Flutter (The Discover Series) (50 page)

             
After surveying myself in my body length mirror, I realized I looked a lot better then I then I thought I was going too. Grabbing the cream colored sweater, I slipped it on and pull the ends together buttoning them. Tilting my head to the side, I scrunched up my face and then decided to leave it unbuttoned. After doing the buttons, I decided everything was fine the way it was and sat on the bed to pull on my new birthday boots, my gift to myself. I absolutely loved the heel to them and had to have them when I saw them. Plus, they went perfectly with this dress.

             
I looked
toward
the hanging clock on my wall just as I heard the doorbell chime signaling Scott’s, as usual, punctual arrival. One last glance in the mirror told me I was appearance ready for tonight’s events. As far as mentally and physically went, I was dragging a lot, so putting on my party face came with a lot of preparation on my part.

             
I wasn’t exactly sure what Scott had planned for this evening, but he and Eli seemed pretty excited about their scheming abilities and being able to keep tonight a big secret. I had spent this morning with Eli, shopping, getting our nails done and having lunch together. It was harder for us to spend time together since school had started up again, but we made the best of the time we did get to be with each other. I actually thought it was better this way. The less time I spent with her, the less lies I had to tell her. She was my best friend, but I couldn’t imagine her reaction if I were to tell her the bazaar things that had happened within the last few weeks. I was having a hard enough time dealing with it, and I didn’t want to put that onto her. I convinced myself that it was better this way. I was being a good friend, and I hoped that if she ever found out she would see it that way too.

             
The doorbell chimed again, and a second later I heard Andres and Scott’s voices fill the space inside the living room. Grabbing the pre-packed clutch off my dresser, I pulled open the door to my room and took a deep breath, hoped for the night to go smoothly and plastered as much of a smile on my face as I possibly could.

             
Happy Birthday Sara
, I thought to myself closing the door behind me.

I felt the car slow to a stop a second before Scott cut the engine and parked it.

             
“On a scale of one to ten, how excited are you?” He asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

             
“That depends. Is one being the highest or lowest?” I reached blindly
toward
my face, and my fingers sought the silky material that was currently wrapped around my face. I meant to readjust the blindfold, but Scott thought I had other intentions and reached for my wrists, trapping my hands inches from my face.

             
“Not yet.” He rushed. “The surprise is not out here.”

             
I scrunched my face, making my lips plump out. I was feeling anxious, suspicious and nervous now.
What was he up too?

             
“I was only going to fix the blindfold crazy. And where is here?”

             
He just chuckled and released my hands. “I’ll come around and get you.” He said, opening his car door.

             
“Well I should hope so.” I teased, and lifted my face
toward
the direction of his voice.

             
He laughed again. I heard his car door shut and the gravel crunch under his heavy footprints, as he half jogged around the car to my side. It was quiet inside the interior. I strained to hear anything beyond the confines of Scott’s car, but I heard nothing.

             
The cool nights air quickly infected the warm atmosphere inside the car the minute Scott pulled open the car door to help me out. I shivered when I felt the teasing caress rush over my exposed skin.

             
“Give me your hand.” Even though he asked for it, he didn’t wait for me to feel around for his waiting fingers. His fingers curled in
toward
my palm while his thumb brushed over the back of my hand, and in one fluid motion, I was pulled from the seat to stand in front of him. “Ready?” He whispered and I nodded. “Onward m’ lady.”

             
He pulled me along, handing out directions when I needed to step over this or watch out for that.

             
“Are we close?” The suspense was starting to get the best of me as I was trying not to fall on my face, despite his helpful commands and his firm grip on me.

             
“Just a few more steps.” He answered. “Step up.”

             
I lifted my boot and felt around for my footing. When the tip of my boot came into contact with the something hard, I assumed it was a sidewalk. After a few more directions on Scott’s end, we had finally reached the end of my awaiting surprise.

             
“Wait here.” He said and moved away from me.

             
I heard him rustling with something, and then I felt the blast of warm air against the front of my body and realized he had opened doors to somewhere. A whole new set of shivers ravaged my body, and I hugged myself rubbing my palms up and down my arms in an attempt to cause enough friction of heat.

             
“Scott?” I asked after a minute or two had gone by and he still wasn’t back yet.

I pressed my lips together and waited for him to reply, but only silence answered my question, so I took a step closer and leaned in
toward
the warmth.

Where did he go?

“Ready?” I heard him whisper at my side again, and a small sound of alarm escaped my lips at his sudden appearance. He laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said and pushed me forward. “Come on let’s go.”

“Go where?” I asked on a whisper and wondered why I was whispering.

“You’re about to find out.” He fiddled with the securely tied knot at the back of my head, while trying not to pull at the flyaway strands of hair that attacked his invading fingers. I felt the material loosen as slack around my eyes, as he opened the ends but left the blindfold against my eyes. “one,” he started the countdown, “two, three.”

Three things happened at once:

The blindfold was removed.

I was momentarily blinded by soft lighting.

And I was then shouted at by a room full of people anxiously waiting to yell ‘SURPRISE’.

             
A surprise party!

