Ashling

Chapter 24

The party has ended and everyone has gone home now. Except Cassandra and I.

Sam had ordered a giant chocolate fudge cake for Suzanna, and she was delighted at the sight of it. After she had cut the cake and fed a huge piece to Sam, they started their make out session and I had to physically pull them apart. They literally act like teenagers sometimes, whose hormones are raging with hunger. Sam had also ordered pizza. As you can imagine, everyone gobbled it up in the blink of an eye.

So now here we four are, cleaning up the mess and waiting for Zanna to open up her presents. I was kind of worried how Cassandra might feel being among people she doesn't know, but she took it all so easily, that all my worries have vanished. Watching her arrange the cushions on the sofa right now makes me feel like she's been a part of my life since a long time, and not just a couple of weeks ago.

"Alright! Time to open up my presents!" Zanna squeals and claps. We all laugh a little and Sam gives her a kiss on the cheek. She opens the gifts of all the other guests first. They're total six in number; two expensive necklaces, a watch, a make up kit and two decorative artifacts. She seems quite happy to have them, but we all know she's more excited to open Sam's gift.

It's a necklace. The chain is long and there's a red, oval shaped stone hanging. It opens to reveal a photo of Sam and Suzanna. She looks happily back at Sam who softly says, "Check the back of the stone."

She checks the back and says, "There's something written here." She squints a bit before reading what it says, "Hold me close to your heartbeat, keep me deep within your soul. I love you. Sam."

She has tears in her eyes, and she takes a ragged breath before throwing herself on Sam and hugging him tight. He hugs her back and I can hear her say "thank you" repeatedly.

"You like it?" He asks her.

"Like it?" She pulls back and says, "I love it! It's the best thing ever!"

He kisses her, quite passionately. She cups his cheeks and their kiss deepens. Cassandra and I awkwardly look at each other and shrug, not knowing if it'd be right to interrupt them. I suddenly think of our intimate moment under the table and shake my head. After a good minute of eating each others faces, they lean back. Sam has red lipstick on his lips and I have to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing.

She shyly picks up Cassandra's gift and opens the wrapping paper. It's a white box with a rainbow drawn on its lid. Inside, there is a charm bracelet that has tiny rainbows hanging from it and there's a card that's in the box as well. She picks it up and reads it, "Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms. Happy birthday, from Cassandra."

"I'm sorry," Cassandra begins. "I didn't know what to buy and this was the only thing that caught my eye so-"

"It's perfect!" Zanna immediately walks over and pulls her into a hug. This time Cassandra hugs her back tightly.

"Thank you." Zanna says. "This means a lot. This is beautiful."

You can see how much she loves the bracelet by just looking at her face. She's beaming. I know that she's gonna cherish this gift for eternity.

Cassandra nods happily and sits back down. I smile at her and give her a thumbs up, she smiles back in response.

"You're next!" She says to me. I know she's gonna love my gift. It's a custom made frame, with a collage of Sam and Suzanna's photos. It took me a whole week to pick out the best photos and make a collage, then order for a frame. And sure enough, she let's out a squeal and hugs the frame tight. She's so happy it's like she's gonna explode any second. Even Sam is ecstatic. Watching them point out the photos and remember those moments makes feel great. I had never imagined that watching these two idiots smile would make me feel like I've conquered the whole world. Suzanna comes up and hugs me tight. She pulls back and I swear to God, I have never seen her more happy. She softly whispers, "Thank you, Tyler".

I swallow hard, because right now in this moment, I have this sudden urge to cry. The fact that I've made her so happy is warming me, it's making me feel light. I never knew I was capable of this, of making someone feel so good. Sam comes and gives me a hug. He silently whispers in my ear, "Thanks, man. Thank you."

And it's in that moment when I realize, that happiness in life does not necessarily come from extravagant things; but that happiness can be found easily in the little things in life.

This is what makes everything else worthwhile.

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"Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time. Sam and Suzanna.. They're amazing people. And I'm so glad that you have these two in your life."

We're standing outside the subway station. Cassandra insisted that she doesn't need a ride all the way back home, so I decided to drop her here. It's the least I can do.

"I'm glad you like them." I smile at her. "I really like the gift you gave Suzanna. It's the type of thing she likes."

"I like what you gave. It was beautiful, really."

I look down and nod, feeling a bit shy.

"Has anyone ever told you?"

I look up at her and ask, "What?"

She bites her lip and says, "That you look very cute when you're shy?"

I'm blushing. I am positive my face has turned into a tomato. So many girls have complimented me, but I have never felt this tingling sensation before. This warmth that's boiling me from the inside out.

"I, uh.." I don't know what to say. I have absolutely no clue what to say.

She laughs and quickly pecks my cheek. Okay, all the sanity that I had is gone because all I can think is how her lips just touched my cheeks. THEY TOUCHED MY CHEEKS.

I think it's evident that I'm too shy and shocked because she says, "Good night, Tyler. I'll see you soon."

She happily turns around and walks away. And I just stand there with my palm on my cheek and a wide grin plastered on my face, trying to come to terms with what just happened.