A Musical Mayhem

31 - Arielle (Part 2)

~ Two Days Later ~

Just like how Bree had gotten Flynn a violin case for his birthday present, I needed to get a special gift for Archer, too. But I wasn't really sure what to get for a teenage boy, so I decided to ask Bree and Ivy for help.

"Sure, let's do it," Bree said when I asked her if she wanted to go to Westfield Forum des Halles, a shopping mall near the AAA, with me to buy a present for Archer. "I want to get a gift for Archer, too. Let's ask Ivy to come with us, too."

"That was what I was thinking," I said with a smile. "But what about Flynn and Claude? Wouldn't they want to get presents for Archer, too?"

Bree snorted, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, who cares about the boys? They'll figure something out if they want to."

A few hours later, Bree, Ivy, and I were heading to Westfield Forum des Halles to go birthday gift shopping.

"Hmm, what do teenage boys like?" Ivy mused, stroking her chin as the three of us rode a bus to the mall. "And not just regular teenage boys. Archer's a bit different, isn't he?"

"Yeah. From what I've observed so far, he likes to be neat and organized, at least most of the time. So . . . probably not video games? Unless he has some secret passion for them," I said thoughtfully.

"We'll figure out what he might like when we get there," Bree said dismissively.

As soon as the three of us arrived at the huge mall, we started looking around for birthday-gift-worthy stores.

"Ooh, look at that watch store," Bree said, pointing to a shiny-looking store that had watches laid out for display.

"Neat. Does Archer already have a watch?" Ivy asked.

"I don't think so," I replied, trying to remember whether Archer wore a watch or not.

We decided to check out the store, and a thin, glittering silver watch immediately caught my eye.

"How about this, guys?" I asked Bree and Ivy, pointing to the watch that was encased in glass.

"Oh, that would look good on Archer," Ivy agreed. "I'll buy this for Archer, if you guys don't mind."

Bree and I agreed to let Ivy claim the watch as her gift, but that made my possible gift options even more limited. What was I supposed to get him? It needed to be mature, meaningful, and special . . . but that kind of present wasn't very easy to find.

Just then, a lightbulb went off in my head. Archer wore an earring in his right ear, didn't he? The silver hoop one. I had only ever seen him wear that one, which probably meant that he didn't have any other earrings. I could get him another earring, couldn't I? He would probably like it, unless he just didn't want to wear any earrings other than the silver one. It was a gift that was meaningul and special enough, too.

After Ivy had purchased her watch, I suggested that we go to one of the jewelry shops.

When we got there, I asked an employee if they sold any single earrings. She showed me to a large glass case filled with them, and I picked out a single gold stud earring with an emerald-green jewel embedded in it. Just like Archer's eyes, I thought silently. It's perfect.

"I would like to purchase this, please," I told the clerk behind the counter. I hoped that Archer would be satisfied with it, because, yeesh, it was expensive.

"Wow, tiny but meaningful," Bree remarked when I showed her and Ivy the new earring.

"I know, right?" I said, smiling. "Bree, it's time for your gift now. What do you have in mind?"