Chapter 29 #2
Mom hands me a small wrapped box. I blow out a breath, mentally preparing myself for it not to be a set of car keys. If I look disappointed, Mom will take it as a personal attack and delay the inevitability of me getting my car keys.
Dad laughs. “Why do you look like you’re trying not to puke?”
I shake off the face I’m making and gulp a breath. “Sorry,” I murmur.
“Don’t be sorry,” Mom says, stifling a laugh. “We just hope you like it.”
I sneak a glance at both my parents. Oh, geez. They’re both trying not to crack up.
It’s keys.
I’m getting my car.
The nerves flush out of me and I tear into the wrapping paper. I tear off the lid of the small box, and sure enough, there are my keys.
I sigh happily, my shoulders relaxing. “Thanks, guys. Seriously, thanks.”
Mom pats my shoulder. “We’re trusting you to be responsible. Don’t let us down.”
I salute her. “I won’t.”
“You wanna take it for a spin after breakfast?” Dad asks.
I brighten. “By myself?”
“No,” he snorts. “Boy, can’t you wait a day until you go for your test?”
I smirk. “Fine. You can ride shotgun, Dad.”
“Got any plans for the microscope, Milo?” Mom asks, moving toward the kitchen.
“Umm, yes,” he says, still inspecting all the parts. “I’ve been waiting for this more than Kai’s been whining about his car.”
“Pfft. Whining?“ I deflect. “As if.”
Milo looks up, his glass slipping down as he deadpans at me.
“Come on,” Dad says, moving toward the living room. “Let’s check it out. The guy from the dealership dropped it off early this morning. I’m glad you didn’t peek out the front window and ruin the surprise.”
I follow Dad toward the front door. “Is that why you ushered us in to the dining room so fast?”
“Had to find some way to distract you,” Dad says with a chuckle.
With my keys in hand, I leave the house and make my way toward the sleek silver sedan. My stomach flip-flops when the car unlocks. It has that new car smell, and the driver’s seat is buttery smooth in tan leather.
I grab the steering wheel and slouch into a relaxed position. “It’s even better than I remember it.”
“Your mom will still be heating up the frying pan,” Dad says from the front passenger’s seat. “Why don’t we sneak in a trip around the block?”
I start the ignition. “Or maybe three blocks?”
Dad winks. “Maybe.”
The car is a smooth ride. Wow, I’m finally sixteen. Tomorrow, I’ll be going for driver’s test, and then I’ll be able to take this car out whenever I want. Hopefully, with a beautiful curly-haired girl with pouty lips and olive skin by my side.
Before Mom reads us the riot act, Dad I are back in the house. In no time, a stack of three buttercream pancakes sits in front of me, doused in whipped cream and maple syrup. It’s not the same as going to Morton’s Café for the Sunday Special Pancake Stacks, but it’s a close second.
In the pocket of my sweatpants, my phone buzzes. I pull it out and my blood pumps hotter.
"Happy birthday xoxoxo," Tabitha texts.
"Thanks, gorgeous girl."
"What are you gonna do today?"
"Mom’s going overboard on pancakes. Then the guys are coming over. We’re probably doing a video game marathon until Jamie gets here."
It takes a while until her next text message comes through. Dad loads my plate with three more pancakes and I’m halfway through the third when my phone pings.
“Popular today,” Dad remarks with a throaty chuckle.
“Hello. It’s my birthday,“ I say as casually as possible.
“What about you, Milo?” Dad asks, filling his plate. “Are your friends texting to meet up today?”
Milo busies himself with slicing a knife through a pancake. “They won’t be here until Kai and his friends are long gone.”
I can’t help sniggering. “Just enough time for you to set up that goofy tabletop game.”
Milo sighs. “Case in point. We don’t need his attitude today.”
Mom groans, moving toward the dining table with a fresh pitcher of OJ. “Why you two butt heads is beyond me. Why can’t all your friends hang out together? It would be nice if we could have all the kids here at the same time.”
