The Improbability of Forever (Kismet #2) ✓

4. I Have Done a Good Deed

After school Cody drove me to Party City, where I found myself standing facing an infinite number of shelves stacked to the brim with party supplies.

"This is going to be impossible," I said, squinting so I could see the party hats balancing precariously on the very top shelf.

Cody let out a long, low whistle. "What do we need to buy? Do you have a theme or anything?"

"Of course she does!" Julia appeared beside me, shoving her car keys into her messenger bag. "We're doing peacock blue and turquoise, with a few deep blue accents thrown in."

I nodded and turned back to Cody. "Evidently our theme is blue."

Julia nudged me with her shoulder. "Come on, Quinn, don't act like you forgot. You picked this theme, remember?"

"Apparently I did. I've been a little busy to worry about that though."

"Which is why I'm here!" Tucking her wavy bob behind one ear, Julia whipped out a checklist and unfolded it. "Let's get started. We mainly need a bunch of paperware and some decor. Quinn's mom is taking care of the rest."

"Paperware. That would be—"

"Aisle seven." Julia pointed at the giant overhanging sign. "Let's split up. I'll pick out some streamers and such. You and Cody need to go pick out seventy paper plates, napkins, forks...you get it, right?"

She said this in a tone that made me doubt she thought we actually were capable of this task.

"Got it," I said. "Any color preference?"

"Just stick with the theme." Grabbing a basket from the stack near the door, Julia scurried away, leaving Cody and me alone and confused.

We stood in silence for a few seconds before Cody asked, "Aisle seven, then?"

"Let's go."

We somehow managed to get lost between the entry and aisle seven, but found it after about five minutes of aimless wandering. Once we got there, however, I was quickly overwhelmed by the monstrosity before us. Not only was there an enormous palette of colors to choose from, but each color had supplies that stretched from the floor all the way up to the ceiling.

"We may need a ladder," I said as I headed for the blue section.

Cody trailed behind me, tripping on the shoelace of his sneakers. "Listen, are you up for dinner tonight? I figured we should talk, catch up a little..."

I responded by tossing him a few packs of turquoise paper plates. "Sounds great! Now get busy."

Even though my back was to him, I figured he'd stuck out his tongue or made some sort of face at me, so tossed him another few packs to keep him preoccupied.

"I'm going to go get a cart!" he called once his hands were full of plates. "I'll be right back."

While he left to make his way back to the front of the store, I grabbed some plain blue napkins and began counting off. The chevron pattern caught my eye, but I figured Julia would insist that patterns would clash with the theme. I hoped she was okay with the color being called Caribbean Blue instead of peacock blue.

Cody returned and I began throwing the napkins and plates into the cart. "I think we just have silverware and cake plates left," I said.

Simultaneously, our gazes shifted upwards until we saw the cake plates perched on a shelf above either of our reach. For a few seconds, I debated jumping to knock them into the cart, then asked, "Maybe now's the time for that ladder?"