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Chapter Twenty-Four
Alice
“What do you think about this?” I ask, holding up a glittery unicorn piñata for the party.
“Yes!” Ivy squeals, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. “I can put all of my favorite candy in it. Let’s get some of these.” She throws a few more unicorn- and rainbow-decorated party items in our cart, which is starting to get pretty full.
Her excitement meshes with mine. The glow I felt after that night in my room continues, and I’m not sure if that should scare or excite me. I know this is just temporary, which I feel like Simon has pounded into my brain since we started this whole fake relationship, but it’s starting to feel real to me.
We got the whole week off from filming this week since the show has footage from the weekend trips, and I’m thankful for the breather. After his consult with the little girl’s family, Simon is now scheduling the surgery, and I’m hoping everything goes as planned when the time comes. I know it’s his job, but ever since he told me about what goes into what he does, it makes me nervous for each new surgery he has to perform. I’m glad he’s the one doing it and not me. I would be a mess.
“Okay, last thing we need is invitations. How many friends do you want to invite?”
“One hundred,” Ivy says.
I raise one eyebrow at her. “You have one hundred friends?”
“Close to it,” she says.
I stop in front of the prepackaged invites. I find some that fit our theme.
“How about we start off with thirty, and we can always come back and get more?”
Ivy agrees, and we head to check out. I didn’t really discuss a limit on party supplies with Simon; he just handed me his card and said to get whatever we needed. I wish he had been able to come with us, and I know it disappointed Ivy when he said he had to work, so I’m hoping to make this outing as fun as possible for her.
“Want to get some ice cream after all this hard work?”
Ivy smiles up at me and grabs my hand, leaning her head against my arm. “This is the best day ever,” she says.
My heart fractures just a little bit. My time here is ticking down, and I don’t want to break this little girl’s heart. But I have to admit, this is some of the best time I’ve had since I moved to Sunnyville a year and a half ago.
Once the items are bagged up and the card swiped, we load the supplies in my car and head to the closest ice cream shop.
“Mint chocolate chip?” I ask, and she nods.
“You remembered,” she says, and I grin.
“It’s my favorite too,” I tell her, and we grab our cones and then head to sit down. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted from all the shopping.” I lean back in my chair a little bit exaggeratedly, and she giggles.
“I could shop all day.” She kicks her legs back and forth as she licks her ice cream.
“Are you excited to go back to school in the fall?” I ask her.
She purses her lips and then takes another lick of her ice cream. She makes her eyes wide and shakes her head.
“You aren’t? Why not?”
“I want you to be my teacher again,” she says.
“Well, it doesn’t exactly work like that, but your new teacher will be amazing, and I’ll still be there if you ever want to say hi,” I tell her, smiling, but she doesn’t smile back. “Are you feeling a little scared about meeting someone new?”
She nods hesitantly.
“That’s okay,” I tell her, sweeping a stray hair over her shoulder. “It’s definitely scary to start in a new classroom with a new teacher, but you’ll have most of your classmates there from last year, and that should help, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, maybe,” she says.
I frown, wishing I could make her feel better. I don’t want her to be upset or scared. I want her to look forward to the new school year. Maybe I should let Simon know about her fears, so he can talk to her.
