The You And I Wars

Chapter 5 - Berries

Noah walked into Sam’s room with empty hands and she literally sighed with relief. She had been wound tight all day, half-hoping that Noah would forget and not try to come over at all. It was a Sunday, and she knew if she stayed home, she wouldn’t run into him. But alas, he stood leaning against her door in a white t-shirt and the same gray jeans he’d torn a hole into on his birthday.

“Me first,” Sam said. She had intended to drop off his gift to him in the cafeteria at school on Monday so she wouldn’t have to feel so personal about it. Oh well.

“What do you mean?” he was already scowling, and Sam realized that he didn’t seem very relaxed, not like he did the day before when he’d sat beside her without invitation.

She lifted one of her pillows to reveal the box, wrapped in white paper with blue and yellow balloons on it.

“What’s that for?”

“Your birthday, dummy. Come open it.”

He crossed the room and sat tentatively on her bed, careful not to touch the box. “You already gave me a present.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that thing where you shut down and look at the door like you’re about to take off.”

“I don’t–I don’t do that.” He shook his head, but a crooked smile was threatening to break through. “Besides, it’s your actual birthday. You’re not supposed to get gifts for other people.”

Sam plopped the gift on his lap. “Open it.”

Noah touched the box, but not like it was poison, which was what Sam expected, but like it was precious. “Thank you,” he said, his voice quiet. “Can I open it later?”

“You really don’t want it?” Her heart sank. She had thought he’d like what was inside, but Noah was impossible to predict.

“No, I want it,” he said quickly, earnestly. “I was just thinking, maybe I could save it for the next time I have a bad day. Then I’ll have something to look forward to.”

Sam’s throat hurt as she thought about what that meant.  Noah was planning for ‘bad days’, and Sam had no idea how bad they got, or how often they came at him, or whether a silly present would make any of it better.

“Okay,” she said. “But you have to call me when you open it so I know whether you like it or not. Promise?”

He nodded and set the box aside carefully. “Have you had a good day so far?”

She had. Except for the brand new Prius that sat in her driveway. Her dad hadn’t even dropped it off himself. He’d had Ashton drive it over. Her brother had gotten out and spread his arms, wearing a smile that said “I’m sorry, I know you don’t want this” as he gave a sarcastic “Surprise!”

But her mom and Ash and Lavi had all made strawberry shortcakes and watched the entire first season of Heroes together for the fourth time. It was low key and just what Sam had wanted.

“It was a nice day.” Then she made a face. “I have a new car though.”

“Good. I mean, good that it was nice, not good that you got a gift you didn’t want.” He cleared his throat then, and rubbed the back of his neck like he was nervous. “So, I know what I want to give you, but we have to go someplace to get it.”

“We can take my birthday present. I haven’t driven it yet.”

He shook his head and swallowed. “No, a car won’t work.”

Sam narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s not via plane is it?”

“Not a plane. It’s…” he let out a breath, like he hadn’t been breathing for some time. Sam noticed a thin sheen of perspiration on his forehead and neck.