553 V2 ch25 (1/2)

Spending Friday evening at the busy mall was far from what I had imagined for myself just over a year ago. We ate to our heart's content and then watched a movie in a packed theater. I was able to laugh with everyone else and felt one step closer to being a normal teenager like Noah and them.

Zeke allowed Dave to drive us home and even gave him some pointers for driving out at night. A relaxed atmosphere like this made me forget what we had gone to the mall for in the first place.

As soon as Noah and I went to our room to get ready for bed though, he pulled out the bag that held Alisha's present. He pulled out a white bottle and tossed it at me, grinning. ”I hid this in my pocket when leaving the store. I was so scared he was going to see me slip it in the bag when I got to the car. Luckily I distracted him by talking about Kyle's camping trip.”

I read the bottle. ”Instant color?” I kept reading. ”Pink? Semi-permanent?” I looked up at Noah. ”You want to dye their hair??”

Noah grinned and leaned against the door. ”It's a good idea, isn't it?”

Uhhh. ”Are your parents going to get mad?”

”No way. If they don't like it, they can just get hair cuts. It's not like it'll be super pink.” He explained. ”Their hair isn't bleached and because we aren't doing it the 'right' way, it should be more like a tinge if pink.”

”Oh.” I relaxed. ”Okay, but how are we going to do this?”

”Zeke and them share the shower, right? They also share the soaps and stuf. Zeke just has to shower before them, empty out a bottle and then fill it up with this one.”

”Wow. Sounds like it'll work.” I gave him the bottle back. Then glanced at the bag of headbands. ”Are you going to wrap those for Alisha's party?”

”Yea.” He walked to his desk, placing them in a drawer, hiding the bottle as well. ”I'll put them in a bag closer to the party day. I might lose it or forget it if I do it now.” He looked at me. ”Good thinking with that, by the way. Definitely threw Dave for a loop! He would have never known it was a cover.”

I scratched my nose, wondering if I should tell Noah that it wasn't just a cover. Alisha really wanted a gift from him.

”Jake?” Noah asked. ”What are you thinking about?”

I shook my head and went to grab my pjs. ”Just about the party.”

”It'll be fun!” He grabbed his pjs too. ”You know...that would be a good time to pass out Jeremy's autograph to everyone. Kind of like a party favor.”

”Party favor?” I questioned, not understanding.

”Yea. It's a small return gift for party guests. Kind of like a thanks for coming present?” He explained. ”It was fun when we were kids. Now it'd be cool to see you pass them out.”

”Even though it's not my party?” I asked.

Ah. I went to my backpack and pulled out a notebook. I turned to an empty page and started to make a list like Dr. Moore suggested. ”I'll ask him on Sunday.” I wrote it down. Then wrote a few more things I wanted to ask or talk about.

Noah looked over my shoulder. ”Don't forget to ask about Rose. You could have a sister-in-law soon if they're dating.” I added it to the list.

We stayed up later in the night coming up with things I could and probably should talk to Jeremy about. Nothing hardcore or brought up bad memories. Just maybe everything you should know about your brother. Like his birthday? Why he went pro instead of going to college? His high school baseball experience. The list went on.

When we stopped to take a break and change into our pajamas, we realized that the house was silent. Everyone was already asleep. We moved like mice in the night, trying to keep it down as we really prepared for bed this time.

”Goodnight, Jake.” Noah yawned, turning the light off.