Dark Figures

Chapter 4: christina

Chapter 4: (Christina)

I walked back down stairs, dreading having to face Gabe, but when I got there only Nicolette and Dolly sat at the table.

"Where did the boys go?" I sighed in relief

"As soon as you left the room, Gabe practically ran to the door, Oliver following him and Eliot following him, saying he had to drive them home, he would pick us up at 3 for the party and to open my present" Nicolette giggled "Gabe and Christina sitting in a tree" she started to sing

"No" I said "your birthday is about you, stop with all the me and Gabe. Let's go open your presents" she adored the purse I got, I had seen her looking at it in the mall and appreciated the matching nail polish. She wanted to paint my nails then, but I convinced her otherwise by handing her the present from Eliot.

"Not now, gotta open his last" she informed me, handing it back "I promised"

I shrugged handing her the green envelope, from Oliver. I noticed it was the same shade as his eyes but quickly brushed that thought a side.

"He got my favorite color right!" She grinned at me " last year he spent the day trying to convince me my favorite color was pink, as if!" she laughed opening the present. It was a gift card to a nail salon, the card reading "happy birthday! Enjoy a day at this girly place doing whatever you get done here. Will you bring my brother? I would love to see his nails done. -Oliver"

She was laughing when I asked her when she was taking Eliot, she informed me I was going. Yeah right, but I kept that thought to myself, Eliot would be way easier to convince to go than me.

Last was Gabe's. It was wrapped sloppily and instead of a card, he had wrote right on the wrapping paper in scratchy letters. "I know you want a car. Happy bday, Gabe"

"The package is a little small to be a car." Nicolette said, shaking the package.

"Maybe it's the keys?" I suggested, and Nicolette was already ripping opening the package. A match box car. We both laughed at this one.

Then was Eliot's. Under the wrapping paper was a green box, with a cute black bow. Nicolette opened the box and gasped, before turning it to let me see, in it was a necklace. It had a gold chain with an emerald heart.

"It is beautiful" I told her and all she could do was nod, more happy tears falling off her face and motion for me to put it on.

The rest of the day passed quickly after that. We hung out for a while, she told me all about how her and Eliot met, her and her mom's time of depression after her dad died over seas in the military, how her mom and her weren't close after that and a lot of kids stopped talking to her at school. Then I told her about how we moved a lot and I always got in trouble. We both admitted stuff that we hadn't talked about to others and it felt good to talk with someone. It was so easy to forget I had known her for a couple days instead of all my life.

Finally at 2:30, Nicolette ran to her house to get dressed. Of course she only left after giving me my bathing suit and out fit with specific instructions to and how get dressed, as if I had never dressed myself. The bathing suit was a bright blue bikini with a thick tie to it at the top. It was fairly conservative if you compared it to some of the other bikinis Nicolette had me trying on yesterday. On top of the bathing suit was the navy and white, plaid mini skirt with a navy tank top and Nicolette was lending me some navy sandals. I knew Nicolette was going to be dressed similar, a green and white, plaid mini skirt and green tank top, probably green shoes and for sure the necklace from Elliot. I had to admit to myself as I looked in the mirror, I looked okay.

When Nicolette came back over she clapped with glee at how I looked, even though she wasn't happy with my hair.

"No I am not wearing it down!" I refused, I wasn't caving there "Please?" She insisted "No." She had already gotten me to do too many things that were out of my comfort zone, I was not wearing my hair down, and it made me look like I was 6 instead of 16.