by Beth Reekles
Lee’s parents had got him some CDs and clothes. Noah got him a new stereo for his car – he said that’s why he’d been down the scrap yard, to get some extra parts. Lee had kind of guessed what CD I got him already – it would’ve been hard not to after I’d told him he wasn’t allowed to download it on his computer a couple of days ago but refused to tell him why.
He liked the wallet too, and then opened the T-shirt. It was blue, and read, I’M WITH STUPID, and had an arrow pointing down.
He burst out laughing, then grabbed one of my presents and tossed it at me. ‘Thanks, Elle. Open that one now.’
‘Is it from you?’
‘Duh. Now open it already!’
I did. And it took me a full minute to stop laughing. He’d bought me a yellow T-shirt – from the same store too – and it said I’M WITH STUPID, and had an arrow pointing up. It was like the female version of the one I’d got him.
Talk about freaky.
‘What did you do, coordinate?’ his dad joked as I held the top up in front of me.
‘No,’ we chorused, laughing.
Lee said, ‘We’re just telepathic like that.’
He also got me a couple of books – vampire-themed ones, since he knew I had a soft spot for them – and then there was something small, wrapped up tightly and covered in so much tape, I had to tear it open with my teeth.
‘What is it?’ Brad asked impatiently, while I was still gnawing at the tape.
‘I don’t know, it’s still wrapped up!’
‘I’m not telling!’ Lee teased. There was something evil in his smile; something that made me a little scared to open it . . .
Finally the tape snapped free and I could rip the paper off. It was like pass the parcel or something; whatever it was had a long strip of the paper wrapped around it, like, a billion times over.
‘What is it?’ Brad asked, trying to see.
When I saw what it was, my cheeks flamed instantly, and I dropped it like a live bomb. ‘Lee!’
‘What? I don’t want to be an uncle yet – I’m not old enough!’
‘What, and you couldn’t have given me that when we’re not around people?’ He knew what I really meant – why in front of my dad? And his parents!
‘And your boyfriend, let’s not forget.’
I willed my cheeks to cool down, but they just wouldn’t. Dad had already started making hasty small talk with June and Matthew, all of them determinedly ignoring the packet of condoms I’d just picked up.
Noah reached down from his spot on the sofa, plucking them out of my hands. ‘Thanks, Lee. I’ll keep them handy for later.’
I didn’t think it was possible, but I went even redder. I buried my face in my hands. June coughed, and I knew that there was no way our parents had missed that comment.
Lee didn’t seem too bothered, though. He just reached over to pat my hand, saying, ‘I just want you to be careful, Shelly. I’m looking out for you here.’
‘I can’t see,’ my semi-innocent ten-year-old brother complained. ‘What is it?’
‘Grown-up stuff,’ I said.
‘Tampons,’ Lee told him.
I smacked him across the head that time – not hard, though. ‘You, my friend, are just intolerable.’
‘I know,’ he grinned, and I had to laugh. I just had to.
The parents seemed to notice that the condoms weren’t in the limelight anymore, and my dad said, ‘Here you go, Elle.’ He handed me a box. It was a long, black velvet one, like a jewelry case.
I took it hesitantly. ‘What is it?’
‘Well, it was actually, um . . . it was your mom’s. She always said she wanted you to have it though. And I meant to give it to you last year, but I’d forgotten all about it. I know seventeen’s a bit of a random age for this, but . . . I didn’t want to risk forgetting next year too.’ He gave a guilty laugh and smiled sadly.
We’d kept all my mom’s jewelry, of course we had. It wasn’t the kind of thing you threw out. I had a few pairs of earrings of hers I’d always liked when I was a little girl, and there was a gold chain I wore sometimes too. But whatever this was, it was obviously not just everyday jewelry.
I undid the gold clasp on the front of the case and opened it.
I’d thought maybe it was a necklace – some fancy string of pearls or something. But it wasn’t. It was a watch – a shiny silver one with tiny topaz gems around the face. The second hand ticked away, a slim silver line against the black face. I picked it up carefully. The blue gems looked pretty authentic, and I was sure it had been incredibly expensive.
