@tidy-tearfairy you wanted the motorville gang, so I thought it would be cute if they celebrated Oliver's birthday! But, of course, they aren't his only friends ;)
Myrtle held the cheery yellow paper down tight to the box with one hand while the other readied the tape. She wasn't used to wrapping presents. She was used to getting them.
A gift for missing a friend's party. A present for not being able to attend a dinner. Gifts always from her parents and never touched after opened.
This time was different, though, this time she was the gift giver. It was Oliver's birthday today. She stretched over the package to grab the name tag she had already written.
After attaching the tag, she lifted the present and stood. She took a moment to check over her handy work. It was in all honesty, not that great. The edges were bulging and wrinkly, and the lines weren't even.
She shrugged, opening her door. The uneven paper would simply give Oliver's fingers a place to dig into. “I'm off” she called, stepping down the stairs.
“Have a good day!” Her mother called from the kitchen.
Her father added –not even a second later– “be safe.”
“I will,” She said, opening the front door. It took her parents a while to adjust to her leaving the house, but she's glad that they were finally alright with it.
She waved to Genghis who simply barked in return as she walked up the path to Denny's door. She knocked once, twice, the door opened. “Hey” Denny said with a lazy smile.
He held a tin covered baking dish, “What's that?” She casually asked as they walked.
“Cupcakes.” Denny said, as they walked. “I made them,” he paused for a moment, letting her catch up “or at least I helped make them.” He considered for a moment, “I decorated them.” He settled on.
He matched her pace for the rest of the walk to Oliver's, slower than his usual near jog. Phil joined them without much fanfare, he held a small wrapped box in one hand while he talked with the other. “He's gonna love it, I'm telling you.”
“I bet,” she added when it felt appropriate. “How long did it take?”
“Cramming all the mechanisms in such a small space was the tough part, but i spent at least a day on the paint job” He smiled down at the gift in his hands “I want it to look nice, you know?”
“Yeah” she smiled, looking down at her own misshapen gift.
They arrived at Oliver's house and she knocked. Through the door she could hear Oliver say “I'll get it.” They shared a look in the second it took him to reach the door. The three of them were the only ones invited.
She fixed her face to a smile as the door opened, “happy birthday” she cheered.
He smiled as he opened the door further, “come in,” They passed a table with a few gifts on it, Myrtle placed her gift with the others.
There was a leather bag tied nicely, a small vase and a leaf wrapped box. “So,” Phill started with a grin. “I vote we start with presents then go on to cake, thoughts?”
“That works,” Denny said with a shrug
Oliver turned his head slightly to the left and down “Yeah ok.” he said after too long a pause.
Phill handed the box over “mine first,”
With a nod, Oliver began to rip it open. He gasped as he popped the lid open “a miniature car!”
“It works too,” phill added, trying to be nonchalant.
“No way!” Ollie gasped, Phil only nodded. Myrtle handed over hers, suddenly shy. “Thanks!” He opened it, “intro to mechanics?” he read softly.
“My dad's old book.” She said, curling her hair between her fingers. “Has all his notes from when he was learning.”
He flipped through the first couple pages. “Gee wiz! Myrtle, this is amazing!” phill leaned over to steal a peek.
Oliver turned to Denny “Mines more a dessert” he said with a shrug.
Nodding, Oliver turned to the lower left again. He rolled his eyes slightly, “yeah, yeah.” He said, responding a few seconds too late, seemingly to nothing. He reached for the leafy present, opening it quickly. She stood on the tips of her toes to see, it held three blue vials. “Wowzers, really?”
The next one he opened was the tiny chest. He unlatched it to reveal a tiny carved object, which she could only describe as a concept of a car. It was as though you described a car to someone who had never seen one, and they tried to carve it. “Awww” He cooed, after a moment he continued “no, no I love it. He's just more um, more used to them, no it's cute!”
He then reached for the bag. After the letter cord was untied it fell open flat, on the table was now a gun. A Shining silver pistol, it looked modified, but she had never really seen a gun before.
“Whoa dude,” Denny started, staring, “you got some psycho uncle out there?”
Oliver chuckled, side eyeing the wall. “Something like that.” He sighed, pocketing the gun. “Anyway, let's eat.” They all followed Oliver to the dining room. Myrtle glancing at Oliver's pocket the whole way through the living room.
There were six places set at the table. She picked one at random, settling to watch the boys light the candles. Phil sat beside her and Denny sat across from him.
As the fires started her eyes drifted away from the flame, up the smoke and to the chair across from her. The lights shut off and she could almost see something in the seat in front of her.
A girl, about her height and blond too. She wore her hair in a peculiar way, a ponytail that turned into a braid. Oliver blew all the candles out, sending the room into darkness as his friends clapped.
Denny turned the lights back on and the figure was gone. Shaking her head, Myrtle turned back to the cake. Maybe she hadn't been sleeping enough with her new job.
