Chapter 10
Summer break was finally here. Of course, Blake was going to make me spend a few hours each day on schoolwork, but at least I’d have some free time. Blake took the cameras down for the summer, deciding to trust me.
This summer, I planned on hanging out with Hero and Ayden to make up for lost time, so good thing Blake wouldn’t be watching me all day. If Blake ever found out I snuck out, I would be in huge trouble, so I’m counting on not getting caught.
Blake had already gone to work, and I spent half of the day figuring out what to wear. I wanted to look nice. I ended up choosing a floral outfit: a short-sleeved shirt with flower print, and short blue jeans.
I stared at myself in my vanity mirror and noticed that my hair looked too plain.
I opened one of the drawers of the vanity and looked inside to see all of my hair accessories: bows, headbands, hair ties, and hair clips.
I rummaged through, picking up one thing and trying it on just to place it back down and try on another.
After many attempts of figuring out what hair accessory to wear, I finally found something that matched.
A yellow bow. I grabbed a hair tie and put my hair into a half ponytail, then attached the yellow bow.
Usually, I had my hair in two braids, but I felt like this was a special occasion and needed something different.
* * *
When I arrived at the park, I spotted Hero and Ayden in the distance.
There was a banner above a picnic blanket that read ‘We’ve missed you, Pepper!
’ and a picnic basket in the center of the blanket.
They both stood on both sides of the blanket; Ayden was holding a bouquet of roses, and Hero held balloons that he was tying around the pole that held up the banner.
As I got closer, Ayden noticed me first and ran over to me, hugging me tightly. Hero looked over as he had just finished tying the balloons and rushed over to me, keeping his distance because of Ayden.
After a nice long hug, Ayden looked deeply into my eyes and then down at my lips. Was he about to kiss me? I have never had a kiss before. What if I do something wrong? Was there a wrong way to kiss?
I inhaled and backed away from his grasp. It didn’t feel like the right time. Ayden averted his gaze, then gave a tight-lipped smile as he handed me the bouquet of roses.
“Thanks,” I said, smelling the wonderful fragrance of roses.
I turned to look at Hero. His arms were folded.
He was acting like he didn’t care about this day, but I knew he did.
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him.
After the hug, Ayden placed his arm over my shoulder as we went over to the picnic area.
He explained that it took them hours to set it up because they kept arguing over where to place the banner and what to put in the picnic basket.
“Sounds like you guys,” I said, laughing.
The three of us sat down on the blanket. “Ready to see what we put in here?” Ayden asked, moving the basket closer to him.
I nodded. Ayden pulled out three water bottles. He gave one to me, then threw one to Hero. He then pulled out a Caesar salad. My favorite food.
“That’s from Hero,” he said, setting the salad down on the blanket. I never told him my favorite food. He must’ve looked at my get to know me worksheet.
“Thank you.” I smiled at Hero.
Ayden cleared his throat. “This one’s from me,” he said, taking out a fruit bowl from the basket.
It included strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes.
He placed the fruit bowl next to the salad.
He then pulled out a snacks tray and gestured to the left side.
“This side is my picks.” He gestured to the right side.
“That side is Hero’s.” On the left side—Ayden’s picks—there were crackers, and baby carrots with ranch.
On the right side—Hero’s picks—there were pretzels and granola bars.
“There is also dessert,” Ayden added, peering into the basket, “but it will melt if I take it out now, so it’ll be a surprise for later.”
I nodded and we all started digging in. I ate the Caesar salad first, and it was delicious. Ayden looked a bit offended that I chose Hero’s choice of dish first, but I ignored it. I didn’t want to cause an argument. Not on this day. Not on the day that we finally see each other after months.
I watched as Ayden picked up a strawberry. He spotted me staring as he took a bite of the strawberry. “You want this?” he asked, scooting closer to me and extending the hand with a half-eaten strawberry. I took a bite and we both giggled.
“My turn,” I said, picking up a non-eaten strawberry and holding it up to his mouth.
He bit down on the entire strawberry, leaving only the leaves and stem.
The strawberry was poking out of his right cheek.
I let out a loud laugh. I hadn’t laughed like that in a while.
Hero—who was taking bites of a granola bar—tried to contain his laughter but failed.
All three of us laughed so hard, enjoying ourselves.
We hadn’t had a moment like this together in years.
I perked up when it was time to reveal the dessert.
I was excited to see the dessert because it was something that they were able to agree on.
Ayden stuck both of his hands into the picnic basket and took out a cake.
