Page 40 of Fortunate Miracles
“Okay, people,” Seb says, rubbing his hands together after we’ve hopped out of the Jeep. “We each need a kickass costume that will win the contest. Are we thinking of a group effort, or are we all doing individual costumes?”
“Jaxon and I were going to do some type of couple costume,” Holly replies. “He said I could pick since he had to work today.”
“Cool. That takes care of you two. Guys, what are we thinking?”
“Maybe individual since we’re not all together this year,” I say, not wanting to bring the mood down, but without E, it wouldn’t feel right to do one big group costume.
Seb slings an arm over my shoulder. “Good point, Sunshine. Let’s hit the racks and see what we can find.”
The store is enormous inside. We never had a store like this in Virginia. Seb and Nick follow me as the rest of our group breaks off to browse the aisles. “Any ideas, Seb?”
“A few. I was thinking some kind of alien or maybe food. Let’s walk around and see where inspiration strikes.”
We walk the perimeter of the store, and I stop and check out a few costumes. There’s a cute fairy, but that seems unoriginal. I find your typical witches, sexy nurses, and popular movies. Seb is all about the sexy costumes and keeps trying to get me to try them on. He has me chuckling, and I’m feeling in better spirits. He goes off to try on a pizza box when I find a tree costume, and it sparks my imagination. I don’t want to be a tree, but maybe something along those lines. I find some moss, leaves, and gossamer that I think I can do something with, then I go back to the fairy costumes and grab some wings. An idea is forming now. I’ll be a tree spirit. Nick takes my items from me while I grab a makeup kit and find Gabby to talk about what I want.
“Oh, great idea, Summer. Don’t bother buying the makeup here. I have enough at home that’s better quality.” She leads me over to the accessories aisle, and we gather a few other items. Gabby chooses a hippie costume from the 60s, since she loves the clothes from that era. Seb finds me, but he doesn’t like the pizza costume, so we help him find items to create an alien.
We check out when everyone's finished. Bay decided to be a Lego, and Alex picked a mad scientist. Holly bought a few smaller items but assured me she had an idea and didn’t need much from the store. Overall, it was a successful trip.
We’re all hungry, so we stop at a chain restaurant for dinner. Holly and Alex go their separate ways afterwards, and Seb and Nick drop me at home, where I find Zander in his office. “Did you find a costume,darling?”
“Sort of. I decided on a tree spirit. I’ve got some stuff I can use to make what I want. I invited Gabby and Holly over to help since Holly needs to make hers, too.”
“That sounds good,” Zander smiles.
I text Alex while I’m doing my homework to ask about helping me with precalculus, and he agrees right away. I pull on my big-girl panties and call Bay and tell him I asked Alex to tutor me. He offers to help too, but I reminded him how little time he has between school, diving, work, and Penny.
School is awkward the rest of the week between Seb, E, and me. E avoids talking to us, and I don’t engage him. Between us and the tension between Alex and Reesa, lunches are a mess.
On Friday after school, the basketball game is at home, so Alex helps me with precalculus in the library until the game starts. Nick joins us while Bay mentioned he and Penny were going out to dinner. We take a seat at one of the smaller tables, and I spread out my work. “Alex, please make sense of this,” I beg, waving at my notes and the textbook. “I still don’t understand anything.”
“Your grades have been okay, have they not?”
“Well, I’ve got a B- so far, but that’s just because the teacher isn’t creative with his questions and I’m memorizing the answers at the back of the text.”
Alex smiles kindly at me. “Let us start with the lessons we began after the last test, then.”
We spend the next hour and a half working through the notes and problems that we covered in class. Alex is patient, just like Bay, but it still doesn’t make much sense to me.
We head to the gym to watch Seb and E play after tutoring. Our team won by a landslide, and Seb and E were able to rest a lot during the game. At least it gave the alternates more experienceplaying. We all head our separate ways afterwards, with Alex dropping me off at home.
Chapter 24
Summer
On Sunday morning, Seb and Zander help me in the garden. The veggies are still growing. The growing season is much longer than I'm used to in Virginia, but things are slowing down. I helped Rose at the plantation for a few hours yesterday, and she gave me a few more clippings to add to my flower beds. She also let me cut a bouquet to take home since they were cleaning up the rose bushes. I helped her repot hundreds of poinsettias for the holiday season.
After lunch, Zander drives us to the pumpkin patch to meet everyone. We have a good-sized group today with David, Olivia, Bay, Alex, Nick, Zander, Gabby, and Troy joining us. The inviting farm has a row of stands near the entrance welcoming people with the warm scent of freshly baked goods, handcrafted items, a hayride, a corn maze, and a pumpkin patch. Olivia zones right into the horse-drawn hayrides, so we start there, and she insists on sitting between Gabby and me.
The ride takes us around the entire farm, and with the warmth of the sun and the smell of dried hay and horses filling the air, it's very relaxing. As Oliva chats away, Seb points out a nice area of unpicked pumpkins near the back of the field, which will be helpful. As soon as the ride finishes, everyone follows Seb and meto the area he discovered, where we enjoy choosing our pumpkins. Seb, naturally, is seeking the biggest one he can find, his eyes scanning the area as he walks. Nick and Olivia join me in searching for perfectly round ones. I spot my pumpkin, and Nick immediately produces a knife to sever the stem, then carries it over to the wheelbarrow Bay had the foresight to bring.
Seb finds a huge oval one that the guys make him carry, since it would fill up the wheelbarrow by itself. I have to smile at his pout, but he’s determined to keep it despite having to carry it back. Once everyone has what they want, we make our way back towards the parking lot.
Olivia is upset that she didn’t find her pumpkin and has a few tears in her eyes. David and Gabby both assure her there’s lots more at the other end of the field, each taking a hand to walk her back. As we’re in line to pay for our haul, I hear a happy scream. Stepping aside, I see Olivia jumping up and down, clapping her hands together. “Summer, Gabby, come here. You gotta see!” Olivia hollers. Gabby and I walk over to her and David to see white and pink pumpkins in a crate by the edge of the field.
“Oh, they’re pretty,” Gabby exclaims.
“They’re pink. Can you believe it?” Olivia responds. “It’s my favorite color.” She seems awed there’s such a thing. The pumpkins are on the smaller side with warts on them, but the color is a beautiful blush.
