I couldn’t believe it. He gave me a Choc-o-rama.
My favorite bar.
And I’m not saying that just because Nick touched the wrapper. I always really liked them, even before I started thinking that he might have bought it on purpose just to give to me.
Or that he got it for himself because it was his favorite bar too.
Or that he really, really wanted to eat it until he realized that he wanted to give it to me even more.
I stood there in Kathleen’s empty condo and just stared at it in “utter disbelief.”13 I pledged right then that Nick’s Choc-o-rama would never leave my side.
Suddenly, I was so thankful that Bess had stolen that bus.
The family counselor was right. Sometimes the really bad things are what make the really good things possible.14
And what could be better than this?: “See you tomorrow, Tally!”15
That was the most amazing day of my life. A drive home with gorgeous Nick Singh, a script he selected specifically for me, and a commemorative chocolate bar of the event to keep for all time.
Right then, I couldn’t think of anything else. Stupid, eh?
I mean, which is more amazing to you? Spending fifteen minutes with some good-looking grown-up old enough to be your gym teacher? Or making a new best friend who just happens to be a puppet and the funniest person alive?
(Okay, he’s not a person and who knows if he’s alive, but you get my point.)
I had to laugh at myself. It was all so great. Suddenly my life was full of happy stuff. Nick. Bitsie. Zola. Not to mention the all-you-can-eat junk food buffet. No doubt about it, things were definitely looking up.
I brushed my teeth, which is a really messy thing to do when you can’t stop smiling, and I went to bed. I wasn’t even scared to be by myself at night in an empty apartment in a big city. It was as if that chocolate bar would protect me.
(And if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll kill you.)
13 That’s what Mum always says when the Mayor lets someone tear down a historic building, or the neighbors toss their recyclables out with the garbage or Bess puts firecrackers in the wood stove and “forgets” to tell Dad until he throws a match in and they start exploding all over the place. I always thought it was a bad thing until I realized that “utter disbelief” is also what you feel when it looks as if something good is actually going to happen to you for the first time in your life.
14 Kind of like putting manure on your garden to make your flowers grow or something.
15 It’s even better than “See you tomorrow, Telly.” It was like he had his own private name for me.