Chapter Twenty-One
Valerie
When I got home I felt excited and nervous, all at the same time. I couldn’t believe what had happened. It had all happened so fast, that it hardly seemed real.
Yet the memory of every radiant second was enough to convince me and enthuse me beyond any other encounter I had ever experienced. It might have been random and fairly quick, but it was also ravenous, passionate and all around perfect.
I had dreamed about this all of my life and now that Shawn and I had actually gotten together, I couldn’t imagine a better life or world.
After I got home, I decided rather quickly that the reason that I found this so unbelievable was that, a long time ago, I had been resigned to the fact that this would never actually happen.
I thought that I was all right with that. In fact, there was a part of me that knew I was fairly all right with that. I had wanted to be friends with Shawn, but I had given up on the idea that we would ever be more than that.
Before he had made it official two years ago, I had really decided it was a major improbability a long time before.
Asking him if he had any interest in dating me two years ago was really just a last ditch effort, more than it was hopeful; and therefore, now that my practically lifelong wish had come true, I could hardly believe it.
Am I dreaming? I thought to myself as I made my way into the house and up to my bedroom. I didn’t think so, but considering the shock that I felt, I knew that I really couldn’t be sure.
Yet, as I climbed into bed, I thought of how tired I was and decided that I couldn’t possibly be dreaming already; after all, people can’t be tired in dreams and with the emotional train wreck that I had gone through today, I was feeling every bit of the exhaustion that came after the euphoria of the final moments of the day.
Within a few minutes, I really was asleep and when I woke up the next day, I realized it was a little later than I normally woke up.
Still, the house seemed strangely quiet. It was possible that my mother and stepfather had gone out, which wouldn’t be abnormal. After all, I was an adult now and therefore, they didn’t have to keep tabs on me or tell me what they were doing.
Most of the time, I wouldn’t have cared either, but today, I had woken up in a particularly good mood so I wanted to enjoy the morning with my family.
But when I went downstairs, I realized the house was eerily quiet. I found it strange, as though at any moment, something monumental was going to happen, but I had no idea what.
Oh God… I thought suddenly, what if our parents found out about me and Shawn? At the thought, my heart began to pound and I felt a lump forming in my throat.
I thought about calling my mom to find out what they were up to so that I could calm my nerves, but I soon realized there was a good chance that would only make things stranger.
If they had a hint as to what I was doing with Shawn last night, my checking up with them would be weird and incriminating. So I focused on getting up, getting dressed, taking my shower and eating my breakfast, just like it was any other day.
Even though I was entirely positive that this wasn’t any other day. My two-year relationship with Zachary was over, but I had finally reached a point of no return with my relationship with Shawn.
Today was the day after the night I had waited for the majority of my life and it felt great!
There was no guilt and there was no anger. There wasn’t even a sliver of regret. All I wanted was Shawn. The only person that I wanted to be with at the moment was Shawn.
I felt that instead of making us even more estranged, for the first time, the two of us had done something that had actually brought us closer together, and it felt amazing. I couldn’t wait to do it again, but first, I knew that I had to figure out what I was going to do to get rid of this paranoia.
I didn’t text anyone, even though I had about twenty texts from Zachary; most of them were left unread as well as completely unwanted while I got ready for my day.
All I wanted to do was check in with Shawn and see what was going on, but I was a little afraid. The strange feeling that something big was about to happen kept echoing in my mind and there was a part of me that did not want this feeling to end any sooner than I feared it inevitably would.
I just tried to relax and soon enough, I heard a car pull up in the driveway.
Oh good…I thought, feeling a smile cross my face, they’re home. I sighed with relief, proud of myself that I had made it that far without calling anyone or in any way trying to relieve the pressure that I felt about what was going on today. I didn’t quite understand it, but I knew that I didn’t need to. I was going to be able to just relax as soon as they got inside and I was able to talk to them.
