Happy Birthday to Me Again (Birthday Trilogy, Book 2) (7 page)

“Can we stop by
the supermarket?” I asked, as we neared it on the winding sidewalk.

“Sure, what
for?”

“I want to get
up early tomorrow and make you the most amazing breakfast of your life.”

“Yeah?” Liesel
let go of my hand. “I like the sound of that.”

“Mmm hmm,” I
said, planning on banana pancakes.

“OK. I’m gonna
go check out that antique shop at the end of the street. Meet me there?”

“Sure… as long
as I don’t have to go inside…”

She playfully
slugged me on the shoulder. “See you in a few.”

“OK.”

I crossed over
some yellow grass and turned a corner to find myself at the front of the only
local supermarket, Almanor Food & Drug. Most surprising about it was the
massive size of the place, which was as big, if not bigger, than a typical supermarket
found in Reno.

I walked up and
down the aisles, looking for the cheapest pancake mix, marveling at just how
deserted the place was. There was only one cashier at the front, with maybe
four or five people in the entire store.

Entering the
last aisle in the back, I started to think that maybe this city didn’t believe
in selling breakfast products. Finally I found a shelf filled with Pop Tarts,
so I knew I was in the right place. I scanned the rest of the shelves until I
found the mixes. I picked up two boxes, one Bisquick, the other an organic mix
with whole wheat flour that was nearly four dollars more.

“Go with the
organic, it’s worth it.”

The voice behind
me startled me so much that both boxes escaped my hands and dropped to the
slick hardwood floor.

“Jesus!” I said,
both at my girly shriek, and at my clumsiness.
 

“Here, let me
help you,” the unfamiliar female voice said.

I picked up the
Bisquick box and looked forward to see a hand with black-painted fingernails
pick up the other box. I stood up straight to see a young woman take a step
toward me, her voice as raspy as it was sexy. “Sorry about that,” she said.

“Oh, that’s OK.
Sorry I freaked. Didn’t think anyone was in this aisle.”

“Yeah, the
town’s pretty quiet this weekend, isn’t it? It’s like a ghost town, or
something.”

I nodded and
took my first good luck at the girl. She looked twenty, maybe twenty-one. She
had long, straightened black hair, striking full lips, and prominent freckles
on her cheeks. A thin, black nose ring hugged her left nostril. Her eyes were
dark blue, made more prominent on her pretty face by her circular dark eye
shadow.

“It sure is,” I
said, trying not to slobber.

“I’m up here
with some girlfriends. We’re having an all girls weekend.”

“No Valentine’s
Day dates, huh?”

“Not a one.
Hence, the all girls weekend.”

I nodded,
sensing intelligence, mixed with a bit of attitude, in the girl.

“Anyway,” she
said, “we made some pancakes this morning with that organic stuff. They were
insanely good.”

“Oh. OK. I’ll
get that, then.”

“What about you?
All boys’ weekend?”

“No, no… I’m up
here with my f—” I’ll never know why I couldn’t complete the sentence.
Maybe it was because it still hadn’t settled in that I was two and a half
months away from getting married. It also might have been because of our little
tiff a few hours earlier. I knew if Liesel could hear me right now denying her
existence and flirting with another girl, she’d put an end to her magic
sabbatical and turn me into a cockroach. “I’m here with someone, yeah,” I
finally said.

“That’s too bad.
My friends and I could use a cute boy like you tonight.” She smiled in a way
that suggested she wanted to rip my clothes off right here in the supermarket.
You live in a world where you’re marrying a
witch
, I thought.
Anything’s
possible.

“Do you live
around here?” I asked the semi-gothic, all-beautiful young woman.

“No. I just
moved to Reno, actually, a few hours south of here.”

“Really? I live
in Reno, too.”
Don’t say that, you idiot!

“You don’t say.”

“Born and
raised.”
Idiot! End the conversation!

“Well maybe we
could get together sometime,” she said, “that is, if your girlfriend wouldn’t
mind.”

I nodded. There
was nothing left to say. I needed to never see this attractive girl again if I
knew what was good for me.

“All right,
well, it was nice to meet you,” I said, grabbing the pancake mix and moving
past her.

“You too.” She
turned around and took a few steps forward, but then she stopped and turned
back toward me. “Oh, what’s your name, by the way?”

I pretended like
I didn’t hear her question. “What was that?”

“Your name? Do
you have one, or did your Mom forget to give one to you?”

This girl was
feisty, hot,
dangerous
. I had never
met one like her before.
Maybe she’s a
stripper. Maybe Coach Welch knows this girl well.

I decided to
throw out a different name. “Umm… Wes… Wesley.”

“Nice to meet
you, Wes, Wesley. I’m Hannah. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

She put on a
pair of sunglasses and walked down the aisle, disappearing from view as she
made her way out of the store.

I shook my head
and tried to continue with my shopping. I figured Liesel would be waiting
impatiently at the antique store by now.
I’ll
tell her I got lost. She’ll believe that, right?

I made my way
further down the aisle and grabbed maple syrup, blueberry sauce, and cinnamon.

When I started
making my way toward the register, grabbing a huge stash of bananas before I
nearly slammed my foot against a magazine rack, the thought finally hit me:
That Hannah girl didn’t buy anything.

I stood in line
behind another customer, who unfortunately had a cart filled with food. I
rested my breakfast products on the back of the conveyer belt, trying to think
about anything else, unable to erase that sexy black-haired femme fatale from
my mind.

She just walked out the store. Didn’t buy
a single thing. All she wanted to do was talk to me.

And then the
worst thought of all entered my head:
I’m
glad she did.

