Dedicated to Trumbelievable for their weird reasons for why Julian and Sara shouldn't end up together.
Picture of the bracelet Daniel gave Sara in the multimedia bar (changed it to bracelet since I couldn't find a charm bracelet that fit the image in my head) along with Rose Garden by Nick Jonas and the Administration. The song has no relevance. It's just so chill. Haha.
Chapter 26
With the sleeves pulled over my hands, the hood over my ears and my knees tucked into the bottom of the sweatshirt, I probably looked like a fleece-covered rock sitting on our porch swing. But it was way too early in the morning for me to be up and vanity wasn't really my first priority.
"Happy birthday!" I heard someone yell from a few feet away.
"Hey, Nate." I looked up, smiled and waved a fleece-covered hand at him. "You're a day late." I laughed at the sight of the cupcake in his right hand and the thermos bottle in his left.
"Duh. But you disappeared on me last night so I never got to greet you one on one. Well, I could have but not without yelling over some really loud music." He smirked. "I came by here a day late to give you your present." He smiled like a goof and jumped on the porch, handing me the cupcake.
"A cupcake?" I chuckled, accepting it and hastily taking a bite. "How original." My words were muffled by cupcake bits and frosting which made Nate shake his head and chuckle.
"That's actually Mom's gift, not mine," he corrected me with a satisfied smile. "She wanted me to remind you that there're eleven more where that came if you're willing to stop by after school."
"If I could, I'd stop by your house right now and finish all eleven in one sitting." I laughed. "Your Mom doesn't have a secret plan to give me diabetes, does she? Though 'death by cupcake' doesn't seem like a horrible way to go."
Nate just shook his head at me and continued to watch as I happily ate the rest of the cupcake. When I was done, he handed me the thermos bottle. When I took a sip of the warm, sweet coffee, I was practically humming with happiness.
"You ever think you'll get tired of eating cupcakes one day?" he mused as I was brushing bits of food off my clothes.
I crinkled my nose at the thought and shook my head. "Pigs'll have to fly first."
Nate laughed. "So why're you sitting out here so early in the morning?"
"My truck broke down," I sighed.
"Again?" He was fighting off laughter. "Need a ride to school?"
I shook my head. "Daniel's coming by soon."
"Ooh, the boyfriend. For a moment there, I forgot I didn't occupy the number one guy spot in your life anymore," he joked.
"You never occupied that spot." I playfully shoved him away, causing both of us to laugh. "Dad's always been the number one guy in my life. Adam's a close second.."
"Ah," Nate lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "But that's just what we tell them so they don't get mad." He chuckled. "So what'd the boyfriend get you for your birthday?"
I decided to let his 'the boyfriend'comments pass and pulled up the left sleeve of my sweatshirt, showed him the bracelet hanging off my wrist. It was a thin, dainty silver chain with a tiny silver beads fastened in middle along with an inch long silver bar.
"Pretty," Nate nodded. "It's nowhere near as awesome as my gift though." He pulled something from the back waistband of his jeans. "Tada," he announced as he handed me a gift bag.
"Awesome gift wrapping skills you got there, Nate," I chuckled, noting that the top of the gift bag was folded and wrinkled.
He held the bag out to me again, shaking it in the process and making whatever was inside rattle around. "Just open it, Sara."
"You're ridiculous," I chuckled as I took the gift from him and opened it. "Miniature soaps?" I sifted through the multi-colored and multi-scented tiny bars of soap and laughed. "Really, Nate, you are – oh." I blinked at the small box Nate was holding an inch away from my face. "What's this?"
"It's my other gift – the real one," Nate said proudly. "The soaps were just a distraction so you wouldn't see me pull this out of my pocket. Notice how this one is actually decently wrapped, thank you very much," he pointed out smugly. "Took me about fifteen minutes to wrap but it was well worth the time."
I tilted my head sideways, smiling. "What is it?"
Nate simply raised an eyebrow.
I chuckled and took the box from his hand and gentle removed the wrapper from the tiny cardboard box. "Since when were you such a smartass?" I opened it and lost whatever retort I'd formulated. "Nate," I whispered. "This is beautiful."
"I know," Nate was smiling goofily at me. "Mom needed some help lugging a box of crystal doorknobs she bought at an antique store last week. I saw it while I was lugging the door knobs around. You always wanted one when you were in your whole detective phase as a kid. I figured, better late than never, right?"
I took the miniature pocket watch out of the box. The watch itself was only a bit larger than a quarter and was fastened to a thin chain so that you could wear it around your neck and have it hang just below your breastbone. Like the bracelet Daniel gave me, this too was made of silver but it was burnished and scratched with age, use and, what I imagine, love. The imperfections on the surface didn't deter from it's beauty though – in fact, all it's tiny flaws merely added to it. Etched onto the front cover were the letters 'SN' in an elegant script. "Did you –?"
