by Destiny Webb
He laughed at me. “No. Come on. Just open it.”
I tore off the wrapping paper slowly, revealing a powder blue, rather expensive box. I shot him a look to tell him that I already knew it was too much. Gently, I opened the box.
I have to say, my feelings for the bracelet were somewhat mixed. While on one hand, it was a beautiful silver charm bracelet, on the other hand, the only charm on it was a frog. I frowned up at him in confusion. Upon seeing my face, he started laughing hysterically. Puzzled, I stared at him.
“Oh man. Sammy. I’m sorry. I had to. You should have seen your face. The frog isn’t really a part of the gift. Just a gag.”
“Jerk,” I grumbled lightly. “I thought you were serious.”
“No,” he laughed again. “I’ll take it off for you.”
“No, no. No, you won’t. I want everyone to see how mean you are,” I teased, smiling up at him. I had him put the bracelet on my wrist, and I shook it into place.
“Really though. This is the charm I got for it.” He handed me a small box, about the size of a ring box, which was in his pocket. I took it from him gingerly and opened it to find a simple shooting star lying within it.
“Is there a story behind this, or do you just know I have a thing for stars?” I asked, taking it out of the box and handing it to him to put it on my wrist.
“You remember that night we went to the movies?” he inquired, attaching the shooting star to my bracelet.
“Of course. How could I forget?”
“Well, that night when we saw that shooting star, you were my wish. Always; it was my wish for you.”
My eyes got teary and I looked up at him, smiling. He leaned forward and wiped the tear that had slipped down my cheek, smiling back at me. He gazed into my eyes as he leaned forward and kissed me softly. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck, before he pulled back and brought the other gift over, excitement bright in his eyes.
“Ready?”
“For what?”
“Something epically amazing.”
“Like?”
“Like you have to walk with me down to the dock to find out.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sean dragged me over to the dock. Once we got to the edge, I slipped off my sandals and we sat down, letting our feet hang over the edge. The water was like a chilling bath made of marble as my feet sunk into it. The full moon, glowing in a strange way, glistened off the dark mirror, making everything illuminated. A ring circled the moon, and I remembered the old wives’ tales my grandpa would tell me about great fishing days if the moon had a circle around it the night before. I listened to the crickets, and the sounds of the night reminded me of our long camping trips from my childhood.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Sean, eager to see me open it, nudged the box toward me. He was like a little kid on Christmas. I smiled at him and picked it up. It was heavy. I wondered what on earth could possibly give us reason to come out to the lake.
I pulled the ribbon, tied in a sloppy bow, and it came undone easily. The wrapping paper came off easily as well. The simple brown box was taped at the top. I yanked the corner of the tape where it wasn’t sticking to the box. It put up more of an effort to stay on, but in the end, I got it off as well. I opened the box and looked inside. It was an arrangement of small fireworks with long fuses mounted to a piece of what appeared to be Styrofoam.
I slid it out of the box and looked at him. “Thank you?” I said, confused.
“Well, that’s not really the gift.” He took the arrangement from me and sat it on the water. It stayed afloat as he pulled out a stick lighter. I watched as he lit the fuse and softly pushed them away from the dock.
As I waited for the fireworks to go off, I felt a rush of different emotions come over me. I was happy, touched, and somewhat overwhelmed, but most of all, I felt loved like I never had. No one had ever done anything like this for me before.
Then, as quickly as he had lit them, they started to go off. Brilliant reds and blues erupted with a loud crackling in the silent night. Greens and purples overflowed gracefully. It was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. A big grin spread across my face and I tossed myself into Sean’s arms and gave him a big hug.
“Oh, my God. I think that is the best gift anyone has ever given me!”
“Really?”
“Most definitely. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.” He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me slightly. “I’m glad.”
“Hey! Who’s making all that racket?!”
