Page 14 of Your Fault

“What have you done?” I asked.

Nick grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him, saying, “Come on,” and the four of us walked across the garden. With all the people there, it took us ages to reach the parking deck.

No matter where I looked, there were huge cars everywhere, some of them with giant colorful bows, others with balloons tied to the mirror. Who could be crazy enough to buy one of those cars for an eighteen-year-old kid?

Nick covered my eyes with one of his big hands and started guiding me across the lot.

“What are you going?” I asked, tripping over my own feet. I was starting to feel nervous but also excited.

No way…

“Over here, Nick,” my mother said, more animated than I’d ever heard her in my life. Nick turned me around, then stopped. A second later, his hand moved away, and my mouth fell open, literally.

“Tell me that red convertible isn’t for me,” I whispered incredulously.

“Congratulations,” my mother and William said, both of them beaming.

Nick dangled a ring of keys in front of my nose.

“No more excuses not to come visit me,” he said.

“You all are crazy!” I shouted hysterically when I was able to react.

They’d bought me a goddamned Audi…

“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I started squealing.

“You like it?” William asked.

“Are you kidding?” I replied. I was so overwhelmed, I had no idea what to do or say.

I ran over to Mom and William and hugged them as tight as I could. I’d been dropping comments about saving up to buy another car. Mine had broken down five times in the past few months, and I was spending so much money at the shop that it would have been cheaper to buy me a new one, but…an Audi! I never guessed they’d give me something like that!

“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” I said, getting inside. The car was precious, bright, gleaming red. There wasn’t a single corner of it that didn’t seem to be sparkling.

I heard shouts of joy all around me. I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten a car, obviously. All those giant ribbons made the lot look like a gift shop.

“It’s an A5 Cabrio,” Nick told me, getting into the passenger seat.

Still in shock, I started shaking my head.

“This is incredible,” I said, hitting the button and listening to the motor’s soft roar.

“You’re incredible,” he corrected me, and I felt a warmth spread through my interior. I was in heaven. I looked at him and, for a brief moment, was lost. My mother had to call out to me twice to get me to react, and when I did, flummoxed, Nick chuckled.

“Shall we see each other at the restaurant?” William asked, resting his hands on my mother’s shoulders.

Mom had made a reservation at one of the best restaurants in the city. Afterward, my graduation party would be at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. They’d pulled out all the stops on the catering and gotten a hall that accommodated five hundred, apart from renting out two floors of the hotel so no one would have to worry about going home till the next day. I had complained atfirst—it was excessive, and the students had paid for all of it, even if we did get a discount, since the father of one of our classmates was an investor in the hotel.

“When I graduated, we had the party on a cruise ship and didn’t come back for five days,” Nick had said when I’d told him how shocked I was at what my class was planning. When I’d heard that, I’d decided to keep my opinions to myself.

I nodded, dying to take off in my new car. The seats were beige leather. It had that new car look and that new car smell…a smell I was encountering, just then, for the first time in my life.

I put it in gear and pulled out of the lot, leaving that school behind…forever.

“Noah, slow down, you’re overdoing it,” Nick said from the passenger’s seat. The wind was blowing in our faces, pushing back our hair, while I hooted and laughed like a banshee.

The sun was setting, and the views just then were dazzling. Cars were driving past me, the starless sky was painted a thousand colors ranging from pink to orange, and the stars were just starting to twinkle. It was a perfect summer night, and all I could do was smile as I thought of the month and a half I had to spend with Nick, together, no more exams. And then I’d move to the city. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect future.

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