Chapter 38: Present

"So? How was your birthday night?" He (Carter, today) asks me after school, as we're driving to his house.

"It was really nice. Oh, by the way, what's your phone number?"

He pulls over abruptly, receiving a honk or two from nearby drivers. "Did you get a phone?"

I grin and pull it out of my backpack. I was paranoid about taking it to school, because I know how hard my parents must have worked to buy it for me, but they insisted that I don't worry (of course I'm going to anyways, but I did take it. I kept it in my backpack all day except to check that it hadn't somehow gotten damaged).

"That's so great, Todd! Have you done anything on it yet?"

"I set it up, but aside from that, I've mostly just worried about accidentally damaging it," I mumble, putting in my passcode and going into contacts. He leans over the console, looking at the screen. I blush a little at the fact that I've only got my home phone number and my parents' work numbers put in. He smirks.

"Do you want my cell number or my home phone?"

"Um... both." I tap on the little plus sign icon to add a new contact, then look for a moment at the blinking cursor in the first name section. I look at him, and he smirks again.

"Here, give it to me and I'll put all my contact info in."

I press my lips together for a moment, and he gives me an innocent look.

"I promise I won't hurt it. I know how worried about it you must be."

"Fine. But if you do anything to it other than putting in your contact information, I will sue you."

He smirks as he takes my phone, carefully cradling it with both hands and typing rapidly before finally handing it back to me. When he does, I scan the screen and immediately blush. He put his contact name as 'Attractive Millionaire' (I must admit, I was wondering what he was going to put for the name).

"I was debating between "Pretty Rich Boy" and "Sexy Convertible Man" before I came up with that one. It's general enough that I don't think you should have too much trouble associating it with me, yeah?"

I blush even more, since agreeing would essentially be telling him that I think he's attractive. And while I do (because he is, and it would be impossible not to notice) I don't want to say that to him, because I still don't know if he likes me or just likes being around me because I'm 'fascinating' or because he wants something else from me (and if so, what). So instead of replying, I give him a pointed look and say, "So, driving?"

Carter grins and pulls back onto the road, starting towards the road out of town to get to his house. "Right. You want to go back to your house for anything, first?"

I shake my head. "I don't need to. My parents know I'll be with you. And they can phone me, now."

His house comes into view soon enough, and as we're approaching, he slows down.

"Alright, I feel like we should go over how this is going to work, first."

"How what is going to work?"

"Your present. So, I'm going to tell you what it is, and you're going to come up with one reason it won't work, and then I'm going to give you my solution, you'll come up with another problem, I'll solve that, too, you'll tell me it's too much, and I'll present you with my ulterior motives. Make sense?"

"No. What?"

"Don't worry, it'll make sense when it's happening." He pulls up to his house and gets out. I follow, still confused. He doesn't go into his house, though: he walks around the garage. I trail after him, getting suspicious now.

He turns the corner, and I follow, then bump into him. He grins, then steps aside.

It's a car.

And not just any car- this is a nice car. Though, a lot more modest than his usual ones. I walk over to it, feeling like I'm in a daze.

It's really nice. It's silver, low to the ground, and sporty-looking. Two rows of seats, and the interior is pristine black leather (or fake leather) with about a hundred different buttons on the dash. Seat heating. Steering wheel heating. Top up and top down. Wait- is this a convertible, too?

"You like it?" he asks more nervously than I may have ever heard him. I turn, still wide eyed and a little stunned.

"It's gorgeous. But- I- I don't have my license."

"Part of the gift."

I blink. "But... I'm not ready. To take the test, yet. I'm hardly even comfortable in my parents' car, how am I going to drive this?"

"It's just a car, not a monster," he assures me, putting a hand on each of my shoulders and rubbing soothing circles into my biceps with his thumbs. I relax a little at his touch. "But I figured you'd say that, so I called my driving instructor. He's had plenty of practice teaching in sports cars, don't worry."

I bite my lip, looking up at him. "I... Carter, it's too much. You can't just give me all of this for a birthday present, I can't accept it. The car alone must have cost-"

"Shhh, don't think about costs." He places a finger over my lips, smirking a little. "I told you, I have ulterior motives for all of this."

"Such as?" I ask, his finger still on my lips. I have to talk carefully so I don't accidentally bite him or something.

"Such as, once you have your license and a car, you'll be able to drive wherever you want. For example: here."

I snort and roll my eyes.

"Plus, if you have your license, you can drive in like, non-speeding areas, instead of me, since I'm not the best at going slow. And..." his expression gets a bit more serious, "my parents won't let me drive... sometimes. So..."

It's not hard to figure out that he's talking about he's in one of his not-the-best moods. I watch him carefully, not wanting to comment since I know this is a bit of a sensitive topic for him.

He takes a breath and smirks a little again. "So? How about it?"

I press my lips together, then huff. "Fine. Just as long as it's not some kind of charity."

"Of course not. It's your birthday present. What use is being rich if I can't give expensive stuff to the people I care about?"

I smile. "Thank you, Carter. It's gorgeous."

He grins. "I know, right? I saw it and thought of you immediately. It was a no-brainer to get it for your birthday present. Oh, and it's a convertible, by the way."

"Of course it is. I wouldn't expect otherwise."

"Want to sit in it? Just for fun?"

I purse my lips for a moment before caving. "Yes."

He smirks. "Check your pocket."

I do, and find the keys to the car. I press the unlock button on the key fob, and the car makes a pleasant chirp. I walk to the drivers side, opening the car door and getting inside. It's already pretty much perfectly adjusted to my height. I cautiously place my hands on the steering wheel, a feeling of jittery excitement mounting inside me. A few moments later, the passenger door opens, and Carter settles into the passenger seat. I smile at him, and he gives me a toothy grin.

"Wanna put the top down?"

"Yes."

"Turn the ignition one notch to turn the car on, and then press that," he says, pointing under the wheel and to the 'top down' button that I saw earlier.

Carefully, I turn the ignition one notch, stopping as soon as I feel a click and see all the buttons on the dash light up. Then I press the 'top down' button, and the roof of the car detaches from the windshield, then recedes. I watch it go down, then turn to him. He's smirking, unsurprisingly. I roll my eyes.

"What is it with you and convertibles?"

"They're objectively the best." He shrugs. "Get a pair of nice sunglasses and you look like the coolest person in town. Ooh, I should get a picture!"

"I'm not even driving."

He's already getting out of the car. "Sunglasses in the console."

I put them on, and he stands a yard or so away from the driver's side headlight, taking his phone out and snapping a picture of me (at least one). He comes over to show it to me, and I look at his screen. It's kind of like looking in the mirror after one of Raymond's makeovers- it's hard to believe I look that cool.

He's grinning. "Like it?"

I look at him, smiling. "I love it."

Dedicated to @_tristis_ for supporting all of my books! I'm so grateful to have you as a reader :)

Thoughts on the chapter? Which is your favourite contact name for the millionaire? What did you think of the millionaire's birthday present for Todd? Let me know in the comments!

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