Anything Less Than Everything Read Online Free PDF Page A

I guess that decides it, huh?"
    I ordered a
pepperoni and mushroom for us and a sausage for Jill and Dave plus bread sticks
for us all. Aaron grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the cooler case and added it to the
counter before pulling out his wallet.
    I started to
protest, "You don't have to--" But he cut me off.
    "Hey,
it's the least I can do after you've spent your whole weekend entertaining
me." Like I'd minded. I knew he had no idea how much him reaching out to
me, not once, but twice, had meant to me. That those two conversations had kept
me from falling back into a very dark place. After tonight, though, he'd be
gone and I would be left to heal on my own. I didn't know if I could do it, if
I was ready.
    Jill
complained about the pizza, as expected. Aaron caught my eye at her protests, a
smile twitching at his lips. "Well," she said, "I'm glad you
found someone else who likes those slimy things because there is no way I am
eating them."
    We ate then
turned on the movie. It was awful. Watching others make out and grope and say
completely cheesy things to one another is never appealing, but even less so
considering what I'd been through that morning. About half way through, Jill
and Dave joined the act, though they thought they were being discreet.
Normally, I would have just gone to my room, but I couldn't just leave Aaron
there by himself.
    "Hey,
you want to get out of here?" he whispered from down the couch.
    I didn't
bother to whisper my reply. "Yes, please!"
    "Lead
the way," he said. Neither Jill nor Dave noticed as we slipped out of the
den and into the backyard. We wandered through my mother's rose garden, its
scent perfuming the air. The swing at the end of the path seemed as good a
destination as any, so there we sat, the wooden seat gently going back and
forth, back and forth.
    Aaron broke
the silence first. "So your mom's a gardener."
    I nodded.
"Professional. She designs rose gardens all over the area. Any time she
has extras from those jobs they end up here."
    "Wow. So
if a guy brings you flowers, they'd better be really impressive, right?"
    I screwed up
my face. "Actually, I hate flowers."
    "You
hate flowers? Is that legal?"
    "Well,
not flowers, really, just getting them."
    "Why is
that? I thought all girls love getting flowers."
    I sighed,
knowing I was about to say something that would seem ridiculous to him. That he
would finally see me for the messed up person I was. "Flowers die," I
said. “Maybe it's a literary thing--you know, symbolism. Like, the relationship
is doomed to die just like the flowers." Aaron laughed softly. "What?
I'm an English teacher; it's what I do."
    He was still
smiling, "I just never knew that girls read so much into guys'
gifts."
    "I think
that's probably what I hate most about getting flowers, that there's really not
much to read into with them. It's...a cop out. You don't know what to get, so
you give the universally appreciated gift."
    "Universally
appreciated except by you."
    I shrugged.
"I appreciate thought. Flowers don't generally have thought behind them.
You don't usually even know what the bouquet will end up looking like when you
order them. If it was a particular flower that had meaning, that would be
different."
    "Ah, I
see. So what displays of thought would impress you, Brooke? Pepperoni and
mushroom pizza?"
    I laughed.
"Exactly. I don't know...maybe a book by my favorite author. Or a DVD of
the movie we watched on our first date."
    "So, no
diamonds?" he asked.
    "Well, I
mean, diamonds are pretty hard to turn down. But really I just want a gift to
be tangible evidence that someone was thinking of me. I know it's silly--"
    "No,
it's not," he interrupted. We swung in silence for a few minutes, and when
he spoke, I could tell he was choosing his words carefully. "Brooke? Did
Spencer ever give you things like that?"
    "Yeah,
right. He used to buy me DVDs of his favorite movies so when he was over we
could watch them without him having to remember to bring his copy. And I