Come To Stay Read online

  “I’ll take it!” She said immediately. As he went to get the books for her, she leaned against the counter and sighed a breath of relief. She was buying the present. Everything was going to be fine. She also felt a surge of gratitude towards Brandon, not only for driving her here but for suggesting it in the first place. She never would have known where to go after his bookstore.

  “Here we are,” the man said. He allowed her to look at it and ensure it was what she wanted.

  “It looks good,” she said, just as Brandon returned.

  “You found it?” Brandon asked.

  “Second edition set,” Adrienne said. “It’s not first edition but I’m certain he’ll still love it.”

  “Would you like me to wrap it?” The man asked.

  “That’s safe for the book, right?” Adrienne asked. She had never dealt with collectible books before and wanted to ensure that they would be perfect.

  “Oh yes, I have proper wrapping materials for collectible books, my dear, not to worry.”

  “Okay, then that would be great, thank you,” she said. He nodded and got to work. Adrienne turned to Brandon while she waited. “Are you buying something?”

  He looked at the books in his hand. “Oh yeah, just a couple books I’ve had my eyes on for a while. Not as fancy as what you’re getting but still older copies.”

  “Here you are, my dear,” the man said. “How will you be paying today?”

  Adrienne glanced at the total and pulled out enough cash to cover it. Brandon whistled.

  “You just walk around with that much cash in your pocket?” He asked.

  “Of course not. Not normally, I mean. I just knew we were coming here today, and I thought I should be well-prepared.”

  “Enjoy your purchase, ma’am,” the elderly man said. “And for you, sir?”

  Brandon placed the books on the counter and moved to stand in front of them.

  “I’ll wait for you over here,” Adrienne said. She went to look at some books at the front of the shop while Brandon paid. He made quick work of it then came to join her.

  “Was there something else you wanted to buy?” He asked.

  “Hm? Oh no. I was just admiring the books. Anne of Green Gables was one of my favourite books growing up. Did you ever read it?”

  “Uh, no, I didn’t. I’m pretty sure my sister did though. It was a bit more of a girly book, to be fair.”

  “I guess that’s true,” Adrienne said. “But I still think it’s a great book. Worth the read, especially since you like books so much.”

  Brandon nodded. “Maybe I’ll read it at some point. We’ll see. Ready to go? It’s quarter to eleven now and it should take us about an hour to get back to your place, so you’ll definitely be in time for lunch.”

  “Oh, fantastic!” As they left the store, Adrienne turned back and said, “Thanks again! You saved my Christmas.”

  “Happy to help,” the man said. “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”

  “To you as well!” Brandon said. They climbed into his car and Adrienne placed her books carefully on her lap. “Do you mind holding mine as well?”

  “Of course.” He handed her the two books, each wrapped in brown paper. “Alright, home-bound.”

  The drive home went by quickly. Adrienne could have sworn that they had just climbed in the car when they were pulling up outside her house. She couldn’t help but feel sad that their day together was ending. She had had such a good time and had no idea when, or if, she was going to see Brandon again.

  “So here we are,” Brandon said. He put the car in park and looked at Adrienne. “I had a really good time today, Adrienne.”

  “I did too,” she said. “Thank you again for driving me. Not many people would do something like this for somebody they just met.”

  “Don’t mention it. It was fun.”

  “I still wish you would let me pay for gas. It’s the least I can do.”

  He waved his hand dismissively.

  “You don’t need to pay me,” Brandon said. “I’m just happy I could help.”

  “Well, thank you again,” she said. “Uh, here are your books.”

  “Oh right, thanks. I actually…” He handed her back the top one. “I got this one for you.”

  “For me?” Adrienne repeated. “You didn’t have to do that!”

  “I know. I wanted to. Go ahead, open it.”

  Adrienne looked at him curiously, but she went ahead and undid the wrapping of the brown paper. She pulled the book out and looked at the cover.