‘The stones are real,’ Dad told me, as if reading my thoughts.
‘It’s beautiful,’ June commented with a motherly smile.
I thought maybe I’d cry. I think that’s what they all expected. I could practically see them all just waiting to see me break down in tears and cry and say I missed my mom.
And I did miss my mom. I really did. I wished she was still around; that she was there, pottering about in the kitchen, or sat watching a crappy soap on TV, or getting ready for work.
But there was nothing I could do about the fact she was gone; I’d accepted that years ago. I could miss her and want her back so bad it hurt, but I couldn’t actually do anything about it. And I got that. There was no use in crying over her when crying wouldn’t bring her back.
But I think they were shocked when I grinned and clipped the watch around my left wrist. It was cold and heavy, and it hung kind of loose, but I loved it.
‘Thanks, Dad.’
He smiled, his face showing a mixture of emotions. The sadness in his eyes; the happiness in his smile; the relief wiping away the small frown on his brow. But then he took something else out of his pocket – another small black velvet box. It was different to the one the watch had been in: there was no gold clasp and the hinges weren’t visible either.
‘Is this the matching earrings?’ I joked.
‘No – that’s this year’s present. Technically the watch is overdue . . .’ He laughed, shaking his head as if trying to banish the sadness. I smiled and took it.
And actually, I did half expect matching earrings.
It was the right shape for them, after all.
But it wasn’t earrings. It wasn’t any kind of jewelry.
‘You got me a . . . key?’ I picked it up, dangling the keychain off my fingertip and frowning at it. Then it clicked. ‘Ohmigosh! You got me a car!’
Everyone laughed, obviously knowing beforehand or, in Lee’s case, getting it before I did. I leaped up, tackling my dad with a massive hug.
‘Thank you thank you thank you thank you!’
He laughed. ‘You haven’t even seen it yet.’
‘Yeah, it could be some crappy, beat-up piece of junk that stalls every time you hit a stop sign,’ Noah joked.
‘It’s parked in the garage,’ June told me. ‘We had to hide it somewhere you wouldn’t see it, didn’t we?’
I ran outside, heaving up the garage door with a grunt.
Behind me I heard them all filtering out of the house. The garage was kind of dark; the floor was stained with oil, and Noah’s tools were scattered around everywhere. Lee’s bicycle was propped against the wall. There were footballs and soccer balls, and random pieces of old or broken furniture.
And right in the middle of it all was my birthday present.
It was a second-hand Ford Escort. It was midnight blue, and there was even a pair of neon-pink fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror.
‘The dice were my idea,’ Lee’s dad said. ‘Just for the record.’
I laughed, giddy, leaning in the open window on the driver’s side. The inside smelled of pine and old leather. It didn’t look like it would run like a dream, with a silent purring engine, and I wouldn’t be shocked to find myself waiting on roadside service at some point.
But I loved it instantly.
I didn’t expect my dad to get me a brand-spanking new car. I didn’t want one, either. I wanted something I wouldn�
�t be afraid to drive. I was never the best driver. But I finally had my own car!
‘I won’t have to bug you for a ride all the time now, Lee,’ I told him.
‘Well, I’m not riding with you,’ he quipped, his voice grave. ‘I value my life too much, thank you very much.’
I laughed and went to give my dad another hug. ‘Thank you, I love it!’
‘I know she’s not the best, but you can start off with this old girl. She’ll take a few knocks and dents, no problem.’
‘Does nobody trust my driving skills?’
Everyone laughed at that, and then Brad said, ‘All right, all right. Is it time for cake now?’
As if on cue, mine and Lee’s stomachs rumbled in tandem, and we said, ‘Most definitely,’ before racing each other inside.
Chapter 31
‘SO WHAT EXACTLY have you got in mind?’ I asked Noah. He was putting plates in the dishwasher when I brought in a few empty glasses. Lee was outside in his car, fiddling with his new stereo. Brad was watching TV, the parents all talking about . . . well, whatever it was they talk about. I’d been waiting for the opportunity to talk to Noah alone.
