“Whatever,” I say. My dad and Melanie are in the kitchen, cooking dinner. They’ve asked me to eat with them, but I declined, saying I have a date. With Chris. I totally told my father, and he was so happy about the race that he didn’t seem to mind. Weird.
“Okay, guys, I’m going to go get ready.” The twins stand up when I do, and both of them bow down to me, laughing. “Cut it out,” I say.
“Hail Queen Paski,” they say in unison. How the heck do they do that? Talk at the same time? Bow at the same time? Sometimes I wonder if they share a brain.
I skip upstairs to take a shower. I take my time shaving my legs and armpits, just in case things get intimate with Chris. I scrub myself, then just sort of stand there in the comforting spray of hot water and let myself relax. I have the powerful sense that I am finally in the right place.
When the hot water starts to turn cold, I get out and towel off. I wrap myself in another towel and hurry to my room to find something to wear. I close the shades, drop the towel, and stand naked in front of the mirror, inspecting my body. It certainly looks like a woman’s body. I’m not a kid anymore. I mean, legally, sure, I’m still a minor. But the body in the mirror is full-grown. I’ve been having periods for almost six years now. That’s almost a decade.
I open the closet and start the never-ending search for the Right Outfit. It seems so much more important here in California than it was back in New Mexico. I consider going the cute and girlie route, but I think I’ll be at my sexiest if I’m comfy. The problem with skirts and all that stuff is that you spend the whole time worrying about whether your underwear is showing or something, and you can’t really focus on being present, in your body, in your mind, listening to your companion speak. Companion. I get a chill thinking of Chris in these terms.
I decided on a pair of ripped jeans I got from the Urban Outfitters catalog, with a long white tunic-style shirt over a white cami-tank, and big wooden beads I borrowed from Haley. I think her style is wearing off on me. I wear black wedge Vans sneaks with pink stripes, and a new perfume I got from Melanie as a present after the race, the Cool, by Ralph Lauren that everyone’s wearing. After that, I apply a tiny bit of makeup, some blush and mascara mostly, and blow-dry my hair straight.
Once I’m dressed, I sit on the bed and flip through a CosmoGIRL! until I hear the doorbell ring. Then I check my hair one last time and go back downstairs to find everyone seated around the table. My heart bucks in my chest at the sight of them. The family. My family.
“You look nice,” says my dad. Melanie beams at him in approval. “Have fun.”
I open the door, and there stands Chris in a pair of khaki pants and a dark gray T-shirt. He wears a white beaded choker around his neck and smells like wood and ocean.
“Wow,” he says when he sees me. “You look great.” He leans in and says hi to my dad.
“You, too,” I say. I feel my cheeks flame from the blood rushing to them, and I turn to my family. “See you later,” I say.
“Hi. Be home by midnight, or I’m calling the police,” says Dad.
I step out of the apartment and close the door. I follow Chris down the steps to a parked silver Toyota Prius.
“It’s my mom’s,” he says. He opens my door and waits until I’m in to close it again. Very thoughtful. The inside of the car is spotless and smells like Chris’s delicious cologne. He opens the driver’s door and folds himself into the seat.
“This is so weird,” I say, looking at him behind the wheel.
“What’s that?” he asks as he starts the engine.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drive a car,” I say.
He grins. “That’s probably true. My parents don’t think I need one.” He eases the Prius out of the parking space.
“Why not?” I ask. “I mean, it’s not like they couldn’t afford it.”
He nods and pulls onto the street. “It’s an environmental thing.”
“Oh,” I say.
“My dad, I don’t think I told you. He’s an environmental lawyer. He’s big on public transit. That’s like his mission in life, to get good public transportation in So Cal.”
“That’s cool,” I say.
Chris punches the stereo buttons, and the new single by Coheed and Cambria comes on. I love this song. Then he reaches for my hand and drives without saying a word, all the way to a juice bar.
“This cool?” he asks.
“Sure,” I say.
“I’ve been craving a mango smoothie,” he says. “Then the movie, then we can get dinner.”
“Sure.”
We go in and order. Then we take our drinks and sit on high stools at a counter, looking out of the front window. We talk about the race and about how weird it was that Jessica was there, waving at me like we were friends.