  “The Secret Garden,” she read out. She looked at him. “You picked this out because I told you it was my favourite book, right?”

  Brandon nodded. “You mentioned it in the restaurant. I thought I would take a chance and see if they had it, while we were there anyway. And, obviously, they did.”

  Adrienne ran her hand over the cover of the book and smiled.

  “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Brandon.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” he said. “I actually had something I wanted to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course,” she said. She pried her eyes away from the book to look at him. “What is it?”

  “Are you… I mean, do you… that is…” he took a deep breath, “…would you like to go on a date with me?”

  Adrienne smiled broadly. “I would love to.”

  Brandon’s jaw dropped. “Really?

  “Does that surprise you?”

  “Uh… kind of. But I guess it shouldn’t after today, huh?”

  She giggled. “It really shouldn’t. When were you thinking?”

  “Depends, how soon are you free?”

  She considered it for a moment, running through her plans for the week following Christmas.

  “Do you have plans for New Year’s Eve?” She asked.

  “No, as a matter of fact, I don’t.”

  “Well, I guess you do now.” She leaned in forward and kiss him gently on the cheek. “I’ll see you then. Merry Christmas, Brandon.”

  “Merry Christmas, Adrienne.”

  NEVER LOSE A BET AT CHRISTMAS

  Year: 2006

  “There’s nothing weird about it,” Parker told himself as he paced outside his local Walmart. “Just walk in, buy the sweaters, and walk out. Oh, who am I kidding? The clerk will think I’m crazy.”

  Parker took a deep breath and looked longingly back at his car. All he wanted to do was drive off and not follow through on his word. Better yet, he wanted to go back in time to stop himself from making the stupid bet with his best friend, Tyler. He knew there was no way he would win, anyway.

  “Do you have a cigarette?” Somebody asked. Parker looked over. It was an old man, looking at him expectantly.

  “Uh, no, sorry. I don’t smoke.”

  “Hmph. Why are you in the smoking area, then?”

  Parker blinked and looked around. He hadn’t registered where he was. He was just trying to avoid odd looks from anyone as he took his time trying to go inside.

  “Oh, I just— I mean— I’ll just go now.” He hurried off before the man could question him anymore. Then, before he could talk himself out of it anymore, he walked into the store and made a beeline for the clothes section. As he walked, he tried to calm himself down again. “It’s not a big deal. Sure, it’s a bit of money but it’s fine. Everything is fine.”

  “Can I help you, sir?” A bubbly voice asked. Parker just about jumped out of his skin. He put a hand over his heart and took a deep breath.

  “You scared me,” he muttered. He looked to the source of the voice. It was a girl about his age with dark hair and piercings up one of her ears. She looked somewhat familiar, though he couldn’t quite place her. She smiled at him sympathetically, the way one might look at a young child.

  “I’m sorry, sir. Is there something in particular you’re looking for?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He hesitated, unsure of what exactly to say.

  She tilted her head and asked slowly, “Do
you want to share what it is? I can help you find it.”

  “Right, yeah, I’m looking for ugly Christmas sweaters.”

  “Ugly Christmas sweaters? Those are right over here.” She headed off through the aisles and he forced himself to follow, all the while muttering about ‘stupid bets’ and ‘going to kill Tyler’. “Here we are! As you can see, we have a wide collection.”

  “How many are there exactly?”

  “How many… sweaters?”

  “Yeah, like how many designs?

  “I’m not sure… How many do you need?”

  He blushed. “Twenty-five.”

  “Twenty-five?” She repeated. He nodded. “And they all need to be different designs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you having a Christmas party or something?”

  “Something like that,” he said with a sheepish grin. She crossed her arms and looked him over for a minute.

  “I think I want to know this story,” she said.

  “It’s really not that interesting.”

  She shrugged. “So what? I still want to hear it.”

  He self-consciously rubbed a hand on the back of his neck and looked away while he considered. Here was this cute girl actually talking to him and the one story she wanted to hear was how he was about to embarrass himself for the next month.

