She became defensive. “What? It was just a question. If he doesn’t want to answer, he doesn’t have to answer.”
AJ laughed at my short quarrel with my mother. “It’s fine, really. I don’t have anything to hide.” He cleared his throat before speaking. “Yes, we were together for a little while, but she started acting strange and I tried to back away. She didn’t like that too much and that’s when she started following me. I ignored her for the most part because she hadn’t done anything too drastic, but then when Sam came into the picture Leila kicked it into overdrive. I tried going to her house and talking to her father before she went too far and tried to hurt Sam, but he blew me off. But I hope you understand that I did everything I knew to do to protect Sam.”
Daddy was obviously pleased to hear that AJ had stood up to Leila’s father in my defense. He was learning new things about AJ and I could see in his eyes that he had now completely knocked down the walls that were built up between them.
We sat there talking like this until after two in the morning. My parents seemed to enjoy hanging out with AJ and I as much as we enjoyed them. Daddy locked up as Mom straightened the living room before they went up to bed. They said goodbye to AJ and retreated to their room. I watched him pace toward his car, and I found myself missing him even before he was out of sight.
*****
The next morning, mom woke me up at five minutes to eight. She’d planned a big day for us. She made nail, hair and massage appointments. We had reservations at a restaurant near the spa for lunch too. I rubbed my eyes sleepily, threw my covers to the floor and dragged myself to the bathroom to shower. That woke me up a little, but I still dozed off once while I was eating my cereal. The long night had me feeling a little disconnected, but mom was alert and chipper – annoyingly chipper. “Come on honey. We’ll be late,” she said. I followed her to the car unwillingly, trying to muster up some excitement, but it was useless.
Six hours and one bad hairstyle later, we returned home. I couldn’t wait to get to my room to fix the mess of curls that were fluffed out all over my head. I stared into the mirror at the poodle-like do. The only thing missing was the tiny bow in the front. I grabbed my comb and raked it through my hair – breaking a few of the teeth out of it as I pulled it. I heard the front door open downstairs and Daddy was talking to someone but I couldn’t make out the other voice. I peeked out my door and down into the foyer, but Daddy and whoever the visitor was, were no longer standing there. After I turned and walked back to my bedroom, Mom called me down to the living room. My hair still wasn’t cooperating, so I pulled it up into a messy puff ball on top of my head and gave up with a sigh. I tossed the comb back onto my dresser and traipsed down the stairs.
I rounded the corner to the living room to find Mom, Dad, and AJ standing there. AJ was smiling at me as soon as I entered.
“What’s going on?” I asked suspiciously.
Mom didn’t say anything as she moved toward me smiling. She covered my eyes and led me out the front door. AJ grabbed my hand and helped me down the walkway and when we came to a stop, mom uncovered my eyes.
My vision was a little blurry at first, but it didn’t take me long to realize what they’d done. “Surprise!” Mom screamed.
“I love it!” I yelled. It was a brand new car – a sleek red convertible.
“Your father and I were planning to get it for you as a graduation present, but it became a necessity after the old one got totaled. AJ met Daddy here and hid his car in the garage after you and I left this morning.” She was so proud that she’d pulled this off without me having any idea what was going on.