Jessie and I spent every waking moment together (and even some sleeping), but we were still keeping it a secret from the rest of my family. We didn't want them to jump to conclusions or ask a lot of questions. For now, it was just us. I was worried that it would turn into another Leon situation, where we spent too much time together and then that would push us away. When I told Jessie about my concerns, she just laughed and said that if we ever got sick of each other, we were to take breaks, and we mutually agreed to not take offence.
I liked surprising Jessie. Her expressions of joy were always worth it. Flowers one day, presents another. She told me that I needed to stop showering her with gifts, but I couldn't help it.
I liked surprising Jessie. Her expressions of joy were always worth it. Flowers one day, presents another. She told me that I needed to stop showering her with gifts, but I couldn't help it.
"Nowhere near as pretty as you," I said, presenting the pink flowers to her, "But these represent our relationship. Don't worry, they're paper, so they'll never wilt." Of course I had gotten Jessie real flowers the rest of the time, but I finally wanted to admit my feelings to her.
"So, Jessie," I said, taking her in my arms.
"So, Andy," she teased, smiling at me reassuringly.
"I..." Oh no, was it going to be another first-kiss-I-can't-speak moment? The fire crackled next to us, creating the perfect atmosphere. Here goes nothing... "Jessie, I'm in love with you. I love you," I said strongly, surprised at my ability to come out and say it.
She kissed me softly. "Oh, Andy. I love you too. Always have, really."
"Really? Wait, always have? Since when?"
"Since we were kids, Dee. Didn't you pick up on it?"
"Maybe," I lied, trying to recall anything that indicated a crush on me.
"Hey, silly, are you ready to tell your parents?" Jessie asked.
"I think I'd better tell Buzz first," I said with a sigh.
"What's wrong?"
"It's gonna be... super awkward to tell him."
Jessie grinned mischievously. "Why don't we become 'Facebook Official'?"
I gave her a dubious look. "Really? Facebook official? Those couples are just looking for likes."
Jess giggled. "It'll be 'ironic.' C'mon, we have to tell our friends eventually anyway." Jess was referring to all of her Internet friends.
"Fineeee," I grinned, and pulled her in for a kiss and taking a picture at the same time. I sent her a relationship request. The moment that Jessie accepted it, I uploaded the picture. "Done. I'm just going to go see Buzz's reaction."
"Hey Buzz, checked Facebook recently?" I asked as I found Buzz up the stairs. He was wearing a suit after a dinner date with Char and her parents.
"No, why?" he asked, whipping out his phone. "Huh, that looks like... wait a minute... WHAT?" Buzz gaped at his phone looking at me for confirmation. I just smiled. "'Andy Casmin in a relationship with Jessie C since'," he glared at me, "December 25th?! DUDE! THAT'S CHRISTMAS!"
"Really? I thought the 28th was Christmas!" I said in mock surprise.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Uh, hello? 'I don't let my love life be an open book, thank you very much. There are some things that are just between Jess and I'," I quoted.
"Uh, hello? 'I don't let my love life be an open book, thank you very much. There are some things that are just between Jess and I'," I quoted.
Buzz slowly smiled. "So. You sly little devil. You had a little Christmas make out session and didn't tell me about it? And now you're official?"
"Yep. And basically we just said that we love each other," I admitted.
"Whoo, dude! I wish that you had told me, but whatever. So... how was it?"
"Wait, first tell me about your date with Char," I said.
"You drive a hard bargain, but here I go," Buzz commenced, "We started off skating, as usual. Then I wanted Char to see how I actually was getting more muscular, so we went down to the gym. While she was changing at the gym I saw Step-Aunt Anastasia. And I, er, just happened to have a stink bomb potion, so I planted it."
"And it totally worked," Buzz continued, "But also way too quickly. Anastasia and some other guy started getting nauseated, but because I was right above the stink bomb, I got the worst of it. I pretty much threw up all this week's meals. I felt horrible. Afterwards, once I had gotten a whiff of fresh air, I was okay, and brushed my teeth. I worked out a bit with Char and showed after, so I didn't smell like puke, sweat, and a stink bomb. I'll tell you though, Dee, I've pulled better pranks."
"I don't think it's Anastasia we need to nail, it's Drizella," I mused.
"Who in their right minds would want to nail either of those hags?"
"No, not like that!" I said, turning red, "In a non sexual manner, Mr. Gutter Brain."