  “I lost a bet to my friend and now I need to wear an ugly Christmas sweater every day until Christmas Day.”

  A smile tugged at her lips. “And it has to be a different one every day?”

  “Why do I get the feeling that you’re laughing at my pain?”

  “Mostly because I am.” She held her hand out. “I’m Greta by the way.”

  He shook it. “Parker. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too. You go to Crestwood High School, right?”

  His smile faltered. “Yeah. Do you?”

  “Yeah. Just transferred this year, actually. I’m pretty sure we have math class together.”

  “Advanced Functions with Mr. Smith?”

  “That’s the one. I sit in the back corner, which is probably why you don’t recognize me.”

  “Wait, who says I don’t recognize you?”

  “The blank look on your face when I introduced myself, mostly. But it’s fine, don’t worry.”

  “Sorry, I’m not great with faces.”

  “You really don’t need to apologize, Parker, I don’t mind. I do look forward to seeing you in Christmas sweaters every day for the next three weeks.”

  He groaned. “Please don’t remind me.”

  She laughed. “You just need to look at it differently. On the bright side of things.”

  “What possible bright side is there to all of this? It’s mortifying.”

  “Well, people will definitely learn your name at school.”

  “Mm, I’m not sure I consider that a good thing, honestly.”

  “Okay, well you’re really getting into the Christmas spirit.”

  “Does it count as Christmas spirit if I’m being forced into it?”

  “You’re making this very difficult.”

  “Maybe that’s because I’m right and there’s no bright side to this.”

  Greta rolled her eyes. “Okay, you win, there’s no bright side. Let’s pick out which sweaters you’re going to wear. How many did you say again? Twenty-four?”

  “Twenty-five. I have to start tomorrow and wear one even on Christmas Day.”

  “Couldn’t you cheat and re-wear the same one on weekends when you won’t see your friend? Or not wear one altogether on those days?”

  “Ah, I like the way you think. Unfortunately, Tyler thought of that too and part of the deal is that I have to take a picture of myself in each sweater and post a picture of it on Myspace.”

  “I see. Why exactly did you agree to this?”

  “Because I am a very stupid person. And I thought there was no way I could lose.”

  Greta laughed. “Well, now you know, I guess. Anything else you need while I’m here?”

  “Uh, no, I think I’m good.”

  “Okay, I should get back to work. But I guess I’ll see you and your first sweater at school tomorrow?”

  “I guess you will.” She smiled and walked off. As soon as she was out of his sight, Parker knocked his head against the wall next to him and wondered, not for the first time, why he got himself into situations like this.

  “Hey Parker!” The voice was unmistakably Greta’s and Parker couldn’t help but cringe slightly as he paused in the school hallway and waited for her to catch up.

  “Who is that?” Tyler asked.

  “Her name is Greta,” Parker explained. “I met her at Walmart when I was buying the sweaters.”

  “Unbelievable. You went out to buy the dorkiest sweaters in existence and you came out of it knowing a hot girl?”

  Parker shrugged. “She seemed interested in the bet we made.”

  “I—” Tyler cut himself off as Greta caught up to them.

  “Hey guys,” she said. She turned to Tyler. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Greta.”

  “Tyler,” he said with a nod of his head.

  “Ah, so you’re the reason Parker is walking around like this?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am. One of my better ideas, if I do say so myself.”

  “I disagree,” Parker said, glaring at his friend.

  Tyler shrugged. “I don’t care what you think as long as you do it. Anyway, I’ve got to go talk to my Spanish teacher. I’ll catch you guys later.”

  “Bye!” Greta waved.

  “See you man,” Parker said.

  “So…” Greta said. She looked at Parker’s sweater, which that day featured a dog dressed up as Santa Claus. “You actually went through with it.”

  “Of course. I’m not the kind to back down from a dare. Especially once I’ve gone through the trouble to buy 25 sweaters. What do you think of it?”

