Emilia (Part 1)(5)

Three and a half shots later—Gian ripped the last one away from my mouth before I could finish it—I roamed the party with a smirk on my face and feeling lighter than I had in years.

People patted me on the head asked me questions about my piano lessons and what I’d been up to in the past month or two. I offered a bunch of meaningless responses because my only plan was escaping this life, and I could only imagine the look on their faces if I blurted out the truth.

When nine o’clock rolled around and Sal still hadn’t made an appearance, I slipped out the back door and curled up beneath my favorite tree. I had tea parties with imaginary friends in this same spot, climbed the tree to study the stars, took shelter in the branches when I didn’t want to hear my parents fighting, and grieved beneath it when my mom died. It was the one place where my days didn’t feel so heavy.

Staring back at the yellow lights of the home I shared with my dad, the brisk spring air pebbling my skin, I finally let the disappointment come. I couldn’t explain why I cared Sal hadn’t bothered to show his face tonight. He hadn’t given me any indication he wanted to be friends or anything else for that matter.





CHAPTER FOUR





“Hey, what’s the birthday girl doing out here?”

My stomach flipped at the sound of Sal’s voice. I glanced up and caught him striding across the yellowed grass without a care in the world. He crouched down in front of me, a box wrapped in brown paper with a pink feather boa knotted around it dangling from one hand. Too busy looking him up and down because I could scarcely believe he was real, I didn’t say a word for a long beat. Sal was here at my house for my birthday party. Holy crap. He actually came.

“Just getting some air,” I finally answered.

“You look sad. Are you going to tell me what’s goin’ on? Did someone upset you?”

His question hung in the air, and without evaluating the consequences, I blurted out the truth. “I didn’t think you were coming.”

He rubbed his hand along his jaw. “Yeah, sorry about that. I had some stuff to take care of. It took longer than I expected, but I come bearing gifts.”

He held up the box, rattled it, and set it down next to me.

“Thank you.”

“Come on.” He tapped the top of the box with a finger. “Open it up. I want to know if you like it.”

“Right now?”

“No, next week.” He smirked, his brownish green eyes dancing with far too much amusement. “What do ya think?”

“Jerk,” I mumbled, tearing the pink boa off the package and draping it around my neck despite my total hatred of everything feathered. I ripped into the wrapping paper and opened the box. “Binoculars?”

“Yup. I figured you could do all the spying or bird watching you wanted without straining your eyes.”

I nodded, pulling out the binoculars. “Wow. Thanks.”

I held them to my eyes, pretending to test them out even though I couldn’t see a damn thing in the dark. Truthfully, I was doing my best to disguise the rush of too revealing emotions surely carved into my face. Until I opened Sal’s present, I didn’t realize how much I missed actually receiving a gift someone put thought into.

My family had given up trying to buy me anything years ago when they figured out I religiously returned all their gifts for money if possible. While I appreciated their efforts, I was more concerned with padding my escape fund. After two years, they all caught on and started stuffing some cash in an envelope, saving all of us the hassle.

“You like ‘em?”

“Yeah.” My voice splintered, and I pulled them away from my face. “I really do.”

Sal pushed my hair behind my ears and tipped my face toward the inky sky with two roughened fingers. “You have the most beautiful neck I’ve ever seen. You should wear your hair tied back like this more often. You remind me of a ballerina, all dainty and fine boned.”

Awareness flickered across his face, and all I could think was that he wanted to kiss me. Neither of us moved, and I held my breath, silently praying he would do it. He didn’t. The tips of his fingers painted a line from the bottom of my ear to the hollow of my neck.

“Thanks,” I whispered, hedging toward him until I could see every golden and mossy green fleck in his eyes.

He cleared his throat and his hand dropped to my lap, his fingers playing with mine. “Did you get everything you wanted?”

I debated my answer for a split second and lifted my chin. “No. Not yet, but I’m hoping there are still some surprises in store for me. Maybe you can help me. I am the birthday girl after all. I’m pretty sure you have a duty to make all my wishes come true.”