Chapter 15
BEFORE
February, Twelve Years Ago
Ispent most of my sixteenth birthday hiding in my room. I hadn’t gotten so much as a text from Julie or Jackson all day, and I kept checking my phone to see if I just hadn’t heard it ring.
When my phone finally vibrated under my sheets, I dove head-first for it. The moment I read Julie’s name, I answered with a flustered, “Hello?”
“Hey Addie, what are you up to?” Julie said cheerily.
I tried not to sound disappointed. “Good, just hanging around.” I shouldn’t care that she and Jackson forgot my birthday. My birthday had never been important to anyone in my family, so I don’t know why I was expecting so much from them.
“Do you want to come with me to the restaurant? I was going to help Marie with inventory.”
I hadn’t done a single thing all day, so even though it wasn’t about me, I said yes.
When Julie picked me up half an hour later, I was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a blue oversized sweater I got from Goodwill, which I paired with my black high-top Converse.
I left my blonde hair in its natural pin-straight style down my back.
When I got into the truck, Julie had on a full face of make up, her hair was curled in long waves, and she was wearing a long-sleeve dress with black tights.
“You look nice for inventory,” I said as she turned up her CD so we could sing along.
“Oh, I was dressed nice for church this morning,” Julie said.
I raised an eyebrow. I had never once heard Julie say she went to church on Sunday mornings, but I didn’t press her.
She parked in the front of the restaurant on Main Street, which she’d also never done before.
I started to ask her why we were going through the front when she pushed open the door and a loud bundle of voices screamed, “SURPRISE!” I jumped back at the sound, looking over at Julie as she clasped her hands together and jumped up and down.
I was trying not to cry as I looked around the room.
A banner hung from the ceiling, a hand painted "Happy Birthday Addie".
Jackson was standing beneath it with his hands in his front pockets, grinning at me with Marie and Phil next to him, smiles plastered on their faces.
Behind them were half the employees from the restaurant.
Everyone started to hug me one by one, and when I got to Jackson, I squeezed him tighter than everyone else.
“Were you surprised?” he asked against my ear.
“Yeah, this was the last thing I expected,” I said with a huge smile on my face. “I thought everyone forgot about my birthday.”
Jackson nudged his shoulder against mine. “We’d never forget your birthday, you fool.” Nothing could ruin the happiness that was radiating from me.
Julie had created a game of Jeopardy! with questions about me in different categories. There were four different categories with four questions in each one. I couldn’t believe she knew enough random facts about me to make this game.
Marie chose a category first: Addie for 300.
“Okay Marie, lucky for you it’s an easy one. What brand of shoes is Addie always wearing?” Julie asked.
Marie crinkled her eyebrows, trying to think. “Vans, right?”
Everyone in the room started cracking up, including me.
“Marie, you’re joking, right? She’s literally wearing them right now,” Jackson said with a shake of his head. “It’s Converse.”
“I don’t know brand names! I’m old!” Marie said with a laugh.
“They have literally been around since like, the 1900s,” Jackson said, exasperated. I couldn’t stop laughing.
“That’s 300 for Jackson!” Julie called out, writing down the numbers under his name on a dry-erase board.
The questions continued, Julie asking things like “What is Addie’s go-to meal at the restaurant?
” (pepperoni pizza), “What topping can’t she stand?
” (mushrooms), and “Who is her favorite singer?” (I’m currently on a Miley Cyrus kick since watching the movie The Last Song).
Every time someone answered a question wrong, Jackson spoke up and got it right.
It made my heart skip a beat every single time.
The final question in the Double Jeopardy! round was “What’s Addie’s middle name?” I was surprised Julie even knew what it was to write the question, and she admitted to me later that she had to sneak into the restaurant’s office and look at my paperwork to find out.
I assumed Marie would be the only one to get it right since she helped me fill out my paperwork two years ago.
But when everyone flipped over their papers, Jackson was the only one who had the name Maria written down.
He even fully wrote it out: Addison Maria Bianchi.
I stared at his block handwriting with my lips parted. How did he know my middle name?
Jackson ended up winning the game, trying to play it off that we worked together the most out of everyone, and that’s why he knew all the answers. But it meant more to me than he would ever know that he remembered so many things about me.
***
We all played karaoke, with Jackson and Julie hogging the microphone for most of the night.
Phil drank until he was feeling goofy enough to sing a song, and Julie made him sing “When I Look At You” by Miley Cyrus.
