But she had no idea we were seriously planning to give her one for her birthday.
And I’ll admit something that sounds ridiculous now.
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I had actually been looking at a used Tesla.
Not brand new. Nothing insane. But a nice, safe used one that I knew she would lose her mind over.
I pictured putting a giant bow on it in the driveway.
I pictured her screaming, taking a hundred pictures, and hugging me.
I wanted that moment.
Then, about three weeks before her birthday, I went to pick her up from school.
It was ridiculously hot that afternoon, so I had my windows down while I crawled through the pickup line.
I spotted Stacy near the curb with three girls from her grade.
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She had her back to me.
I wasn’t trying to listen.
Then I heard my own name.
“Yeah, my mom’s getting me a Tesla for my birthday.”
I slowed down.
One girl said, “Seriously?”
Stacy laughed.
“Obviously. She knows I’ll never drive some ugly starter car.”
For a second, I thought I’d misheard her.
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Another girl asked, “How do you even know?”
“Because I told her what I wanted.”
That wasn’t true.
She had mentioned Teslas approximately eight thousand times, but I’d never promised her one.
Then she added, “My mom always caves anyway.”
That one hit me.
The girls laughed.
Stacy kept going.
“She acts like she has rules, but if I want something badly enough, I’ll get it. I’m her only daughter.”
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One girl, Taryn, said her parents were making her save for half of her first car.
Stacy made a face.
“No offense, but that’s insane. Why would your parents make you pay for your own birthday present?”
“So I appreciate it?” Taryn said.
Stacy laughed.
“I’d appreciate not having to drive a Corolla.”
I was sitting maybe 20 feet behind her with my hands gripping the steering wheel.
Then she said the part that really did it.
“If my mom got me something like that, I literally wouldn’t drive it to school.”
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The girls laughed again.
Stacy finally turned, saw my car, and her entire expression changed.
She waved as if nothing had happened.
Then she climbed in and immediately started telling me about drama involving a girl in science class.
I barely answered.
After a minute, she frowned.
“Why are you being weird?”
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“I’m not.”
“You are.”
I almost confronted her right there.
