Page 139 of The Kissing Booth
‘Oh, yeah.’ He laughed and bit his lip, looking a little sheepish. ‘What was my excuse again?’
‘You didn’t have one,’ I said after a moment. ‘You just wouldn’t let me.’
He nodded. ‘That sounds about right.’
‘You really wanted to go to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory?’ A little teasing note had crept into my voice, my smile spreading wider again.
‘I was like, eight, okay? Give me a break.’
We both laughed, just as the woman came back holding a big, flat white box with a purple ribbon around it. ‘Here you are!’
Noah clasped his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth briefly on his heels.
I got the message, and jolted. ‘They’re for me?’
‘What, did you think I really forgot to get my girlfriend a birthday present?’ He gave me a devilishly handsome grin, and the old woman laughed kindly.
‘Well, it – it just didn’t occur to me earlier.’
‘Shelly. I havealwaysgot you a birthday present.’
‘You got me a whoopee cushion one year.’
‘It was still a present. And I was a twelve-year-old boy that year, if I remember. Did you expect me to buy you something nice or meaningful?’
I laughed. ‘Well, no.’
‘And you really think I just forgot you, this year especially?’
I shrugged sheepishly. When he hadn’t given me a present earlier, I didn’t exactly ask him where it was. For one thing, it would’ve been incredibly rude. But when he said in his text that he had ‘something in mind for the birthday girl’, I thought maybe he’d take me out somewhere, even if only to make out, instead.
I took the box from the lady. ‘Thanks.’
‘One of everything in there,’ she said. ‘Well, as much as I could fit in two layers. But I made sure you got the nicest things. You’re not allergic to nuts, are you, dear?’
‘N-no.’ I only stammered because she spoke pretty darn fast – with an excitement that seemed to be part of her warm personality.
She smiled. ‘Good, good, good! Well, feel free to have a look around – unless you’re not stopping. In which case, I’ll ring up that order for you right now.’
‘Uh...’ I looked at Noah. I had no idea if we were just here to pick this up, or if he had any other plans. I mean, he was full of surprises these days.
He put up his hands and shook his head, giving me a small smile. ‘You’ve got the car keys.’
I bounced around on my toes at that, beaming brightly. ‘Oh yeah!’
‘Tell you what’s really good,’ the lady said, pottering over to one cabinet. She pulled open a drawer and lifted out a tray; I’d drifted after her, Noah half a step behind me.
It was a tray of tiny squares of chocolate, each one labeled with tiny handwriting, so loopy it was practically illegible. They looked like tiny cuts of larger slabs, and the scent wafting up to my nostrils and settling on my taste buds was enough to make me drool.
‘This one’ – she pointed – ‘has that popping candy in it. Strangest sensation in the world, popping candy! And this one’s mango-flavored. I’ve got a few fruit-flavored ones like that.’
‘How about orange?’ Noah asked, and I felt his body press against my back, a hand resting on my forearm as he leaned over me to look at the tray.
‘Ah-ha, here we are!’ She picked one square up and handed it to Noah. He took it and popped it in his mouth.
‘This is my taster tray,’ she told me, seemingly reading my mind. ‘Go ahead, dear, help yourself!’
With that, she pushed the tray into my hands and left me to peruse it at my leisure.
