“You guys are embarrassing me.” My whole face is no doubt lobster red.
“Us? Embarrassing? Never.” Sasha winks at me, digging into the salad she got for lunch. “Oh!” She jumps, bending to dig through her bag. “Here’s your present.” She slides a purple bag across the table.
I take it with a grateful smile. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
She rolls her eyes. “Shut up and open it.”
I remove the tissue paper and reveal several small items. I pull out the first one, a teddy bear holding a heart that says happy birthday, the next is a lavender scented lotion, and finally a small jewelry box. Opening it, I find half of a friendship necklace. My eyes shooting up to her, she pulls out the other half from beneath her shirt.
“Thank you, Sasha. This is … really thoughtful.”
I know it’s only a friendship necklace, but it means the world to me to know I’ve made lasting relationships with these people. I never imagined I’d ever tell anyone at school what happened to me, but I’ve made friends in Ansel and Sasha. Telling her that night in the hotel was the best decision I could’ve made. She deserved to know, and I’ve grown closer to her since. I didn’t realize it before, but I was holding back, afraid of her finding out the truth. Telling Ansel early on is what I believe helped forge our friendship so deeply.
I take the necklace out of the box and fix it in place. I hold the half of the jagged heart against my chest and smile at her.
Words seem to fail me so I tell her thank you again and she nods her head.
This time Ansel passes me a gift bag.
“Ansel—”
“You didn’t think I’d only get you a cupcake, did you?”
“Cupcake? I want one,” Sasha interjects, looking around like she’s failed to notice them.
“It’s Meadows’s birthday, I got her a cupcake. Not you.”
She sticks her nose up in the air. “I don’t know why anyone would buy one cupcake. That’s a crime.”
He shakes his head. “Go on, open it.”
As soon as I peek in the bag I notice the prom ticket. “Ansel, I told you I’d get my ticket!”
“I know. That’s why I went ahead and got it.”
“Wait a minute, you guys are going to prom together? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We decided this morning,” I explain.
“Well, this is great. We can go dress shopping together!” She claps h
er hands excitedly. “I’m going next weekend with my mom.”
“That would be great.” The last thing I want to do is drag Sage dress shopping. That sounds like my version of hell. He’d probably insist on putting me in something that covered me head to toe.
“Okay, Meadows, open your gift now. Your prom ticket wasn’t it.”
Seth watches everything without uttering a word. Surprise, surprise.
From the gift bag I pull out a Lucite case filled with nail polish. My jaw drops and I look at Ansel in shock. “How did you know I love nail polish?”
He snorts. “You always wear it, and it’s all over your room. I sat on a bottle once.” I laugh, biting my lip as I open the case, pulling out the various colors and looking at the different names for curiosity’s sake. “Let me tell you, when I went to go buy all this stuff I got some strange looks. But don’t worry, I endured it all for you, Meadows.”
I can’t help but laugh at his dramatics.
“Thank you, guys. Seriously, this has been a pretty good birthday.”
“Are you doing anything with your brother?” Sasha asks around a mouthful of salad.