how do I picture my future?. I looked at her with a blank expression as if to say I have never really taught about my future. My cousin then gave me a weird look and turned back talking to the rest. I then begun to think, What Would I do or be in the future? I think I would be a movie star who earns millions, own a huge mansion in Malibu with Brad Pitt as my butler and Jennifer Lopez as my secretary. Oprah would want to interview me , everyone would want to get to know me ..I will be Famous!!. I will be a Star!! ...*sighs* ,as if that’s going to happen. Speaking of something closer to reality ,the first thing that comes to my mind is sitting for the dreaded SPM examination . How I wish that by the time I reach form 5, SPM would be a thing of the past ! After SPM , all I can think about is getting my long awaited driving license. Just 2 more years and Diviyia will be conquering the roads !! Well ,that’s if the age of getting the license does not go up to 21 thanks to some reckless drivers!! Anyway , after I get my license I will drive my Mercedes Sports Car with the hottest guy on earth on my passenger seat everywhere. Oh sorry, I got a bit carried away again. After that , I want to go for my very first clubbing outing with my friends. Although I won’t be surprise if my mum decides to tag along . On a more Educational note , I would be going to some college to do whatever course that is available to me after seeing my SPM results.
I cant really think of what I want to be. I really can’t see me being a doctor or a lawyer. Maybe Ill be a Deejay , but then again ,who knows, maybe in about 2 years , I too will get infected with the craze of wanting to be a doctor. I wonder what my friends will be doing in about 20 years time . I can imagine meeting my friends who claim that they would never get married one day with their 2 kids. That would be totally weird. Or maybe one of them would be the next Malaysian Idol ? Hopefully they would remember me then!!
Suddenly, I felt something vibrating in my pocket. In lightning speed, I reached for my hand phone and saw the caller ID. Ahh, finally someone to talk to. I picked up the phone and started talking to my friend. She sounded really weird on the phone. The background was really noisy and I could hear a lot of people at the background going “quiet down or she`ll hear us”. Being the curious thing that I am, I asked her where she was and she said she was outside my doorstep. I told her to stop joking and asked her again where she was . Then , I heard a knock on the front door. My mother immediately got up and answered the door . I screamed and almost dropped my phone when I saw my friend with the phone and a few others shouting “ SURPRISE” . I was so shock and delighted to see them that I could not even think straight . They all seemed pretty pleased with themselves for pulling off the stunt.
I was pretty “mad” at them for keeping the whole surprise idea from me. But then again, who can be angry after being surprised like that. My friend then told me that the surprise thing was my mother’s idea. I then introduced my friends to all my cousins and to my amazement they all got along very well. The atmosphere magically changed from boring to lively. One of my friend took over the stereo and everyone begun dancing to the tunes that was pumping out of the stereo. While dancing, I saw my mum sitting on a table talking to my uncle and auntie’s. I walked up to her, hugged her and thanked her for the memorable 16th birthday. She seemed genuinely pleased. I then went back to the dance floor and boogied the whole nightlong. And that my friend was how I spent the day I turned 16.