He looked up, twisting his head to look under his arm, which was leaning on the counter as he bent to load the dishwasher.
‘Earlier,’ I explained, ‘your texts said you had something in mind for later for me.’
‘Oh, that.’
‘Yeah, that. So are you going to tell me what it is?’
‘Telling you would defeat the whole point of it being a “surprise”, you know.’
‘I had a feeling you’d say that,’ I groaned, passing him the glasses. He put them in, then stood up and kicked the dishwasher closed.
Pulling me into his arms, he breathed in my ear, ‘If I told you it involved Lee’s present for you . . .’ His lips brushed over my jaw.
I didn’t know how to reply to that – but I couldn’t have done so anyway; I seemed to have suddenly lost my voice.
Noah gave a quiet chuckle. ‘That wasn’t what I had planned, though,’ he said, pulling back to give me that devilish smirk. ‘I was going to take you somewhere. I know you’ll love it. But it’s got to be a surprise.’
‘Right . . .’ I racked my brain. I knew it couldn’t be going to see the sunset or fireworks again; it had to be something different . . . but Noah seemed so full of surprises now, it could be anything.
‘Although,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘if you do want to put Lee’s present to use later on . . .’
I blushed, burying my face in his shoulder so he didn’t see my blush. But he laughed and kissed the top of my head, his arms tight around me.
Ignoring his comment, I hugged him back. ‘I love you.’ The words were out of my mouth like a reflex, rolling off my tongue like they were the most natural three words in the world to say to my best friend’s big brother.
He kissed the top of my head again and said, ‘I love you more.’ I shook my head into his shoulder.
We didn’t say anything else. Just stood there in each other’s arms, in our own little bubble.
‘Oh! Sorry – don’t mind me, just grabbing a drink!’
We pulled apart a little, and I saw June grabbing a glass of water. When she turned around, she gave us a smile – it wasn’t one that said ‘caught red-handed’; it was more like ‘you kids are adorable’.
At least we hadn’t been making out or anything.
Now, that would’ve been just plain awkward.
Noah’s mom went back into the lounge and I looked back at him. ‘So when are we going to this surprise place?’
‘Now, if you want. It won’t take too long.’
‘Now? Really?’
He shrugged. ‘If you want to go now, then sure.’
I grinned suddenly. ‘Can I drive?’
‘Drive to a place you have no idea about . . . Because that’s such a smart idea, isn’t it, Elle?’
‘Well – you can tell me where to drive, right? Please, please, please?’ I gave him my best, biggest grin, so excited at the prospect of taking my new car for a spin.
‘All right, fine! But you can’t blame me if you guess where we’re going and it spoils the surprise, all right?’
I giggled. ‘What is it with you and surprises, anyway?’
He shrugged. ‘I thought it was more romantic than saying, “Hey, Elle, I’m going to take you to . . . to see the sunset and a firework display,” and you’ve always loved those corny romance movies.’
‘Well . . .’ I bit my lip sheepishly. ‘Okay, okay, I see your point. Let’s go.’
‘Impatient, much?’
‘Okay, just take a left here . . . then second right. There should be a parking space there.’
I followed his directions, and wished I hadn’t asked to drive here. I was so focused on not scratching the car that I had to keep my eyes on the road. I couldn’t let my eyes roam around the streets and try to figure out where we were headed. I didn’t recognize any of these roads – I didn’t have any clue where he was leading me, and even less of a clue as to what this surprise was.
I found a space to park and got out of the car, hearing Noah’s door slam shut too.
‘All right, then,’ I said, unable to rein in a grin. ‘Lead the way.’
He smirked, and grabbed my hand as he stepped up onto the sidewalk beside me, linking our fingers together. Our arms swung like a pendulum as we walked back in the direction we’d come from.
Looking around, I realized we were no longer in the city, or even a town. Some of the houses seemed to have been converted – the ground floor occupied by a florist’s shop, or a baker’s. I still had no idea where we were, but it looked nice. There were a few trees planted on random squares of grass, and flowers blooming on the windowsills. There were a few people milling around, one or two dog-walkers amongst them, and the occasional car driving past.
