Four Years Old-
"Leah, I can't find it!" Four-year old Ella grumbled.
"Too bad, now go away." Her seven-year old sister responded.
"But, if I don't find it before dinner, I don't get my sucker!" Ella insisted, her lower lip already trembling.
"Ella, I'm talking with my friend right now. Go find someone to talk to, or go back to mom." Leah snapped back, tired of her baby sister.
Lip trembling even more violently, Ella turned away only to run right into a little boy about her age.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" He asked sincerely, taking in her pouting face and assuming the worst. "Did I hurt you?"
"No." Ella reassured him.
"Then why are you sad?" He asked, with the childlike simplicity.
"My sister won't help me find Mr. Potato Head, and if I don't find him before our food comes, I can't get the prize." She explained.
"Oh. Do you want to come with me and my friends to find it?" He offered brightly. Ella's trembling lip disappeared and she took his outstretched hand eagerly.
"Sure, but we have to hurry." He agreed and they walked towards three other boys.
"I'm Carlos." He added offhandedly.
"I'm Ella." She offered back.
"That's pretty." Carlos grinned at her. "This is Kendall, James, and Logan." He said, pointing to each one in turn. "This is Ella; we're going to find Mr. Potato Head together so she gets the sucker."
"Cool." Kendall smiled. "Now let's go!"
And off they went, looking under seats and tables, behind the counter until a waitress shoed them away, and even behind the salt and pepper shakers when they ran out of ideas.
"I don't know where it is!" Kendall complained.
Ella simply sat in a booth and tilted her head back silently until her eye caught something.
"I see it!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"Where?" The boys demanded anxiously.
"It's up on the bar thingy, there, really high up." She pointed till they saw.
"Let's go get our suckers!" Carlos shouted, dragging Ella by her hand. They all followed, quickly picking out their favorite flavor of sucker from the bin kept under the counter for the lucky kids who spotted Mr. Potato Head.
"Thank you." Ella added politely, sucker already dangling out of her mouth.
"You're welcome, we'll see if you can get another one next time you come in." The man who owned the restaurant said.
Smiling, she nodded and started walking away until she felt a tug on her arm. Turning around, she saw it was Carlos.
"Where are you going?" He asked her.
"I need to go show Leah I found him! And our food is probably ready."
He frowned, and then said, "We should have a play date soon. You're nice." She smiled in response.
"Then come with me and I'll get my mommy to talk to your mommy."
"Okay."And off they went, to schedule one of many play dates to follow.
16 Years Old-
"Carlos, I can't find it." Now 16 year-old Ella whined to her boyfriend.
"You're not looking hard enough." He replied with a smirk.
"It isn't fair; I found it when we first met; now you have to help me." She tried to bargain.
"That would work, if you hadn't used it hundreds of times before." Carlos answered.
"Have not. I'm excellent at finding things." She protested.
He shot her a look of disbelief. "Ella, last week you couldn't find your phone." He paused, "While you were talking to me on it."
"It had been a long day at school, I told you that!" She shot back, with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Sure it had." He teased.
Her lips took on the pouting look it had twelve years earlier, as she gazed up at him. "You're being so mean!" She exclaimed, barely holding back her grin. His expression turned to a mixture of suspicion and guilt.
"Okay, do you want to know where he is?" He asked, lowering his voice and leaning closer to her. She nodded in response. He hid his smirk as he bent a little closer to her, opened his mouth as if to say something, but started tickling her sides instead. Her reaction was instant, her mouth open in a surprised "O", letting out a squeak. Gasping for breath already, she shook her head quickly to get her long blond hair out of her mouth. When he thought she had had enough (and had gotten enough stares/glares from people around them) he relented, letting her sag to her seat in defeat.
"I think I hate you." Ella stated, running a hand through her hair and fixing her rumpled shirt.
"You can't stay mad at me." Carlos reminded helpfully. With an eye roll, she got up and walked away. "Wait, where are you going?" He asked, before getting up and following.
"Since you won't help me, I have to find Mr. Potato Head." She stated matter-of-factly. He nodded and smiled, reaching down to grab onto her hand. "But I still don't get why you won't just tell me?"
"What's the fun in that?" He replied.
"Um, me having a sucker right now, instead of watching you eat yours would be a lot of fun."
"But watching you get upset is so entertaining." Carlos said.
She stuck her tongue out at him before freezing like that. "I see it!" She exclaimed, after putting her tongue back in her mouth.
"Oh, good, I thought you had frozen like that." He joked. With another eye roll, she dragged him up to the counter to point out Mr. Potato Head and claim her sucker.
"And here is your food. I was keeping it warm until you found him." Rob, the man who owned the restaurant told them after Ella picked out her sucker.
"Thanks, Rob." Ella smiled at him. Carlos and Ella were regulars there, every Friday night they came in on a date. Sometimes for food and a sucker, sometimes for a chocolate shake and a sucker. It depended on how hungry they were.
They took their food and sat at their booth, claimed by their four-year old selves, as it had been there that Ella had first spotted Mr. Potato Head.
"I'm going to miss this." Ella said suddenly, looking down at her plate as she swirled her fry in ketchup.
"I know. But it'll be fine, I promise." He tried to reassure her. The boys had just made the deal with Gustavo to go to LA and record. They left in two days.
"You're going to be in LA, Carlos. Surrounded by beautiful girls all the time, in bikinis I bet." She snorted at that.
"You think so?" Carlos asked, and then corrected himself, "I mean, I don't care. You're my girlfriend and you're the one I care about. And you're a hundred times prettier than any one of those girls." He smiled and took her hand, squeezing it tight. "Plus, we won't be gone forever. I'm sure we can come back and visit a lot. We'll make it work."
"If you're sure." Ella said doubtfully.
"You don't trust me?" Carlos asked, taking a deep, indignant breath and giving Ella a mock glare.
"It's not you I don't trust; it's all those girls out there. You're pretty good looking, in case you haven't noticed." She smiled slightly at the last part.
"Man, Ella, you sure know how to stoke a guy's ego." He grinned.
"Why, thank you." She replied, popping the ketchup-soaked fry into her mouth. They finished eating and left, calling goodbye to Rob. When they got to Ella's house, he pulled her gently to a stop.
"We're going to make it through this. I'll come back and we'll be right back together again, where we belong." Ella couldn't hold back a smile; Carlos could be the sweetest guy she knew. She nodded and hugged him tightly. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Ella breathing in Carlos' scent and Carlos running an arm down her back, comforting her silently. After twelve years of friendship and two of dating, he knew those kinds of things.
They could have stayed like that all night, had not Ella's dad started flicking the porch lights on and off, signaling Ella needed to come inside. With a light peck to his lips, she gave him one last hug before stepping out of his arms.
"I'll see you tomorrow right? What time should I come over?" She had agreed to help him pack.
"I'm not sure; call me when you wake up." He answered, smiling at her. With one last peck, she turned away and entered her house.
Yeah, he was pretty sure they were going to make it. With a grin at that thought, he turned away to walk back to his own house.
The whole Mr. Potato Head thing is not my idea; it was actually at this restaurant I used to eat at when I was younger. It was the best, every time you went he would be hidden in a different spot and you had to hunt for him. The best part was going up to the owner and whispering the place so other kids couldn't cheat.
I hoped you liked it, and please review a review!
Allie