Thirteen: Macaroni Necklace
Wednesday afternoon I was sitting on my math class at the end of the day, as always, when the telephone at the front of the classroom rang. I figured one of wise guy’s in the classroom who were always getting themselves called down to the office was once again, in trouble, but the teacher turned to me instead.
“Gabrielle,” my teacher spoke to me. “Can you go down to the office? I guess you have something waiting for you. Since class will be out in ten minutes, you’re welcome to take your bag and go from there.”
I’d been called to the office once before that year because I had to go down and finalize some details on my transcript for applying to college. Never before did I have something to pick up though. I remember Emily O’Neil, my good friend in fourth grade, used to forget her lunch at least a few times a week at home. Her mother used to drive down to the school right before lunch period and leave it for her on the office. Emily would be near tears before the teacher would inform her that her mother had dropped her lunch off in the office, yet again.
I quietly slipped out of the classroom with my things and walked down to the office. I let myself get a bit more excited than I probably should have. As I pulled open the door to the office, I let ideas pass my mind of exactly what was waiting for me. Perhaps Bob Barker would be waiting for me and announce to me that I had won a new life. Fat chance.
I suppose the man who stood before me was far better than Bob Barker.
“Happy Birthday!” Taylor shouted, thrusting a handful of balloons at me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. “You didn’t tell me it was your birthday! March 10th right?”
I wanted to push him away and tell him he was ridiculous for coming down to my school with balloons. I wanted to tell him it wasn’t necessary; there was no need. He was foolish. But the truth was, tears sprung to my eyes I was so thankful. I’ve never been the type to be too sappy. I suppose I have never had anything to be sappy about. In my family, you don’t cry. There are two circumstances for crying in my family: when your boyfriend leaves you for a prettier woman, and when you’re so broke you can’t afford any more liquor. Those are the two reasons that justify crying in my household. Anything else is dramatic and uncalled for, according to my mother. I felt silly standing there tearing up as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I don’t celebrate my birthday anymore…” I mumbled into his chest, “How did you find out?”
He must have heard my shaky voice, because he pulled away and looked down at me. “Gabrielle Carter, are you crying?”
I laughed and wiped at my eyes furiously, “No!”
He grinned and wrapped me into another hug, “You’re crying! I’ve never seen you so…”
“Vulnerable? Don’t get used to it.”
He smiled, “I know better. Happy Birthday…”
“How did you know?”
“I did some snooping around…”
I cocked an eyebrow at him, “Where?”
He sighed. “When you were in the shower I sort of… looked through your purse? I saw your birthday on your driver’s license.”
“Taylor!” I said, smacking his arm.
“I’m sorry! It was wrong of me. But I was bored, and I was thinking it might be like… a window into Gabrielle Carter. You wouldn’t have told me otherwise.”
I sighed. “You’re so nosey.”
“I accept that,” he grinned, pulling open the door to the office and smiling at the secretaries. He flashed them that gorgeous smile that could get forty year old woman to swoon over him. “Thanks so much for helping me out, and calling down to her room.”
“It was our pleasure Mr. Hanson!”
I rolled my eyes as we stepped out of the office. He cackled.
“You’re so arrogant.”
“Wouldn’t you be if you were me?”
I stuck my finger into my mouth and pretended to gag, to which it was his turn to smack me in the arm.
“So Miss Carter, what do you want to do for this occasion? Your gifts are back at my house, so we’ll have to go there.”
“My what?!”
“Oh be quiet. Just smile and say thank you.”
I sent him an evil eye, feeling far too spoiled for my own good, and opened the passenger door to his car. “Thank you,” I grumbled.
He unlocked the doors and when we were both sitting inside the car, and he had pushed the half a dozen balloons into the back seat, he cheekily grinned at me. “You’re very welcome. Let’s go home.”
There was something about the way he said home that sent a wave of comfort through my body. Logically, I knew it wasn’t my home. As much as I wished for it to be, it was just where I went on Wednesday and Friday evenings. On those nights, I’d pretend it was my home in my mind. I’d make the kids dinner and imagine I was standing in my own kitchen using my own stainless steel stove. I’d relax on the couch once they were in bed and pretend I was turning on the television I had been able to buy with my own money. It was a fantasy, but a fantasy I didn’t mind having. It was soothing to hear Taylor call it home, even if it wasn’t.
