Under the Stars

41. Sentimental

Chapter 41: Sentimental

Mia's POV

*****

"Mia, it's your turn now," my mom said, nodding towards my gifts, an excited smile on he face.

I furrowed my eyebrows in suspicion. My mother was rarely excited about my gifts, and I could not help but fear what she had planned.

After having given her my great grandfather's locket, Julia was no longer angry about the fact that I had an extra present. I thought that it was going to be hard for me to let go of it, but seeing the smile on her face made it worth it. She appreciated it, and that was all that mattered to me.

"I want to start with mine," Julia said, grabbing one of the neatly wrapped gifts from my pile and handing it to me.

I smiled at her as I grabbed the small box wrapped in gold wrapping paper. A cute blue ribbon tied it up neatly, and I grinned at my sister's choice of colour. Ever since Julia was old enough to learn my favourite colour, she always tried to incorporate it in every gift she gave me.

When she was younger, she used to draw me cute pictures of us, and my skin would always be blue. I looked like a smurf, but I was never offended. She did it from the heart, because she knew that I loved the colour.

It was a habit that turned into a tradition, one which I was certainly okay with.

Curiously, I slowly unwrapped the wrapping paper, being careful not to tear it. Unlike my sister, I hated ripping wrapping papers. There was just something so satisfying about managing to neatly unwrap it. I used to keep the remains for my crafts when I was younger, and as I got older, I simply kept them because looking at wrapping paper calmed me.

It was weird, but I loved how colourful and different wrapping paper was than anything else in the world. I loved the feel of it, how thin it was and how it sounded when crumbled between my fingers. It was smooth, and sometimes even glossy. I had always had a wrapping paper problem, but it was a problem which I did not want to solve.

I laughed slightly as I saw my sister roll her eyes at me, her foot tapping impatiently on the floor. From the look in her eyes, I could tell that she wanted to grab it and rip it open herself, and a part of me wanted to open the gift even slower, just to torture her a little. The other part of me, though, was curious to know what she had gotten me.

I felt my heart tightening as I finally took out the gift, my eyes gluing on it. It was a rose gold necklace with two rings looped together, one slightly smaller than the other. My name was carved out at bottom of the big ring whilst the word 'sisters' was carved at the top. Julia's name was carved at the bottom of the smaller one, the word 'forever' on top.

The necklace itself was presented in a box with a window so that you could see inside. It was tied around a cardboard paper, with a short message calligraphed digitally on it.

You're crazy, loud, and weird.

But bet your socks that I would beat someone up for you.

Julia.

I looked at her rosy cheeks, her eyes glued to the floor. Julia avoided any direct signs of affection, much like me, but she still smiled at me as she finally looked at me.

"I'd beat someone up for you too, Jewls," I told her honestly, earning a hug from my sister.

"Okay, it's our turn," mom said, clapping her hands excitedly. "We want you to open the big present first."