Chapter 5
The first thing I did when I got home was go upstairs to my room and plop down on the bed. The last remnants of the kiss lingered on my lips, sweet and sticky like honey. I lay on my bed for a few minutes before getting up and heading back downstairs to talk to Aunt Jodi.
"Hey Ella, how was the beach? Didn't get too much sun, did you?" Aunt Jodi asked from the kitchen. For a rich, successful woman, she wasn't as spoiled as she could have been. Aunt Jodi preferred to cook all her own meals, even though strangely enough, she hated cooking.
"It was fun. I jumped off a pier," I said straight up.
"What? Why the hell would you do that?" Aunt Jodi asked, pausing her chopping for a moment.
"Because it looked like fun," I said. I couldn't tell her the truth; she'd think I was crazy.
Aunt Jodi grumbled in response.
"So...Liam kissed me today," I blurted out.
Aunt Jodi stopped what she was doing, put down the knife and walked around the kitchen island to sit down with me at the table.
"And..." she urged.
"And now...I don't know. I feel like I want to date him, but I'm only here for a month. It's not worth it," I replied. I tried to convince myself it was the truth, but it wasn't.
"Well, tell you what. Why don't you see where it goes and then decide later on? Just keep it to yourself for now," Aunt Jodi suggested.
"I guess. Maybe I'm just falling into this too quickly. I mean, it's the first time I've ever really felt special," I mumbled.
"You're a beautiful, special girl whether you know it or not."
"If by special you mean getting cancer before you're 20, then yeah, I'm pretty special," I said dryly. I sighed. "I just can't decide."
"Decide between what?"
Aunt Jodi and I both turned to see Nico standing in the doorway with a smug smile on his face.
"Between what kinds of ice cream I should send Mike to pick up. He's been lazing around all day and it gives me an excuse to get him out of the house and for me to indulge a bit," Aunt Jodi said, glancing at me.
"Oh. Well in that case, my vote is for anything with chocolate in it," Nico said, grinning. He walked to the fridge, grabbed a beer and then walked right out of the room. I waited until I heard Nico's footsteps stop at the top of the stairs before talking to Aunt Jodi again.
"Nice save," I said.
Aunt Jodi shrugged. "I thought so," she said, winking before returning to making dinner. "Dinner'll be ready in ten. Don't go far."
"'Kay," I responded before trumping back up the stairs to my room.
***
I figured it was a good time to review my bucket list.
1. Travel to Australia to visit Aunt Jodi
2. Jump off a pier
3. Fall madly in love
4. Get stuck somewhere fun at night
5. Learn how to ski
6. Feel beautiful
7. Go for a walk in the rain again
8. Fold 1000 paper cranes
9. Spend my entire savings in one day
10. Conquer cancer
As I looked over the list, a thought burbled in my mind. Christmas was just a week away, and I still hadn't gotten anyone presents yet. Why not take this opportunity to splurge on gifts for everyone, plus conquer part of #9? After all, it was expected that as always, Aunt Jodi would present me with some extravagant gift – for my 13th birthday, she got me a jewelry set of diamond encrusted earrings, a necklace and bracelet. Getting Aunt Jodi say, a new Louis Vuitton wallet, that would be nothing.
So I made my plans. I texted Liam to ask if he was free to go to the boardwalk tomorrow. He texted back within five minutes saying yes he was, he'd pick me up at around 2pm and we'd go there together. I didn't invite Nico, and Liam didn't inquire about him, so we let it be.
Next, I made a list.
Christmas Shopping
1. Aunt Jodi – white Louis Vuitton wallet with bubblegum pink interior – $1000
2. Mike – Rolex watch – $4000
3. Nico – Leather bracelet with engraving thingy - $60
4. Liam – Rolex watch with engraving – $4000
"Dinner!" Aunt Jodi called from downstairs. I would have to sort out my Christmas dilemma later.
***
After dinner, I found myself in my room madly folding paper cranes on my bed.
I was decently surrounded by paper cranes when a knock came on the door.
"Come in," I told the person behind the door.
"I come bearing gifts," Nico said, pushing the door open with his hip. In his hands he held two green, ceramic bowls of what looked to be ice cream.
"I love you forever," I said, reaching for a bowl. He handed one to me.
"You're the only girl I've met who loves food so much, and isn't embarrassed to eat it in front of guys. I'd say you're a pig, but I kind of like it," Nico said, shaking his head.