However, in one final act to prove there was nothing that they should be suspicious of, I didn’t bother to go to the door. I hadn’t met anyone at the door in a long time. If I started now, it would be strange. So, I stayed at the kitchen table, eating my breakfast and wondering if the strangeness that I felt was all in my head.
As a matter of fact, I thought, narrowing my eyes as I tried my best to pinpoint why the strange sensation was happening, both Mom and my step-dad were acting weird all week.
I quickly concluded that must be why I was thinking that their absence this morning, before I got up, was a little odd.
“Valerie!” I heard my mother call as she walked in the house and I felt my stomach twist, even though there was nothing wrong with and certainly nothing to fear from the way she spoke.
“I’m in here, Mom!” I called, scooting off the stool that I was sitting on. I made my way toward her, finally feeling as though it would be appropriate.
“Oh good!” she exclaimed when she saw me. “You’re dressed.”
“Yeah, I got up a little while ago.”
My mother smiled brightly and I figured that unless they were really happy with the fact that Shawn and I had gotten together, they probably didn’t know.
Yet, there was still a creepy sense about the whole situation that I refused to ignore. So, finally, I broke down and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Perfect,” she answered. “Wait until Paul comes inside.”
I squinted my eyes at her. “Okay…” and felt another bubble of fear, anticipation and perhaps, excitement churn in the pit of my stomach. I felt strange. If they were upset, then they were sure being pretty disarming about it. However, I just resolved to stare at my mother and keep my guard up slightly, while my mother waited, somewhat impatiently for her husband to come inside.
When Paul finally did arrive, he was smiling brightly too.
My mother began when he came over to her and put his arm around her. “So, we know that it’s not your birthday quite yet, but we wanted it to be a surprise.”
Confused, I looked from Paul to my mother, who were both excited and reeking of the strange sensation that I had felt since I woke up.
I smiled. “Thank you,” but realized then that they did not appear to be holding anything, until my mother brought out a very small box from her purse. I wondered if it was jewelry, since that was what it resembled.
The white box had a red bow on it and after fluffing it up, my mother gave it to me.
“Happy birthday!”
Carefully, I took the box. My birthday wasn’t until the middle of the week and with everything that had gone on over the course of the past twenty-four hours, I hadn’t even thought about it. And I normally love my birthday.
I smiled down at it and realized that my hand was shaking slightly. Ignoring the feeling, I pulled the top off of the box and stared, confused at first, down at a pair of car keys.
When it clicked, however, I screamed. “Oh my God!” I took the keys out and dropped the box on the ground as I jumped up and down. “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
My mother and Paul laughed.
“Those are just the keys…” Paul chuckled. “I wonder what she’s going to do when she sees the whole car.”
Realizing that he was right, I raced outside into the driveway and saw a red convertible sitting in the driveway that had never been there before. I couldn’t believe it.
“Oh my God!” I screamed, just before a shriek expelled from me and I ran toward the car. When I finally made it over to the door, I fumbled with the opener until I heard the locks click. I pulled open the door and hopped inside.
Throughout my entire life, both my mother and my stepfather had insisted that we were going to have to buy our first cars. They had proved it with Shawn and so I had never even thought to entertain the possibility; but now, here it was.
Unless this was all some big joke, I couldn’t believe what was happening. The inside was leather and from the looks of it, flawless. My heart was beating a million miles a second.
“Do you like it?” my mother asked.
“Oh my God!” I screamed, “I love it!”
I then got out of the car and made my way toward each of them, giving them a hug and telling them, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
This was, without a doubt, the best birthday gift that I had ever received. It was beautiful and perfect…and it was all mine!
“Where are you going to go first?” my mother asked. “There’s a full tank of gas, you can go almost anywhere.” She smiled.
I was so excited that I couldn’t even curb my words and so, I just blurted out, “I’m going over to see Shawn. He is going to love this!” I made my way back into the car.
I started it up and squealed with excitement as I felt the engine roar to life under me.
“Have fun!” I heard my mother yell as I backed out of the driveway. I yelled, “Thank you!” again and waved before I put my foot solidly on the gas for the very first time and I was off.