Nate shook his head, cutting me off. "I bought it as is. Isn't that cool? Apparently, it belonged to a woman whose initials were SN – Sara and Nate," he explained. "I was going to ask the shop owner if they had anything engraved with SOAP but I figured that was a long shot."
I shook my head at his joke and put on his gift. "I love it," I smiled at him genuinely after studying the silver of pocket watch against the deep red of my sweatshirt. "Really love it." I pulled him in for a hug which he warmly returned.
"No problem," Nate whispered and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. "Belated happy birthday." My thanks were muffled by the fabric of his shirt.
As we pulled away from each other, Daniel's blue sedan was turning the corner. He was waving cheerily at us through the glass of the passenger window. I smiled back and turned to face Nate again.
"Thanks again for this, I really love it," I told him before turning back to walk to the car. Nate, however, gently grabbed my wrist when I wasn't even two steps away from him. He was staring intently at Daniel's car.
"If you ever need someone to beat up that boyfriend of yours, you know you can count on me right?" His tone was light but his eyes were completely serious.
"I doubt that'll ever happen," I smiled at him reassuringly, "but you're definitely my number one guy for that."
Daniel greeted me with an extra happy smile when I got into the car. "Good morning."
I nodded in reply to his greeting. Daniel looked like he was about to explode with happiness. "Are you okay?"
"More than," he enthused. "So was the party yesterday fun?"
I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about any of it. "How'd your interview go yesterday? More importantly, what was this interview about?"
"It went good – very good actually." His smile wobbled for a second before it was back to being wide and charming. "How about I tell you all about it during dinner tonight? I'll pick you up at, say, six-thirty and we can eat at Mel's – maybe even watch a movie after? I know it's not the best way to spend Halloween night but," he trailed off hopefully.
"I would love to have dinner with you," I started before remembering a rather important detail. Instantly, my smile turned into a frown. "My parents already booked me for the night though. They wanted to have a little burger party thing since they're home for the week and we really didn't do anything for my birthday."
Daniel put on a pout that made me explode in a fit of giggles.
"You can join us for dinner, you know," I said when I paused to take a breath.
"I wouldn't want to –"
"You wouldn't be intruding on anything," I assured him before he could finish the sentence. "Mom and Dad won't mind. In fact, I think they'd be glad you could be there. They're pretty jealous that Adam, Becca and Ginny already got to meet you and they haven't."
Daniel didn't even blink. Instead, he flashed me a confident smile. "I'd like to meet them as well."
"It's decided," I nodded. "Tonight, you're going to step into the arena and face the lions."
Daniel laughed. "Judging by the fact that you are their child, your parents are a pair of kittens, at the most – not lions."
I stuck my tongue out at him and enjoyed the rest of the ride to school.
* * * * *
"He's meeting your parents, tonight?" Allie looked at me with a fierce panic in her eyes. Her lunch – a tuna casserole and a carton of grape juice – sat in front of her, completely passed over by the sudden turn my romantic life had taken. "Tonight as in, oh I don't know, six hours from now?"
Louis, Jenny and I were looking at her like she'd lost her top – again – which basically meant we were all giving her mild looks of interest. Allie was known to be overly dramatic in nine out of ten situations.
"Yes, Al," I smiled politely. "He wanted to go out for dinner but since Mom and Dad had this whole other thing planned, I thought I'd just invite him to that instead."
Allie's twin looked curiously at me. "And Daniel's parents are fine with that?"
"He's a teenager, Jen, not a first grader," Louis answered smartly next to her. "I'm pretty sure the Doctors Tarver won't be chaining their only son to a tree if he tells them he wants to go out on a date."
"Thank you, Captain Snarky Pants." Jenny slapped the back of her boyfriend's head. "What I meant was, are his parents fine with him spending Halloween away from them?"
Louis rubbed the spot on his head Jenny had slapped and stared at her again. "My earlier answer still applies, Jen."
"You two are too adorable – even when you fight." Allie sighed and cupped her chin in the palm of her hand. "Now, I want a boyfriend too."
"You might not have to wait that long." Jenny's eyebrows went up and down mischievously. "I heard you and a certain guy on the football team hit it off last night." While Allie proceeded to turn a bright shade of beet red, Jenny returned to the conversation she was having with Louis and I. "So are his parents fine with this whole shebang?"
"Both his parents are working the late shift," I explained. "Halloween's a busy night for the ER, I guess – and spending it indoors is better than walking around. Plus, it's not like Daniel can't be trusted."