"You know it," Buzz winked at me, "But anyway, I gave her a present. I'm only going to tell you Andy, and I'm not going to say what it's for, but the present has a dress and feather earrings with it."
"Oh no, you didn't get her some slinky, sheer dress did you?" I groaned, afraid of what Buzz wanted to dress his girlfriend up in.
"No! I mean, maybe it's a little low on the chest, but I think it's really cute! It would really look good on her. The earrings are because she always wears her hair up so her ears are quite visible. She can't open it until I tell her to, though."
"Have you ever seen her with her hair down before?"
"A few times, but she said that she wants to keep it up until the day of her marriage. Plus, she just prefers having it up," Buzz said, "Oh, and one more thing-the dress has a zipper on the back."
I chuckled and held up my end of the deal, giving him all the little details about my relationship with Jessie.
Dad finally handed over the reins of king, getting everything settled with me. He also made a will, saying that he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be of sound mind. Nothing but bull, of course. I knew that he just wanted more free time to work on his books, and I was suddenly appreciative of all the free time I had with Jessie. Now that I was officially a private investigator and no longer training, I was taking on small, low paying jobs to start off with before I could build a name for myself.
The iPad that Jessie gave me really came in handy. I could store information and updated cases I had on the iPad. I locked it with a long text password, and even if it was stolen or lost, I could erase all the data, change the password, or send a message to it via my computer. The computer, which contained tons of personal information about clients, was to stay at home and had many security barriers.
Time seemed to fly by with my job, and soon enough, it was Buzz and Sandy's birthday. We didn't bother inviting anyone (we had had quite enough with parties), so it was just the six of us when Buzz, clad in just his underwear and shoes, blew out the candles on his winter themed cake.
Due to some freak accident, when Buzz blew out the candles, one fell over onto the only piece of clothing he was wearing-while it was still lit. Dad wasn't a fire newbie though, and quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher from underneath a counter cabinet and put Buzz out. "I thought I was done with fires!" Buzz said in a shaking laugh once he was safe. "I gave up that chemistry set a long time ago to avoid this!"
Because of all of the hustle bustle, and because Buzz had to be aged up again, Sandy ended up growing up on her own by surprise. She didn't have any weird stretching, but she did grow up in some odd clothes, so she and Buzz went on a shopping spree together to find some new duds.
Oh, maybe I forgot to mention, but when I officially started working as a private investigator, I got some cool clothes to go with it. I looked like a proper investigator.
The kitchen cleared out very quickly so that once again, Jessie and I were alone in the kitchen. "I do like a man in uniform," Jessie purred, bringing me close. Was a PI suit considered a uniform? Either way, I was loving it. We were entwined in each other for so long that we barely even noticed Sandy and Buzz coming back from their shopping trip. That was... a long time to be standing making out. I grinned sheepishly at Jess and we parted so that Buzz could use the kitchen.
I did a double take as I sat down next to Buzz. He was eating frog legs while wearing mime makeup, a bow-tie and a pretty cool outfit. "You're a mime?"
Buzz smiled. "Not at the moment. But I want to be an acrobat. I considered magician for a while, but I decided that acrobat would be more fun. Being a mime is part of it. You need to have control of your body (in the cleanest way possible) and be flexible and be brave enough to play with fire. I think I've got what it takes!"
"So you and mom are both in the show biz, then. Don't start competing for spots!"
Buzz rolled his eyes. "Mom can get gigs at much better venues than the ones I'll be auditioning for. I need practice first anyway."
"I'm going on an adventure," I said, jumping up from my seat. "Blackmail! My first real case. Maybe. All of my other ones have been Nancy Drew type ones, where I follow this clue to so-and-so who asks for a favour and blah blah blah." Buzz nodded and shoveled more food in his mouth, so I took off. I dressed in my normal clothing because for now I was just taking notes on alibis. If I could prove the information that blackmailer had was incorrect, I could help my client. So far, it all looked good. My client's footprints were fresh in the from her walk yesterday morning-but wait! It had snowed since then! Then again, perhaps all that proved was that she took walks daily. I would have to question her on that.
After an hour of investigating, I finally came to the conclusion that the blackmailer would only be proven incorrect if my client did indeed taking morning walks along the same path, as I found clues indicating to her walking there frequently-hairs of her colour, her initials engraved on a tree, part of a letter addressed to her caught in a tree...
