The Bet (Just The Way You Are)

The Bet *Right Minus Wrong

Andre and Driana are amusing to watch when they argue. They’re like two children asking for a playmate. That means they were the people who wanted to wake me. Draky was the one who stopped them. It was not a dream. . .

Something in my peripheral vision gets my attention. It’s a box with heavenly bodies cover: stars, milky-way, and galaxy. I wonder why I didn’t notice it last night when we carried the gifts to my room. Opening the lid of the box, I find pieces of puzzles inside.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I ask, “What’s this?”

“It’s a game where you put all the pieces of puzzle together to complete a picture or a message,” Draky answers.

“Really?” I ask sarcastically. “I did not know that. Is this from you?”

“Yes.” He grins. “And I was just giving you some definition.”

“But you already gave a gift to me,” I say, glancing at the rosary necklace on top of my drawer.

“So?” he asks.

“Okay Mr. Generous, thank you.”

“My pleasure Ms. Seventeen.”

Rolling my eyes, I get a single piece from the box. It’s proportions are not equal, and the background is dark with little dots. There’s a letter, I think it’s P, but I’m not sure. Maybe the puzzle has a message. Or it is a message itself. I don’t know.

“What’s the message?” I ask curiously.

“Why don’t you start putting them together to find out?”

“Thanks,” I mutter.

“Aren’t you going to do it now?”

“She has to open our gifts first,” Andre interjects.

I shrug. “Okay. I’ll just put the puzzles together later.”

“Open mine now,” Driana says.

I get Driana’s present and unwrap it.

A sound of appreciation comes out of my mouth when I see that it’s a charm bracelet.

“Do you like it?” Driana asks hesitantly.

“I love it,” I say enthusiastically.

The charm bracelet has a star, a heart (that’s actually two dolphins combined), butterfly, horse, and a flower. In between are shiny purple pearls.

“Thank you so much!” I say, giving her a hug.

“I’m so glad you like it,” she replies, smiling hugely.

“Mine’s next,” Andre says, handing me a paper bag.

When I pull the ribbon, I get the presents inside. Not only one, but there are three cd’s in my hands.

You guess it right; they are the albums of Taylor Swift. Andre gave me Taylor Swift, Fearless, and Speak Now albums.

Andre Lavigne!

“Thank you,” I mutter.

“Oh,” Andre says, frowning, “don’t tell me you don’t like them. I had hard time thinking about my gifts for you.”

Not wanting to be rude, I say, “I like them. I always listen to Taylor’s songs.”

“That’s cool,” he says, smiling from ear to ear.

“Thank you,” I repeat.

In the corner of my eye, I see Draky smirking. Maybe he planned this with Andre. Who knows?