Two

            A red Ferrari Modena Spyder. My brother’s car. This meant nothing to me, as I was one of those girls who could care less about cars. But every time I was in his car with him, Ray would say, “The best thing about being rich. This car right here.” The only thing I could really say about it was that it was nice. It was really nice.

            As he repeated those same two lines to me"again"I scoffed. “Ray, we’re not rich. We just have more money than most people. Why does everyone just assume we’re rich?”

            “Well, look at his car. It kind of makes people jump to conclusions.”

            I shook my head. “The only reason we have this car is because mom saved forever to get it. For both of us. And this car is only yours because I want nothing to do with mom and her money. I let you have this car,” I said, laughing.

            He shrugged. “Well, let people think what they want. And I know you did, that’s why you’re my best girl.”

            I rolled my eyes at him as we pulled into the parking lot of a tiny 50’s diner called Jill’s Place. It was my favorite restaurant. I loved everything about it; the smallness of it, the way it always smelled like bacon, how the waitresses used roller skates and wore those poofy skirts, the red interior and booths, the black and white checkered floor, the old-fashioned jukebox in the far corner, and I loved how everyone knew each other by name. Also, it was good that the prices were low. I didn’t like spending a lot of money on meals, since I paid for everything with my own money. And I refused to use my mom’s money"ever. I didn’t want her to try and buy my love and affection. I wanted her to show me she loved me without involving any money. Clearly, Ray and I weren’t on the same page"his Ferrari was proof of this.

            “What are we doing here?” I asked, shifting in my seat.

            “Dinner. Duh,” Ray replied, pulling into a parking spot. His car looked so out of place in this part of town.

            “It’s only 4:30,” I said, glancing at the clock on the dashboard.

            He sighed. “Okay, early dinner.”

            I zipped my sweater up to my neck and hopped out of the car, sticking my hands in my pockets as the cool November air crawled into my shirt and sent shivers down my spine.

            “Should’ve grabbed your coat,” Ray said as we walked towards the restaurant doors.

            I glared at him. “Yeah, I would’ve been right on that if we hadn’t been sneaking out the back door.”

            Ray shrugged as we entered Jill’s Place. As soon as I glimpsed my surroundings, I froze in shock. People jumped out from behind booths, tables, chairs and counters, all yelling, “Surprise!”

            I groaned and closed my eyes for a moment. “Not again.”

“Oh, cheer up Heidi. We wanted to do something special for you on your birthday. Don’t worry, there’s no one here that you don’t know.” Ray let out a short laugh, then went over and sat at our regular booth in the far corner of the restaurant. A few of his friends were there waiting.

            Dallas and Angela came running up to me, all smiles.

            “Surprised?” Dallas asked.

            “Yes,” I growled, my eyes narrowed into slits.

            They laughed in unison, and guided me into the small crowd of people. Ray was right; there was no one there that I didn’t know. Because of the size of the restaurant, it looked packed with people. In reality though, there was only about twenty five people, all of them friends or acquaintances from school.

            I walked through the crowd"Angela and Dallas at my heels"and greeted everyone, thanking them for coming.

            Soon enough, we were all piled into the tables and the noise level continued to raise a few notches. The waitress skated over to us, wished me a happy birthday, and took everyone’s orders. I looked at Dallas, then at Angela, who were on either side of me.

            “I can’t believe you guys did this,” I said, feeling flattered that my friends cared about me so much.

            Angela shook her head. “It was all Ray. The only thing Dallas and I did was make a list of your friends from school. Ray didn’t even want us to invite them for him. He wanted to do it all himself"you know how popular he is at school. Even the miner-niners know him!” She looked disgusted, and I laughed.

            “I’ll be right back,” I said, standing up from the table and heading back to the corner of the restaurant where Ray sat with three of his friends.

            “Ray?” I said, leaning against the side of his booth.

            He looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, Heidi. You enjoying your party?”

            I nodded. “Yeah, I am. Angela told me that you did all this for me.”

            His smile widened. “You caught me.”

            “Well, thanks. You’re the best. Even though I hate surprises… But you did it at my favorite diner, so that makes up for it,” I said, nudging him with my elbow.

            “I know,” he replied, laughing.

            I smiled and looked around the table at Ray’s friends. One guy in particular caught my eye. I was stunned for a moment, taking in the sight of him. His dirty-blonde hair, his big, round olive-colored eyes, his tall, muscular build, his deeply tanned skin. As soon as I noticed he was staring back at me, I quickly looked away.

            He smiled warmly and said, “Happy birthday, Heidi.”