An older man was walking with a cane at an extremely fast pace towards Sean and me. I giggled and grabbed my shoes. I pulled Sean up and we ran for it, laughing, still holding hands. He led the way back up to the picnic area. The ground was cool on our wet feet as we ran through the tall grass. We finally got back to the picnic area, where our leftovers from the midnight picnic were still sitting. The candles were mostly burnt out and the fire was getting low, but it still held the magic as it had when I first stepped into the area.
We came to a walk and eventually stopped. I looked at Sean and he tugged my hand, bringing me into his arms. I stretched my arms up to his shoulders as he bent his head down. Our faces inched closer to each other, like there was a gravitational pull.
“Sammy?” he whispered, putting his forehead on mine.
“Yeah, Sean?” I replied, closing my eyes.
“Sammy. I’m so sorry about leaving you the other night. I wasn’t thinking about your feelings, and I wasn’t listening to what I wanted to do. And I’m sorry that I hurt you. I promise that is the last time I will ever pick Tasha over you.”
I opened my eyes and gazed into his, putting my hands on his cheeks. Then, with an undeniable passion, our lips collided together softly. He hands slid down around my waist and pulled me closer.
Without breaking the kiss, we slid as one onto the blankets left from the picnic, which seemed like so long ago. His hands moved up and down my body, searching for a place to rest. Eventually, they ended up at the top button of my shirt. When I made no move to stop him, as I had done before, he unlocked his lips from mine and bowed his head towards my ear.
“Are you sure?” he whispered into my ear, breath shaking slightly. I was lost for words. I had never been so sure of anything else. I wanted him more than anything.
At my silence, he raised his head up to look in my eyes. I don’t know what he saw in them, but his were filled with uncertainty and worry. Not able to answer him with words, I gave him a look of reassurance and lifted my lips to his once again.
***
“Sam. Sammy, wake up sleepy head.”
I felt a slight nudging at my shoulder. Groggily, I opened my eyes and found that I was alone on the cold ground. I realized that I had fallen asleep and quickly grew alarmed. I tightened the old quilt around my body and looked around for my clothes. It had grown colder while I was asleep, making the air frigid and thin.
“What time is it?” I asked, looking up at Sean. He was already dressed, folding blankets, looking at ease.
“Three. We need to be heading back soon.”
I groaned and covered my head with the quilt. There were no words to describe our night. Everything just seemed so perfect.
“Can you hand me my clothes?” I muttered, head still under the blanket. I heard him walk over, pick up my clothes, and start to walk towards me, but then he stopped. I poked my head out from under the quilt.
“You know, I’m at an advantage here. I think that you should come get them yourself,” he smiled, smugly. I made a face. His smug smile turned into a full grin and he put the hand holding my clothes behind his back. I rolled my eyes and wrapped the quilt around me.
Shivering slightly, I stood up and walked over to him. When I reached him, he pulled me in and kissed me in a way that made me dizzy. I reached my hand behind his back and tried to get my clothes from his clutch, but he pulled away. I tried to grab the clothes again and snagged them suc
cessfully.
“Jerk.” I muttered.
I turned and started to walk away, but he grabbed me from behind and dragged me back toward him. His breath was hot on my neck and sent chills down my spine. His hands slipped down my hips. Playfully, I tried to get away from him.
He snickered at me as I tripped, bringing us both down. He rolled me over on my back so I was facing him and kissed me seductively. He pulled back and looked at me.
“I’m sorry I’m such a jerk,” he murmured against my lips, kissing me again. I smiled against his lips, wrapping my arms around him.
“You know, we still have a few hours before we need to be back. No one will be up for a while,” he implied, rubbing my sides.
He was making it really hard to say no while he was kissing my neck up and down, but I was really tired and did want to get some sleep. I took a deep breath and shook my head slightly.
“As much as I’d love to, I’m tired. I wanna sleep.”
“Okay. It is your birthday. I guess I can give you what you want.” Sean kissed me once more on the top of my head and turned to go gather things up. I pulled on my swimsuit, then my clothes, and turned to look at him. He looked like he was in his own world.
