July Apple Pies

Chapter Fourteen

And so here it goes... the last chapter... I hope you like it as much as I loved writing this story.

This last chapter is dedicated to EVERYONE WHO HAS READ, LIKED, ADDED TO YOUR LIST, AND/OR COMMENTED ON THIS STORY. Thank you so much! You make writing so much fun!! :)

And, also I want to dedicate this whole story to my best friend, Sole, because–even if there is a big chance she won't read this (our first language is Spanish and she hates reading in English)–she is the one who pushed me to keep going when I thought I just couldn't anymore, and the one who text-screamed with me when I finished it. I love you Sunny!! You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

Chapter Fourteen

THE SCAFFOLDS HAD THEIR OWN ritual for Sunday mornings. Instead of going to mass–like some families did–, or waking up late–like others–, the Scaffolds trimmed their garden.

Everyone in their street was used to find four of the five Scaffolds working on their plants when they opened their curtains on Sunday mornings. It had always been like that for years.

But the Sunday of the sixth of July came with a surprise. That morning, it wasn’t four of the five Scaffolds who trimmed their garden. It was all five of them.

Nora didn’t like trimming. She couldn’t help seeing it as a colossal waste of time. But she had begun to appreciate her family a lot more in the last couple of days, so she decided to join them anyways.

And she was surprised to discover she actually enjoyed it.

“TUUN TUUUN TUUUUUN TUUUN TUUN,” her family sang and she sang with them. She had forgotten how fun trying to get the Harry Potter theme song right could be.

“Wow, love. I’d forgotten you were a natural,” her father told her with a smile.

“So had I,” she said. She was about to tell him she was happy to be there when little Mimi walked towards them.

“Nora?” she asked, but she wasn’t looking at her older sister. She was looking at something in the street, so both Nora and her father turned to look there, too. “Why is your boyfriend here?”

Nora couldn’t really believe what she was seeing. A big part of her had gotten to the conclusion she had imagined everything that had happened less than two days ago. That her mind had been playing tricks and that little of what she remembered had actually happened. But the Audi R8 parked on the other side on the street proved her wrong. As did the boy with the dark sunglasses and white t-shirt that got out of it.

“Boyfriend?” Nora’s dad asked her, but she wasn’t paying attention.

Without glancing away from a smirking Ryder that was crossing the street towards her blindingly yellow house, she stood up and walked to meet him in the sidewalk.

Her forehead's purplishness was even worse than it had been two days ago, but her mom had helped her to cover most of it with makeup (wouldn't want to scare any fellas away), so now it only looked like she had drawn with permanent marker and she hadn’t been able to clean it all the way. Which was better than anything she could ask for, really.

"So... I see you are walking," Ryder said as he took his sunglasses off to have a better view of her eyes.

Nora’s smile was as bright as he had ever seen it. "I am."

"And talking coherently?"

"That, too."

"Good."

His sexy smile was completely distracting her, so she forced herself to talk instead of just stare. "Did you come all the way here just to ask that?"

Ryder chuckled. "Doctor's orders. And I came to ask your father for your sister's hand, too."

Nora couldn’t help but laugh. "Of course. We’ve all been waiting for this moment."

As they both smiled at each other, Dun walked towards them. He stood directly between his sister and the boy who was interrupting their Sunday routine.

"Ni de muqin shi yi ge da wu gui(1)," he said, looking up at Ryder.

Ryder nodded and smiled. He then turned to look at Nora. "What’d he just say?"

“I think he just insulted you."

"Don't lie,” Ryder said, still smiling. “For all you know, he could have said I'm awesome."

"Nopes,” little Dun said as he shook his head. “I think I called you a bastard. Or something like that. I'm not really sure," he said before leaving.

Nora was staring at her little bother’s back incredulously. "Did he just admit to not knowing what he said?"

Ryder laughed at the fact she wasn’t shocked because her little brother had just tried to insult him, but because Dun wasn’t sure he had actually done so. "I think he did," Ryder said with a small nod.

Nora laughed and then turned her attention back to Ryder. "Do you want to stay for breakfast?" she asked.

Ryder frowned. "Are you sure your head is all right?"

"Why?” she asked teasingly. “Are you so sure I'm so repulsed by you that I'd never invite you over if I were sane?"

Ryder rolled her eyes at her. "I just meant you changed subjects way too fast. But I will take the challenge."

Nora looked confused. "What challenge?"

"I'll change your mind. You won’t get to be repulsed by me anymore."

He knew she was kidding. And she knew he knew. She also knew that he knew that, deep down, she could never be repulsed by him. Actually, it was all the other way around. Because for the first time in a long time, the prospect of having a fella wasn't half bad. As long as that fella was a sweet handsome boy with an extremely complicated family and an Audi R8 named Ryder.

The End.

Dun's Dictionary:

(1) "Your mother is a big turtle.”