Chapter 53 - 53. Gifts
"I present to you the most perfect birthday cake ever!" Asher announced Art as he placed it on the table.
"There are rich chocolate layers with mocha mousse and mocha ganache in the center. The chocolate butter cream is home made from scratch. I added a coffee chocolate drip to the sides and some hand made chocolate roses. I Hope you like it…"
His words trailed off as he saw the jaw dropped face of Cara. Her eyes showed a glint of excitement that could not be tamed. "Well are you going to cut me a piece or just sit there looking at it?" Cara was losing her patience. The most tantalizing dessert she had ever seen was being held just out of reach.
Art jumped in to action cutting the slice of cake showing off the layers. He hadn't just made three layers per tier, he had sliced the cake thin and layered it ten times on each tier. The skill to do this was above the average person's level. Art was proving to be a hidden culinary master.
"Happy birthday Cara." Art said this as he handed the slice of cake over. He was waiting to see if this was really a win. However as Cara took a bite he knew that he had succeeded perfectly.
The look of pure happiness that came over her face told everyone that this was the best cake she had ever had. The slice was there for only a few more seconds as she scarfed it down. There was no mercy, Art was bombarded by requests for slices from everyone.
'I did it. I succeeded!' This was the cheer he had in his own head as he sliced the entire cake. Everyone ended up eating two slices, Cara was halfway through her third when she realized that she was unable to eat any more. "I want more...But I can't" The sad voice cut through the room.
"Well, I ummm...I can make it for you whenever you want…" Art was a little embarrassed to hear that she had liked it so much. At first he had hope that this was just going to work as a form of apology but instead it had gone above and beyond what he had hoped.
"If you go back on your word I'll never speak to you again." Cara sent him an evil glare that made Art gulp.
"I would never go back to my word to you." Art crossed his heart, not only was Cara one of the top students but also his best friend's sister. How could he go back on anything he said to her?
'Oho, Art you are definitely daring' Asher and Cara's mother saw this little exchange while she cleaned up some of the things from dinner. She was the only one to catch on to this as the others were falling in to a food coma.
"I have no idea how I will walk home after this...I might burst!" Jane was sitting on the couch with Asher who was in a similar state.
"If we weren't on the weekend I would stay here and skip school tomorrow just so I could eat more of the cake for breakfast." Asher's comment was met by his father.
"I'd call out sick to work tomorrow for the chance to eat that cake all day." This was met with a glare for Asher's mother but she did not refute him since she knew she felt the same.
"Well you all need to ask Cara what to do with the leftovers, it is her cake after all." This phrase form Art had earned him glares from the entire room. However the look from Cara of appreciation was one he had never seen. His face turned a beautiful shade of ruby red as he went to hide in the kitchen to "Package up" the cake.
"Alright, well since it will start getting late and everyone will be in a coma until tomorrow morning let's give her the rest of her gifts." Asher's mother pulled out a box from one of the dress stores that they knew Cara and her friends to frequent.
"We saw this when we passed the other day and could only think of you when we saw it." their father spoke up from his seat. He had been waiting for this lucky find to be presented.
Cara undid the ribbon from the dress box and exposed an amazing emerald green color. She lifted the spring dress and held it up to her figure. There were darker green vine patterns crawling across it which had been hand sewn. The size was a perfect fit for her. "Oh my god...This is the spring release! There were only twenty made and it was first come first served! I can't believe you guys got it for me! I am wearing it to prom, there can be no other place!"
Cara had been looking for a dress since senior year had started, this was one reason that her friends had frequented the popular dress shop. The problem was that the dress shop operated under the principle that one needed to be always on the lookout for fashion. They did not take orders nor did they reserve items. The designer could release a dress without notice and someone would just need to see it and get lucky.
Her parents gave each other a nod. They had both made a point to walk past the dress shop before it opened and before it closed every day trying to get one just right for her. How else could doting parents get the perfect gift.
Jane used a lot of her effort to stand up from the couch, "I know we aren't very familiar with each other yet, but I got you something as well. I prefer to get someone something practical so I looked around while at the hero corp stores."
Cara opened a small blue box curious to what this unexpected gift was. She did not expect Jane to attend her family's little party but she was not unhappy about it. She and her mother were always matched by the boys in the house and now that Art was there they were outnumbered. They needed another girl around.
She revealed two small silver metal hair clips. They were shaped like tuning forks. "I saw that an engineer with a musical theme was selling them. He said that they work just like regular tuning forks and all i could think was that they would be useful to someone who could control sound."
"These are actually pretty cute you know." Jane was already fastening them in to her hair. With a flick the sound rang out and she made it reverb through the room. "I will definitely use this to catch someone off guard." The evil smile was a little more than everyone expected. 'Yes, step one to winning over my future sister in law completed.' Jane on the other hand was in fairy land with her daydreams.
After the two finished gushing over the hair clips and how they would go with just about anything since they were basic silver, their eyes slowly fell on Asher. 'Why are they all looking at me like I was supposed to do something…' This was his first thought, but soon the realization hit him like a truck...well not that hard. 'Ah her gift right!'
Asher jumped up from the couch with his hands in his pocket. "I need you to get in to a top university so when I beat you it will be even more impressive. So use this." Asher tried to play it off cocky and like a rival should but when he handed her the hero corp voucher from his pocket his face had betrayed him. He was a caring brother who wanted to see his sister be the best and that would not go anywhere.
The curiosity on what he was giving her was written in everyone's faces. But when Cara read what the voucher said she remembered the posters all over the school and how much everyone in her class had talked about it. "You know that people in the senior class would kill for this right? You want me to take it?" Cara could not believe the thing she was holding in her hand. To the seniors this was basically the ticket to an amazing scholarship if it was used wisely.
"Why do you think I didn't sign it?" Asher was wishing that the attention would leave him as soon as possible. "It's not like I need it since my power is still a big fat bundle of weird. So you should use it and I will figure out my stuff in the next two years. I have time." Cara was never a touchy feely kind of person but in this moment she stood up and hugged Asher.
You might be an idiot to give this away, but you're the best idiot I've got." Cara tried to say something nice but her words just escaped her leaving her with this. Not a single person thought she was being mean though. They all saw that this gift had brought her to tears even though Asher was missing it since he was being hugged.