Alice's Umbrella

Chapter 16: Fireworks

Because it was impossible to stay mad at him, she and Elliott made up almost immediately the next day at school during lunch. Things were a little tense at first, but then he'd pulled a few petits fours out of his lunch bag that he'd procured from the bakery and slid them to her-and how could she possibly stay angry after that? She'd devoured them all in record timing, and they were back to their usual ease.

They didn't talk about Danielle or Gale again, though. She had no idea if he was still planning to go through with his date with her, and though it was all she could think about Friday night, wondering if he was out with her somewhere, she refrained from texting or calling him. Instead, she lost herself in a book while she worked, then she went to Maya's house afterward to hang out with her friend. She and Elliott were going to the Veteran's Day parade the next day with their families, so she guessed she would find out how his date went then.

She wasn't sure she really wanted to know, though.

She tried to act normal when she saw him the next day; she, her mother and Clary met up with Elliott and his dad for the late morning parade. Clary's mother insisted she'd tag along because she hadn't been able to do any out of school activities in a while. Elliott smiled and hugged Alice when she approached him, and she bit her tongue to stop any questions from spilling forth. They stood on the sidewalk that lined the street where the parade was taking place. Clary couldn't see over the people in front of them, so Elliott had hoisted her onto his shoulders. Alice couldn't see much either, so she had to stretch up on her toes to peer over all the heads. Finally, when her feet started to cramp, she gave up, deciding she didn't really care that much about the cars and floats, and she pulled out her phone to occupy her attention.

After a moment, Elliott nudged her side. "That's pretty disrespectful to our veterans, Alice," he scolded, but he was smiling when she peered up at him. She rolled her eyes.

"Then they should have put in bleachers or something. I can't see shit," she complained, scrolling through Facebook. "Describe what you see to me."

He groaned in protest but relented, grasping Clary's ankles. "Okay, fine. Well, this next car is full of old men waving. And the car after that. And, oh, the car after that. I think there's a float of beauty queens next, though, and then a marching band. You're really missing out here."

Smiling to herself, Alice pocketed her phone and looked across him at their parents. They weren't watching the parade either but were talking and laughing instead. Alice tapped Elliott's arm and pointed at Mr. Matthews and Ms. Young; he looked and then flashed her a grin, but Clary squealed before he could respond.

"Oh, look! That's Marnie in the band-she's a grade ahead of me, but we were friends in middle school," she exclaimed, waving excitedly at a girl playing the tuba as she passed.

"Whoa," Elliott muttered, grabbing her knees when she nearly tipped backward. Alice chuckled quietly, then she yawned, covering her mouth. She hadn't slept very well the night before. Wrapping her arm around his back, she leaned into him and rested her head against his shoulder. "Help, I'm being smothered by girls," he joked, and she grinned, biting his arm through his shirt.

"You like it."

He laughed and tried to shrug despite the weight of Clary on his shoulders. "I guess there could be worse ways to go."

After the parade, there was an all-day concert, so they made their way to the pavillion. Mr. Matthews had brought a blanket for them to sit on; they picked a spot on the grass where they could see the stage clearly, and he spread the blanket out. As soon as they settled in, Clary immediately spotted her friend and asked Ms. Young to let her go sit with her.