Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (16 page)

         
CHAPTER ELEVEN

By
Christmas, dad had visited two more times. Our visits were always full of
adventurous activities. Once, we wandered around the Phoenix Zoo, which was in
the same parking lot as
Papago
Park.  I don’t
know how I missed that the first time we were there. We took extra time walking
through the monkey village, looking at all the tiny monkeys around us. On
another visit, we spent the day hiking at South Mountain, which was beautiful.
We managed to time it out perfectly so we got to the top at sunset.  It
was warmer at that point of the day, but thankfully in October, Arizona
temperatures resemble those of California’s temps in the summer. We even rode
the city light rail around, just to dinner and back, but it was a new
experience to check off the list.

The
tension between Pete and I had completely dissolved and seemed to be forgotten.
Eli had even backed off somewhat since Pete seemed to be leaving me alone. In
fact, the entire debacle rarely crossed my mind anymore. Still—I chose to ward
off the prospect of any boyfriends for a while, which is easier said than done
at times. There were a few guys who had expressed interest in dating me.

Around
Thanksgiving, Bailey and Eli broke up. Luckily, it was a mutual decision and
there were no hard feelings. I would have hated if they were at odds with each
other. We all continued to be close as if nothing ever had transpired. They
decided that their feelings for one another weren’t in a romantic sense
anymore, and weren’t sure if they ever were. All in all, they dated for about
three months.

Both
Eli and I worked about 25 hours a week, and it was going well. Working together
was a blast. We had been there for nearly four months and already received
raises, making our hourly wages $8.00 per hour. I saved almost everything I
earned, even though I did go to the movies and shopping every now and then.
Despite those occasional outings, I had been able to save $1,500 towards my
car. It was a number I took a lot pride in. My goal was to have at least $3,000
before I began looking for a car, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to wait that
long. The lack of my own transportation was starting to get frustrating—besides
my legs, my mom and Eli, that is. I craved independence.

As
best friends, Eli and I were closer than ever. I didn’t feel as I once did, that
Eli was holding back all the time. On the other hand, I knew there were things
he chose not to tell me, like how he had been so in tune with the happenings of
Pete and I. I still had no idea how he had known there was a problem in the
restaurant, but since no other incidents happened I left it alone. Maybe one
day he would tell me.

Mom
ended things with her so-called boyfriend shortly after my dad’s second visit.
As it turned out, it had taken her that long to figure out that she wasn't
ready. I think it was a combination of wanting to make dad jealous and also not
being over him completely. Either way the tension from it had long since
dissipated and we were back to our normal closeness. She ended up apologizing
to me the day they broke up, and I vaguely wondered if she had apologized to
dad as well. I’d never ask though. That was between them. She hadn’t been on
another date since. Though we both knew it was only a matter of time before it
came up again, I just hoped it would be for the right reasons and with the
right guy. After all, I wanted my mom to be happy and if it took dating and
meeting another Mr. Right in the process, so be it.

 Together,
mom and I went to pick out a Christmas tree. We decided to get a five-foot
Noble fir, which were by far the prettiest Christmas trees, if you asked me. We
would have loved to get a huge nine-footer if we could, but my mom and I
wouldn’t have been able to set it up by ourselves. Actually, I don’t think it
would even fit in our house!

I
went with Bailey, Eli and a few other friends to look at Christmas lights at
the Valley’s famous Loop of Lights. We drank hot chocolate and apple cider as
we walked down several streets that were extravagantly lit up. There were even
a few that actually had Santa Claus there to see the kids.

Dad
wasn’t able to make it out for Christmas Day; things were far too busy at the
store to take off at such a critical time and I completely understood. 
Instead, he came a few weeks early to celebrate with me. We splurged and
celebrated with a skiing trip to Flagstaff, and mom even let me miss two days
of school. We went to the
Sno
Bowl, which is the
popular ski and snowboarding mountain there. I must admit I wasn’t very good on
skis, not like dad, but I had fun nonetheless. I managed not to break
anything—which was something short of a miracle—and dad had fun laughing at me.
We stayed at a hotel that had an indoor Jacuzzi, and it was like heaven
stepping into it each night after a full day on the slopes.

On
the last night of our getaway, we opened our Christmas gifts to each other. Dad
gave me $100 towards my savings account for my car. I was very excited to add
it to my bank account, bringing me that much closer to independence. I bought
dad a new sweater and khaki pants to match. It was the ‘usual’ gift I liked to
buy him, because it was the one thing I knew he could always use. He didn’t get
out to go shopping much, and he never used to like the clothes my mom picked
out for him. Dad and I were very similar, so he usually liked what I chose for
him.

Since
I was working hard and saving money I was able to buy Christmas presents for
Bailey, Eli, mom and dad without a problem. I tried to put a lot of thought and
consideration into what I would buy for each person, but it wasn’t hard to
decide on the perfect gifts for them. Gift giving was one of the best parts of
Christmas, and I usually had a very hard time concealing my excitement.

For
mom, I found a beautiful white watch with rhinestones encircling the face. She
had been looking for a new one for a while without any luck. The minute I saw
it, I knew it was just what she was looking for. For Bailey, I bought some new
bows, headbands, and clips to do her hair with. I took into account how
uncomfortable she was with doing her own hair, and thought they would be
helpful. I’d even made a note to make plans with her to try them all out. Eli’s
gift was the one gift I couldn’t wait to give. It was positively the most
personal of all of my gifts to anyone. I was able to find a picture frame with
a figurine of his exact car, right down to the color, placed right in front of
the picture. I knew it was the perfect gift because he had a photo of his dad
and him standing with his car that was without a frame at the moment. He kept
it in the top drawer of his nightstand. He showed it to me once. It reminded me
of the one I kept in my nightstand of my mom, dad and me at the beach. I
thought it was sweet that he kept it so close at hand, and I hoped he would
really appreciate the thought I’d put into finding his special gift.

