The Surprise

young adult novel excerpt, rough draft

I sat and watched the other merchants setting up. My work was done and I stood back to admire the perfect display of business cards, t-shirts, and dog bandannas all announcing “YOUR PET’S BEST FRIEND” to the people who would walk by once the doors were opened and the merchants’ gathering had begun.

“You can take it easy for a few,” Mike, my boss said. “It’ll be a while until everyone gets here.”

“Ok,” I lowered my head, hoping he wouldn’t ask me why my eyes looked funny. Dammit if I hadn’t decided to wear make up that day. I had spent most of the night trying to figure out how to make my eye lids and mascara look like the girls in the movie stars magazine. No matter how much I worked at it, I couldn’t get the effect to look like anything other than grey splotches around my eyes.

I leaned against the aquarium behind me, feeling its vibrations as it gurgled. I couldn’t understand why management had wanted to set up an aquarium for the occasion. It was a lot of cleaning up to do for an event set to last only a few hours.

“I want to work this area,” a lady called out at a volume that embarrassed me. She reached out with ridiculously long finger nails and picked up a business card. “Hmmm…” she said, unaware of how potent her perfume was as she spilled her curls upon my table where she leaned down to examine a business card. She could hardly balance it between her fingers for the intrusion of her scary looking finger nails, and as a result, it slipped out of her grasp.

Sarge, the store bird who also came along to help advertise our business, evidently didn’t like the sudden move of the eccentric looking lady. “SQUAWK!” he screamed out at her, warning her to keep away.

“You got a live bird here! Hey, Jamie, they’ve got a live bird over here at this table!” She sang out, disappearing with the business card she finally managed to stick between her fingers.

“I know, Sarge.” I said, lifting him onto my arm. “WANNNNNK!” he hesitated. “Step up, come on,” I urged. For a moment he looked docile, as if my inclination to cuddle him was a warranted one, but before I could recognize otherwise, he took his beak and tore into my arm. I looked down to see two bite marks which were turning from lavender into rosy-pink.

“Ouchh!” I quelled my yelp of pain into a whisper. Better not to call negative attention to our business. I had been warned repeatedly before coming not to do anything to make the store look bad. “Fine, get on back up there!” I scolded the unpredictable bird, and when I saw the blood forming a pool inside the nook of my elbow, the tears I had been fighting all day long finally gave themselves permission to emerge.

My heart felt as if it was forcing its way through my neck and throat. I turned my back to the merchants who worked with busy hands and deliberate expressions to set up their stations. God, please let me get a handle on this…Please don’t let me have swollen eyes in front of these important business owners, in front of the people who will be in here in a little while. “AAAAACKK!” Sarge scourged, unaffected by my need to pray. Please…I pleaded to the gurgling aquarium and the fish who paused from their swimming to study me through the glass.

How come they don’t have to know…what it’s like to be embarrassed in front people. How come they get to live free of such humiliation?

Finally feeling that I had taken all the time I could afford to collect myself, I turned around. And just at the right time. I felt the mood change within me in such a palatable way that it was overwhelming. In an instant, my flush from fighting tears transformed into a rapid heart rate, and all was forgotten.

“Well, well…” he said, approaching my table in a slow, cool saunter, carrying a large aquarium gadget over his right shoulder. “They must have needed pretty faces to help advertise.”

Oh, God Oh God, Oh God. I think the boy that I am in love with, the one who is too old and experienced, and who I dream about almost every night, just called me pretty.