I couldn't pursue my investigations any further that day though, as Sandy and Buzz were graduating. I was extremely shocked to find that Buzz had won valedictorian and not Sandy. He was too, apparently, and his speech was a little shaky at first, but then we found ourselves laughing in our seats as Buzz made witty comments and jokes, filling the silence with words of wisdom and reminders that we have so much ahead of us. Buzz was voted most popular (no surprise there) while Sandy was voted most artistic (also no surprise there.)
"Sandy," I said after the ceremony, finding her upstairs painting, "What do you think about Buzz being valedictorian?"
Sandy smiled meekly. "I actually won valedictorian, but Buzz deserved something great, so I talked with the principal and vice principal. It was a simple matter of crossing out my name and writing 'Buzz' instead. I helped him prepare a speech beforehand, saying that he needed to be prepared if he got it. It made him happy, don't you think? I've got enough academic awards to look good on my resumé. Being a valedictorian is a nice extra boost for him."
It still shocked me how mature Sandy could be. Ever since we were kids, she was always the mature, sensible one. Sure, she had a side which she thought was best to express through piercings, makeup, and hair dye and had since decided that painting was the way to do it, but at the end of the day, Sandy was smart and logical, even if she just wanted to let loose and have fun once in a while.
I then got into my uniform and drove to my client for one final interrogation-or a questioning, really. I wasn't professional enough to use the word 'interrogation.' "I have one question to ask you," I said casually, "Was this walk a one time thing?"
"Oh, no," she laughed, "I go for a walk every morning. The distance depends on the temperature, of course..." That was all that I needed.
"I have the proof that the evidence that this blackmailer is using against you is incorrect. I'm leaving it in your hands. Use it wisely," I suggested. I had already given a copy of the proof to the police, so I wasn't worried about her losing it.
"This will save my reputation!" she squealed excitedly, taking the paper. That was an exaggeration, to say the least. At the most it would save her job.
As I walked out of the building, I took my hat off and ran my hands through my sweaty hair. It had been a long day. I met up with Buzz at the park, where mom was performing. It was supposed to be our last day of snow before it all melted.
"Uh, nice snowman?" I said curiously, staring at Buzz's Grim Reaper themed snowman. It was quite cool, just a little mysterious. He pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. It was an obituary from a newspaper.
Buzz bought the last of the gingerbread men from a miserable looking Jodi. He put his hand on hers and said, "I'm sorry for your loss. We're here for you." I looked over the obituary as Buzz sat down and ate the cookie.
" 'Becky Passes, Leaving Legacy of Love,' " I read, " 'After what many noted was "a fine life," Becky Charming passed away yesterday of a disease she was battling. Becky Charming was a famed artist, yet questionable host. The family's butler, paid for with the inheritance money, said the family was too upset to comment.' "
"It's not accurate at all," Buzz fumed, "And her last name isn't 'Charming' anymore. We're going to have to tell mom, but don't show her the obituary."
"Of course," I said softly, sadly. I had liked Becky. She was like an aunt to me. A proper aunt. She was fun and I remembered Sandy telling me how they had engaged in a water balloon fight the night I went to prom. At least she led a long, happy life, though the situation with her and grandpa ended sourly.
I watched as mom sang her heart out, arm raised dramatically in the air, the pretzel bench behind her and the special effect machine emitting electricity. She ended so strong, and I hated to be the one to tell her, but I had to...
"Mom?" I said after the show, "I've got bad news..." I explained what had happened. A few small tears trickled down mom's cheek and her chest began heaving up and down as she pressed a hand to her mouth to stop her shudders. She managed a small smile.
"She led a good life and left behind a child that she loved. That's all that matters," mom said sadly, "And she will be missed." Mom quickly organized a funeral for Becky. Becky had left all her money to her husband and a few items specifically for Jodi, a few items specifically for mom, and a few items specifically for friends and distant family. It was a sad event, but mom managed to stay strong.
Mom held another get together for close friends and family of Becky so that they could actually talk about all that Becky had meant to them. All the funny memories, all the stupid memories-anything that made them happy. They did briefly analyse Becky's bad times, but agreed that she only picked herself off the ground and ended up being a better person. Mom confided in everyone that Becky used to want to be a gold digger, which instead of finding it a horrifying thing to say when remembering Becky, all of her friends laughed and went, 'That's the Becky I knew.'
Mom even dedicated an intense, fire blaring song for Becky and included the song in her newest album. Because of that, mom's popularity increased quite a bit. Mom felt guilty at first, saying that those weren't her intentions at all, but finally accepted the fact that being a nice person and a good friend payed off.