Marie even let me and Jackson dance on top of the bar while he performed, and we had to keep grabbing each other’s hands to keep from sliding off the wet countertop.
After we had cake and ice cream, Marie handed me a bundle of presents.
Julie helped me unwrap them, claiming she was too excited to wait for me to slowly remove the wrapping paper.
I couldn’t help it—I’d never had so many presents before, and I wanted to savor the experience.
The first gift was money to buy more minutes for my cellphone.
The next bag was three different shirts, which Julie animatedly explained she picked out, and that they would make my brown eyes pop.
Rami got me a new backpack for school filled with new notebooks and supplies.
Jackson pushed the last gift toward me, and when I opened it, I found a new pair of high-top Converse. They were black high-tops like my current pair, which I’d been running into the ground for the past few years, except these had a piece of pizza embroidered onto the outside of the ankle.
“We custom ordered those online,” Jackson said, his ears turning pink.
I smiled up at him, already untying my laces and putting on the new pair. “They’re perfect!” I squealed as I stood up, bending my feet to break them in. “Thank you everyone!” I went around the circle and gave everyone a hug again.
“Jackson designed those himself. He was adamant you absolutely needed those,” Marie said in my ear. I smiled down at the shoes. Jackson had gone out of his way to gift these to me.
We ended the night by eating pizza—obviously—and lounging around the restaurant, talking about anything and everything.
I was the happiest I had probably ever been in my life, and nothing could bring me down.
These people had become my family; they did more for me than my own brother and mom.
Peter didn’t get me anything, and Mom didn’t so much as call me to wish me a happy sixteenth.
I hadn’t even heard from her since Christmas.
She was living it up with her boyfriend in Traverse City, probably making snow angels or some ridiculous shit like that.
I couldn’t believe how significantly my life had improved since Marie gave me this job. I caught Jackson smiling at me from across the room as we cleaned up, and I smiled back. This was the best birthday I had ever had. All because of the Delvecchios.
***
Jackson drove me home after the party by himself, and we sang along to “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” by Kendrick Lamar at an ear-splitting volume.
I was still on a high from the party, and even though it was February, we had the windows cracked, a soft stream of wind blowing our hair around in the car.
When we got to my house, Peter’s car was gone.
Jackson restarted the song, and we rapped through it together for a second time.
I could barely get the words out this time because of how hard I was laughing.
When it finished, I sat back against the seat and looked over at Jackson as I caught my breath.
“Your family is amazing. Thank you guys so much for the party. No one has ever done something like that for me before.” My entire face split into a smile, and Jackson turned toward me to match it.
“You deserve it, Addie, and so much more.” He swallowed deeply, his eyes never leaving mine.
“How did you know my middle name?” I asked him.
He looked at me timidly, then said, “Because I pay attention to you.” He leaned forward slightly, and my heart raced.
Don’t mess it up by screwing around with Jackson.
I didn’t care about what Julie said. No one was around, and I was craving Jackson’s touch.
Nothing had happened since the time we got caught, and I didn’t want to wait another second.
I closed my eyes, but felt him kiss the side of my cheek.
I opened my eyes and found him an inch away from me.
He licked his lips before looking down at mine.
He was so close. So, so close. I could smell the frosting from my birthday cake on his breath.
I wanted to taste it, to relive the kiss from the closet.
I leaned forward but he backed up before we could connect.
We stared at each other, one of Jackson’s hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white, the other one sliding to the headrest behind me.
I rested my head against his arm, and he positioned his hand so he was cradling my head.
“I’m not supposed to touch you,” Jackson whispered. At least he sounded as disappointed as I felt.
“What if I want you to?” I admitted.
He pulled his arm back slowly, rubbing his hands up and down his face before staring out the windshield. “We can’t,” he said with finality.
I stared at him for a while, wondering if he would change his mind. A muscle kept popping in his jaw from how hard he was clenching it.
I reached a hand toward him, for just one touch, but he pushed himself against the window and closed his eyes like I was about to burn him.
I put my hair behind my ears before grabbing my gifts and hopping out of the truck.
“Happy birthday, Addison,” he said without looking at me.
I knew he was fighting his feelings, because Jackson would’ve carried my presents to the door for me if we weren’t alone. That meant he didn’t trust himself to follow me to my front door. I shouldn’t have felt happy about that, but I did. At least it meant he wanted me, too.