“What does this mean?” I asked, tugging on my new bracelet.
His eyes were distant as he folded up the blanket. My heart stopped in fear for a moment. I wanted him to say that this meant we were together. That was what this all meant, wasn’t it?
“Sean, what does this mean?”
“I’m not sure,” his voice was distant and came out distorted. My heart dropped.
“What do you mean, you’re not sure? What we did, that was a sure thing. I didn’t just give myself to you on a whim. I was sure! And, you seemed pretty sure of yourself when you were undoing your—”
He covered my mouth with his hand and pulled me closer to him. I tried to pull away, but failed miserably to his strength. He uncovered my mouth and wrapped his arms around me tighter. I thrashed in his arms and slipped out a few choice words. He tightened his grip around me and eventually, I gave up. He lifted my chin with his finger and looked in my eyes.
“Are you quite finished yet?”
I felt my jaw tighten shut and I nodded.
“Good. Now, it’s not that I’m not sure about us Samantha, because I am. I want you. I want to be with only you, for as long as the world is spinning.” My heart thumped against my chest involuntarily. “I meant that I’m not sure what I’m going to do about Tasha, and Cassie, and just, everything. But, it’s you I want, without a doubt.”
I smiled. Despite worrying that that should have bothered me, happiness seeped through me. He said exactly what I wanted to hear in the first place. “Why couldn’t you just have said that to begin with? You scared me.”
“I was off with the thoughts running through my head.”
I laughed softly.
“Apparently.”
He smiled and put his lips to my forehead.
“Please, don’t make me regret this,” I whispered. He looked down in my eyes and answered me with a single kiss.
“Come on, let’s get going. You look like you’re going to fall over right here,” he chuckled as he scooped me up into his arms and walked over to the quad, where everything was already strapped in. He stood me up right, climbed on and beckoned me to sit. I hopped on clumsily, wrapping my arms around his waist and leaning my head against his shoulder. He started the quad and began to drive off. Happily, I closed my eyes and sighed.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Buzz…Buzz…Buzz.
Sleepily, my hand searched for my phone. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I knew I wasn’t ready to wake up yet. Finding my phone, I unplugged it and pulled it over to me, opening the text.
Good morning beautiful. Happy birthday. :]
I smiled groggily and warmth spread through me as I remembered everything from the past night. It was amazing, everything that I had ever imagined and more. In high school, I had heard stories about girls’ first times being horrible, not ever how they pictured it in the movies, but this, this was just spectacular.
Morning :] I replied, closing my eyes and drifting back to sleep. I peeked at my phone as it vibrated again.
What are you up to?
Kinda sleeping. I may go get ready. But idk.
Well, sleep as long as you want, take a shower, then come find me.
Mmkay.
I fell back asleep for another hour or so before waking up and getting ready for the day. Bright eyed and perky, I made my way down the hall to Sean’s room. Easing the door open, I knocked on it gently. Sean was lying on his bed, reading a book. Brian walked out of the bathroom and looked at me weirdly when he saw me.
“What?” I asked, looking down at myself to make sure I looked alright.
“Nothing, you just look…different.”
“Okay freako.” I laughed at him. “Happy birthday.”
“You too,” he returned.
“You going over to Alisha’s?”
“Yeah,” he said, picking up his keys and his wallet and sticking them in his pocket. “I’m gonna bring Cara over too when I come home.”
“Okay. Cool.”
With a short “later,” Brian departed, leaving Sean and me sitting on his bed. I scooted over to him and picked up the book he was reading.
“So, you finished The Notebook?” I asked, smirking slightly.
“Yeah.”
“How was it? Since, you know, I didn’t actually get to finish it.”
“Eh. It was alright; the ending wasn’t as good as the movie,” he said absentmindedly.
I stared at him in shock.
“What?” he looked up at me.
“You saw The Notebook?”
Blushing, he looked back down at his book.
“Um…no, of course not!” he denied too quickly.
“Wow. You’re way more of a girl than I thought,” I teased, nudging him in the ribs.