Since then, the snow had melted and I had visited the new setup for the Spring festival. Sandy had gotten her face painted with little hearts and was hanging around the kissing booths. The first time I was there, I had to do a double take, as she was kissing the girl there! "Sandy, since when were you bi-sexual?"
"I'm not," she replied, "I'm just experimenting." Sandy returned to the booth to 'experiment' three more times.
"The guy's just not very attractive," Sandy whispered to me. She kissed him anyway, and when she returned, she made a face. I couldn't blame her. He was pretty desperate looking.
"Hey, when'd you get that piercing?" I said, suddenly noticing the nose piercing Sandy bore.
"About a week ago. Typical male, not noticing things like that." I hated to admit it as I detested piercings outside of ears, but her nose piercing actually looked really good. At least this way is was more subtle and she didn't look like a crackhead.
After solving my tenth case, I was award a special trophy by the mayor. It was nice, but I kept it as a constant reminder that I needed to do more and be better. I wasn't getting much done by finding out where Tommy's toothbrush went. If I was going to help this world out, I really needed to help.
The trophy was fairly heavy, so I wasn't pleased when they hauled it out in front of city hall and left it for me to bring home. At least my muscles came in use for that.
Jess had visited bars to talk to bartenders. I went with her at first, but once I realized that all she was doing was having a sip of what the bartender considered their preferred drink, I didn't need to worry about her getting drunk. I should have realized that after nearly a year of making and sampling her drinks, Jessie had a higher alcohol tolerance. She didn't want to feel bad for not buying much at the bar though, so she would buy nachos, drumsticks, onion rings, or some other food while she chatted to the bartenders.
"What's up with you, Jess? You don't need to exercise," I said as I walked in on Jessie on the treadmill. She laughed.
"My fitness it terrible, Andy. Maybe I don't need to lose a lot of weight, but I'd like to be fit."
"You are fit," I whistled. She rolled her eyes at me.
"Love you," I teased.
"Love you too," she said, rolling her eyes in fake annoyance.
Later, I was examining Buzz and Char's prom picture with Sandy. "That's cute. How did prom go, anyway?"
Sandy shrugged. "It sucked for me more than I thought it would. I was named prom queen which was cool, but because Buzz was named prom king we obviously couldn't do a king and queen dance, so instead Buzz danced with Char and I was left with Jayme," she said, rolling her eyes, "Who's a self-centered jerk. I was super bored and I wanted to spike the punch, but there were chaperones everywhere. Turns out I didn't need to though; my friend Jack had done it for me. I got a little drunk and then another chick got in a fight with me because she thought I was checking out her date, which was such bull. Buzz on the other hand had the time of his life. He was named prom king as I already said, and after everyone saw him and Charmaine dancing, they voted them for cutest couple. Then Buzz started showing off and he did the chicken dance, and because our school adores him, everyone else joined in too."
"Those two really are head over heels in love with each other, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they really are..."
**Buzz's POV**
I tossed the torches from hand to hand, enjoying the rhythm of the flames swirling around in a circle. Toss, catch, toss, catch. It was easy, but it looked daring. Maybe it was a little daring. After all, I was playing with fire.
Ouch!
Talk about jinxing it! I tossed the torches I had in my hands aside and put out the fire that was singing my hair. I couldn't ruin that-I had a very important date this evening! Well, that was practice enough. It was time to put on the real act.
"So what would you like me to do for you today?" I asked the woman. I had been auditioning for a spot at the coffeehouse for quite some time now, and we were getting used to it. She wasn't annoyed by it, and she gave me good advice on what I needed to work on. Her coffeehouse was the place for up and coming musicians, magicians, and acrobats like myself.
"Why don't we start at the beginning, hmm? You're in a box," she said. I held my hands out in front of me, turning around and laying my hands on the 'box'. And then-what was that? The box was closing on me! I dropped into a squat, pretending to fight off the box and I finally pushed the top open and climbed out. "Hmm," she said as I finished. Uh oh. "You know Buzz, your act is very good, but you have quirks like your hands not being at the same place every time, so it looks like the box is changing its shape, and that's not realistic." I nodded, thanked her for her time, and left. It wasn't the way I wanted to live forever, but it would pay the bills, and I would need a job that would pay the bills if I wanted to have my own family.
My heart fluttered nervously in my chest as I got home and changed into my suit. When I phoned Char to make the date, I had told her to wear what I had given her as a gift. Hopefully she would fit in it, as she had grown quite a bit since we were teenagers...
