Can You Not?

Chapter 25

The doorbell rang the Saturday before her birthday. Norah's parents weren't home, so she sighed loudly before leaving the comfort of her room to see who was at the door. As soon as she opened it, someone threw a blanket over her head and pulled her out of the house.

"What the -"

"Ssh," said the voice moving her. "It's part of the surprise."

She recognized that voice. "Buzz?" 

He didn't reply, but she knew it was him.

"I know it's you, Buzz," Norah said, trying not to sound too annoyed.

She heard him sigh as he ushered her down the porch and walkway. "See? I told you she would figure it out," he muttered to someone who wasn't her.

"You're not alone?" Norah asked. "Jena? Are you here too?"

"Yes," she answered. "Now be quiet and keep your head covered. We're on a mission."

Norah did as she was told and tried not to let her curiosity get the best of her. It obviously had something to do with her birthday, but she wasn't sure what exactly was happening. They helped her get into a car, even strapped her in, and then she felt the car pull away from her house. 

She remembered that she never locked her front door. "Hey guys, I didn't - "

Jena interrupted her. "Whatever you're worried about, I probably already handled it."

"Did you lock my front door?"

"I did actually."

"When?"

"While you were figuring out that it was Buzz who threw the blanket over you."

Norah mumbled a dubious 'okay' underneath the blanket and didn't ask anything else. She knew they wouldn't answer her questions even if she begged. Her friends were all very committed to carrying out surprises. Sometimes when she was actually involved in the planning of a surprise, she was the same.

She realized that she wasn't actually dressed to go out either. She was wearing grey sweatpants, luckily one of her nicer pairs, and a black raglan t-shirt. There weren't even shoes on her feet.

"Um, guys," she said. "Will I be needing footwear on this adventure?"

"Maybe later," Buzz answered.

"Yeah," said Jena. "This first half doesn't require any protection. You won't be walking where your delicate footsies can get hurt."

"I resent that."

They drove for a while longer. Norah tried to do that thing where in movies if someone was kidnapped they'd try to map the route in their heads by counting the turns and stuff, but it wasn't as easy as it looked. It was a lot harder to figure out where you were going if you didn't have the streets memorized. They took more turns than Norah thought there were in their town. They drove over bumps, stopped for long periods of time, and Buzz even swore at someone who cut him off. It was all very disorienting, so Norah tried to just chill and lie back against the seat.

She finally felt the car stop and waited for instruction. It never came, but one of them did lead her out of the car and onto what felt like a sidewalk. They stopped briefly and Jena climbed under the blanket that was over her head.

"We're gonna switch to a blindfold now," she said. "It's just gonna make everything easier."

After the blindfold was on, the blanket was removed and Jena pulled on her hand, while Buzz guided her from behind. She heard the ding of what sounded like a shop's bell and her feet touched down on a cold floor. It could have been tile, but it felt more like linoleum. What stores did she know of that had linoleum floors?