It was a quaint little village. I heard church bells peal somewhere off in the distance, as if to echo my thought.
I turned back to Noah, who caught my eye and gave me that half-smile, half-smirk, like he thought keeping me in the dark about where we were going was funny.
I smiled back, squeezing his hand.
‘Here we are.’ He stopped, and I took a step back, letting him lead me into the shop we stopped outside. There was a dark green awning over the doorway, casting a shadow over Noah’s face as he pushed open the door. A bell tinkled – it was a cute kind of sound, reminding me of the fairy in Peter Pan.
Then it hit me. The smell.
It was a gorgeous aroma: sweet vanilla, strong cocoa, the hazy sweetness of melted sugar, and the all-round stomach-rumbling, mouth-watering scent of chocolate. It drifted out of the shop the second Noah opened the door, blasting me full-force and making me gasp.
I stepped inside ahead of Noah, who held the door open for me. Only a few months ago, I remembered going into his house behind him to see Lee. He knew I was there, but didn’t even think of holding the door for me – just let it swing shut for me to catch on the way in. He didn’t do it out of spite: it was just Noah Flynn being typical Noah Flynn.
But I didn’t miss the way he held the door for me now. It seemed so trivial, so unimportant, but I shot him a smile nonetheless.
Then I let the smell of the chocolate wash over me again. The shop was lit by warm, firelight-yellow lamps. On the floor was a dark, mahogany-colored carpet, and the walls were a soft cream color. There was a counter with a cash register on it – some childish part of me was delighted to see that it was a really old cash register, the kind that had buttons like an ancient typewriter and made a loud ring when you opened the drawer.
The shop looked as sweet as it smelled, and as I turned in a slow circle, my mouth forming an O and my eyes widening in sheer awe, I saw all the chocolates.
I didn’t know what to do – where to look first; what to say to Noah.
‘Hello, dears!’ trilled a voice. It was the sort of voice you knew belonged to an old person,
and when I looked up from the pralines lined up on the glass counter, I saw a woman who was in her sixties or seventies. She was just the kind of person you could picture owning a candy store.
She was plump, with really rosy cheeks, and dark gray hair pulled back into a bun, wispy strands escaping around her face. She wore jeans and a white cotton blouse, with a bright pink apron tied that was stained with chocolate and sugar and cream, icing and syrup and fudge. Some of it looked almost decades old, like it was a part of the apron itself, but some had clearly been slopped down her that morning.
‘Hi,’ Noah said, strolling past me. ‘I called ahead, earlier? My name’s Flynn.’
‘Oh, of course, of course! I remember. I’ve got it right here for you, dear! Just give me two seconds!’ The woman gave a motherly smile, before bustling backwards, knocking over a stack of cardboard boxes as she did so. Luckily, it sounded like they were all empty.
‘Whoops-a-daisy!’ She shoved them back into place, laughing at her own clumsiness. As she retreated out of sight, I heard her humming tunelessly to herself in the back of the shop.
‘You called ahead?’ I asked, and Noah turned to look at me. I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. ‘How’d you even know about this place, anyway?’
‘I, um . . .’ He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. ‘Remember when – no, you probably don’t – but when we were really little, I read that book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I kind of got it in my head that I wanted to go to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, and my mom – and your mom, I remember, she tagged along too – my mom brought me here because she said it was close enough. I remembered about it a couple of years back and took a bus up here to find it again.’
It took a minute to sink in. For one thing, it was so un-Flynn-like for him to disclose a personal memory like that; for another, thinking of him as such a cute little kid wanting to visit Willy Wonka made me want to giggle. Not in a mean way – in a cute way.
Though I didn’t think he’d appreciate me mentioning the cuteness.
So instead I said, ‘I remember. I wanted the book for a school project. There were no copies left in the library, and Lee told me you had one so there was no point in buying it, and you wouldn’t let me have it.’