I drove over to the park and relaxed when I saw that Char wasn't there yet. I needed some time to prepare, and we would have the rest of the day together anyway. My stomach growled and I realized that I hadn't eaten yet, so I grabbed some onion rings from the food stand and chowed down on them.
I finished just in time as Char walked up, looking positively radiant. Her dress fit-in all the right places, too. "Hey sweetheart," I said, giving Charm a hello kiss and snapping a quick pic. I would get revenge on Andy, that was for sure.
"Too bad it's raining," Char said.
"I hadn't even noticed," I gulped. Well, there was nothing I could do now. I would just make sure that it didn't ruin our date.
We skated around for a bit until it got too wet to continue. "That was fun," Char said, but I wasn't sure how much she meant it. I wanted this to the best date of her life, dammit!
"Let's go try out that kooky machine," I said, pointing to the love-o-meter machine.
"That? Buzz, stuff like that is just chance!" Char laughed as I pulled her over.
"C'mon luv, give it a try." We put our hands on the knob and watched the lights pop up. Mine went first all the way to red. Char's climbed slowly, but flickered at the green. C'mon, I thought.
"It's just a silly machine," Char said softly. But the next moment, her light flew all the way up to red. "Our reading is 'Burning: Whoa-get a room you two!'" We burst into outrageous laughter, and I felt like our date had really started.
"Let's dance," I said, dragging Char over to the dance stage.
"Hon, my hand goes on your shoulder, not the reverse," Charm giggled, trying not to hurt my feelings.
"My bad. My parents always dance like this."
"Have you never learned how to dance?"
"Uh, nope. That's why I was doing the chicken dance at prom." Char started giggling again so I tried to calm her down before she got the hiccups.
"You good now?"
"Uh huh."
"Great. Cuz I have something I need to show you..." I had been waiting for far to long to pull these flowers out of my sleeve. I was just relieved that they still looked nice. All that time that I had practiced to be a magician paid off after all... Her expression was worth it. All the other times, she had seen it coming for I had held the flowers behind my back, but this time, it truly was a surprise.
"Let's get out of the rain," I said, pulling Char towards the car. I didn't want to cut our date short, but I didn't want the big event to happen while we were absolutely soaked. I drove home and walked Char over to the cliff.
"We're going to get soaked, Buzz," she said, confused.
"It's okay Char," I said softly, and her face relaxed. I stroked her cheek lovingly as I prepared myself. "Charmaine Chamberlaine, I've had a crush on you since we were kids. I knew you were the only one for me the moment you made faces at me and called me a brown-noser. Sure, we argue sometimes..."
"But at the end of the day, you're the only one I need in my life, Char. And I need you in my life. So I want to ask you," I said, dropping to one knee and pulling out the box, "If you want to spend the rest of forever, together?"
"Charmaine Chamberlaine, my Charm, my one love-will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?"
"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Char screamed from beneath her hands which were clasped over her mouth. Tears streamed from her eyes as she nodded-yes.
I slipped the ring on her finger, overjoyed that at last, all of my dreams were coming true. Maybe it wasn't the best proposal-we were both sopping wet-but I couldn't have dreamed of a girl I would rather make it to.
"I love you so much, Buzz," Char whispered in my ear as we embraced.
"I love you too, Char," I whispered back to my fiancé.
We talked for an hour or so, watching the sky get blacker while sitting on the wet ground, not caring that our clothes could get grass stains. I sighed deeply as I kissed Char goodbye and returned to the dry inside of my home. "Congratulations, Buzz," dad said as I walked into the family room.
"Thanks dad," I said, "But how come you're wearing a suit?"
"I went to the city hall earlier. They'll never be finished with me," he said, rolling his eyes. "You'd better tell Andy-call him, he's out."
"Hey Andy... I finally did it! I proposed to Char. She said yes," I told him, not bothering to lay on the extra details. I did a mental facepalm as I remembered, too late, that I had planned on changing my Facebook status to 'engaged' as a way of telling Andy.
"Awesome! What wedding date do you have?"
"We're aiming for mid to late spring so that we can avoid rain and snow. Oh, by the way-you'll be my best man, right?"
Andy laughed from the other side. "Of course. So I have to organize something, and I need to sort out the details with you."
"Yeah?" Andy ran me through his plan, and I frowned, not liking it.
"A stag party with strippers?"
I should've seen it coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment