RECAP:
I couldn't stay mad at him, not if I tried. "Good night," I finally said, not being able to contain my smile. I closed the door and went to bed. And that night, it seemed as if everything was falling into place.
Screw Alli Stoker.
Screw "just friends".
All I know is that if I had to choose between New York and Joshua, I wouldn't even be able to answer.
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Chapter Ten
"Oh thank goodness you're here!" Bree welcomed me as soon as I entered "Sweet and Shop" the next morning. "Pray tell," she implored, "Did anything interesting happen at the Chandler residence? I was a little bummed when you left me to handle unloading all the ingredients from the truck yesterday."
"Nothing happened!" I hesitated, "Well, a lot happened. But now is not the time to tell you everything. Not when Bryan's here."
"Huh?" Bryan wiped the drool off his mouth, turning to us at the sound of his name.
"Oh nothing."
"Ohhhhh, we have some confidential matters, I see..."
I sighed, "Alright. I'll tell you. but only because you're my friend." Wow, I feel like I'm in second grade once again. I pulled Bree to the titanic refrigerator, which was basically big enough to fit a family of four. I made certain none of the other workers could hear us. It was freezing and barely-lit, but we'll be here less than a minute.
"I think we hit it off last night," I stuttered from the coldness.
"You and Joshua?"
"Who else?"
"Elle..." Bree warned, and I knew it was coming.
"I know... I know.. I saw Alli last night. She kissed him! Right on the mouth! It's like I wasn't even there!"
"That whore..."
"She just wants me to suffer because of that day at the mall. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her! I hate her so much that the heat from my hatred might just be enough to melt everything in this fridge---But I can't do that because I love my Grandma."
Bree shook her head in pity. There she goes again, hiding something from me. I asked her what was wrong, and she replied, "Last night, we had a call from the mayor..."
Just the melancholy tone of her voice caused me to gulp all the guilt down my throat.
"He changed his order to not only 2,000 cupcakes, but a three-foot cake as well."
I shivered, not sure if it was because of what Bree said or because of the temperature. "Is that a good thing or...?"
"But don't you see?" Bree pointed out. "Alli could be behind all of this. Do you now see how easy it is to tell her father and get everything she wants?"
Disgusted, I opened the fridge door in need to breathe deeply. If that's true, why won't she just directly cancel the order? Or why can't she just deport me back to New York?
"She's planning something," Bree said, "and I know it."
"Do you think she'll do something to Joshua?" My thoughts haunted me. I didn't want to be hurt just because of me and my issue with Alli. Actually, I didn't want anyone, including Bree and Gram to get involved with anything between Alli and me. If she wanted a piece of me, she should face me by herself and not with her father's power or using other people against me.
Bree pressed her lips tightly. "That's the thing with Alli. She's like a bedbug. You probably think there's none under your mattress, and you don't find out until they finally bite."
"That's a weird metaphor, but I understand it now. Thanks."
And we didn't speak another word about Alli Stoker for the rest of the day.
Days passed, and fortunately, there were no bad news from Alli that came our way. We started baking the cupcakes one batch at a time. We even started a countdown (right now we have 1,673 cupcakes left to bake. And if you do the calculations, that would mean that it would take us 3 weeks to finish the gruesome challenge). Grandma's freezer was large enough to fit air-tight containers filled with fragile cupcakes. There, it would last from about 2 to 4 months---enough time to make it to the anniversary celebration, which was only a few weeks away.
Grandma has been working really hard lately. You could see the stress in her eyes. I begged her to let me take over the baking while she rested, but she refused. "I know I don't bake much, but I know how to follow instructions," I reasoned. However, she simply smiled and kept baking.
I continued to talk to Josh despite Bree's warning of possible problems that would ignite. We avoided any place where his friends hung out for fear that we might encounter Alli again. The other night we saw Evan and his friend Michael as we bought snacks for our picnic. They exchanged glances and nothing after that.
"What's wrong with Evan? He just gave you the death stare." I told him as we ate our snacks. This time, my tour guide chose an abandoned light house to have a last-minute picnic. It was peaceful and only the two of us were there sharing the beautiful vista.
"They're fine," Joshua answered. "They just need to learn that I don't always have to be with them."
"Josh... I don't want you to give up time for your friends just to be with me."
"But how often is it that you visit California?"
He got me there. I hugged his arm. "Not very often," I said. "But now I think I have a reason to visit more frequently."
He beamed at me, his eyes sparkling. Just like I remembered him when we were little, he had excitement in them. I wanted to ask so many questions about Alli and why he dated her, but it would ruin the whole sentimental mood. It was something that has been bothering me ever since they kissed st the beach."Come, I have to show you something."
I followed him to a familiar trail in the woods. When we were younger, Ron, Joshua and I played hide and seek in the school's playground, but being the rebel Ron was, he would go over the appropriate boundaries and hide in the woods. One day, we found him high on a tree. It took us a long time to get Ron to finally come down from the crotch of the tree. We realized that the woods was a pretty serene and undisturbed place to use as a secret hideout. From then up until the end of my California days, we hid in the woods while our parents were busy.
Now, instead of just a tree, I noticed a wooden tree house perched upon it."It's lovely," I marveled at the great thing. We climbed the ladder leading up to its entrance. Inside it was empty, but you could see from outside the window a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.
"Ron and I worked hard on this baby," Joshua explained. "It took us around two years. We wanted something to remind us of you."
In turn, I hugged Joshua tightly. "You don't know how much this means to me," I expressed my gratitude. "Thank you."
He hugged me back, pressing me against his hard chest. I could spend forever like this, in Joshua's arms, in this cute little tree house. But of course things have to go wrong.
