by Jessica Park
“Yay! You have some contractions back and an added concern for fashion.”
“Do I really do that? The thing with the contractions? No one has ever mentioned that.”
“You do. It’s sort of cute sometimes. You sound like Matt. But you might want to ease up on it. It’d make you sound more relaxed and casual. Comfortable.”
“I will try to pay more attention to my speech. I mean, I’ll try.”
Julie bent Flat Finn forward and back a few times at the waist. “Look! He’s exercising. Or practicing to pick up pennies off the sidewalk. Oh, my God, he’s a cheapskate, isn’t he? What a loathsome quality.”
“He is not a cheapskate.” Celeste cracked a smile. “He is conservative. Thoughtful.”
“Yeah? Christmas is coming up. I expect big things.” Julie brushed a smudge off his arm. “If this hinge deal works out, maybe we can add more later? At the arms, legs, neck?”
Celeste examined the spot that Julie had wiped off. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Come on. Let’s take him for a test run. Follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just follow me.” Julie led the way up to the second floor, with Celeste and Flat Finn close behind her. She knocked on Matt’s open door. “Hello! You have visitors!”
As usual, he was seated in front of his laptop. “Hey.” Matt looked tired, but his eyes widened as Celeste toted Flat Finn into the room. “What’s going on here?”
“Flat Finn has expanded his repertoire of possible poses.” Julie took Flat Finn from Celeste’s hands and sat him up on Matt’s bed. “Now you two can hang out and shoot the breeze without feeling socially uncomfortable because you’re sitting while he’s always standing.”
Matt eyed the figure on his bed. “Yes, this will be significantly less socially uncomfortable. Celeste, you’re fine with this? This, um, alteration?”
“I am. What do you think Dad will say?”
Julie sat at the foot of the bed. “It should be the first thing he hears when he gets back from his trip tonight. He’ll be proud of Flat Finn. And so will your mom.”
“If she notices,” Matt added in a soft singsong tone.
“So perhaps,” Julie started hesitantly, “you’d be willing to hang out with Flat Finn once in a while if Celeste and I want to go out by ourselves and do girl stuff?”
Celeste stiffened. “Wait, you never said—”
“Just assessing the options now available,” Julie said. “You could do that, right, Matt? Should the need arise.”
“I guess I could do that,” Matt agreed, doing a less than spectacular job of hiding his reluctance. “What’s the pay rate?”
Julie smirked. “There is a sliding scale dependent on your enthusiasm. So far, you are at the rate of a penny per hour.”
Celeste crossed her arms. “Are you two done entertaining yourselves?”
“I didn’t realize we had started.” Matt got up from his seat. “You ready for lunch, Celeste?”
“Sure. Will you make egg and cheese sandwiches?”
Matt nodded and walked by Julie. “Whatever you want.”
“Matt!” Julie hissed.
He turned back, confused. “What?”
Julie tossed her hands up. “Nothing.”
She hung back in Matt’s room while they went downstairs. God, she had just made a step in the right direction with this hinge thing, and here was Matt acting like his sister was six years old. Seriously, Celeste could make herself lunch. Way to inspire confidence, Matt.
Would someone let this kid grow up, already?
Chapter 19
“Hi, Seth.” Julie tucked the phone in the crook of her neck, while she folded another T-shirt and added it to the pile of clean laundry on the bed.
“Hey, you. I feel like I haven’t talked to you in weeks.” Seth sounded sweet, but she could detect a frustrated edge.
“I know. With finals coming up, I’ve been mobbed. Sorry I didn’t call you back yesterday.”
“It’s just that it’s the middle of December, and you’re leaving for three weeks soon. I was hoping we could hang out some more before then. You know, a little alone time?” Julie could tell he was smiling now.
“You mean you’ve had enough time with me and Celeste in the coffeehouse?” she teased. “You don’t find that romantic, and sexy, and hot?”
“While I very much enjoy watching you sweat over your calculus assignments, and I’m equally fond of Celeste’s detailed and ruthless assessments of my beverage-making skills, I’d kill for a night alone with you.”
Julie opened the bottom drawer of the dresser and then picked up a stack of folded clothes. “You got it. How about tonight?”
Seth groaned. “I can’t. I’m leading a study group for one of my poli sci classes. Tomorrow? Besides, Friday is a better date night anyhow.”
“Works for me. “
“Come over around seven and I’ll make you dinner.”
“OK, see you then.” She tossed the phone down and went to set her clothes in the drawer. Finn’s skydiving shirts sat in the bottom. She took out the weathered blue shirt that read, Don’t forget to pull. Without thinking, she lifted it up to her face and inhaled.
“What are you doing?”
Julie whipped around. This was the first time that she had heard Matt laugh uncontrollably. She felt herself blush, but threw the shirt at him. “I found some of Finn’s clothes in here and wanted to make sure they weren’t all stinky and gross. I just did laundry and don’t need my clean stuff next to smelly boy stuff.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.” He tossed the shirt back to her.
“Shut up!” Julie rolled her eyes.
