I Slapped Mr. Popular

46-Final Chapter

The airport is about thrity minutes away, but I stop to pick up something for him, which makes it forty-five. It's crowded when I get there. It takes me a few minutes to find Ridge. He stands by gate G, reading his plane ticket. I walk up to him. "No party?" I ask.

He turns, and his face brightens. "Yeah, no party. My request."

I smile. "Everyone likes a party, though."

Ridge smiles. "Yeah, I know. I didn't think you were coming."

I hold up a bag. "Sorry. I had to stop."

Ridge takes the bag from my hand and opens it. Then, he pulls out a green hat with mustaches all over it like the one he bought for me when we all went to the mall. He laughs, placing it on his head, and he pulls out the tacky tiara that they gave me when we won the dance contest as his family's barbeque. He looks at me with his eyes filled with tears before pulling me into a hug. "I'll miss you, Braelyn."

"I'll miss you, too. We'll still keep in touch," I assure him, blinking back tears.

"Give Xavier a chance, will ya?" he asks, pulling away.

I nod, wiping my face. "I will. Don't worry. Just keep in touch."

"I will," he says, wiping his own face.

"Flight to Boston, Massachusetts now boarding," a lady says over the intercom.

I force a smile. "Well, that's your flight."

"Yeah," he says, pulling me into a hug. "Goodbye, Braelyn."

"Goodbye, Ridge," I say, and he places a long, sweet kiss on my forehead before he pulls away. He doesn't spare me another glance as he boards the plane. I watch him go, tears streaming down my face. I suppose a part of me is happy and okay with him leaving, but deep down I want him to stay.

The drive back home consists of just silence. The radio isn't on, and my mind is silent. When I open the front door, I am greeted by everyone. I raise my eyebrows. "What happened to the party?" I ask.

"We didn't want to start without you," Nathan says.

I smile. "Well, I'm here now."

Everyone hurries to different rooms, except Emma, Xavier, and Marcus, and music begins to play. Emma places a hand on my arm. "You okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, actually," I admit, "I'm okay."

She smiles and hugs me. "Great."

When she pulls away, Xavier nods toward the living room, where the makeshift dance floor is, and asks, "Wanna dance?"

I laugh, "I thought you'd never ask."
××××××
Around three hours later, the party dies down, and Xavier leads me to my room. His hands covers my eyes, and when he takes them off, I cover my mouth. My room is decorated with twinkling lights with pictures hanging from them. I step closer to examine them, and I smile when I realize they are sketches of me and all of the things I like. I turn toward Xavier. "Wow," I say.

"I know you told me to forget about the kiss, but I couldn't. I lied, unfortunately, but I just wanted you to see how much you mean to me."

Xavier then tells me the stories behind them: where we were and what we were doing. I listen, amazed at how he remembered all of this. When he finishes, he looks at me as if he is waiting on my reaction. I grab his hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh! I have one more thing!" he says, standing up. He walks over to my chair and hands me a bag. I smile then dig into the bag. What I pull out is a medium size box and a small stuffed llama. I laugh at the llama, and I set it aside. Then, I open the box. Inside is a necklace, a blue turquoise necklace. I look at Xavier. "Its beautiful."

"They call it a blue turquoise chakra healing necklace. I thought it might help you. Braelyn, you've had your heart broken one too many times, and I want this to be a reminder that you won't have to go through that again if you're with me. I love you, and I will do everything in my power to make you happy," he says.

I smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Listen, all I want is a chance. We can take it slow if you want."

I nod. "I'd like that."

He takes the necklace from the box, and I turn around. He puts the necklace on me then I turn back around. "So, what should we name the llama?" I ask, picking up the stuffed animal.

Xavier laughs, "Whatever you want."

"Why not Xama," I say after a moment of thinking.

He laughs again, "You love shipping me with stuffed animals, don't you?"

I nod. "Yes, I do. Um, we better get downstairs before they start to worry," I say, and he nods. We make our way downstairs to find everyone in the backyard. We take a seat beside Emma, and we watch Nathan and Nick dance.

I look around, smiling. Everyone has a smile on their face, and they are laughing, dancing, and enjoying each other's company. Looking back on the past year, I realize that my life wasn't a mess; it was just finding its way to this point. I lean my head on Emma's shoulder as I watch my family have the time of their lives.

I am grateful for everything that happened. I found out that loving someone and being in love are two different things, that I've made the best friends I'll ever have, that my family can always be counted on, and that this life makes things a little blurry before it becomes clear.

It's funny to think that I've come this far just because I slapped Mr. Popular.

And I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Braelyn's Necklace: