Fixing Her

Chapter X

"I'll take over from here," she says and shows up to my right.

"I'll finish it, really," I tell her.

"No, Hayden, you've done more than you need to. Get out of here and go get ready."

"Emma, please. I'm ready and I haven't done anything. You should get ready. It's not much left."

She smiles and then nods. On her way out, she yells, "I can't believe someone in this house turned to be so helpful!"

I finish my work, and it's not until Parker tells everyone to put their presents on the table that I realize something; I haven't bought anything. I don't know him and I haven't even seen him, but if I'm gonna be attending his birthday party, I should've gotten him something. I forgot to buy a seven year old boy his gift for his birthday.

As fast as I possibly can I run up the stairs to grab my stolen money. I'm not gonna not buy him something. That's just mean.

On my way down Isaac stops me by grabbing my arms, something I still find myself flinching at, even if our relationship is much better.

"Woah, why the hurry?" he asks. "They're here any second."

"I know....," I say. "I- I haven't bought anything. I'll be back really quick."

He doesn't try to talk me out of it. He hesitates a second, and then nods.

"Come on, I'll drive you."

"Where the fuck are Landon and Elaine?" Parker shouts from the second floor, but I don't hear if anyone responds to him, cause I'm halfway towards Isaac's black car.

I don't know when I agreed to let him drive me God knows where. I just know he put his hand on my back and started shoving me outside the door. I really don't want him to touch me, especially not like that, but I don't do anything to make him stop. I just run towards his car and get inside. He leaves the driveway with a roar, and the drive is mostly silent, except the.... no it's just silent. He parks in front of a small boutique named "We Know...". We know what? That I haven't bought a little kid his gift?

We walk inside, surrounding ourselves with boy toys, and it hits me that if Isaac wouldn't volunteer to bring me here, I would be looking for something to buy until tomorrow.

"He likes toys and stuff like that you know," Isaac tells me. "Marvel, Avengers, comics, boys' stuff."

I look around me and see Kaitlyn's boyfriend, Captain America. She's totally in love with him, mostly because of the actor.

"Which one does he like the most?" I ask, scanning over the single packed toys and the big pack with six of the Avengers characters, a few cars, some villains, and some accessories. "Will he like that?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Okay."

I grab the box, that's much heavier than I expected, and walk to the counter.

"Hi," I say and put the box down.

"Hello," the cashier, a man over sixty with glasses and gray hair says. "Just this?"