He raised his eyebrow at me.
“You better take that back,” he threatened.
“Never!” I giggled, getting off the bed, retreating from him.
“Take it back Samantha,” he growled playfully, sliding off the bed too, towering over me.
“No. You can’t make me,” I proclaimed, standing my ground.
“You wanna bet?” He took another step towards me.
“No,” I laughed, turning and running from him. He followed, but wasn’t quick enough to catch me before I made it into the bathroom, slamming the door and pushing up against it.
“Open the door, Samantha,” Sean demanded.
“Nope. Never.” I tried locking the door, but Sean pushed it in time, creating a small gap. I tried pushing against it again, but slowly felt my advantage slipping as my feet slid against the tile floor.
Sean rammed through the door and into the bathroom quickly. He grabbed me around the waist as I tried to escape.
“Take it back.”
I shook my head, still trying to break loose. “Nuh-uh.”
“Then you leave me no choice.” He pressed me up against the wall, interlocking my fingers with his and putting them next to my head. Affectionately, he leaned in and pressed his lips tenderly against my neck. Closing my eyes, I felt him trail kisses up my neck and jaw to my lips. Resting against me, Sean kissed me gracefully, breathing coolly on my lips, barely touching them, and leaving me wanting more. When I tilted my head up to him, he pulled back slightly.
“Take it back,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss me more passionately. I slid my hands from his and up around his neck, holding him to me while we kissed. Overpowering me, he kissed me more seductively. “Do it. Take it back, Sammy,” he murmured.
I sighed in blissful defeat. “Okay,” I mumbled against his lips. “I take it back.”
He smiled and gave me one quick kiss before pulling back.
“I win.”
“Hmph,” I snorted, smiling back at him.
&nb
sp; “So, what do you want to do today, Birthday Girl?”
“I don’t know. Not much. Let’s just go swimming down at the lake or something.”
“Okay,” he kissed me again, “Swimming it is.”
***
We came back a couple of hours before dinner to find that chaos had ensued.
Sean was carrying me on his back when we heard the yelling from inside. I patted him on the shoulder to let me down at the sound of my mom’s astonished voice shrieking in the family room.
“So, you’re what? Just going to leave?!”
Sean sat me down, took my hand, and followed me as I proceeded into the cabin with caution.
“Sharon, I have to. It’s an emergency meeting. I can’t miss it. It is my practice.”
“This is your vacation with your family Charles, and your children’s eighteenth birthday! You can’t just leave.”
“Wait,” I interjected, taking a step away from Sean and towards Charles. “You’re leaving?”
There were footsteps from the hallway and Brian and Alisha came in, followed shortly by Cara and Sarah. All four of them stopped at the scene in front of them. Sarah’s eyes, full of horror, were locked on her father.
“You wouldn’t understand, Samantha.”
“Oh, really?” I took another step forward, challenging him. “Try me.”
“It’s an emergency meeting to discuss the financial status of a high profile client.”
“Here’s the kicker though: that seems like something they can do without you, or put off for a week or so.”
“Well, Ms. Know-it-all. You go to school for countless years and you get a degree and pass the BAR exam. After that, you intern and practice and open your own firm. Maybe then, but still, probably not, I’ll take your advice. That isn’t going to happen, though, because you won’t. You don’t have the drive or dedication it takes to amount to what I have, to succeed and to have what I have, be what I am. You don’t have what it takes.”
“Sam doesn’t have what it takes?” Brian said, stepping into the boxing ring, getting closer and closer to Charles with each step he took. “Really Mr. Hotshot? Mr. ‘I’m-A-Family-Oriented-Man-But-Will-Drop-Them-For-Work-In-A-New-York-Second’? Sam has gotten straight A’s for all four years of high school, and even before that. She was accepted into three Ivy League schools and given high honors. She created her own clubs and got countless awards. And you don’t think she’ll make it? She’ll make it. And she’ll make it bigger than you ever will.”