Page 93 of Friendshipped
On the drive to Frisch’s, the app pings. I sneak a peek at my phone. Since Trevor and Felicia are sitting in the third row of the car and I’m in the middle row with Memaw, I can be sure Felicia won’t catch on to me texting TJ.
TJ:Happy birthday! I hope you have a great day celebrating. Can’t wait to hear if you’re right and there’s a surprise celebration.
Lexi:Thanks! My family woke me way too early to take me to breakfast.
TJ:What’s your definition of way too early?
Lexi:Eight.
TJ:lol
Lexi:No. I’m serious. I love sleep.
TJ:Nothing wrong with that. I’m more of a morning person. Is that a deal breaker?
Lexi:Not if you let me sleep.
TJ:Noted.
Huh. That’s the same word Trevor uses,noted. Well, lots of people say that. Maybe I’m so comfortable with TJ because something about him makes me feel like I’ve known him forever. Maybe it’s due to him being a small-town Ohio boy at heart. But so were all the guys I went on dates with, and they made me anything but comfortable.
We arrive at Frisch’s and pour out of the SUV. Dad gets us a large corner booth. My birthday breakfast includes a smiley-face pancake I ordered off the kids’ menu with all the toppings, and I eat that thing like a man on death row consuming his last meal. For one thing: it’s not lettuce!
The staff at Frisch’s sing me an off-key version of Happy Birthday to You, and Memaw adds in the cha-cha-chas and her own dramatic flicks of the wrist to give it some flair. Mom used at least half the dispenser’s worth of paper napkins to mop her tears.
It’s definitely the hormones. Or the love. Maybe it’s just the love.
When we’re leaving, I get a text from Laura.
Laura:Surprise! It’s your birthday! Well, that’s no surprise, but you’re going to officially be surprised now!
Lexi:Okay. Color me surprised.
Laura:You mock me. Just wait. You are going on a birthday scavenger hunt! (Awesome, right?)
Lexi:I have to admit, yes. A scavenger hunt is awesome.
Laura:Stay tuned for your directions. They will flow in all day. (I’m squealing. You can’t hear my squeal on text, so I thought I’d tell you.) And, I love you, Lex. You’re the best. Happy B-day!
Lexi:Love you too. Thanks for doing this.
Laura:I live for this;)
I turn to Trevor before we climb into the back of my mom’s SUV. “That was Laura. I’m going on a scavenger hunt.”
“I know,” he says.
I bring my palms to my cheeks and make an “o” out of my mouth in feigned shock.
“You knew?” I ask in exaggerated wonder.
“I know,” he says, quirking his lips to the left a little. “I’m really good at keeping important things under wraps.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I say. “‘Squirrel things’ was a really great cover. You ought to let the CIA in on your method of diversion tactics.”
He nudges me with his shoulder, and I feel a flood of relief and something else I don’t recognize. I’m like Scrooge the morning after all those ghosts visited him. My circumstances haven’t changed. I’m no closer to finding a lifelong romance than before the app, but I have eyes to see the goodness around me I couldn’t see before.
The difference between me and Scrooge is I went on crazy dates instead of being visited by three ghosts. I’m not sure which was worse—my dates or Ebenezer’s ghosts. Either way, I’m half-giddy appreciating my life as is.
