Day 30
My fingers hesitate over the buttons, because I’m not sure how to tell her that I’m spending my birthday with Asher.
That I don’t even know what we’re doing, but I’m insanely excited.
Asher hasn’t told me anything about what he has planned, except that it’s definitely not a date.
Birthday celebrations don’t count. I should tell Kara everything, but the longer I go without telling her, the harder it gets.
So instead of telling her the truth, I type back yes.
I throw in a frowny face, just to show her how much I love her, and then I start looking through my closet for clothes that go along with the one clue Asher has given me so far about my birthday celebration: wear something black.
After dinner Asher and I wash dishes and he tells me he has to leave for a while, but there’s another clue in my room. I practically sprint away. In my room everything looks normal, but on the bathroom mirror there’s a message scribbled in red:
Trevor? At ten o’clock? I expected something elaborate from Asher, but this is starting to border on weird.
I kill an hour playing cards with my mom, tell her I’m spending the evening with friends, and then get ready.
At ten o’clock when I open the passenger door of Trevor’s car, the look on his face doesn’t inspire confidence in my wardrobe choice.
Technically, this isn’t a date, but we both know it is.
My black sundress rides up my thighs as I sit down, and I try to push away the nervousness that is rising up in me as we drive the streets that run along the lake.
“Do you need to blindfold me?”
Trevor laughs so hard I worry he can’t actually see the road past his tears. “Asher said you’d say that.” He shakes his head. “Literally. Word for word. You guys are the strangest pair.”
It should sound like an insult, but it sounds endearing the way Trevor says it, so I don’t say anything.
“Your clue was missing a very important word,” I say, as I step over limbs and twigs in my shimmery black flip-flops.
Asher is ahead of me, his hand grasping mine. “What?”
“Casual.” I mean it to sound annoyed, but I’m so curious I can barely muster any annoyance for the tiny scratches that are accumulating on my legs as we creep through the trees outside of Nadine’s yard. “Maybe wear appropriate footwear?”
Asher laughs and it’s not quiet at all. This doesn’t feel anything like the first two times we came here together.
He stops me a few feet ahead and twirls a finger between us, asking me to turn around.
There’s a piece of striped fabric in his hand, and I’m pretty sure it’s one of my mom’s dish towels.
“Now you’re going to blindfold me?” I squeak. “I know where we are.”
He doesn’t say anything, just smiles and twirls his finger again, and I obey. The material covers my eyes, and then my hand is in his again. There’s hot breath at my ear. “Slowly,” is all he says.
I step carefully, letting Asher direct me over anything in our path. After a few feet he wraps an arm around my waist, moving me more easily alongside him. Then we come to a stop, and he angles me just slightly to the right before letting the fabric drop away from my eyes.
When I turned thirteen my parents had a limo pick me and all of my friends up from school, and take us to this amazing concert a few hours away.
I was sure that was the best birthday present possible, never to be outdone …
until Asher went and brought my dream to life right in Nadine’s yard.
Seriously, where does he keep the notebook full of every weird thing I’ve ever said?
“When did you do this?” It’s maybe ten thirty, barely dusk. I look back to Nadine’s house, where all of the windows are dark.
“After dinner. I had some help moving things. And getting Nadine out of the house.”
Lindsay. I hate that I have to think of her on my birthday, but for this, I will.
For this, I will think her name without an ounce of annoyance.
Because spread across the yard is Nadine’s beloved collection, all posed to make their grand escape.
I spot Edith a few feet from her normal hiding spot, walking behind a green frog.
In front of it is a line of gnomes—two adults and two children—walking side by side as if they’re heading off somewhere together.
Through the yard there are animals and strange creatures, all cutting a path to the same place …
the lake. Little lines of sculptures stream out of garden beds, and like ant trails they all filter into one long line going down the center of the yard between Lake Houses A and B.
Asher pulls my hand and leads me farther into the yard.
We stand next to the giant brontosaurus, and from here I can see all of the animals lined up along the hill.
They stretch all the way to the dock, where two gnomes stand in orange life vests outside of Nadine’s beige pontoon boat.
A large penguin sits behind the wheel of the boat, also in a life vest. The seats are covered with frogs and turtles, geese in their tacky little outfits—now with goggles added—and a ferocious-looking lion taking up watch at the back, its head peeking out from the open door.
I look behind us, at the herd of animals fleeing Nadine’s house, and laugh.
And laugh.
And laugh.
Asher’s face may crack from smiling the way he is.
Breathlessly, I say, “Best. Birthday. Ever.”
“Better than ceiling stars?”
I nod.
Asher points toward a red balloon floating up behind one of the statues. “That’s your actual present.”
I take a step toward it. “Edith?”
Asher picks up the elephant and holds it between us. Up close, I can see that it’s a slightly different color than Edith; darker and more vibrant. “That’s actually Edith’s baby cousin, Ellen.” He smiles.
I look around at all of the strange creatures, each one perfectly placed, some of them obviously too large for one person to move. “This is … too much.”
Asher shrugs. “It’s not a big deal.”
But that’s exactly what this feels like. And I’m not sure if that should thrill me or terrify me, but it does both. And I wasn’t lying when I said this is the best birthday ever.