Buying the present

It is Sunday night and I am posting a schedule on the dorm bulletin board that denotes when my friends are to stop by Becca's house and give her a birthday present. I would much rather throw my sweetie a party, but she forbade me from throwing a party. It disappointed me a little that Muffin did not want a party, but I could understand her feeling because of the way her parents treated her. It would psychologically scar me if my parents ignored me and treated me like I didn't matter, but they didn't. I have parents who gave me all of the love and caring that I needed to function as a person. They even accepted me being a lesbian even if they didn't understand it. I think about the differences in our parents and how lucky I am one last time as I post the schedule with a thumbtack.

Tuesday: Chris

Wednesday: Abbie

Thursday: Zack

Friday: Tyler

Nothing out of the ordinary happens until Tuesday when I am typing out a English paper on my laptop. It just happens to be about To Kill A Mockingbird. This should be an easy grade for me since I read the book in high school. I am just about to hammer out the last sentence of my report when someone knocks on my door. I shift into warp factor three so I can finish before tending to the interruption. After saving my work, I fantasize about who might be knocking on my door. I hope that it is Becca. There is no reward for finishing an important homework assignment that I would want more than a kiss from my sweetheart. My smile drops a little when I see that it is only Madison. I shouldn't really say that since Madison is a close personal friend.

"Judging from the look on your face, I can tell you were hoping for someone else," Madison guessed.

"Maybe," I replied in a tone as indifferent as possible so I wouldn't offend my friend.

"Well, I can understand why," Madison comments with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I ask my friend.

"I was going to the mall to shop for Becca's present and I was wondering if you would like to come with me," Madison revealed.

"Since I would be in the doghouse if I didn't get my girlfriend a birthday present, I guess I'd better come with you," I conceded.

"You are a smart cookie, Portia," Madison laughs as I grab my purse.

I wonder what I am going to buy my Muffin as I lock my door. When we get down the stairs, Madison sees the schedule I drew up for Becca's birthday and gets curious.

"What's that?" Madison ponders.

"It's the schedule that I drew up for everyone to give Becca birthday presents," I stated. "I would have much rather thrown her a party, but this was what she wanted."

"I was wondering why Chris gave Becca a birthday present today instead of Saturday," Madison mused.

"Becca didn't want a crowd so I scheduled them one at a time," I explained. "By the way, what did he get her?"

"A teddy bear," Madison revealed.

I follow Madison out to her car and I buckle myself into the passenger seat. As we drive over, I silently think about what to buy my darling for her birthday. My first thought was a CD, but I quickly tossed out that idea. I had to give my sweetie a gift that required more thought. It had to be something romantic. I wanted to get my girlfriend a present that showed her exactly how I felt about her. I thought about asking Madison for help but the gift would be conveying her feelings and not mine. Whatever I bought my Muffin, I knew that it was going to be a tough decision.

I looked at the various shops when we arrived along with my friend. I saw a shop selling flowers, but that seemed too simple for me. There was a shop that sold candy, but that had the same problem. Neither of those gifts conveyed emotions to me. There was a perfume store. That idea showed some promise as a candidate. The store that interested me was a jewelry store. That was the only store that I actually went in. Most of the rings were definitely out of my price range. The item that really caught my eye was a silver locket that was on sale for twenty five dollars. The chain had sparkling pink and read beads. The locket itself was heart shaped and was pink. I definitely bought the locket, but I wasn't done yet. I went to a nearby photo booth to get a suitable picture to put into the locket. I put a dollar into the slot and had five pictures taken of me. My favorite pose was where I was blowing a kiss into the camera. This is definitely the picture that I will use for Becca's present. I had to select the smallest photo size available so the picture would fit in the locket. When I met up with Madison to head back home, she oohed and aahed over my gift. The thing is that it simply doesn't matter if my friend Madison likes my gift. All that matters is that my sweetheart Becca likes my gift. That is the only thing that will make me happy.