"What about you? Are you nervous about your parents meeting him?" Allie piped in, the redness finally only contained in her cheeks. "Daniel is your first boyfriend. Aren't you nervous your Mom and Dad might disapprove of him?"
"Disapprove?" Louis scoffed. "Al, this is the twenty-first century – not a Shakespeare play – and have you met Daniel? More importantly, have you not seen him and Sara together? The two of them don't just make the nerdiest couple in the history of any high school ever, they're also the nicest."
My jaw dropped at his comment but Allie and Jenny only nodded to his words.
"Point taken," Allie conceded with ease. "Sara's parents are going to fall head over heels for the guy their daughter's dating. Then the two of them can ride off into the sunset and the end."
Her joke caused everyone – me, most of all – the shake our heads and chuckle.
Allie slid an uneasy look at me before speaking again. "But does anyone else here think that that happily ever after would be kind of bland?"
I stopped mid-bite of my sandwich, gently placed it down stared at her.
"Bland might have been a bad word," she quickly amended, seeing the tentative look I was giving her. "I mean, Daniel's a great guy. He's smart and charming and, let's face it, he could be reading toilet paper brands and I'd still be swooning after each syllable. And, Sara, you're pretty awesome too – well, pretty and awesome."
I gave her a small, encouraging smile to show her I wasn't mad. Deep inside though, I remained anxious to hear the rest of what she had to say.
"It's just ... it just seems like sometimes you two are a bit on the safe side? You've got a lot in common and that's great. But where do you draw the line between 'a lot' and 'too much' in common before it starts to feel like you're an old married couple that eventually ends up staying together out of nostalgia and comfort?" She paused to take a breath. "You two enver had that weird 'adjustment phase' where you try and get used to each other. You two ," she snapped her fingers, "fell into step almost immediately with absolutely no tension or discomfort – a lot like what would happen if you mixed water with water –"
Jenny held up one hand to stop her twin from rambling on. "Being comfortable with each other isn't a bad thing, Al. In fact, it's great that your boyfriend," she smiled at Louis, "is your best friend – one of your best friends," she added quickly when Allie started to frown. "As for that whole water thing ... it's the best liquid on the planet for a reason. Doctors even recommend drinking eight glasses of the stuff in a day –"
"Well, yeah, but it's bland, Jen," Allie repeated. "You still need to add something to add flavor to the thing otherwise you get bored of it all and – "
"Would you rather she date oil, Al?" Jenny bit back. "Or maybe gasoline since you throw a match at it and everything burns –"
I tuned out the twin's arguing and faced Louis. "I never thought I'd see the day relationships would be compared to liquids," I chortled.
Louis returned the smile as he looked on affectionately at his red-haired girlfriend and her blonde twin verbally sparring with gusto. "I can see Al's point. But I can also see Jenny's," he finally said in his usual pacifistic way.
Hearing this, I realized Louis was the best person to ask about
"Louis, Tell me the truth. I don't think Daniel and I are bland. Do you?"
He thought it over for half a minute while I tilted my head to the side in anticipation.
"Are you happy?"
Before that, I'm not sure what I expected him to ask. But this – the simple question of whether or not I was happy – was definitely not it. Subconsciously, I think I'd been bracing myself for when he asked me to list down what I did and didn't like about dating Daniel – though I already that, of those two lists, one was incomparably shorter.
"Yes," I answered within the same heartbeat. "I'm happy – very happy, in fact."
"That settles it," he declared. "You're the one dating him so really only your opinion matters. And that doesn't just apply to whoever it is you're dating but to life in general. As long as you're happy, you're not getting hurt and you're not hurting anyone, what I – or anyone," he looked pointedly at his girlfriend and her sister, "says shouldn't matter at the least."
I beamed.
In those few sentences, Louis had erased the doubts that were creeping in on me.
Of the four of us, Louis had always been the most reasonably when it counted. And right now, in the midst of the constant chaos that was Allie and Jenny full out yelling at each other next to us, he counted and it was his voice – and my happiness – that I decided to open my ears to.
We shared a quick and quiet high five before beginning the arduous process of calming down the twins before before the rest of the cafeteria – and not just the people around us – turned to watch them verbally throttle each other.
* * * * *
Because he'd promised to stop by the hospital for a quick Halloween get together with Beth, Braden and Trevor, Daniel didn't knock on my front door until five minutes before the first trick or treaters did.
There was only enough time for some very quick introductions between him and my parents – both of whom smiled like giddy teenagers when I said the words 'my boyfriend, Daniel' – before the doorbell began to rhythmically chime every two minutes and he and I were unceremoniously placed on trick or treating duty.
