Those Eyes

Chapter 5

One year later.. 

I looked at all the jewelry. Each one was beautiful and unique in their own way. But I wish they weren't so hard to choose!

"Pick one already!" my best friend cried. "Stop being so impatient, Valerie!" 

She gave me the evil eye, and then returned to her usual texting.

I looked at the beautiful pieces one more time. Picking a birthday present for Aunt Kelly was harder than I thought.

"Can I see the Pandora Collection?" I asked. The saleslady nodded, and went into the shop's backroom. Valerie grabbed my hand. "El! How much money did your dad give you?!"

I laughed at her expression. "Val! My dad is okay with this. He gave me five-hundred dollars to buy Aunt Kelly a birthday present." 

Val's eyes widened with shock. "Five-hundred dollars?! My dad doesn't even give me twenty dollars to fill up gas." 

"Can't help you there kid." I shrugged

"Spoiled bitch," she muttered under her breath. The saleslady finally returned, holding trays of colorful bracelets.

I looked through what she brought, and found exactly what I wanted. It was a gold, charm bracelet with three charms. There were several stones on the end, giving it a classy look. It was perfect.

"How much?" I asked."$450 plus tax," the sales lady replied. "I'll take it!" 

Val picked up her things and got ready. "Finally! We can leave!" she exclaimed. She started to walk to the exit.

The saleslady rung up the bracelet. I opened my wallet and handed her cash. As she was billing me, I heard a girl hum a familiar tune. "I'm sorry, but what are you humming?" I asked her. 

"One Direction. It's this British band. You should check them out."

"Ma'am? Ma'am!" the saleslady called. She handed me the package, and I bolted towards the exit.

Once we got home, I ran upstairs to wrap the present. "Why are you in a hurry?" Valerie asked. "No reason," I replied. "Well, as long as you remember that it's your birthday, too," she reminded.

I took a deep breath at the thought. I officially turned eighteen today. No longer a minor. I'm officially an adult. It was a lot to take in considering the fact that I was the only child.

I sat down at my desk and got ready to work. I found some wrapping paper and carefully wrapped the bracelet. I finally managed to decently wrap the present. "Aunt Kelly better like it," I said as I looked at my horrible work. Valerie laughed. She climbed my bed and turned on my laptop. "So, what did you get for your birthday?" she asked. I checked the time. It was already 5:30. "I got couple of new jumpers and Tiffany earrings. The usual."

"What I would kill for rich parents," Valerie joked.

I started to write Aunt Kelly a birthday card. "Hey, have you heard of a band called One Direction?" Val called out. 

"I actually was about to ask you that. This girl hummed a tune of theirs behind me earlier today."

"Well, everyone is literally talking about them. There hot. See" She clicked on a link for a picture ."It's loading. It's loading. Still loading."

"Probably our wi-fi, hold on."

I walked down the stairs to our utility room to reset our wifi modem.

"Surprise!"

I shrieked at the sudden noise. It was just my parents.

"Honey we didn't expect you to be home so soon. Aunt Kelly isn't here yet for you two to exchange gifts, but she told me to give you this."

My mom handed me a gold envelope. 

I took the envelope in hand and teared the clear tape. Plane tickets fell out.

"Your kidding?!" I practically jumped on her.

"Honey, we're so proud with you getting into UCLA next year and snagging that internship at that law firm. We figured you needed one last vacation before your life officially started."

"Tell her the best part," my dad nudged my mom.

"What's the best part?"

"The best part is that those are open flight tickets. You can take Valerie and go wherever you want. We'll pay for the entire trip."

I squealed even louder and jumped up and down. "Thank you thank you thank you!" I bear hugged both of them. I honestly am speechless. I ran upstairs and told Valerie the good news. "I'm so happy for you! And excited!"

We both bounced in excitement. "We're gonna have so much fun! I'm gonna buy a polaroid camera right now so that we can take hipster pictures in front of landmarks," Valerie started browsing on her laptop. I reviewed the plane tickets. 

"Well we have 2 weeks left so let's hope you have Prime membership."

"Haha, well aside all that, Ella, where are we going?"

I took a look around the room when my eyes landed on a piece of cake from earlier today.

"London baby"

Edited by:Lucent