Allie

 

Honestly, I’d forgotten about Eden and her hot pink spiral notebook with words in all caps that is destined to humiliate me. She reminded me real fast the next morning, showing up in my room before school armed with a bag full of clothes and a Dr. Pepper.

“If you think a Dr. Pepper is enough to bribe me into wearing those clothes, you are crazy,” I said a little while later, gazing in horror at the mess on my bed that looks as though a trendy store from the mall had upchucked on it. I’ve never seen so much bling all at once, especially in my own room.

“You are never going to get a date looking like a hobo.”

I’m trying not to be offended that she thinks I look like a hobo as she stands over me, back straight, hands on her hips, a determined look in her eye. “You better text Connor. Tell him you’re riding with me.”

I mumble something along the lines of I’d rather walk to school and that I don’t want a date or a boyfriend (lie!) as I pick up my phone and send a text to Connor.

“I heard that, Allie.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble.

 

Me: Don’t wait for me.

 

Connor: Why? What’s up?

 

Me: Eden!

 

Connor: LOL Good luck with that. See you later.

 

Yeah, he didn’t know the half of it. Seriously, how was I going to get out of this. I should have paid more attention to the outline she’d brandished at lunch yesterday, but I’d been too busy processing everything she’d said to me.

In some ways, she was right. I didn’t want to waste any time pining for Connor. But if I was going to have a boyfriend, I really wanted it to be him. I knew the boys in our school and none of them compared to Connor. Feeling conflicted, I watch as Eden eyes the vomit on my bed critically.

“I see how this could be overwhelming. I might have gotten a bit excited.”

Ya think?

Eden sifts through the mess and plucks out a black fitted tee with black lace sleeves.

“Um-”

“Sshhttt!” Eden shushes me. With a groan, I fall face first into my pillow. Beside me, Eden rustles through the clothes again. After a few minutes of wallowing, I feel a nudge on my shoulder. “Here. Now get dressed.”

I lift my head to see that she has bagged up the mall barf, leaving only the black tee, a pair of skinny jeans, and some low, black boots with a small heel.

“Hurry up! We still have to do your hair and makeup.” Eden tugs on the waistband of my mesh shorts when it becomes apparent I’m not getting up.

“Hey!” I grumble, but get to my feet anyway. It’s no use. Eden’s like a bulldozer when she wants to be.

“I’ll go get us some Pop Tarts while you change.” Eden races out of my room and I quickly change into the clothes she picked out. Looking in my mirror a few minutes later, I realize it could have been much worse. I kind of like the top. It makes me look like I have some curves, unlike the boxy sports t-shirts I usually wear. Between the shirt and the skinny jeans, I’m a little shocked.

Still studying myself, I consider for the first time what other people might think when they look at me. I’m tall, I guess. At almost five seven I tower over Eden, who is ultra-feminine and petite. I always feel like an uncoordinated horse beside her.

Still eying myself critically, I catalog my assets. Like my hair. It’s probably my most feminine attribute. Hanging almost to my hips, it’s blonde, nearly white, but with enough gold in it to not be pale and lifeless. My hazel eyes aren’t anything to get too excited about, but I feel lucky that my lashes and eyebrows are not as light as my hair. I have clear, tanned golden from all the time spent outside with Connor this summer. I admit I’m extremely thankful I'm not one of those people who just burn in the sun. Overall, nothing remarkable really, I’m just kinda- average.

“Oh, my goodness, Allie. Who knew you had hips?” Eden startles me from my reflection, her eyes traveling up from my hips. “And boo-”

“Shhht!” I shush her, blushing to the roots of my hair. Really, there is only so much I can take.

 

Vulnerable. That’s the only way to describe how I feel walking into school without my comfortable, baggy clothes and ponytail I’ve worn for so long. For years, no one seemed to notice me at all. Except for Connor’s girlfriends ridiculing me, that is. The eyes of the rest of the student population just sort of slide over me, like I’m invisible.

Today, though, I’ve been on the receiving end of more than a few double takes. Before first period even started, I already needed a reprieve. I slid into the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror again. Do I really look that different?

Eden convinced me to wear my hair down rather than my signature ponytail. She’d wrestled it straight with a flat iron until it fell across my shoulders like a golden waterfall. Surprisingly, I really like it. Ugh. See? A golden waterfall? What the heck is wrong with me?

I’m not the only one who liked my hair, either. Jamie Barnes, this cute guy from my physics class, couldn’t stop touching it. He sits behind me and I swear he ran his fingers through the ends at least ten times until I threatened him with a throat punch if he didn’t stop.

“How have I never noticed your hair?” he asked, his voice filled with wonder while his fingers hovered a few inches away from the bottom of the strands. I must have sounded serious about the throat punch because he threw me a goofy grin before lowering his hand to his side.

Things got even weirder at lunch. I hadn’t seen Connor yet today, like I said, no classes together and senior lockers were too far away from any of my classes. As I made my way into the cafeteria, I’d kinda forgotten about my fresh look. I walked in and as usual my gaze immediately found Connor. I’d never really thought about it before, but he must look for me too, because he almost always catches my eye as soon as I walk in the room.

