Hidden Away

Chapter 7

Rise and shine, birthday girl!!” Danny yelled as she jumped on my bed and startled me awake.

“Geez Danny, give me a heart attack to start it off, why don’t you?” I half joked.

“Oh you’re fine! Besides, breakfast is almost ready, sleepyhead!” She continued,” I must’ve really tired you out, kicking your butt last night” she laughed.

“Ha ha, whatever! I was really tired for some reason, but I slept great” I cheerfully told her.

“Well I’m glad! Now get up, it’s time to eat!” My stomach growled at the remark. I rolled out of bed and followed her to the kitchen.

We entered the kitchen and Danny began fixing our plates: stuffed strawberry French toast, eggs sunny side up, a side of bacon completed with a mug of hot coffee. I didn’t waste any time and dug in.

“This is SO good,” I practically moaned out. Danny chuckled,” We’re going to have so much fun today! We’re going to spend the day being pampered, plucked, and polished!” She squealed.

“Sounds perfect!” I replied while continuing to stuff my face.

After we finished, we cleaned up the kitchen together and got ready to leave. I threw on some Jean shorts, a tank top, and my flip flops. I re-braided my hair into 2 Dutch braids and we headed out.

Four short hours later, I was massaged, waxed, and beautifully polished. This self care was long overdue. I can’t help but feel that this is the perfect thing to help me get through finals. I’ve always managed to study hard and get A’s and B’s, but I’ll willingly use anything I can get to help me. Especially since this is my last year, I can’t risk anything wrecking it.

We headed over to my favorite restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory. We had just pulled into the parking lot and started getting out of the car when Danny’s phone started ringing. She answered,”Hello?”

“Yeah, we just got here.”

“Mmhmmm”

“Okay, we’ll see you soon! Bye.” She hung up the call.

“Well, it looks like Alex will be joining us without Lisa.” She said to me without looking up from her phone. I imagine she was texting one of the many suitors courting her. Guys always liked Danny wherever we went. I’ve never really minded it much since the one guy I did want attention from, would never want her like that.

I continued to stare at her wide-eyed, waiting for her to tell me why Lisa wasn’t coming. Especially after the conversation we had last night, you would figure that she’d throw me a bone.

“Why isn’t she coming?” I tried to not sound too excited.

“Alex didn’t say. He did say he’s on his way though.” She said as she finally looked up from her phone,”let’s go, I’m starved!”

We walked in and they immediately seated us. It was still kind of early, so the dinner rush wasn’t even starting yet. Our server had just come back with our drinks when Alex finally arrived. It was killing me to know why Lisa wasn’t coming. I stood up as he walked over to our table.

“Happy Birthday, Isabella!” He said as he reached the table and came over to give me a hug. I embarrassingly inhaled his scent and blushed as he held me against his body. I tried to quickly calm myself before either of them saw me. He pulled away,” Thanks, Alex.” I smiled and tried to not totally melt inside. He’s never hugged me like that before. We sat down and started looking over the menus.

The server returned to take our orders. We had been talking about graduation when our food was brought out to us. I couldn’t wait any longer, I NEEDED to know.

“So, Alex, why didn’t Lisa come with you tonight?” Danny suddenly asked before I had the chance. He was looking down at his food, he seemed to be having an inner battle with himself. I’m assuming whether to tell us or not. She glanced over to me and I mouthed a ‘thank you’. It doesn’t have an underlying meaning if your sister asks you.

“We broke up.” He finally admitted. I tried so hard to not break out into a big smile.

“What? Why? Are you okay?” I quickly threw out at him, trying to seem supportive.

“It was a long time coming, honestly. Something happened last night that was the last straw for me. So I ended it. But! It’s your night, Izzie. I don’t want to ruin it, so let’s just forget about it for now. Okay?” Danny put her hand on his shoulder and patted him, trying to comfort him. Okay, now I feel bad.

“You could never ruin it, Alex. But okay, no mention of the L word. For the rest of the night!” A smile slowly formed on his face.

We finished our meal. Talking about anything but Alex’s break up. After we ate, we all had a slice of our favorite cheesecake. Alex settled the bill and I couldn’t love him anymore than I already do. We all headed home to get ready for the night.

I took my dear sweet time getting ready. It was still light out and I wasn’t going anywhere until the sun was at least almost down. I curled my hair then I applied my makeup. I had to call in Danny for assistance, eye liner is not my forte. I added some medium sized silver hoops along with my silver necklace with my name on it. I slipped on the straps of my black dress and buttoned it. Lastly, I strapped on my black dress sandals and stood in front of the mirror. Wow, I looked hot. My light brown hair with natural highlights flowed halfway down my back. My deep red eyeshadow, along with the eye liner, make my hazel eyes pop. My eyes travel down my body to see my top button came undone, showing the perfect amount of cleavage. My dress hugged my body, showing off all my curves. My long legs were perfectly tanned and smooth. I was definitely going to be attracting some attention tonight. I occasionally had random men, in public, come up and tell me how pretty I am. But now, adding the makeup and hair, I am taking it to a whole other level.

I’m looking in my closet for my clutch when there’s a knock on the door. “Come in” I yelled while continuing my search. I finally spotted my clutch in the back corner of the top shelf when I felt someone standing behind me. They easily reach up behind me and grab the clutch, handing it to me. I turned around to be face to face with Alex, our faces a couple inches apart. I gasp.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you” he said softly. I just stood there, gawking at him. He has his sexy dirty blonde hair slicked to the side. He’s wearing dark blue jeans with a dark red v-neck that shows off his muscular arms, and a pair of black and white vans high tops. Although I’m thinking about how extremely attractive this man is, something about him standing this close to me felt off.

“Oh, it’s okay. I just, uh, wasn’t expecting….. you” I winced at my words as I stood there awkwardly.

“You look absolutely beautiful, Izz” he said as he stared deeply into my eyes, almost lovingly.

“Thanks,” I said and blushed.

“Here, this is for you,” he said as he held up a small gift bag for me. I smiled and took the bag from him. I started to pull out the tissue paper when I saw what’s there. I look up at him with a shocked look on my face. How did he know? I reached into the bag and pulled out a beanie baby. More importantly Nana the monkey. My mom collected them and when she passed, they were given to me. Any time we would see a garage sale, she would stop. There were a few times she had some luck and found some very rare ones. Including Nana the monkey. Shortly after my mom died, it disappeared. I don’t know how since we kept them in a box in the attic.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to hold back my tears.

“Oh, Izz, I’m so sorry. I should’ve given it to you earlier or waited til tomorrow, are you okay?” He grabbed my hands and I opened my eyes with the contact.

“It’s okay, really. Thank you so much, Alex. I love it” I gave him a small smile and hugged him.

He smiled,” well let’s head out then?” He offered his arm to me. I looped my arm around his,” let’s go!”