A whole cake. It wasn’t just any cake either; it was a custom cake with words on top.
The heart-shaped cake was yellow with some darker yellow icing laced across the top and the bottom of the sides.
Yellow and white sprinkles were placed on top of the icing.
I stared in the cake in amazement, although the amazed look soon turned into a look of confusion. On top of the cake, the words spelled out: Happy Birthday Pepper!
It wasn’t my birthday.
Hero spoke up. “We knew that you probably won’t be allowed to see us on your birthday, so we decided to celebrate your birthday today.”
Tears started to swell up in my eyes. “That is so sweet of you both.” I opened my arms, gesturing that I wanted to give them both a hug. They both lunged into my arms.
Knowing that they both at least compromised on the cake made me incredibly happy. Of course, I knew that it didn’t mean they would be friends again. But they agreed on something. They prepared this picnic for me. They worked together. And that’s something.
Easing out of the hug, we all stared down at the cake.
Ayden cut a piece of the cake with a plastic knife and placed the slice on a paper plate, then handed it to me.
I took the plate but waited for Ayden to cut a piece for Hero and himself before taking a bite.
I noticed the tension between them as Ayden handed the plate to Hero, but I was glad they were at least pretending to be nice to each other for me.
The two of them stared at me, waiting for me to take the first bite. I picked up a plastic fork and poked it into the slice. Inserting the cake into my mouth, the flavors instantly melted onto my tongue. This was, by far, the best cake I had ever tasted.
“Wow,” I said in astonishment. “This is so good. How much did it cost?” Both of their faces lit up, looking so proud.
“We made it,” Hero said. Ayden nodded.
They made the cake. Together. It looked so professionally made that I would have never guessed that the cake was made by them. I didn’t even know it was possible to be more amazed at the cake.
“I’m speechless.” I truly was. The three of us ended up eating half of the cake. It was perfectly split down the middle, making the shape of half a heart.
“What are we going to do with the rest of the cake?” I asked.
“Take it home with you?” Ayden suggested.
Bringing it home with me was out of the question. The minute Blake sees a half-eaten cake in the fridge, he would know I got it from my friends that I ‘shouldn’t’ be hanging out with and make a big fuss about it.
“I can’t,” I said. “My brother.”
“This may be insensitive of me to ask,” Ayden said, “but what happened to your parents?”
I averted my gaze and fidgeted with my hands. It was time to tell them the truth.
So I did.
“I’m sorry,” Hero said after I explained, giving an empathetic look. He knew how it felt to lose someone.
“We would’ve been there for you more if we knew,” Ayden said.
“You guys have always been there for me.” I smiled, then changed the subject. “Store the cake at one of your houses.”
“But then how will you eat the cake?” Hero asked.
“You guys can finish it without me,” I replied. “I really enjoyed it though, thank you.”
None of us wanted this day to end. We continued to talk for a few more hours until I checked the time on my phone.
5:06 p.m.
I’d hung out with them for over five hours. It was getting dark.
“I should be getting back. Blake might be home soon.” I stood up and brushed off the small leaves that fell onto my shirt.
They got to their feet with a gloomy look on their face.
“This,” I said, gesturing to the banner and the picnic area, “means so much to me. I’m happy that you worked together.”
I pulled the two of them into a hug one last time before heading home. As I was walking home, I texted another ‘thank you’ to the group chat. I wanted to make them see that it truly meant the world to me. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
As I was nearing the house, I spotted Blake’s car—a 2000 Ford Taurus—pulling into the garage.
Oh no.
This was bad.
Really bad.
I started to run at the speed of lightning—or that’s what it felt like.
I could hear the wind brush past me as I ran towards the house.
Arriving at the front step, I frantically searched for the key in my pocket, then unlocked the door and rushed into the bedroom, changing into more casual clothing and taking out my hair accessories.
I threw the pile of clothes into my closet and put the hair accessories back in the drawer.
I steadied my breathing as I heard Blake open the door, his sneakers hitting the floor as he took them off in the air; he didn’t care if it made a lot of noise.
I jumped onto the bed, opening my laptop that had been sitting there.
Blake jolted my door open, causing me to flinch.
He didn’t even knock. He glanced around the room, then at me.
“Have you been doing your schoolwork?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Good,” he said. “You can stop for today.”
“Okay.” I shut the laptop and set it down next to me, waiting for him to leave before actually working on the assignments I had to do.
He closed the door as he walked out.
Phew.
If I had been home a minute later, he would’ve caught me.