             
My face flushed and I covered my flaming cheeks with my hands, but I managed to extend out a genuinely enthusiastic smile at the eyes that were waiting for my reaction. I was immediately covered in bright, shiny birthday themed confetti and streamers, while other guests blew noise makers and poppers into the air. I ducked my head into Scott’s shoulder, trying to avoid getting the colorful confetti in my hair. I could feel his laugh rumbling up through his chest as he hugged me to him hard, twisting me from side to side in his arms.

             
I heard the music start, and realized there was an actual band playing on the stage to my left,
toward
the front of the room, and couples were filling up the designated dancing space. Long tables, draped in black table cloths, were spread out against the walls of the room. The tables were filled with different types of foods, deserts and drinks. There was also one table near the stage filled with differently designed, wrapping paper and gifts bags over flowing with tissue paper. The room was sprinkled with light fixtures that polka dotted the room with multi colors. To my left, two open doors led out to an outside patio that was covered in twinkling lights, and people were already occupying the large space.

             
“Were you surprised?” Scott asked into my ear so I could hear him over the music. He had his arms wrapped around my waist and he was pressed up against my back.

             
I nodded, smiling. “I had no idea.”

             
“That was my plan.”

             
“Did you do this all by yourself?” I asked.

             
“I did not. Eli was a big help in the planning and decorations part.”

             
“I’m surprised she was able to keep this a secret!” I had been with her all day, and had not noticed any weird behavior on her part. She was the worst at keeping big surprises secret, so I was extremely impressed with her self control.

             
“She was just as excited and I was. Speaking of, look who is on her way over.” Scott released me and took my hand pulling us over to meet Eli in the middle.

             
“Surprise!” She squealed, and I let go of Scott’s hand so I could wrap my best friend into a big hug.

             
“Thank you!” I said rocking us from side to side. “You’re a sneaky, sneaky girl Eli.”

             
She giggled into my hair. “I’m so proud of myself! The temptation was killing me!” We pulled back and laughed. “It was Scott’s idea. I just helped execute the plan.” She said coyly. “I’m glad you were surprised.”

             
“We did good kid.” Scott said to Eli and draped his arm over my shoulders, tugging on my hair with the weight of his arm.

             
“Thank you guys. It’s really a great surprise.”

             
“Are you ready to party?” Scott asked me.

             
“Like it’s 1999.”

             
We were interrupted, then, by a small group of people that I remembered from school, coming to wish me a happy birthday, and thanking Scott and Eli for the invite.

             
The next hour and a half consisted of countless hugs and happy birthdays from old classmates, but most recently from Scott’s and Eli’s senior classmates. We passed from group to group to make the rounds and thank everyone for coming to celebrate with us. Mingling served as a decent distraction from the slight throb in my head, probably from the band, and the slow descend of my energy as the party went on. Despite the fact that I was actually having a decent time, and since Scott and Eli had put so much effort into this for me, it was easy to join in on their obvious enthusiasm.

             
After visiting with everyone out on the patio, we moved back inside just in time to catch one of Eli’s favorite songs. I wasn’t much of a dancer, but the choice was ripped from me, just as my arm was, when Eli pulled me out onto the makeshift dance floor. She stared dreamily up at one of the four male singers who were playing a current pop song, as she danced to the beat. It was that star struck moment when you realized how hot a guy was because he could sing, and the more he looked like he was singing to you, the cuter he got. Yeah it was just like that. Every once in a while, Eli would turn
toward
me and mouth the words to the chorus -something about not knowing how beautiful I was- to me, and I couldn’t help, but laugh at her cute goofiness, and neither could the curly headed singer as he continued to have eyes only for her.

             
When the song ended, I hauled Eli off the dance floor and away from the stage before the next song started leaving me trapped to further embarrass myself with my lame dance moves. She dragged her feet every step of the way, while sending a quick goodbye wave at the singer. I could practically hear her swoon when he gave her a deadly smile and winked at her as the next song started. Once I felt we were a safe distance from any sort of dancing, I stopped and let go of Eli’s hand. She was a beaming mess and I couldn’t help, but laugh with her when she cupped her hands around my ear to tell me how flippin’ cute she thought he was.

             
“Do you know who he is?” I asked, over the music.

             
“No, Scott found them. They’re not from around here, as far as I know, but they are really good.” She said and then added. “And cute right?”

Before I could answer her, I was being wrapped in a sloppy hug from behind. Scott nuzzled the side of my neck and asked if we were having fun.

“I’m having a blast!” Eli all, but screamed.

My eyes widened and I laughed. “No more punch for you tiger.” She rolled her eyes and laughed.

“What about you?” He said, directing the question at me. “I saw your awesome moves on the floor.”

“I’ve got the moves like Jagger.” I said, quoting the song.

He busted out laughing and kissed me soundly on the ch eek, and that’s when I felt it. I felt like I was being punched in the stomach and I didn’t understand the angry feelings that accompanied the sensation. I wasn’t angry, but I could feel the anger vibrating, and then my flutter was there, bursting with life.

Eli waved a hand in front of my face and frowned. “Sara? What’s wrong?”