Page 141 of To Love or to Lose
All she does is smile.
“Do you want your present?” I ask Genevieve. We’re still sitting on her porch, completely oblivious to what is happening inside.
Her eyebrows furrow as she looks up at me. “How’d you know it’s my birthday?”
I bring her hand up to my lips. “How could I not?”
She rolls her eyes, like it was the most ridiculous question she has ever heard. “Maybe because, up until about a month ago, we absolutely hated each other.”
I smile at her. “I never hated you, love.” I make direct eye contact with her as I kiss her knuckles. “Ever.”
She sits up further, her grin spreading throughout her entire face and eyes—which are more blue than green today. “Okay, let me see what it is,” she says excitedly.
A few minutes earlier, I had retrieved my luggage from Logan’s car so I could give her the gift I bought her. I had no clue whether we would be on good terms by the end of the night or not, she deserved to see it either way.
I hand her the small box wrapped in light yellow paper with a birthday cake pattern. “Here.”
Genevieve rotates it across her palms, and right when she goes to shake it, I grab her wrist, giving her a stern look. She looks up at me, laughing lightly at my reaction. “Just kidding.”
She unwraps the box before lifting the lid of the cardboard box and taking out the glass globe. She holds it up, turning it every which way as she stares at it in wonder.
“If you don’t like it, you can tell me,” I assure her, not wanting her to feel like she ever has to lie for my sake.
She only holds the snow globe closer. “I love it.”
I let out a small sigh of relief. “It was one of the first things I saw in the airport when I touched down in London—and even though it's a model of my hometown—it made me think of you.” I grab the gift from her hand, shaking it so the faux snow begins to fall within the small replica of London.
“I realized, as I stood in the airport in one of the most famous cities in the world, the only place I wanted to be was a place very few people have ever heard of, and that was Fairwood.”
I hand the snow globe back to her, and as she takes it, she asks, “You’ve wanted to come back ever since you got home?”
I grab her wrists, needing to hold her as I say, “Leaving you that night was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.” Her eyesglass over, pure adoration within them as she looks down at the snow globe.
“And I swear on whatever deity brought you down to this earth and gave me the chance to spend even a single moment of time with you, I will spend however long you need me to—here in Fairwood—proving there is nowhere else I want to be.”
“Does that mean you’re here to stay?” She sits up, a large, hopeful grin covering her features.
I nod in confirmation. “I’m staying.”
For a long, long time.
April
Chapter Thirty-Eight
53 days until graduation
SENIORSPRINGBREAK
The Callaghan’s house in Myrtle Beach is one we have been coming to every spring break since we were little kids.
It’s the perfect house for all of us to stay at during the vacation, with a private beach right off the back porch. The house is also in the heart of the local town, with small shops and restaurants.
While the Callaghans are the ones who originally bought the house, all our families grew to love it, and have all stayed here together dozens of times.
It’s amazing to leave Connecticut and come to South Carolina. Being able to put on a bathing suit the second we wakeup, and spend the entire day going back and forth between the house and the beach, and then calling it a night by going out to dinner. It’s our routine, dating all the way back to middle school.
However, this is the first year we’re in South Carolina without any of our parents. They trusted us now that we’re all eighteen. Well, except for Eloise, but her parents made an exception in favor of the majority.
