He stayed with me for a while, and I made him watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town with me on television. I told him I was going to read The Christmas Carol, and when I was done he should watch the movie with me, or if he really wanted to experience it, he should go see the play with me. He agreed to do whichever one I wanted, but said he drew the line at reading the book.
As soon as Alex got home, Derek snatched a couple cookies and I drove him home, telling him I'd give him a call later and let him know what was going on in my book.
I thanked him again in the driveway, but didn't go inside. He had definitely given me a Christmas that I would never forget, and I found myself actually eager to go home and show Alex the car that my boyfriend bought me for Christmas.
It was all very exciting.
I did try to call him later that day, but he didn't answer his phone, so I figured maybe he had his music too loud again. I could've called the house phone, but I didn't want to talk to Mike, so I figured I would just call him the next day.
Later that night I showed Alex my new car, and we took it for a ride around the block. Alex didn't know much about fixing cars, so he told me he hoped I knew how to fix it if it broke. I told him I didn't, but Derek might.
"Aw, puppy love," he said, ruffling my hair.
I shot him a look. "It is not. But isn't he awesome? He bought me a car. How many boyfriends buy their girlfriends cars?"
Alex simply shrugged. "I can't say that I've ever even considered buying a girl a car."
"He knew I wanted to get a job at the bookstore, but I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a car. I think I'm going to apply there now," I said. "Can you imagine working in a bookstore?"
He half smiled, getting out of the car. "Probably more exciting for you than for me."
I sighed happily, looking at my old car. "I love my car."
He was behind the car at that point, and he raised an eyebrow. "Interesting bumper sticker. Was it on there when he bought it?"
"Oh. No, he added that," I said, blushing slightly.
"Right. Not gonna ask, don’t wanna know," Alex said, walking back up to the front of the car. "Well, I have to admit, if he's already buying you a car, it looks like you caught yourself a good one, daughter."
I nodded. "I'm inclined to agree."
I took one last look at my car and sighed, finally walking back in to join Alex so I didn't turn into a snowman.
It wasn't until three days had passed and I still hadn't heard a word from Derek –despite my many phone calls and voicemails—that I allowed myself to acknowledge that something was obviously wrong.
I stubbornly denied it for the first two days, insisting that he must just be busy with work or friends, but he couldn't be avoiding me. He wouldn't do that. He liked me enough to buy me a car, so surely he liked me enough to want to talk to me.
On the third day, when I finally called his house, he answered.
"Hello?"
Well, at least I knew he was still alive.
"Hey, it's me," I said.
"Oh, hey," he said, not sounding entirely too excited to talk to me.
"What have you been up to?" I asked conversationally, as if he hadn't been ignoring me for three days.
"Just... work and stuff," he said, his tone quiet.
"Do you get that many hours?" I asked in what I hoped was a light tone.
"Actually, I guess they had to fire someone at Burger King and someone else quit, so I started working there, too."
I frowned. "You're working two jobs? But you're in high school."
"Yeah, well..."