Neither Milo or I look up, but we both mumble, “Not gonna happen.”
As Mom continues to tut and mutter, I open Tabby’s latest message. "Is it not your birthday until she turns up?"
I tilt my head, re-reading her message, and then reply with, "We will wait for her and then head out to the skatepark. I was wondering if you’d be out and about then?"
"What? To meet up with you guys?"
I take a deep breath and subtly cross my fingers. "Yeah. Would that be so bad?"
The wait is only half as long for this reply. "Kai, I’m dying to see you."
“Yes,“ I hiss.
Dad looks up at me, his fork hanging in the air. “What was that, son?”
I wave him off. “Nothing.”
I text Tabitha again. "I’d invite you over, but my mom would pin you down with a million questions. Is it cool if we meet at the park?"
"Absolutely. Loads less pressure than meeting up in front of your parents. Yesterday was more than enough."
"Agreed. Man, I want it to be this afternoon already."
"What time does Jamie finish work?"
"3 p.m."
"That’s forever! Can’t you escape the house earlier?"
"We already made plans to wait. Besides, she’s coming with her aunt to have cake with us."
"Okay, I get it. It’s all planned," Tabby texts. "Just after yesterday, it’s hard not to be around you."
"Are you addicted to me, Tabby?"
"You bet I am, Malakai."
Seeing my full name sent by her gives me the strangest tingles.
Dang. I like it.
It’s a long wait to see Tabitha. Luckily, when the guys come over, we have a tough mission to complete in Shadow Quest. Morning quickly turns into afternoon as we take turns trying to get the Emerald Danger.
It’s getting increasingly difficult, considering our avatars keep dying on spears, swords, or spikes.
Just as Parker’s avatar slides under an elf’s sword, and Lewis’s avatar narrowly evades a trap door, my ears prick to movement downstairs. My parents, Milo, Maddy, and…
“Is that James?” I call out from my armchair.
“Coming King Kai!” Jamie calls back.
As we all cheer at the double-bladed swing Parker’s avatar achieves, Jamie bounds up the stairs. Once she gets onto the landing, she places a wrapped gift on the floor and grins at me.
I get up from my armchair and give her a one-armed hug. “Hi Jamie.”
She pats my back. “Happy birthday. I hear you guys can’t finish a mission without me.”
“Oh, get real,” Parker bites defensively. “We’re doing just fine, missy.”
With my arm crooked around Jamie’s neck, I guide her to the couch. “We’ve totally needed you. Ty, move it so Jamie can sit down.” When they all move across, I clap my hand at Parker. “Hand it over.”
With a scoff, Parker hands over the controller. “Excuse me, I’ve gotten us this far. I doubt you can ace the rest.”
I signal at Lewis to hand his controller to Jamie and ask her, “Shall when we team up?”
Lewis happily hands the controller to Jamie, saying, “Good luck, bro.”
In a cheer, I tap my controller against hers. “We got this, James.”
Jamie’s avatar nimbly moves across the rock formations, dodging the molten lava river. Having seen Parker and Lewis’s pitfalls, I move my avatar ahead of her. She races behind me, and our avatars meet at a rope bridge and we duck under the swinging axes.
I grunt at the next stage, already having seen Parker fail so hard at the booby-traps. I avoid two of them, and then my avatar plummets to his death.
“Dang it!” I hiss.
As if she memorized all my moves, Jamie evades every pitfall and trap. She jumps ahead as my avatar respawns, and while I’m trying to catch up, Lewis gasps.
Pointing at the top right of the screen, he cheers, “There it is! The emerald danger is at the top. You guys gotta get it.”
Parker grunts, his competitiveness taking a beating. “You guys are gonna finish the mission.”
I smirk at him. “Why’d you ever doubt me?”
He sniggers. “Well, you seemed useless without Jamie by your side.”
“It’s his birthday,” Jamie blurts. “Don’t call him useless.”
