Page 168 of Finding the Forward: Part One
“I’ll love them.” Carefully, I undid the wrappings. Inside lay the phone released yesterday in limited-edition bubblegum glitter. My heart turned to goo.
I needed a new phone, and I’d admired this new color. But there was a reason I hadn't bought one for myself.
“Mercy, thank you. But these are expensive. I don’t need expensive things. You should save your money.” I hugged her.
“It would help to have a new phone so you can run your monitoring programs,” she replied. “Even with most of my money being put away, I still have lots to buy things. Especially since you won’t let me pay my share of the bills.”
I turned the box over in my hands. “You’re seventeen. I didn’t pay expenses at that age. It would be unfair to ask you.”
“You have to take my fancy presents, then. If it helps, I got myself one. In galaxy silver.” Mercy held up her phone–and I hadn’t noticed earlier that it was different because of the case.
“It’s a very beautiful phone. I can’t wait to use it.” Excitement to run the programs properly to monitor my plants from my phone bubbled up inside me.
She pushed the other two toward me. “But wait, there’s more!”
I tore the pretty paper to reveal bubblegum glitter wireless headphones.
“Thank you, these are perfect. They match, and Iloveit.” I liked to wear headphones in the lab to help me focus.
She pushed the third to me, which was larger than the others. Untying the bow, I opened it and gasped.
“Mercy, you shouldn’t have.” It was a new tablet, the latest model, also in bubblegum glitter. With a matching keyboard. It was perfect. But again, not cheap.
“Kaiko got her sister a car. I could get you a convertible in bubble gum glitter.” Mercy grinned.
I laughed, knowing all about that, because she’d come to me for help.
“Please don’t get me a car.” As soon as I was cleared to drive, Hale could bring me mine.
“These aren’t even really presents. They’re things you need to do your work. You can run the programs on the tablet, too. I’m happy you like them.” Mercy beamed.
“They will absolutely run everything I need, and I appreciate them so much. Though what I have for you is nothing like this.” While I’d gotten her something she’d wanted, it wasn’t expensive like this.
“Ver, it’s fine. Let me do things for you sometimes? Please? You do so fucking much for me. You left your PhD program, defied the parents,andmoved across the country for me.” She squeezed my hand.
“I mean, it was either take out massive amounts of loans and study under a professor who hated me because Dad was her rival or drop out. So, it made sense when NYIT threw fat aid packages withhousingat us,” I shrugged, not liking being put on the spot. All I did was what I had to do to keep her dreams from being crushed.
“You dragged yourself to so many things this summer for me, even though you were still in recovery. Not to mention putting up with all the shit I have to do for the Maimers, which you arenot paid for. You cook me food. You allowed our place to become the hangout spot. I do love you and I’m so grateful foryou.” Mercy came around to my side of the table and gave me a hug. “No one else gets presents this good, so don’t worry, I didn’t blow all my money.”
I hugged her tightly. “I love you, too.”
“But seriously, if you hadn’t moved to New York, I wouldn’t be here.” Her voice broke. “I will never forget that it was you, and not the parents, who made my dream a reality, and that you stood up to them for me. I love you.”
The parents had smugly told her she couldn’t take the offer since no one could go with her. This was before they knew that NYIT had reached out to me.
“I love you so much.” I squeezed her back.
Mercy sat back down and pushed an envelope to me. “Last thing. Can’t have new electronics without new stickers.”
“You always find the best stickers.” I opened the envelope and shook them out. The first was my school—The New York Institute of Technology Kings. There were also ones for the Maimers and the Knights. There were a few about plants and some extolling my love of smutty books. Someone had illustrated the two of us–her in her Maimers’ uniform and skates, me in a Maimer’s hoodie, our arms around each other.
My eyes misted. “This is the best. Someone made this?”
“Jack’s sister does them. She’s super-fast. I got one, too.” She held up her water bottle, which now held the same sticker.
“Aww. Thank you.” The next one was me, Dean, and Grif on the bleachers. I took a photo and sent it to them. There was also one of the five of us in a huddle, ice skating back in Boston. That went to the group chat.
Grif
