THE INBESTIGATORS (EZRA'S LOVE STORY)

(20) WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!

Right after the previous chapter

I just kissed Maudie.

I can't believe it.

I hit my forehead with my palm.

I just kissed Maudie, and she ran away.

What was I thinking?

She's going to hate me now.

Our friendship will never be the same.

I lay down on the couch with my face buried in a pillow.

The event kept replaying in my head.

I turned around and looked upwards at the ceiling.

Maudie's kiss felt nice.

I wanted to do it again.

The day after

I just woke up at around noon.

I usually wake up at around 7:30, but I couldn't sleep last night.

I was up late thinking about Maudie.

I walk down the stairs, and I see Poppy sitting on the couch watching T.V.

Me: Good morning, Poppy.

Poppy: Good morning. Why are you up so late?

Me: I couldn't sleep.

Poppy: That's unfortunate.

Me: Yeah... I'm going to eat breakfast.

As I eat toast and jam.

I think about what to do next.

An idea popped into my head.

Since Maudie already knows my feelings, I might as well tell her that I want to date her.

But to make it special I need to do something a bit extra.

What does Maudie like.

Maudie likes weird and new things.

She also values practicality over sentiment, but she would place a lot of value over the things she uses, like her notebooks.

Maudie uses her notebook a lot, so she has to get new ones once it's full, but she always transfers the important things to her newer notebooks.

Oh, I know.

I should give her a pen.

She writes a lot in her notebook, so why not give her something that can help her.

While eating breakfast, I start to plan and prepare.

That afternoon, I started researching how to make pens.

All I needed was wood, glue, paint, and ink.

It looked relatively easy to make, but I need help.

I go to the living room and speak to Poppy.

Me: Poppy, I have something to tell you.

Poppy: What is it?

Me: I need your help to make a homemade pen as a gift to Maudie.

Poppy: A gift for Maudie? What for?

She had the same look as Ava, and I could tell that I wasn't hiding anything from her.

She may know, but I'm too proud to admit to my younger sister about my feelings for a smart and pretty girl.

Me: It's for something important. Will you please help me?

Poppy: Alright, fine. Anything for my big brother and his future girlfriend.

I'm going to choose to ignore that last part.

Even though that's exactly what I'm aiming for.

So we both started looking around the house for the materials.

I looked for the tools that we needed, like a carving knife, sandpaper, or glue.

Poppy found great pieces of wood and parts of broken pens that seemed usable.

Poppy also contributed her paints and art supplies to help design and personalize the pen.

I might know how to make a pen, but Poppy definitely knows how to make a pen look great.

So we carved the wood, placed the brass tubes we got from the broken pens, glued it all together, and then painted it dark blue, black and white.

Blue is Maudie's favorite color.

The final product looked splendid.

Poppy: That was a lot of work, but it was really fun. I should make a pen like this, too.

I stare at Poppy, wondering why she wanted one, hoping it wasn't for the reason I'm making it.

Poppy: I mean one for me. Making your own pen is very original. Great job for thinking of it.

Me: Now we have to test it.

I filled it with ink and tested it out on a piece of paper

It worked really well.

I'm surprised that we were able to finish in a night.

Me: Thanks, Poppy, for helping me out.

Poppy: Don't worry about it. Just remember to tell me all of the details later.

I look at the pen and think about Maudie.

Now that I have a gift, all I need to do is to tell her everything.

To be continued