“Thanks, James.” As if it’ll help my character gain more air, I lean forward and lift my controller. “Come on, little Kai, you can do it!”
As if cheering at the screen does the trick, my character leaves Jamie’s in his dust and collects the emerald danger.
I launch off the couch and cheer. When the other guys jump up with me, cheering at the accomplishment we’ve been striving for all day, Jamie sits back. She muffles her laugh behind a cupped hand, knowing full well this wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t show up.
I give her a bow. “Thank you for your service.”
Clapping, she stands up with us. “Cake now?”
Parker bolts to the staircase. “Heck yes. Sugar is a must.”
As the boys head downstairs, Jamie signals for me to hang back. “They can’t start without you, and I want you to open your gift.”
She lifts the wrapped gift from the carpet, and it’s so cute I can’t help letting out a mocking tone. “Aww, Jamesy, is this from you?”
She hands it to me. “Happy birthday, King Kai.”
“Thanks.” It’s a foot tall and I can’t help giving it a shake. “It’s such an odd shape.”
She laughs. “Come on, open it already.”
Grinning, I perch on the arm of the couch, ripping at the paper and taped seams of the gift.
Jamie clasps her hands together and giddily squeaks. “I hope you like it.”
When the wrapping paper hits the carpet, my mouth falls open. Half boxed and covered in hard plastic; is a drone. I take a couple of tries to get my thanks out.
“Jamie, this is insane.” When the worry hits me, I look up at her. “Is it okay that you got me this?”
“What do you mean? Of course, it is. I know how devastated you were when your last one crashed. I saved up to buy you the latest model.”
“But…” I pause, gritting his teeth. “It’s a lot of money.”
“Okay, when I say I saved up, Maddy did help out. She’s downstairs, so you can thank her too.”
“I don’t think you’re getting what I’m saying. It’s fine for my parents or grandparents to buy something like this for me, but you and Maddy…”
I stop myself before I let something revolving around the word “poor” roll off my tongue.
“We wouldn’t have gotten it for you if it was a problem.” She squeezes my shoulder. “Just say thanks, Jamie.”
I exhale, releasing the tension, and smile at her. “Thanks, Jamie. This is great, considering I threw my last one against the wall and it smashed to pieces.”
Jamie sniggers. “Lemme guess. You took it as a personal attack when you couldn’t fix it?”
I brush past the comment. “We gotta head to the skatepark and test this out.”
“My thoughts exactly. It’ll just need to be charged first.”
“No wonder you were giving me attitude when I wanted to pick up the part for my broken drone. Did you have this already?”
“It was still on lay-away, but basically, yes.”
“Malakai,“ Mom shouts from below the stairs. “Will you hurry up?”
“We’re coming,” I call out, tucking the drone under my arm and dashing downstairs.
When I get downstairs, I veer around everyone to reach Maddy. “Thank you for this,” I say, giving her a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I know it can’t have been easy to get.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Maddy says, pleased. “We appreciate you, Kai. You’re such a good help at the cafe, and you keep my niece out of my hair.”
“Make sure you tell my mom I’m a good influence,” I joke, as Mom is still coaxing me to join her and my brother.
Mom corrals everyone to the dining table, and Dad haphazardly lights all sixteen candles. Like a big dork, Dad then conducts everyone like he’s leading an orchestra, and they all sing “Happy Birthday” to me and Milo.
“Okay, photo, photo,” Mom says loudly, pushing me and Milo together.
Milo grunts, finding his balance as Mom combs her hand through his mop of hair. “Mom. Quit it.”
“Okay, okay,” she mutters. She then rounds the table and raises her camera. “Say, cheese.”
I sling an arm around Milo, and he tenses in my grip. “Cheese.”
Dad makes sure everyone is force-fed cake, and then we finally get to leave the house. Mom reminds me my stitches have only just come out, and I ignore her the best I can.
Nothing is getting me down today.
I’m finally getting out of the house.
I’m finally able to see Tabitha.