“If you want to smell Finn’s clothes, be my guest. I think there is a pair of his old hiking boots in the attic. Do you want me to get those? I’m positive they’ll still have a good Finn scent. Believe me, Odor Eaters never did a thing for my brother’s feet.”
Julie’s phone rang again. “Middle child syndrome,” she mumbled as she reached over to answer it. “Hello?”
“I can’t wait to see you,” Seth said. “I just had to tell you that. Gotta run. Bye!”
She smiled and hung up, just as Celeste brushed past Matthew and held her fingers out to Julie. “My polish is chipping. Can I redo my fingernails?”
“Sure thing. Help yourself to whatever color you want. You know where the stuff is.”
Celeste turned on the radio, picked up the bag of nail polish, and took a seat on the end of the bed.
“Hey, Celeste,” Matt said. “This came for you earlier.” Julie hadn’t even noticed that he had been holding a bulging Fed Ex envelope in his hand. “It’s from Finn.”
Celeste dropped the bag and slowly lifted her head. “Finn sent me something?”
“Yeah, sweetie. He did. Here you go.” Matt walked the package to his sister and then left the room.
Julie scrambled over the two laundry baskets to reach Celeste, who sat silently beaming at the item in her hands. “Open it! Open it!”
“Oh. Of course. How did he…? I can’t… I can’t believe that he sent me something. But I knew Look at how far this had to travel.” She pointed at the postage marks and strange writing on the front. “I don’t know how he…”
“For God’s sake, open it!”
Celeste’s hands shook as she tore off the perforated tab and upended the mailing envelope. “Oooooh, Julie, look.” She held up a silver barrette with beautiful turquoise and amber stones. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?” she asked breathlessly.
“It really is. It will look amazing in your hair.” She peeked inside the envelope. “No card?”
“I guess not. That’s OK, though. Will you put it in for me?”
“Of course.” Julie gathered Celeste’s thick hair at the nape of her neck. As she undid the clasp, she noticed something. “Honey, look. It’s engraved on the back.”
“It is?” Celeste turned around, her eye sparkling brightly.
Celeste beamed. “Finn used to find quotes with celestial in them for me. That one is Victor Hugo. It’s my favorite.” She turned around again so Julie could put the barrette in. “Although Finn always liked to tease me with quotes from the Jean de Brunhoff books. Do you know those? The stories about the elephants? King Babar and Queen Celeste?”
“I do know those stories. My mom used to read them to me.”
Celeste seemed energized and illuminated by Finn’s gift. And while Julie doubted this would eradicate Celeste’s attachment to Flat Finn, it couldn’t hurt.
Julie sighed softly as she tousled Celeste’s curls. Five more months. Julie had told the guidance counselor at Barnaby that Celeste would make significant progress by May. But five months until what exactly? Until she turned into a typical teenager? Julie couldn’t see that happening, nor did she want it to happen. Celeste’s uniqueness shouldn’t be obliterated. What was the marker of acceptable progress? When she ditched Flat Finn? When she had a given number of friends? When she stopped talking like someone from a Victorian movie? Well, something would need to change, and Julie figured that she would know it when it happened.
**********
Matthew Watkins "One's life should never be so boring that one resorts to making up quotes and falsely attributing them to famous people." - Winston Churchill
Finn is God SAY TAKE FACEBOOK "HOW TASTE YR BRANEZ" QUIZ. SEND BRANEZ 2 ME I TASTE. PS I ARE NOT A ZOMBIES.
Julie Seagle If you can’t stop thinking about someone’s update, that’s called “status cling.”
Julie had the car for the evening for her date with Seth. Miraculously, she managed to find a parking spot, but it took four tries for her to cram the car into the small space between a huge pickup truck and a beat-up van. It was freezing out tonight, and she sat in the car for a moment before opening the door. She just needed another few minutes.
This was supposed to be a big night with Seth. She knew that. She should be flying up to his place. Maybe she was nervous?
She grabbed her phone and checked her mail. There was a message from Dana: Have a hot night with Seth! And close the deal already! LOL! Julie laughed.
And one message from Finn.
Julie-
Did Celeste’s package get there? I’m holding a lovely handwritten note that I forgot to put in the envelope. I’m a dummy. Tell her I’m sorry, but that I hope she likes her gift.
Hope you’re having a good night.
-Finn
Finn-
I’ll tell her. She loved the gift. Very sweet of you. Not the same as having you here, but it’ll tide her over for a bit. Gotta run. I’ll see if you’re on chat later. Although I’m a tired wreck today from being up so late last night. You’re evil.
-Julie
She could have just said that she was going to her boyfriend’s house. There was no reason not to. But she still hadn’t mentioned Seth, and it seemed silly to make a dramatic announcement about it.
Julie got out of the car and walked to the front door of Seth’s building, her phone still in her hand. She stood for a moment before ringing the buzzer. Had it sounded stupid to ask Finn if he would be online later? Totally pathetic? It’s not like she was chasing after him or anything, but what if it looked that way? I mean, she was heading up to another guy’s apartment for a big-deal evening, so she wasn’t going to be online later anyway. Why had she even said that?
From now on, maybe she should wait sixty seconds before she sent messages to Finn.