I smiled, a huge mouthful of ice cream preventing me from smiling with my teeth. Instead, I just kept my lips closed and gave him the smirkiest smile I could manage.
"Watcha doin?" Nico asked, seeing all the paper birds around me. He managed to move some out of the way to sit down on the bed.
"Making cranes," I said.
"Sorry, maybe I should have asked why," he laughed.
"There's a Japanese saying that if you fold 1000 paper cranes you get a wish," I told him.
"I see. And what would you, Miss Ella, wish for?"
"To beat cancer," I said nonchalantly.
"Seems like a worthy cause," Nico said. He set down his ice cream and picked up a piece of paper. "Teach me."
I showed Nico how to fold a crane with the few simple steps it required. He picked it up pretty quickly, and soon enough we were popping out cranes like there was no tomorrow.
"So I jumped off a pier today," I said, trying to start a conversation.
"Wait, what?" Nico exclaimed.
"I jumped off a pier," I repeated.
"And why would you do that?"
"How come everyone has that reaction?!" I asked.
"Because you sound crazy Elle," he said, shaking his head.
"Maybe I am crazy," I told him.
"I wouldn't doubt it. Chemo can do that to a person," he said. That hit me. It was barely fine when I talked about my disease, but even an innocent joke from someone else set me off. Coming from a friend, it was worse.
"Nico, please don't say that," I mumbled.
"Aww Elle, it was just a joke. I didn't mean it."
"It wasn't funny. You're welcome to leave now."
"I really am sorry Elle," Nico pleaded.
"I know. But I've told you before not to make jokes about my...condition. Please, just go," I said, choking on a tear.
"Goodnight Ella," Nico said, picking up my empty ice cream bowl and clomping down the stairs. When I was sure he was gone for good, I stuffed my face in my pillow and sobbed silently to myself. Maybe I was being a baby, but I honestly couldn't help it. Nothing, not even folding 1000 paper cranes to get a wish, would change my life's course. I was going to die.
***
I woke up in my bed covered in sweat. I jerked up, stepped out of my bed and flipped open the terrace doors. A cool morning breeze whooshed past my face.
It hadn't happened. It was a dream. I did not kiss Nico, nor would I ever.
But something in the back of my mind teased me. A voice seemed to shout "Nico's more than just a friend," but I pushed it away. Nico would never be more than just a friend. Besides, the kiss had been terrible. Nico and I awkwardly met at the lips, fumbled for a few seconds and then pulled away, yet in my dream I thought it was the best thing in the world. In reality, Liam's was much, much better.
Speaking of Liam, we were hanging out today. I didn't really know whether to classify it as a date or not, considering I had initiated it and we weren't together. I sauntered over to my closet and pulled back the curtains that covered it. I pulled out a simple black t-shirt, white shorts and my comfy brown Birkenstocks, then grabbed a pink Canucks baseball cap I kept on my vanity and threw it on. Then I went into my bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth and pulled out a product I hadn't used in forever. Mascara.
My lashes were finally long enough to spread the tiniest coat of mascara upon, so I did just that. When I leaned back, I noticed that I looked decent. From there, I went overboard, at least by my standards. Taking my eyeliner, I lined the upper waterline of my eye, giving my look enough to make it look like I had eyelids and eyelashes that started somewhere, but light enough that I didn't look like one of those girls who wore so much eyeliner that you couldn't tell they were wearing mascara. Then I took a barely-used peachy cream blush and with my finger I swiped it across my cheekbones.
Stepping back, I smiled. I actually looked decent. Maybe even better than decent. I happily skipped downstairs for breakfast.
Nico sat at the table alone, a plate of pancakes sitting in front of him.
"Aunt Jodi's out?" I asked.
Nico nodded. "She and Mike went out somewhere."
I nodded.
"I made pancake batter. I didn't want to make your pancakes cause I didn't want them to get soggy," he said. Then he flashed a smile. Not a grin, not a smirk, a sheepish smile.
"I take this is you apologizing for last night?" I questioned.
Nico nodded. "I'm really sorry Elle. That was a really asshole-ish thing for me to say."
"I forgive you. Especially because you made pancakes."
"Hey, the way to your heart is with food. I just think," Nico said, smiling again.
For the rest of breakfast, Nico and I just sat there smiling. I was smiling, and of course he was smiling. Always smiling.
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