Chapter 34 - Ticking Clock

Time had become my number one enemy. Long ago, I used to count every second until I would graduate and could pursue my culinary dream. That was before I had the opportunity to meet and love Glace once again. Nowadays, I was simply wishing for the second arm of the clock to stop. To freeze us in this moment in time so I could be with her in every waking second.

Unfortunately, life and time stopped for no one. It could either work for you or against you. In my case, it was proving to be more and more of the latter. I knew I was running out of time. Everything was settled—the college I would attend in France, the chef I would train under, the place I would stay in, even the clothes I would wear were already packed and ready to go. All of these things were waiting for me. It was just a matter of time—hence, my hate for time.

Glace understood it well. She too was a victim of time, for it would take her love away. But you know what? As soon as I left for France, time would be a friend again. We would count the weeks, days, minutes, seconds until time took pity on us, making us meet together in the future.

"So tell me," Tim said while bouncing up and down on the sofa in the living room. "Why are we wearing party hats again?"

"Because this is Dulce's going away party," Patty said patiently, scooping up a large chunk of yogurt to feed Eris, who was waiting with an open mouth.

"I know. But why the party hats?"

"That's because we're 13 years old today, Tim," Glace said to my right, smirking at me for no reason. "Dulce and I agreed to catch up on as many dates as we could before she left. You wouldn't really understand it."

"When I was 13," Eris spoke up, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "I was busy discovering what a cat is."

I gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Eris gave me a sly smile. "You know exactly what I mean. If this weren't a PG-13 book or conversation," she said, giving Patty a pointed look, "the author would have already used the term puss—"

"Shut up, Eris," Glace said in a rush. "I swear to God, you have a very dirty mouth." Eris giggled in response. When she turned to Patty, her smile froze, replaced by an apologetic look. She was definitely crazy for my best friend. Patty was the only one who could control her like that. I was glad. Someone would take care of Patts while I was gone. I just hoped Denise would consider my wish when it came to Glace, though.

Tim clapped his hands, making us turn to him. "I almost forgot," he said. "I have a gift for the lesbian."

"Me?" I asked, pointing to myself.

"Duh! Who else is there?" He rolled his eyes.

"Well, all of us are lesbians here, except for you."

"Maybe I'm a lesbian, too," he giggled, his eyes crinkling in amusement. "No, I'm not. I like boys. Anyway, back to the topic. I have a going away gift for you—all of us do." He grabbed his black backpack from the sofa and sat on the floor. "Come here, guys. Let's give her our gift." All of them followed him by sitting on the wooden floor, taking their bags with them.

Feeling curious, I completed the circle they created, sitting with Glace on my right and Eris on the left. Tim unzipped his bag and took out a Ouija board, the one people used to summon spirits. "Don't break the circle," he said in a hushed tone as I moved to get up.

I returned to my seat, glaring at him. "What the fudge, Timmy?! I've heard about this kind of game. I'm not doing this with you." Turning to Glace, I said in a warning tone, "Baby…" She shrugged and looked amused but didn't ask Tim to stop.

Tim reached inside his bag again and took out a small glass. "We're playing spirit of the glass," he said in a spooky voice, glancing left and right as if he was expecting ghosts to come out any minute. "Eris, do the honors of bringing out the last item of interest."

Smirking to herself, Eris unzipped her expensive handbag and pulled out a bottle of tequila. "See?" she said with a naughty smile. "We're calling all the spirits tonight."

I shook my head, grinning as I realized that the joke was on me. "Okay, that was a good one." Eris popped the bottle open, pouring a small amount into the shot glass. After, she handed it to me. I took it, watching in fascination as Tim produced four more glasses for them, pouring tequila into each one.

Glace raised her glass, looking me in the eyes. "To my baby Dulce. May she achieve her goals in the future." She stared around the circle, glancing at our friends one by one. "To us. May this friendship remain over time, even when we're apart, even when we meet other people along the way." Toasting, we said cheers at the same time and drank our share of alcohol.

Thirteen years olds were not supposed to do this, but to hell with that game for now. We were having fun. "Okay, who will give her the first gift?" Tim asked, staring at Patty.

She rolled her eyes at him. Reaching inside her satchel, Patty handed a yellow envelop to me. It was heavy. "Is this money?" I joked, wondering what was inside. "Can I take a peek?" She nodded. Opening the envelope, I carefully took out a stack of papers that were attached together using binder clips. The first page contained a word, which I read out loud. "Starstruck." I gave Patty a confused look.

"That's the manuscript for the first book that I'm writing. I want to be an editor in the future." She glanced at Eris and gave her a tender look. "But I also want to write a book because I was inspired by my favorite author." Turning to me, she smiled, her eyes twinkling. "That story is about you and Glace. It's in the early stages, but read it when you arrive in France. Someday, I will publish it so your story will be known. And they will love you, just as we do."

"I don't know what to say," I murmured. "Thank you, Patty." Pushing Eris who was on my left, my best friend and I hugged. "You're one of the best friends a girl like me could ever have," I whispered.

"Okay, break it up, girls. I'm getting jealous," Eris said playfully, pushing me and Patty apart. When I was back in my seat, Eris took a package out of her handbag, which was wrapped in brown paper. She handed it to me. "Now for my gift. Open it." She was so excited, as if she were the one to receive the gift.

Shrugging, I tore the brown paper, revealing a box inside. My eyebrows arched as I opened the box. "Oh no, you didn't. What the heck?!" Glace laughed hysterically beside me, seeing my reaction.