Seth buzzed her in, and she paused in the lobby. Julie had always taken the stairs, of course, and never the elevator, but tonight she was feeling brave. Daring. She could do this. No dramatic fainting or having a panic attack. No more being controlled by this stupid phobia. She would ride the elevator like a completely normal human being. She pressed the elevator button—immediately opening the doors—stepped inside, and hit the button for his floor. She leaned back against the metal wall and closed her eyes, ignoring the handrail that dug into her back. There. There was nothing to be afraid of. Her vision hadn’t blurred, the cabin wasn’t spinning, and she wasn’t going to fall. In fact, the elevator issue felt like the least of her concerns right now.
It didn’t really matter what Finn thought of her anyway, right? Who cared if he knew she wanted to find him online tonight? Which she wasn’t going to do anyway because she would be busy. Finn was just some boy that she would probably never meet anyway. Some boy that she emailed and chatted with. Maybe he’d be around tonight, maybe he wouldn’t. It didn’t matter because she wouldn’t be free. She had important things to take care of. With Seth. Her boyfriend.
Suddenly the elevator slammed to a hard stop, causing Julie to stumble forward. She caught the rail with her hand and froze. The doors didn’t open. She knew she hadn’t been in the elevator long enough to have reached Seth’s floor. Perhaps something would kick into gear in a minute, and the elevator would magically finish its trip up? Julie swore and hit every button on the panel but one. The last thing she felt like doing was pressing that nasty red button that would sound the alarm. This is what she got for being a daredevil. She called Seth.
“Where are you? Didn’t I just buzz you in?” he asked.
“Yes, I am in the building,” she agreed. “In the elevator.”
“Well, hurry up and get in here. I’ve got dinner ready, a little wine poured, candles lit. The whole bit.”
“That sounds really nice.”
“I’ll be honest. I’m trying to seduce you, Ms. Seagle.”
Julie looked down at the dirty floor, focusing her attention on one particular smudge. “That might be tricky.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m stuck in your elevator. And it seems to be getting smaller by the minute in here.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Beads of sweat were starting to accumulate on her hairline, and her stomach was noticeably unhappy. The evil metal box with its fluorescent lighting was decidedly uncomfortable, and the thought that she was suspended in the air—by what was probably an ancient cable—was not exactly soothing. It was like being dangled over a cliff or frozen at the top of a Ferris wheel. How did the Ferris wheel even get its name? Had there been a Mr. Ferris who had sadistically designed such a disgusting, terrifying ride? Matt would probably know. If she ever got out of here, she could ask him. If she didn’t faint and smack her head on the wall and give herself brain damage, she could ask him.
“Julie? Julie?” Seth pounded on the top of the elevator doors.
“Don’t hit the doors, for God’s sake! You’ll probably plummet me to the basement!” Julie barely wanted to move in this death trap, and there was her boyfriend trying to snap what was probably the last frayed metal thread holding her up.
“You’re stuck between the third and fourth floor. This happens once in a while. I just called the building supervisor, who is calling the fire department.”
“Great. That sounds fun.” Julie carefully slumped to the floor and tucked her knees into her chest.
“You OK in there?”
“No. I’m not OK. I’m freaking out! I don’t want to be in here. Really. Not at all. I’m going to die any minute, I can just tell.”
“Um, do you want to do some deep-breathing exercises? Why don’t you visualize floating things? Feathers and clouds and bubbles. That might help.”
“No, I don’t want to do any frickin’ deep-breathing exercises! I want the goddamn fire department to get me out.”
“Julie, listen to me. I’ll count to five and you inhale through your nose along with me. Then exhale for five counts through your mouth. Ready? One, two—”
Shut. Up. Seth was no help whatsoever. Fine, he had called the fire department, but otherwise he was not helping her to relax one bit. Her phone sounded
, and she realized that it was still in her hand, her fingers now white from gripping it so tightly.
Julie-
I should be around later, yes. Where you off to tonight?
-Finn
Oh, thank God. Finn! She checked Facebook’s chat from her phone, and he was signed on.
Julie Seagle
Am flipping stuck in an elevator. Alone. Miserable. Help is on the way supposedly, but I am not enjoying this experience. Starting to seriously panic. Sweating, shakes, visions of brutal death.
Finn is God
What??? Oh, no! Do not panic. Have you forgotten that I am a superhero?
Julie Seagle
I had forgotten! Feel totally safe now. OK, you fly under the elevator and lift me up to safety. Ready? Go!
Finn is God
Unfortunately my flying powers were deactivated because I abused my superhero status. Apologies. I have other powers, though, that will get you through this.
Julie Seagle
Give it your best shot. Convince me that I’m not a million feet in the air.
“Julie?” Seth called. “You still breathing with me? And…. inhale!”
“Yup!” she called out.
“Good! You keep breathing, and I will distract you. Um… I’ll sing!” There was silence for a moment. “I don’t know what to sing. OK, how about this?” Seth launched into an impressively loud and off-key rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” “I don’t know why I chose that. It’s just what came to mind.”
“It’s lovely. Keep going,” Julie hollered.
Finn is God
You can’t pretend you are not up high, because you are.