---

I met up with
Liesel at the antique shop, which somehow had kept her interested for the last
twenty minutes, as she didn’t question my tardiness. We enjoyed a delicious
lunch of comfort food, and then five hours later partook in a scrumptious
Italian dinner out on the lake. The rest of the day couldn’t have gone better,
and by dessert, I had nearly forgotten about the run-in at the grocery store.
Nearly.

Liesel and I
entered the cabin a few minutes after ten, and my first inkling was to rush
straight to the bed.

“Let’s watch a
movie,” Liesel said.

“We can watch a
movie any night. Come on.” I tried to drag her to the bedroom, but she wouldn’t
budge.

“I’m not tired.
I want to put on a movie.”

“Honey, I’m not
tired either. That’s the point.”

“I brought up
some DVDs. Let’s just watch something short.” She plopped herself on the couch
and turned on the little TV in the corner of the room.
 

I sighed and
walked over to the couch, but instead of sitting next to her, I got down on my
knees behind her and started massaging her neck.

“What movies did
you bring?” I asked.

“I have to
check. Some romantic films, for sure.”

“
Hocus Pocus
?”

She shook her
head. “Ha-ha. No.”

“
Practical Magic
?
Witches of Eastwick
?
The
Wizard of Oz
?”

“I’m sensing a
pattern here…”

“All right.
What’d you bring?”

“I actually kind
of liked
Practical Magic
. I adore Sandra
Bullock. But no movie’s been able to display the true emotional and physical
power of what girls like me can do.”

My hands
stopped. I froze.

“Why’d you stop,
Cam? That felt really good.”

“Girls like
you?” I asked.

“What?”

“You mean… there’s
more than
one
?”

She seemed
confused. “I don’t understand.”

“You said ‘girls
like me.’ As in more than one.”

“Oh? Did I?” She
just laughed and started sorting through her DVDs. “Sorry. Unfortunately, for
all I know… I’m truly one of a kind.”

I smiled. “You
can actually say that and have it not sound conceited.”

“I try.” She
picked a DVD from her pile. “
Romeo and
Juliet
?”

“With DiCaprio?”

“With DiCaprio.”

“I’ve actually
never seen it.” I took a seat on the couch next to her and wrapped my arms
around hers.

“Blasphemy! It’s
one of the great love stories of all time. A perfect way to end the night.”

I opened my
mouth, and then closed it. I squinted my eyes and looked up at her smiling
face. “Don’t they both
die
at the
end?”

Her jaw dropped
open. “How did you know?”

“Well, you see,
the movie’s an adaptation of a play. I think it’s kind of famous…”

She flicked my
forehead with her index finger. “I’m just messing with you. Please don’t think
I’m
that
dumb. I’m not a blonde, you
know.”

“No you’re not.”

“It’s a sad
movie,” she said. “But in the end it’s one of the most powerful stories about
love… ever. Most people find it depressing. I find it inspirational.” She
turned to me and played with my chin. “Happily ever after doesn’t always mean
the two people in love necessarily stay together forever.”

I didn’t know
what she was getting at.
She didn’t see
me flirting with that girl in the supermarket did she?

She threw the
DVD in the player and jumped back on top of my legs. “Happy Valentine’s Day,
Cam.”

“Same to you.
Our first of many.”

We kissed for
most of the opening credits and then situated ourselves on the long, blissfully
comfy leather couch. I stayed upright while Liesel laid her head back against
the arm rest and settled her feet against my crotch.

Her warm soles
shoved up against my tight jeans reminded me that Liesel and I had been dating
for eight months and had yet to have sex. It was kind of understood, never
stated aloud, that Liesel wanted to wait until our wedding night. I definitely
tried to make the moves on her since getting engaged at Christmas, but she
would always just say, “in time, I promise.” I’d seen her naked, so I knew she
didn’t have anything to hide physically. She wasn’t religious, or at least
didn’t discuss her religious beliefs with me, so I didn’t think her withholding
on sex was an issue related to God. But it was all right. Frankly, I had been a
little scared about having sex with Liesel, anyway, given that she was an
all-powerful force of nature who could probably lop my penis off with her
emotions if the sex became too rough or heated. I just tried not to think about
it too much. I never got any with Charisma, so I had gotten used to celibacy.
It was still a bummer though, spending time with the girl I loved, in a cabin,
by the lake, all by our lonesome, with an extraordinary opportunity to get our
freak on.
How awesome would sex with
Liesel be right now? I mean, seriously!

But that was OK.
I could wait. Our wedding day was just a few weeks away. And I’d waited this
long. I could wait until April.

Plus, I love her,
I thought.
With all my heart. And nothing could ever change that.

Right?

---

February turned
to March, and suddenly the wedding started to feel more and more like a
reality. I found myself having to think about renting a tux. There were all the
RSVPs coming in from family and friends, as well as from colleagues and pals of
my parents. I even got a call from my gay high school buddy Aaron, who begged
me to let him plan the bachelor party. I tried to instill in him the concept
that bachelor parties for straight men usually consisted of his guy friends and
some mostly naked females. But given that we were all still under-age, I wasn’t
sure if he’d be legally able to bring a stripper or one of Hugh Hefner’s
Playboy Bunnies over for an hour of fun. Plus, given that he was gay, I assumed
he’d probably bring me some ripped cowboy stud rather than a big-breasted
stripper, anyway. I didn’t know what he had in store, but he promised me “the
works,” whatever that was supposed to mean.

By the time
April Fool’s Day rolled around, I was in a pretty good mood, because not only
was I marrying Liesel at the end of the month, but I had survived the one-year
anniversary since I started rapidly aging; lo and behold, the curse didn’t end
up repeating itself. This time a year ago I was already hitting my late
twenties, but now, I was still eighteen, still young, and still with a long,
very prosperous life ahead of me.