Fall from Love

sad expression is replaced with a naughty grin.
    I can’t help laughing. “Boring stuff. All PG and, since it doesn’t involve sex, you wouldn’t be interested.” She gives me a playful glare. “But we’ve gotten way off track. Tell me what’s going on with his family.”
    She shrugs and the playful look she’s wearing disappears. “He and his family, they’ve just been through a lot in the past few years.”
    “Okay.” I swallow hard and grip the pillow tight in my hands.
    “A few years ago, Carter’s brother died in Afghanistan. It hit his family pretty hard. Josh says that none of them were the same after it happened. Then, last spring, Carter’s dad died suddenly of a heart attack. From what Josh tells me he and Carter were really, really close. It was really tough on his whole family, but Carter took it especially hard.” Jenna pauses for a second. “Carter doesn’t want you to know and I don’t want Josh getting his ass kicked for telling me. My guy is strong, but your guy can totally take him. I’ve done such a good job at keeping my mouth shut, but with how close the two of you have gotten, I thought you should know. Whatever you do, though, don’t tell him that you know anything.” She looks over to me.
    “Yeah, sure, of course,” I assure her, looking down at the ground, lost in thought.
    “No more depressing talk, though, it’s your birthday,” she says. “Besides, you have to open your gift.”
    I look up, wondering how she could so easily jump from one subject to another without blinking an eye. “Nice segue, Jenna.”
    “Sorry, but I’ve been dying to give you this all day.” She jumps off the bed and is down on her knees, looking under her bed, shuffling a few things around.
    “Jenna, you shouldn’t have gotten me anything. You’ve already done enough over the last few months—years actually—and now I’m crashing your family’s Thanksgiving.”
    “Correction, you saved me from Thanksgiving this year,” she replies as she sits back on her ankles and pushes herself up off the floor. “Plus, my family loves you. I think they would trade me for you, straight up… especially my brother. I’m pretty sure he writes your name, draws hearts around it, and probably thinks about you when—“
    “Jenna, please,” I interrupt her, shaking my head in disgust. “I don’t know what you were about to say, but whatever it was... gross. Your brother is sixteen.”
    “Exactly.” She shoves a pink bag, exploding with white tissue paper into my hands. “Now, just remember, keep an open mind.”
    “Really, you shouldn’t have,” I say, taking it from her, “but thank you.”
    She giggles and sits back on the bed, pulling her legs up off the floor and crossing them underneath her. She has a mischievous grin on her face and now I’m not only suspicious of what’s in the bag, I’m nervous. Carefully, I remove the tissue paper, ready for something to pop out and hit me in the face or something. After digging to the bottom I reach in and pull out a small, black velvet bag with a drawstring. I wiggle it open and peer inside. At first I’m not even sure what it is and then, when I realize what it is, I pull the strings back tight, closing it up.
    “You didn’t…” my voice trails off and I feel my face burning to a thousand degrees, getting hotter by the second.
    “Yes. Yes, I did.”
    Then she starts to laugh, a little at first and then, within seconds, she’s hysterical. She stares at me with tears falling down her cheeks. “Holly, your face is so red, I think steam is about to come out of your ears,” she manages to say through her laughter. “Come on. It perfectly natural to have a vibrator at your age. Actually, I think it’s a bit unnatural not to.”
    “Um, yeah, thank you,” I ramble incoherently, hoping she’ll back off and not badger me about it. “It’s a very… thoughtful gift. Thanks again.”
    She groans. “Ugh, you’re such a prude. Am I going to have to show you how to turn it on? Here give it to me.” She lunges for the bag and I pull it to my chest.
    “No, I’ll be okay, promise. I’m sure I can figure it out.”
    She rolls her eyes, but as hard as she tries, she can’t keep her laugh contained. “You’re so funny. I’m sure your engineer of a boyfriend could help you with the mechanics of it. I’m sure you wouldn’t have to ask him twice on how to turn it on.” She’s laughing so hard now that’s she’s rolled onto her