Eris took the contents of the box from my hand, pushing a button on the side and making the thing vibrate. "This is for when it gets lonely," she explained with a poker face. "Your girlfriend will not always be with you in France. And we all know that you have needs, Dulce. Needs that have to be met. Instead of cheating on my best friend, you can use this instead."

Glace was still laughing beside me while Patty just shook her head. In the meantime, Tim and Eris clapped their hands together, enjoying the whole scene. I took the thing from Eris's hands and shoved it inside the box. "I'll abstain," I murmured.

"Trust me, Dulce. You'll thank me when you think about Frio on those cold lonely nights, and she's not there to dive into your pool. If you know what I mean."

Ignoring her, I turned to Tim. "Please tell me that your gift is not like this."

"No," he muttered, reaching inside his bag. He handed a folder to me, saying, "These are my treasures. And now, they're yours."

When I opened the folder, Glace's face greeted me. Each page in the folder contained images of Glace from her pre-teens in Hollywood to her most recent projects. Shuffling through the pages, I saw that there was a picture of me and Glace sleeping on her bed, covered in comforter while cuddling.

Glace grabbed the picture. "Where the heck did you get this?" she asked Tim.

He smiled like a Cheshire cat. "I climbed in through the window using a ladder the other night to take a picture so I could add it to the collection. You were so cute together."

I reached out to slap his leg. "You're such a stalker, Timmy! If you weren't my best friend, I would have you arrested."

He stuck his tongue out. "I did it for the greater good," he said in his defense. "You're the president of Frio's fan club now, so it's only right that I give everything to you. Anyway, have fun obsessing over her face while you're away." I didn't have an answer to that. I'd probably stare at her picture everyday while in France.

After I thanked my friends for everything, we continued our small party and talked all night. Our conversations made no sense at all. We discussed everything about life, what our goals were, how we would attain them, and even how much we would miss each other when college started. It was painful to be apart from them, but each of us knew that after all was said and done, this friendship would remain.

I woke up with the widest grin on my face the next morning. It was just me and Glace again. We were going to her mother's cabin. Today, we were 16 years old. It was going to be a fun date.

After arriving at our destination, we left our bags in the living room, just in front of the fireplace, and went out with our fishing poles. "I'm going to explain the basics," Glace said with a know-it-all expression as we sat on the grass at the edge of the river. "First lesson is I don't know anything about this, so don't believe me."

I giggled. "Didn't you listen to the seller of the poles when he explained how to use them?"

She shrugged, smiling lazily. "No. I was staring at you the whole time. You look hot in that mountain hiking outfit." Her eyes trailed over my black tank top, shorts, and boots, which closely resembled hers.

"Fortunately for both of us," I said with a smirk, "I was listening to the seller. Or else we wouldn't be able to catch a fish."

"A know-it-all Dulce sounds sexy too," she teased.

Ignoring her subtle hints, I proceeded with my tutorial on using the pole. We sat patiently by the river, enjoying the comfortable silence as we waited for one of the fish to bite. Luckily for us, we caught a big one about the size of a boot. It was going to be dinner. After eating our haul for the day, Glace and I sat side-by-side in front of the fireplace, snuggling together with a blanket over our shoulders and a mattress underneath us.

"You're leaving tomorrow," she said, breaking the silence.

I watched as the firewood burned and crackled, heat radiating from it. "Yes."

"I'm scared," she admitted, sounding like the child she was when I first met her in the graveyard. I faced her, studying the frown on her face and how she bit her bottom lip. This was the first time she confessed about how she truly felt regarding my trip abroad. She'd usually smile when it was brought up, saying that she was happy for me.

I turned my whole body to her. "I'm scared, too. How can I not be? I'm so freaking frightened that I won't be worthy of you. I'm so terrified of the fact that you'll get tired of waiting for me. My world is falling apart just from thinking that I'll wake up each day, knowing that we're oceans apart."

Glace's breath hitched. "How can you even think for a second that I'll be tired of waiting? I love you so much, Dulce. You're like a second skin. I'll bleed without you." She lowered her eyes. "Please don't love somebody else."

"I won't," I promised. "There's only one Peter Pan in Dulce Gavin's life, and that's you, Glace McKenzie. I'll marry you someday. You know that, right?" She nodded, still not looking at me. My voice broke as I said, "But the timing is not right, baby. I'm not ready for you yet. I'm nothing."

She shook her head stubbornly, hugging me tightly against her, as if she wouldn't let go. "You're everything."

"When the right time comes, I will be," I whispered. "I'll return here. I won't run away ever again—from you, your fans, or the paparazzi. I won't be the scared teenager who needs protection. I'll be someone you can be proud of."

She held me tighter like she wanted to disappear inside me. That was exactly what I was experiencing. Knowing only one way to express my feelings, I laid her gently on the mattress, holding her gaze as I began to peel away my clothes. When everything was removed, including her lingerie, and there was nothing between us but the intense love we felt, I proceeded to tattoo myself onto her, giving away each part of me and receiving what she gave in return.

Compared to our first night and the many other nights that followed after that, this one was quite different. We were both crying, trembling, knowing that time was about to ran out.

"I love you, Glace," I whispered, tears streaming from my eyes.

She looked up at me, her own coffee-colored eyes drowning with her own sorrow. "I love you, too."

Squeezing my eyes shut, I let my instincts take over, moving in sync with her. When we were at our peak, I forced my eyes open, vowing to remember this very second—how she held me tightly against her sweat-covered body, how her voice sounded when she called out my name that night, how beautiful she was, and how she left her mark on me, and I left mine on hers.

For a brief moment, time gave us a gift. It stopped for us. And though it continued minutes later, it was enough to keep us going.

"Goodbye, Glace," I whispered, just as she was falling asleep.