  “It’s… certainly something.”

  “You hate it.”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  “You didn’t need to, your face said it all.”

  “Well…” she crossed her arms and looked off as she tried to craft a response. “That’s not my fault.”

  “It kind of is, actually. You see your brain controls your face.”

  “Oh, shut up!” She laughed. “What does it matter, anyway? I know you hate it.”

  “Of course, I hate it but I’m not the one who lied about liking it.”

  “Fine, I hate the sweater! Are you happy now?”

  “Yes, I am actually,” he grinned.

  “Hey, aren’t you on student council?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Are they running a spirit week this month?”

  “Yeah, the last week of school before the holidays. What about it?”

  “If you guys haven’t chosen all the days yet, you should pitch an ‘ugly sweater day’. That way you won’t be the only dork walking around.” The bell rang. “Oh, come on, we don’t want to be late to math.”

  “Hey, that’s actually a pretty good idea, ugly sweater day. I think I will pitch it.” They began walking down the hallway to class. “Wait did you just call me a dork?”

  Greta raised her eyebrows at him. “So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?”

  “Well, I’ll—” He sighed. “Nothing, we both know it’s true anyway.”

  Greta snorted and shoved his shoulder lightly. “You’re funny, Parker.”

  “I am?”

  “Uh-huh.” They reached the classroom door. “I can’t remember, does anybody sit next to you in this class?”

  “Not usually. Mr. Smith isn’t exactly strict on the whole seating arrangement.”

  “Yeah, you got that right. Well, if the spot isn’t taken, I’d be happy to sit there.” She smiled sweetly at him.

  Parker’s knees went weak. “You? Sit next to me?”

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “Of cour
se, I don’t mind!” He exclaimed. Greta stepped back reflexively in shock. Parker cleared his throat and said in a calmer tone, “Of course you can sit next to me. Let’s go in.”

  They sat down at the desk in the dead centre of the room, ignoring the whispers around them, wondering how on earth a boy in an ugly Christmas sweater managed to woo the gorgeous Greta Tuller.

  The days of December passed by in a similar fashion. Greta began spending more and more time with Tyler and Parker, first just in school but soon outside of school too. They frequently ate lunch together then Greta and Parker would head off to math class, where on the less busy days, they would have whispered conversations as Mr. Smith droned on.

  Greta soon took it upon herself to take the photos of Parker in his sweaters for him to post on Myspace. She claimed the photos he took of himself were horrendous and his facial expressions in them were bordering on creepy. As such, they started meeting every morning during their break so she could get the photo for him.

  “This is humiliating,” Parker said on a day when he was wearing a particularly bad sweater. “Everyone’s staring at me.”

  “Don’t worry, Parker,” Greta said. “They’re only staring at you because your sweater looks fantastic.”

  “Yeah, Parker, they’re only staring at you because they’re jealous,” Tyler mocked.

  “Okay, that’s it, I’m done.” Parker began to pull his jacket back on.

  “No! I haven’t gotten the perfect picture yet!” Greta cried. Parker sighed and rolled his eyes but threw the jacket back on the ground. Tyler snickered.

  “This is even better than I expected it to be,” he said. “I’m so glad I came up with this.”

  “You’ll be less happy with that decision when you’re in hell,” Parker muttered.

  “It will be worth it.”

  “Yo Greta!” They all looked to the end of the hall. Some guys in their grade were standing there. Parker recognized one of them as a football player, Gaylen Short, but didn’t know the rest.

  “What’s up?” Greta called back. She pocketed her phone, which she had been using to take the pictures. The group of boys walked down the hall. Parker quickly pulled his jacket on so the sweater was hidden from view, not that it made a big difference since he’d been wearing very embarrassing sweaters for many days by then, and backed up against the wall so they were less likely to speak to him. He knew from experience that these were guys he would rather avoid. Tyler seemed to have the same train of thought since he moved beside Parker.