The Wealth of the Idiots ~(Tommy x OC)~

Chapter 7

I didn’t show up on any of Will’s social media platforms for a couple days. In fact, I came down with a cold and had to lay in bed for those days before I was able to even travel to the kitchen. Will came in multiple times asking if I needed anything, since Mom was at work. We chilled in my room listening to the new album Lovejoy had released. And during those 2 days, I texted Ranboo, Leo, who was she/her again, the girls, and Clay. Which girls you ask? The ones I like and aren’t bitches? Of course! Kaz and Scarlett, my favourite girls at college.

My phone’s screen darkened and then shut off. I stared at it and unlocked it again, staring at the 3 dots signifying Ranboo’s reply. He had helped me while I struggled to figure out why the reveal had bothered me so much. He said that it was probably something along the lines of facial dysmorphia, affecting the way I saw myself and overall giving me anxiety on what I looked like. When I asked him why it had never affected me before, he said it was probably because I had never shown my face to that many people before. Yes, I’ve always hated certain features, like my eye’s aren’t the same color, my freckles are all over the place and look like acne, my nose has no structure, I'm a fucking ginger, I’m pale as shit-

I’ll stop there. I layed over the table and sighed. I’m too tired for this. But then! September! It came on the speaker! So, of course me and Will started dancing in the kitchen. We were baking cookies for my mom, since it was her birthday. They were currently in the oven. Will and I had nothing else to do. We were live, though the title didn’t say anything about her birthday. I had ditched the sunglasses, since there was no point in wearing them anymore. Lots of people thought I was wearing contacts, thought that my eyes weren’t, in fact, truly heterochromia. And I just want to say “Yep! It’s fake!” But I can’t. I can’t bring myself to do that. For some reason. So, I must keep insisting that no, they are not fake. Oh, well. What can you do. 

A loud beep cut through the song. Will was in the middle of twirling me around, and we both froze to glare at the oven. I blinked, then whispered, “Will, I forgot to buy her a present. I have to go, oh my god-”

He just chuckled and ruffled my hair. “Go get it. I’ll get the cookies set up.”

I nodded and ran to grab my keys and a jacket. I slid on some tennis shoes and checked the time on my phone. “See you in a bit Will!”

I hopped in my car, and backed down the driveway in record time. Without rolling into the grass mind you. I had told Will that this would be Mom’s first birthday without Dad, after he died of brain cancer. I had told him that this birthday had to be perfect. It had to be small, with minimal gifts that meant a lot, and lots of sweets. So, I went and stopped at Target, grabbed her a pumpkin candle and some decor, the tinder balls that have the lights in them. Then I went to Bath and Body Works to get her some hand sanitizer that she really likes, as well as a buffalo plaid case for it. After that, I went to TJ Max and got her some cute kitchen towels for her to put monograms on. Once all the stuff was paid for, I drove back home to set it up. On the dining room table, I put me and Will’s birthday card, lit the candle, and put the hand sanitizer, case, and the kitchen towels in a little red gift bag. Next to that I put the decor things I bought her and turned them on. I set the lights to dim, then ran downstairs to get a blindfold. I put out 3 wine glasses and filled them with grape juice, and Will set up the cookies on a platter in a nice tower, then came over to display them in the middle of the three gifts. “Perfect,” I said, admiring our work.

Will sighed in relief. “It passes the master’s test! Go us!”

I laughed. Though our relief did not last long. A second later I heard the garage door opening, and then I heard closing. I got up, tip-toed down the steps, and then opened the door. Mom was sitting there in the car, forehead against the steering-wheel. A shitty day at work then. I walked up to the window and knocked on it. She jolted up, looking at me with a forced smile. The car door opened from her side, and as she got out, she says, “Hey sweetie, you feeling better?”

“Yeah! We’ve got a surprise for you!” I said holding up the blindfold. 

“Oh?”

She saw Will as we walked towards him. He stood at the door to the steps, held out his hands, and said in his most formal voice, “Your coat and purse ma’am?”

She handed them to him, and I put the blindfold over her eyes. I gave her my arm and we walked up the steps. I pointed out different things as we navigated through the kitchen, then the living room, and finally the dining room. “There’s a chair right behind you,” I said, helping her sit.

“What’s all this about?” She asked.

“You’ll see.” I responded.

I took up a position behind her preparing to take off the blindfold. But not before making sure it wouldn’t rip out any of her earrings. I nodded at Will. “3… 2… 1… Happy Birthday!”

I ripped off the blindfold, and ran around in front of her, waving jazz hands. She covered her mouth, and hopped up to yank both of us into a bear hug. “Thank you so so much you two!” she said. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Well, we’ve got more for you,” I said, as I pulled out a framed collection of 2 inch by 3 inch photos of Dad.

One was a picture we had taken a couple years back, when my Mom had complained and complained that my Dad would never make a normal face in his photos. So he had made an even weirder face and had egged me and Jayce to do the same. The second was a photo of Mom and Dad kissing under our tree out front. The third was a photo of all four of us, by a tree up in South Carolina, one we take every year. It was the most recent one, as well as the last one with all four of us in it. 

My mom let go of Will to take the picture frame with trembling fingers. “Thank you Fia.” she said, her voice cracking a bit.

I gave her another giant hug. She let go to go to her room and put up the pictures, leaving me and Will to sit down, clink grape juice glasses, and say a job well done.