“Happy birthday to me,” I muttered under my breath as I ate a cup of lukewarm instant noodles. “Time to check my mail.”

I grabbed a letter off my coffee table and sliced it open. Inside, I read:

"Notice to leave premises due to nonpayment of rent.

Miss Ayako Gray,

Due to the nonpayment of rent, you are hereby notified to leave apartment 348, or pay the amount due ($3,050.00) by the tenth of December"

I, like any average person, was outraged. Not only was it extremely difficult to rent an apartment as a Gray, but every Sunday for two years I stopped by her house, bringing along expensive gifts that I could barely afford. After all, I thought Mrs. Adeline had a soft spot for Grays! After everything I went through for two years, she still kicked me out!

I crumpled up the paper and threw it against my wall, stomping loudly to my room, since I was going to be gone soon enough. I NEVER liked this stupid, crummy apartment anyways. Tense, I finally fell asleep after an hour of trying to coax myself that this place wasn’t even worth all the rent that that obnoxious woman insisted I pay.

But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that losing the apartment was coming to me, and that it marked a turning point -for better or for worse-.

As I slept, my brain sent me a dream that visited me annually. I was standing outside a large, eerie building that could give you chills just from thinking about it. Of course, I wasn’t the teenager I am now, I was a small, frail, little girl, barely old enough to read or write. In front of me stood a tall, imposing woman that I myself barely knew. She spoke to me in an intimidating voice.

“You really are just a pathetic little kid,” she said.

“Mama? Where are you going, Mama?” I spoke innocently.

“How dare you address me with that name? You are no daughter of mine, you freak.” She smoothed her pale pink jacket and whipped around. As she made her way to the limousine, she looked at me and sharply stated, “You will forget me, whether you like it or not.”

I must’ve tossed and turned all night because all the terrible memories I had neatly tucked into a box in the corner of my mind came tumbling out.

I saw myself dancing with a young boy, he and I were wearing formal outfits. We were in love. My “mother” nodded at me approvingly. This kid acted like a prince. We twirled.

The Ayako I knew didn’t twirl.

Perhaps this me was simply a prissy little girl who knew nothing of what was to come.

Who was I kidding? Up until that fateful night years ago, that’s all I was.

I must’ve dug up dozens of old memories; my first day at the dump that my mother called an orphanage, packing up my belongings and then, finally, making my way out, and never returning.

Then, just black.

Everything is black.

I woke up in a cold sweat and bolted upright. Rubbing my eyes, I muttered, “Not again…” I’ve been having the same dream every year on my birthday ever since she dropped me off at that wretched orphanage.

I checked my phone, of course, I had no messages, except another notification about the new curfew. I never really went out, so it wasn’t relevant to me. It was about six in the morning, and my alarm suddenly started beeping loudly. I almost forgot today was a Tuesday.

I sighed. It was time for me to go to school.

I got myself out of my flimsy bed, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, pulled on a gray hoodie, and quickly made a cup of coffee. I almost made it to the elevator unscathed until my dreadful neighbor, Natalie, walked out of her apartment.