            “Thank you.” I nodded at him, keeping my smile guarded, and walked back to my table.

Once I sat down, Angela whispered, “Who was that guy?”

I sat up a little straighter as I said, “Just one of Ray’s friends, I guess.” She gave me a look, a smile playing at her lips, but said nothing.

Dallas leaned into me, his tone harsh. “Who was that guy?”

I laughed at how they both asked the same thing, yet it seemed like an entirely different question just by the way they asked it. “Calm down, Dallas. He’s just one of Ray’s friends.”

            Dallas grunted. “By the way he was staring at you, I’d say"”

            The death glare I was giving him cut him right off. Still, I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander to Ray’s table after what Dallas had said.

 

{   -   -   -   }

 

            Ray lifted his hand and pressed the button attached to the driver’s side visor, closing the automatic garage door behind us.

            “So did you have fun?” he asked, letting his hands fall in his lap and turning to face me.

            “Yeah, actually. A lot more fun than I would’ve had at mom’s business promotion party.” I faked a gag. “I just can’t believe you paid for all those people!”

            He shrugged. “Mom can afford it. And it was just a nice thing to do.”

            I shook my head slowly, smiling. No wonder everyone"literally everyone"who knew Ray loved him. He was so caring, always thinking of other people before himself. He was also the most honest guy I knew. I constantly wondered why he didn’t have a girlfriend.

            We exited the car and I followed Ray through the garage and into the house. As soon as we entered the giant, dazzling white kitchen, my mom was right in our faces. Ray moved around her stealthily, and went upstairs. I heard his bedroom door shut firmly.

            “Where did you disappear to?” she shrieked at me. “A client of mine brought his daughter along and he wanted her to meet you. I went upstairs to introduce her to you and you… were… gone!”

            “Ray took me out to dinner,” I said easily, shrugging and walking over to the fridge to grab an apple. I stuck it under the tap, washed it quickly and shined it on my shirt.

            “Dinner…” she repeated, like it made no sense to her.

            “Yes, mom. Dinner.” I took a bite of my apple right in her face, and some of the juice squirted onto her cheek. “Oops,” I said through the chunk of apple in my mouth.

            She wiped her cheek and glared at me for a moment, then decided to change her method of interrogation. She turned on her sweet voice. “Heidi, honey, I threw you a party! I thought it was very generous of me.”

            I laughed loudly. It sounded harsh. “You threw me a party? Oh, sorry mom. I must’ve been mistaken. I thought the party was some big promotion for your business. My bad.”

            “Don’t use your little teenage slang with me, I don’t appreci"”

            “Mom, please,” I said, cutting her off. “Today was my birthday! Why couldn’t you just, for one day, let something be about me?”

            “Oh, get over yourself, Heidi. I give you everything!”

            “I only want one thing from you, mom. I’m just not sure you’re capable of giving it to me,” I said, slamming my apple onto the counter and turning to leave.

            I ran up the stairs and into my room, closing the door quietly behind me. I slowly walked over to my bed, and collapsed across it. I let the tears run, but I kept my sobs inside. I didn’t want anyone to hear me cry, especially not my mother"although I doubted she would care.

            A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. This time, I ignored it and stayed lying on my bed, flat on my stomach.

            I heard the door open, and moments later, the springs on my bed creaked as someone sat down next to me. I looked over to see Ray, giving me a sympathetic smile. He placed his hand on my back and rubbed it around slowly, trying to comfort me. I said nothing as I felt my muscles relax.

            “So, Ethan was asking about you,” Ray said, breaking the silence.

            “Ethan?” I asked, sitting up straight. I didn’t know an Ethan.

            “Yeah, my friend Ethan. The one who was sitting across from me at the diner today? He’s the one who wished you a happy birthday.”

            I nodded, feeling the heat rise to the surface of my skin. “Oh. Right.”

            Ray looked at me closely as I faked disinterest. “Don’t you want to know what he was asking?”

            I shrugged, acting nonchalant. “I guess so.”

            “Well, he said he’s seen you around school, but he had no idea you were my sister. He asked how old you were today, and I told him. He seemed a kind of interested.”

            “Hmm,” was all I said, as I pretended to be deeply focused on my chipped fingernail polish.

            Ray gave me a weird look, then got up off my bed and walked over to my door. “Just thought you might want to know.” He grabbed the door handle and swung the door open. “Oh, and he’s staying here overnight tomorrow.” He left my room and shut the door behind him. I heard his amused chuckle as he walked down the hallway to his bedroom.

            I flopped backwards on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Oh damn.