When we stepped through the front door, I was greeted by the Hanson family’s smiling faces and a dozen more balloons.
“Surprise!” They shouted as Taylor pushed open the front door. He smiled sheepishly at me.
“Gabrielle Carter! Trying to get by without celebrating your birthday!” Diana said, wrapping me into a hug tighter than Taylor had. I couldn’t help but feel like I was this family’s project- their mission- but for once I didn’t mind it. I actually entertained the thought that maybe they cared not because they felt like they had to do good, but because they earnestly really did learn to care about me.
“Didn’t you know birthdays are a big deal in this household?” she gasped, handing me off to Zoe who wrapped her sticky hands around my waist.
“I never really celebrate,” I smiled at her. “I cannot tell you the last time we did something for my birthday… wow… thank you.”
I looked around at the Happy Birthday banner hanging above the staircase and the balloons and confetti that decorated the Hanson family foyer. I took a moment to wonder how I had ended up there. How could I have been so lucky, so blessed? One day I was sitting on my front porch without a glint of light at the end of the tunnel, and the next I was standing in a loving household, escaping the reality of my life. It was mind boggling. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten used to it, actually.
“Come into the kitchen!” Diana said, ushering all of us towards the kitchen table. When I entered the kitchen, Zac flipped off the light and Jessica started approaching me with a cake lit with what I assumed to be 18 candles. There looked like a million at least.
The entire family, all 7 of them with the exception of Isaac and Walker who I didn’t see, began to sing to me and I felt the now familiar pricking in my eyes. Tears. It felt like a scene right out of a dramatic movie. In a matter of months, I had been saved by the silly, enthusiastic Hanson family.
“Blow out your candles!” Taylor grinned when they all stopped singing.
He made fun of me when I couldn’t blow them all out in one breath, and shoved cake in my face later on when there was just a bit of frosting left on the pan. I think I fell in love with Taylor that day. It scared me, as I had tried so hard not to. I had resisted and resisted his charm, and yet like so many girls, I had given in and let myself fall head over heels. I even came quite close to admitting it to him, which scared me even more.
“Did you like you gifts?” Taylor grinned as we sat together outside on a porch swing in his backyard. I smiled at the many homemade crafts his little siblings had given me.
“The macaroni necklace Zoe gave me was really nice. It brings out my eyes, I think,” I grinned.
Taylor slid closer to me without hesitating and grinned back, “I mean the gifts I gave you.”
He had given me a giant Hanson poster from 1997 and the 1998 publication- Totally Taylor. How…. totally Taylor of him to give me such egoistical gifts.
“Oh, I loved them. I’ll add them to my Hanson shrine in my bedroom as soon as I get home,” I smirked.
“How long have you been working on that?” He sassed.
“Four years.”
He smirked, “You are hardcore.” He paused before he turned to face me a bit more. “Gabrielle, those were jokes though. I have… I have another gift for you but it’s sort of… it’s sort of a big deal and… I didn’t want you to reject it in front of the whole family so I didn’t give it to you earlier.”
“You sound like you were going to propose,” I laughed.
His expression went from happy to shocked. “I was… would you not accept?”
“What!?” I gasped. He had to be joking. Oh, he had to be joking. Surely he knew I’d reject.
His mouth faded back into a grin, “I’m kidding. I wasn’t going to propose, don’t worry. I know what a feminist you are. You probably don’t believe in the institution of marriage anyway, eh?”
“I believe in marriage! I don’t believe in the whole part of the matrimonial speech that goes I promise to obey my husband…”
“That is kind of odd…” he pondered. “But seriously…” He pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to me. It was messily wrapped in Christmas paper.
“Nice wrapping,” I smirked, examining the wrinkly Santa faces that adorned the box.
“Shut up… I tried.”
I carefully tore open the paper, still overwhelmed by the amount of gifts I had opened that day. It was only 5:00, and I had already opened more gifts than I had opened in the previous 5 years combined. Taylor had informed me that Isaac had a gift for me as well when he arrived home, which surprised me since I had hardly talked to Isaac. I glanced at Taylor before I lifted the lid off the box. He was smiling like I’d expected.
I lifted the lid off, and then slammed it down just as quickly. Oh no he didn’t!