Humbling Spot Conlon (A Spot Conlon Love Story)

Ch. 31: Forgotten

A sixteenth birthday is one that most people are excited for. They look forward to that age in particular. Many girls find it a good age to get married. I, on the other hand, couldn't care less about it. I just wanted to be a kid as long as possible. 

As for a party, I didn't want one. I needed nothing. All I wanted was to have a good day with my friends. Sadly, I think my friends had other plans, or lack thereof. 

Typically on my birthday, the first one to say a thing about it was Kloppman, but today I didn't get a word from him. He simply woke me up as usual and moved on to the rest of the boys. 

I tried hinting to Jack that something was going on today. "You got any plans?" I asked him as he messed with his hair in the mirror, "Anythin' special?" 

"Nope. Nothin' except my job, Nick." He said, shooing me away. "Now, wouldja mind? Yer in my space." 

I'll admit, I was a little taken aback. He couldn't have just forgotten my birthday. But as I went around talking to everyone, nobody seemed to know what today was. Maybe I got the wrong day and I'd been interrogating everyone for no reason. 

It was a slow selling day, which added on to my ever growing bad mood. As well as slow selling, I couldn't seem to find anybody. They had all magically vanished. They were probably off at different selling spots than usual, trying to find a good flow of traffic. 

Around noon, I was approached by a boy. He seemed to be around my age. He was tall, standing at least ten inches taller than me. He was handsome, with neat red hair and warm brown eyes. He flashed a pearly white smile just before he spoke. 

"Hi there." My eyes widened at the sound of his voice. From his appearance I would've expected a higher voice that's melodic in a way. I was surprised to find that his voice was deep and husky. Not that I was complaining. 

"Two for a cent," I responded, holding out a paper to him. 

He smiled again. "No thank you." 

With the roll of my eyes I turned to walk away. "Well if ya ain't buying then I guess we're done here. I got work ta do." 

"What if I buy the whole stack?" 

I stopped dead in my tracks, not believing my ears. He must've been messing with me. I whipped around. "They all say the same thing y'know, just in case yer confused." 

"I'm not confused," He said, snatching the stack of papers from my hand." You just don't look like you're having a great day is all. I wanted to cheer you up." 

I grabbed at the papers, but he held them above his head, far out of my reach. "Look, if this is some sort o' sick joke I'd just like you ta know that I've lived with a bunch o' idiot boys for the past three years. I can fight." 

"I'm not here to fight." He reached into his pocket, gesturing for my hand. I reluctantly held it out. The boy held his hand over mine letting a handful of coins spill into mine. 

I closed my hand around the coins, staring at the boy with an eyebrow raised. "You ain't serious." 

With a soft laugh he tucked the papers inside his jacket. "What's your name?" 

"Nicky Badger. Well, it's technically Nichole but everyone calls me Nicky. If ya call me Nichole you'll get thrown off a bridge." 

He seemed unphased by my threat. "Nice to meet you Nicky. I'm Adam. Adam McAllister." He grabbed my hand, placing a soft kiss on the back of it. "How are you doin' today?" 

I pulled my hand away, shoving it into my pocket. "Well today, not so great. Who knew that it was possible for all yer friends ta forget yer birthday?" It wasn't typical of me to say something for attention, but today I was seriously lacking in that department. Except from this random guy on the street I guess. 

The day was actually fairly fun after that. Turns out that this kid comes from a super rich family. He decided to buy me something, despite my insistent request for him to do otherwise. He called it a birthday present. 

He almost bought me a dress, thinking that I wasn't wearing trousers by choice. I quickly denied that request, which caused his curiosity to stir. 

We agreed on shoes. I certainly needed new ones. Mine were worn and I could see where a hole was beginning to form on the sole of the left shoe. After the decision of the shoes the interrogation began. He asked, "You would seriously rather wear trousers than a dress?" 

"As someone who has twelve years of experience wearin' dresses, I think you oughta shut yer mouth," I snapped, holding a finger near his face. 

He chuckled softly. "You're a funny girl, Nicky." 

"I know." 

"Oh and you're humble too." 

I held back a laugh, and with a flip of my hair proudly claimed, "Humility is one o' my best traits." 

The day carried on as normally as it could with a boy I'd just met. He was easy to talk to. He did have a few judgments about the way I dress and act, but after putting him in his place, he realized not to bring it up. 

Adam and I were having an argument about roses (don't ask) when Jack ran frantically over. "Nicky, hurry! It-it's Spot!" He says, panting heavily. 

"Where?" I demanded. 

Jack led me around the city. He led me up and down streets, through alleys, over buildings. Okay maybe there wasn't that much going on but I think I was so frantic that I lost my navigation skills or something. I could hardly even breathe. 

I tried to ask what happened but he never answered. I thought it could be that he couldn't get the words out. After about three times with no answer my stomach began to churn and I felt as though I could be sick. If Jack was speechless it must've been bad. 

Before I knew it we were wherever Jack was wanting us to be. I squeeze the hand of the person next to me. I thought it was Jack at first, but when I looked over, it was Adam. I had forgotten that he'd come with us. 

It was a warehouse. And it was honestly spooky. I felt like I might not come out if I went in. Maybe that's because I knew that something terrible happened to Spot, and he was in there.