I
gave my friends their gifts the weekend before Christmas. My thoughtful
purchases were exactly the best gifts I could have chosen—but my friends seemed
to know me just as well. Bailey bought me an outfit complete with accessories
that I was sure came from the store she worked at, and Eli gave me a locket.
There wasn’t a picture inside, but he said one day I would know how to fill it.
It puzzled me the way he said it, but I guess it made sense that one day a Mr.
Right would come along for me, and that would be the picture I would like to
put inside.

The
next time I was at Eli’s house, I smiled when I noticed his frame sitting on
his nightstand with picture. Even Eli’s mom had commented on what a thoughtful
gift it had been.

On
Christmas day, mom and I celebrated, just the two of us. We made a delicious
turkey dinner with all the trimmings, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, stuffing,
and green bean casserole.  We had enough food to feed two large families
but we didn’t mind. I made sure to call dad to wish him Merry Christmas, and I
couldn’t be sure, but it almost sounded as if he was holding back tears. I
hoped not.

Mom
handed over my gift first, and I was surprised to find money from her as well!
A hundred dollars just like dad. I secretly wondered if they’d talked about
what to get me. I was so excited that I was getting closer and closer to that
little bit of freedom. I could almost picture myself behind the wheel. Mom
loved the watch I gave her and she put it on right away.

Usually
my mom and I didn’t do anything special for New Years Eve, but that year we
invited a few of our friends over and made appetizers and drank—champagne for
the adults, sparkling apple cider for the teenagers. Eli and Bailey came, along
with Bailey’s new boyfriend, Ryan. They had been dating for almost three weeks,
and surprisingly, Eli and Ryan got along really well. I had been worried that
once Bailey, or even Eli for that matter, started dating other people that
there might be tension between them, but I have been wrong. We were all
enjoying our winter break from school, but Eli and I were working a lot. I
haven’t seen much of Bailey either, since she had a new boyfriend and was
working at the mall.

At
midnight we gathered in the front yard and made as much noise as possible with
poppers and noisemakers. We all shouted “Happy New Year!” and toasted to wish
everyone well for the next year to come. Then we talked and laughed about our
New Year’s resolutions until everyone decided to head home.

After
everyone left, I helped mom clean up. It was around 2 a.m. when I finally went
to bed. I laid in bed for a while, thinking about the holidays. I was sad that
they were over so quickly; it was my favorite time of year.

Between
feeling content with my life and being constantly busy with work and school, my
bad dreams had been kept at bay for some time. I feared that it wouldn’t be for
long, though. It seemed as though they were never going to stop for good.

Unfortunately,
school was starting in just four days, and I was completely unprepared to go
back. Our schedules were different now for the new semester. Bailey and I only
had one class together. Eli and I had three together, which made us both happy.
It’s always nerve-wracking going back to school with a new schedule. It was
like the first day of school all over again, anticipating if there were any
friends to keep you company in the new classes or if you would be making new
ones. Most people didn’t mind making new friends, but for me it was especially
hard. At the same time, since I had been at that school it seemed I had been
fairly good at it. I couldn’t understand why.

I
had nothing planned for the last four days of vacation besides working. I was
really enjoying all the extra hours I was able to work without having to worry
about any interfering schoolwork. Plus, my paycheck was definitely going to
show my extra efforts and time. My savings account was continuing to grow, even
after all the money I spent on Christmas.

I
was hoping that in the next month I would be able to buy a car. My plan was to
get Eli to help me look for one when the time came, since he knew so much about
them. Originally, I would have asked my dad, but since he was all the way in
California, I didn’t think that would work out well. Maybe if I were lucky dad
would be in town when I was ready, and they could both help me. Two heads were
better than one, right? They already bonded so well over cars. In fact, it
seemed that my dad also looked forward to seeing Eli when he came to visit. He
always asked about him when we talked on the phone.

The
last four days of my break were just as I thought they would be: uneventful.
Besides work I didn’t do anything except relax and hang around the house. I
felt relaxed and at ease. It was just what I needed to prepare to go back and
finish out the school year.

The
night before school started, mom and I had a girl’s night. I was a little tired
of pizza at the moment, which I figured was inevitable from working in a pizza
place, so we ordered Chinese food. We had a ‘chick flick’ marathon, taking out
every movie that we could think of that had romance and comedy all rolled into
one, and picked out three favorites to watch.

By
the middle of the second movie, we were ready for dessert.  We each put
chocolate chip cookie dough in our own personal dishes and baked them until the
dough was only done around the edges, so it was super soft in the middle. While
the cookies baked we chatted about all the things that were important to us. We
topped
them off with vanilla bean ice cream, which
melted around the cookie, making it almost like the best cookie dough ice cream
ever. Yum!

After
what seemed like just a short amount of sleep, Monday morning came all too
quickly. Grudgingly, I climbed out of bed, showered, and was ready for
breakfast in less than 30 minutes. It was beginning to be a regular occurrence
that I got ready quickly.

Mom
was downstairs eating breakfast and mine was waiting for me as usual. Eli
continued to drive me to school every day, and I was deeply indebted to him for
the favor—although it was definitely not for the same reason as it had started
out. Today he happened to be a little early so he came inside and mom offered
him some breakfast. He had time for a piece of toast, so he accepted that and
ate quickly.