Both my parents, the only other people in the house, were busy preparing the food. Adam and Becca had decided to go out on a date on Halloween – which basically meant Becca was going to spend the entire evening fawning over how cute all of the kids' costumes were and that Adam was going to spend it earning his 'Husband of the Year' award – while Ginny was spending Halloween with her sister's family.
"I know this isn't how you pictured spending Halloween," I started when, for the twentieth time, he and I were walking back into the living room after giving out candy to a group of already very hyper children. As we sat down the couch, I once more flashed him an apologetic smile. "I mean, giving out candy isn't very exciting and –"
"It's actually very exciting," he cut me off. "You never know what costumes you'll be opening the door to. Will I be seeing Iron Man next? A vampire? A child wrapped in toilet paper who's supposed to a mummy? I honestly cannot hold in the anticipation," he said in an exaggerated joking tone.
"The free candy is reason enough to be doing this," he promised once we'd both calmed down. He smiled adorably at me and fished out a small pack of M&M's from the bowl of candy as if to cement his point. "Of course, getting to spend the evening with you is a veryclose second."
"Really, Daniel," I chuckled and rolled my eyes.
His smile was genuine as he pulled me up to him and dropped a quick kiss on my forehead. "As long as I get to spend time with you, I'll be very happy."
"It isn't just me you're spending time with though," I mumbled. "Mom and Dad are way too excited to finish preparing the burgers but once we sit down for dinner, it's a given that they're going to be grilling you about dating me."
"It's a good thing your boyfriend's considerably smart, then," Daniel smiled as he laced our fingers together. "I've never failed a test in my entire life and I've no plans to start now."
I let out a low chuckle at his off-handed smugness and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."
"You're very much welcome." He turned his head and gave me a quick peck on the lips. We settled into the couch to absent-mindedly watch the TV. A few second later, Daniel turned to me. "Sara, I have something to –"
"Enough with the PDA, you two," Mom called out cheerily from the kitchen. "The burgers are done."
Daniel suddenly looked pained.
"Hey, it isn't too late to back out," I offered weakly.
"I wasn't planning to." Realizing what I meant, he fixed his features into a bright smile. "I just wanted to share some news with you."
I stood up and pulled him to his feet. Once we were standing, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a short but sweet kiss. "You can tell me after dinner. I'm sure it can wait."
He gave me a tight-lipped smile then followed me to the kitchen, our hands twined gently between us.
The kitchen table was practically groaning under the weight of all the food my parents had prepared. There was a plate of freshly grilled patties, another of sesame-topped hamburger buns that were already sliced and waiting and plates of everything and anything you could think of placing on a burger. Once we were seated, Mom passed out glasses of her signature red iced tea.
I began to assemble my burger and Daniel took a second to smile at Mom in gratitude before doing the same. "Thank you, Mrs. –"
"Please, Daniel," Mom interrupted him. "You can just call me Zoe."
Dad smiled conspiratorially next to her. "Or you can call her by her real name – Zenaida."
"Clyde," Mom slapped him in the arm. "The boy doesn't need to know that my parents have a thing for giving their children horrible names," she chuckled.
Daniel looked at me questioningly. "What –?"
"My grandma and grandpa gave their three daughters fairly old-fashioned names: Gertrude, Zenaida," I smirked at Mom, "and Barbara. Out of the three of them, only Aunt Barbie likes her name."
"Because out of the three of us, it was the least embarrassing – and it suited her perfectly," Mom countered, absent-mindedly running a hand through her short, pale blonde hair. Adam and I had taken after Dad's coloring – brown hair and eyes – but we'd inherited our Mom's bone structure. "If anything, my sister loved how ironic her name was," Mom chuckled. "She wouldn't want anyone to know but she was a bit of a prankster as a kid –"
Dad frowned at her. "She was twenty-three when she thought it'd be a fun idea to paint my fingernails a bright pink while I was sleeping over at your apartment," he reminded her in a flat tone. "That was the night before I had to take my final exam as a pilot. I can still remember the examiner's face when I showed up for my test."
"Yes, well, Barbie was always loved to raise a little bit of hell – not as much recently but she was a more than a handful when she was younger." Mom bit her lip to stop herself from smiling at my Dad's playful irritation at her sister. "Though I shouldn't really be telling these kinds of stories in case Sara decides to share it with her cousins."
"Lennon would never let her live it down," I mumbled as I piled lettuce leaves and tomatoes on top of the patty and bun on my plate. "She's my cousin," I clarified with a smirk for Daniel's sake. "And she definitely got more from Aunt Barbie than her hair and eyes."
Mom nodded, agreeing. "Anyway, our oldest sister – Gertrude – and I changed our names the moment each of us turned eighteen. I went from Zenaida to Zoe which, at least, sounds alike –"
"They both start with Z, you mean," Dad interjected with a smile.
"Clyde," Mom warned him playfully. "Gertie however, changed hers to Lynn. A bit too plain and simple, if you ask me." She paused. "Then again, she did live her entire life being called Gertie."
"You and Aunt Barbie still call her Gertie," I pointed out as I finished assembling my burger with a flourish of ketchup right before dropping the top bun on it. "Gertrude, when you're feeling especially evil."
"Old habits die hard," Mom smiled and waved it off. "But enough about us. Daniel, tell us more about yourself."
Daniel easily obliged Mom's simple request. When he was done giving my parents a one-paragraph summary of his life, both of them had wide grins on their faces. Mentally, it was like stamped Daniel's forehead with the words 'approved to date our daughter'.
"It may sound weird for a mother to say this about her daughter," Mom started. "But I was always worried Sara here would never find someone she could click with in high school."
"I have friends." I pouted.
"We love Allie, Jenny and Louis – we do – and your mother and I are proud of every thing you've accomplished," Dad answered quickly. "But your social growth seemed stunted. At some point, every parent's got to wonder why their daughter isn't going out on dates – or even gushing about some new guy on the TV."
I chuckled. "You two make it sound like I was destined to die alone at Warren Brown."
"I can't say the thought didn't occur to us, sweetie," Dad smiled affectionately at me.
I quickly realized what my parents were getting at.
They'd never said it out loud but they always felt like I never fit into Warren Brown. In their mind, Smithson Academy would have been the place where I would have blossomed whether or not I'd been offered a scholarship to it or not. There, they believed, I would have been with kids like me – whatever that meant. It didn't help change their opinion that my grades and voluntary lack of a social agenda made me stick out like a sore thumb at Warren Brown.
"If I'd gone to Smithson, I'd never have met Daniel," I pointed out smartly. Though some of the effect was probably lost since my cheeks were tinged pink at the end of my argument.
"Smithson?" Daniel asked suddenly, looking at me very curiously. "Smithson Academy."
"It's a private school about thirty minutes away from here." I nodded. "It has the hallmarks of a great school – a stellar reputation, amazing programs for college prep and career training and advancement. It's practically a given that their graduates get into Ivy League schools and do great things with their lives," I explained half-jokingly.
"I know of the school," Daniel said quickly. This was the first time since I met him that he lookedanxious. "And you were supposed to go there?"
I nodded slowly. "They offered me a full scholarship for high school but I turned it down for," I paused, "personal reasons." A pit was beginning to form in my stomach.
Daniel slunk back in his chair. He blinked twice but his eyes were staring off into space blankly. The pit in my stomach slowly morphed into a black hole.
"Daniel?" My voice cracked at the last millisecond. I cleared my throat before speaking again. "What is it?"
He swallowed a lump in his throat and looked at my parents nervously.
As if picking up the cue, Mom and Dad suddenly looked very occupied with creating the perfect burgers.
Satisfied that we had a little bit of privacy, he turned back to me and lowered his voice.
"My interview yesterday was at Smithson – well, also for Smithson," he explained in a dull voice. "The director for the hospital my parents work at – we met at a couple of hospital functions – is part of the school board."
He stopped and looked at me for confirmation. I nodded – though it looked more like I simply jerked my head – for him to continue.
"The director pulled a few strings and managed to get me an offer for admission to the school for the remainder of the year." He paused. "It would give me a major head start for medical school."
I was smart enough to see where this was going – more than, even. But I deluded myself into thinking that it was just not possible.
Daniel swallowed one last time before he opened his mouth to speak again.
In that time, I wanted to just cover my ears and to never hear the words I knew he was going to say. But my limbs were frozen and, it felt like, as was my heart.
"I accepted the offer."
If I had a fork in my hand, it would have clattered to the floor and caused everyone to turn to me.
As it were, it was my burger that fell victim to gravity.
The effect, however, of everyone turning to look at me remained the same.
This does not mean that she isn't ending up with Daniel. This, my friends, is what we call DRAMA. The book isn't called Up in the Air for a reason. I plan on keeping you guessing until the very end.
The story recommendation is actually a book that I recently discovered (not through the comments) and finished reading. I hope you enjoy it!
Story Recommendation: "The Peanut Butter Banana Ratio" by the_bluestocking
Story Description: Even if she failed at life, at least she knew the perfect peanut butter to banana ratio.
Be sure to vote AND leave a meaningful comment to get the chance of getting your story recommended!
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- Chompy