Page 135 of The Kissing Booth
Lee said, ‘We’re just telepathic like that.’
He also got me a couple of books – vampire-themed ones, since he knew I had a soft spot for them – and then there was something small, wrapped up tightly and covered in so much tape, I had to tear it open with my teeth.
‘What is it?’ Brad asked impatiently, while I was still gnawing at the tape.
‘I don’t know, it’s still wrapped up!’
‘I’m not telling!’ Lee teased. There was something evil in his smile; something that made me a little scared to open it...
Finally the tape snapped free and I could rip the paper off. It was like pass the parcel or something; whatever it was had a long strip of the paper wrapped around it, like, a billion times over.
‘What is it?’ Brad asked, trying to see.
When I saw what it was, my cheeks flamed instantly, and I dropped it like a live bomb. ‘Lee!’
‘What? I don’t want to be an uncle yet – I’m not old enough!’
‘What, and you couldn’t have given me that when we’re not around people?’ He knew what I really meant – why in front of mydad?And hisparents!
‘And your boyfriend, let’s not forget.’
I willed my cheeks to cool down, but they just wouldn’t. Dad had already started making hasty small talk with June and Matthew, all of them determinedly ignoring the packet of condoms I’d just picked up.
Noah reached down from his spot on the sofa, plucking them out of my hands. ‘Thanks, Lee. I’ll keep them handy for later.’
I didn’t think it was possible, but I went even redder. I buried my face in my hands. June coughed, and I knew that there was no way our parents had missed that comment.
Lee didn’t seem too bothered, though. He just reached over to pat my hand, saying, ‘I just want you to be careful, Shelly. I’m looking out for you here.’
‘I can’t see,’ my semi-innocent ten-year-old brother complained. ‘What is it?’
‘Grown-up stuff,’ I said.
‘Tampons,’ Lee told him.
I smacked him across the head that time – not hard, though. ‘You, my friend, are just intolerable.’
‘I know,’ he grinned, and I had to laugh. I justhadto.
The parents seemed to notice that the condoms weren’t in the limelight anymore, and my dad said, ‘Here you go, Elle.’ He handed me a box. It was a long, black velvet one, like a jewelry case.
I took it hesitantly. ‘What is it?’
‘Well, it was actually, um... it was your mom’s. She always said she wanted you to have it though. And I meant to give it to you last year, but I’d forgotten all about it. I know seventeen’s a bit of a random age for this, but... I didn’t want to risk forgetting next year too.’ He gave a guilty laugh and smiled sadly.
We’d kept all my mom’s jewelry, of course we had. It wasn’t the kind of thing you threw out. I had a few pairs of earrings of hers I’d always liked when I was a little girl, and there was a gold chain I wore sometimes too. But whatever this was, it was obviously not just everyday jewelry.
I undid the gold clasp on the front of the case and opened it.
I’d thought maybe it was a necklace – some fancy string of pearls or something. But it wasn’t. It was a watch – a shiny silver one with tiny topaz gems around the face. The second hand ticked away, a slim silver line against the black face. I picked it up carefully. The blue gems looked pretty authentic, and I was sure it had been incredibly expensive.
‘The stones are real,’ Dad told me, as if reading my thoughts.
‘It’s beautiful,’ June commented with a motherly smile.
I thought maybe I’d cry. I think that’s what they all expected. I could practically see them all just waiting to see me break down in tears and cry and say I missed my mom.
And Ididmiss my mom. I really did. I wished she was still around; that she was there, pottering about in the kitchen, or sat watching a crappy soap on TV, or getting ready for work.