Today is no exception. Only today, when our gazes connect, Connor doesn’t smile at me from across the room before turning back to his friends and their conversations over rubbery pizza. Instead, he freezes, his gaze traveling over me in a way it never has before. Shivering at the sensation, I watch as his eyes snap back up to mine. I probably looked like a deer in the headlights.

It takes me just a second to recover. I quirk a brow at him and hold out my hand as though to ask what do you think. His eyes look again, quickly this time, and then he offers me a small smile and a thumbs up. Rolling my eyes, I dip my hips in a mock curtsey. Connor laughs loud enough that I can hear him from across the room, over the noise of the other students.

Of course, Kayla’s eyes snap toward him, then follow his gaze to where I’m still standing near the doorway. Her eyes narrow as she appraises me for a moment before whispering in Connor’s ear. I spin away just as she grabs his chin, turning his face toward hers. I know what will come next and I don’t want to see.

 

Connor

 

“What’s with Allie, dude?” JJ asked, bumping my shoulder, effectively snapping my attention away from gawking at Allie as she helped Jared fill water cups on the sideline of the practice field.

I’d been doing a lot of that today, watching Allie. I’d hardly been able to take my eyes off her at all during lunch. Which was very unfortunate because Kayla noticed and had no problem letting me know how she felt about it. My ears were still ringing from her strident tones as she’d blasted me about my relationship with Allie. That was nothing new, though. I’d had the same argument with every girl I’d ever dated. I just had more of them with Kayla.

“What do you mean?” I ask, playing dumb.

JJ snorts. “You know what I mean. What is she wearing? And seriously, when was the last time Allie left her house without her hair in a ponytail?”

The sad thing is I could probably answer that question if I thought about it long enough. Off the top of my head, however, I’d have to say around about the fifth grade. I’m more than a little disturbed about the fact that JJ should notice such a detail, however. He might be my best friend, but he is still a player through and through.

“Down, boy,” JJ snickers, noticing my frown. “I know better than to go trespassing.” He glances at me sideways. “On your territory, anyway.”

My frown deepens even as an irrational feeling of relief at his words loosens the tightness in my chest. “We’re just friends.”

JJ snorts again. “Keep telling yourself that, man.”

It’s my turn to snort, because I have no idea how to respond to that comment.

“Better watch out, though,” JJ’s voice is tinged with warning. “No way I’m the only one that’s noticed.”

And with that little drop of sunshine, JJ jogged down the field for warm-ups.

Shit.

 

------

 

“Mom texted that you should come for dinner. She’s making tacos,” Allie tells me as we get into my truck after practice.

My stomach growls just thinking about it, it’s almost enough to distract me from checking out Allie as she fiddles with the radio, tuning it to a classic rock station. Allie’s always been pretty, like really pretty. But in that tight-fitting outfit? She looks sexy.

Jeez. I have to clear my throat before I choke on that thought. When she glances at me, I roll my eyes to hide the fact that I’ve been watching her, hoping she’ll think I’m giving her a hard time about her music selection. Which I am.

“I guess your parents have some event this evening,” she says grinning rather sadistically (she knows I hate this music), her attention now on buckling her seatbelt.

Mom and dad do have this thing for work. Some seminar. I was planning to heat up a frozen pot pie if Mrs. Brown didn’t invite me for dinner, but I knew she would. She always does.

“Your mom got kids tonight?” I ask, pulling my truck out of my parking spot. Allie’s mom runs a daycare out of their house. That’s kind of how we became such good friends. My parents are both doctors. Surgeons. And growing up I spent more time at the Brown’s house than at my own. It was Allie’s mom who potty trained me, took me to Little League, and dropped me off for my first day of Kindergarten. I can’t remember a single significant event in my life that didn’t include Allie and her parents. And almost none that included my own parents.

It’s whatever. Their jobs are important and I suppose I am proud of them. But, man, I wonder what the hell they were thinking having a kid in the first place. I thought maybe I was a mistake or an accident, but Dr. and Dr. Sanders do not make mistakes...ever. Whatever. All I know is the Brown’s are more my family than my own parents and that was fine by me...mostly.

“Yeah, until about seven or so,” Allie answered.

Some nights during the week, Mrs. Brown had kids later than usual. She started doing that after Mr. Brown died three years ago to make extra money.

“You don’t have to come over if you don’t want to, Connor,” she says, kicking off these hot little boots she’s been wearing all day. I try not to run my truck into anything as I watch her wiggle her toes once they are free of her shoes. What the hell? Since when does Allie paint her toenails? I wonder, taking my eyes off the road long enough to take in the hot pink nail polish. Damn.

“I can make you a plate and run it over. You can’t eat pot pie after that practice.”

Hmmm? Oh, right, dinner. And daycare kids. I consider her offer as I try to focus on the task at hand- driving us home without wrapping my truck around a tree because I am distracted by sexy pink toe nails.

Ugh. The kids in her mom’s daycare love me. They think I’m a human jungle gym. It’s usually cool. I like kids and it gives Mrs. Brown a break when we play with them. Plus, Allie joins in, then it’s just a huge pile of arms and legs on the family room floor.

Practice might have been brutal, but all I have at home is silence and a frozen pot pie. It isn’t even a question. “I’ll come over.”