She's Such A Nerd

19: The Last Gift

Jake guides me away from the crowd and around to the side of the house. There, decorated with a bunch of twinkling lights, stood the old gazebo. I completely forgot it was even here. Rose bushes nearly surround the entire thing. I run my hand across the painted, chipping white wood.

"I used to hide out here to read," I say mostly to myself. "I haven't been here for the past couple years." I take a seat on the cold bench and look up at the lights hanging above my head. Jake sits beside me. He takes my hand and together, we admire the lights and enjoy the moment.

After a minute, Jake clears his throat. I turn my gaze from the lights to him, giving him my attention. "I-" His voice cracks before he can get very far. Being a good friend, I hold back a laugh and wait for him to continue. "I got you something."

I look at him, eyes wide. "After today, you didn't have to-"

He holds up a hand, cutting me off. "I know. But I wanted to." He pulls out a square box. "I saw this and thought of you." He hands me the box. Taking off the lid, I set it on my lap to push the tissue paper out of the way. My breath catches in my throat. I stare down at the necklace. A silver feather sits on a chain. I gently pull it out of the box.

"Jake," I say, breathless. "It's beautiful." It's simple, but it's worth more than I could have ever asked for.

Jake offers to put it on for me. I hand it to him and turn around, moving the end of my ponytail out of the way. I turn back toward once he's done.

"Emaline," he says quietly. He starts to lean towards me and I feel my heart skip a beat. My eyes flutter closed.

"Emaline!" We both jump apart as Mark yells my name. I blush and look at Mark, who stands nearby, taking in the scene. Mark bursts out laughing. Although I'm a bit disappointed, I take in our situation. I join in on Mark's laughter, not quite sure why I'm laughing. Jake also lets out a nervous laugh.

As Mark calms down, he says, "I came to tell you that everyone's leaving and Maria's looking for you."

I stand. "Okay. Thanks." Mark leaves and I turn to Jake. "Um, thanks. For the necklace. I love it." Before I convince myself to change my mind, I give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I quickly walk away, the moment of courage disappearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for coming," I say as the last few people leave. I smile and wave before returning to help Maria clean up. Mark blocks my path before I can reach the messy snack table.

He smiles. "No."

I raise my eyebrows. "No, what?"

"You're not cleaning. It's still your birthday, you know." He crosses his arms, a determined look on his face.

"And how do you know I'm not using it as an excuse to stuff my face full of sweets?" I laugh at the shocked expression on his face, sliding by him and snagging one of the few cupcakes left. Peeling away the paper, I take a huge bite and manage to get frosting on my nose.

"Smile!" I turn around, wide eyed, to see Jake holding Maria's camera. The flash goes off as he takes a picture of my embarrassing moment.

Mark steals the cupcake out of my hand and shoves it in my face, the frosting smearing across my cheek.

Another flash.

I grab another cupcake and jump on Mark's back, laughing as I shove the frosting into his face.

Another flash.

I get off of Mark's back and watch as he tries to get the frosting off, laughing.