“I don’t care,” I tell Chris. “She makes me sick, actually. I kind of feel sorry for Brianna, though. Taking the fall for her.”
“I don’t,” says Chris.
“You don’t?”
He shakes his head. “She did what she did. She made that decision herself.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I say.
We finish the smoothies and go back to the car. Chris takes a different route than I expected, and before I know it, we’re pulling up to Haley’s house.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
“I forgot to tell you, Haley has a present for you,” he says.
“A present?”
“Isn’t your birthday next week?”
“Yeah. How did you know that?”
“She told me. She’s going out of town and asked us to stop by.”
We get out and walk up to Haley’s front door. Haley herself answers and invites us in. She tells me she’s written me a song. I get goose bumps. It’s one of the nicest things I can imagine anyone doing.
She sits in a chair in the slightly darkened but very white room, positions the guitar on her lap, and starts to play. The song is about finding yourself, standing up for what you believe in, and the true meaning of friendship. I feel like I’m going to cry, standing there, holding Chris’s hand, and listening to this amazingly talented girl. Why is the house so quiet? Where are her parents? Why is the room so dark? Why does it smell like pizza?
When she gets to the last part of the song, I hear other voices in the next room, singing along, and then the dark room is suddenly light, and people start streaming in. There’s Tina with her boyfriend (man-friend?), Cesar, Sydney and the rest of the newspaper staff, Tyler, Keoni and Kerani, a few people I know from other classes, casual acquaintances, Mr. Big.
“Surprise!” they shout when the song has ended. Then my dad leads them all in the hokiest rendition of “Happy Birthday” you’ve ever heard.
I’m stunned. I can’t breathe. I look around the crowd. Even my dad’s here. With Melanie. He knew about this? He pretended he thought I was going on a date when he knew I wasn’t? At least that explains why he was so happy to let me go, right? But that’s not the weirdest part.
The weirdest part is that Emily, Janet, and my grandmother are here. So is my grandmother’s stinky hippie boyfriend. My best friends were the last to come in, and they’re coming toward me with their arms out for a hug. They look so cute, just as cute as any of the girls around here, but with their own style. I feel my body relax at the sight of them, like I’ve come home. Am I hallucinating? Is this a vision or reality? I blink and realize my mouth is sort of hanging open.
“What is this?” I ask Chris in a half-whisper. I don’t want to believe I’m actually seeing my two best friends in the whole world coming toward me. If it’s not true, I’ll be so sad.
“An early surprise birthday party,” he says. He shrugs like it’s nothing, but I can tell he’s being funny.
Emily and Janet run over to me, and we hug. They’re real. My grandmother lingers near the back of the crowd with my father, watching with intense pride in her eyes. She doesn’t say a word, but I know what she’s thinking: tha
t she is proud of me for finally honoring the gift I was given. I’m pretty sure she’s also gloating a little because she’d always told my dad I’d be a great rider, and he’d always been too afraid to let me try.
“What are you guys doing here?” I cry to Emily and Janet. And I mean cry. I’m sobbing. I can’t believe they’re here. I’m so happy to see them, I’m sloppy and weird. Haley and Tina stand with us, smiling. I love them, too. I feel like I have four best friends, two I’ve known forever and two I want to know for the rest of my life.
“Your dad called our parents and told them about the race, and he offered to fly us out for the weekend, and here we are!” exclaims Emily.
“Do you know how hard it was for me to not tell you we were coming?” asks Janet.
“She was a mess on the plane, too,” says Emily, rolling her eyes.
“My first flight ever,” laughs Janet.
I look over at my dad. He’s holding hands with Melanie by the kitchen counter, and he waves. I mouth “thank you” to him, and I can see that he’s trying not to cry.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” I shriek, and I hug my friends again.
“We had to come,” says Janet.
“We totally knew you’d win,” says Emily. “I mean, we really knew. Your grandma saw it and told us she knew you would. But she told us not to say anything about it to you.”
So they knew I’d win. Why didn’t Grandma tell me?
“You won!” screams Janet, and we hold hands and jump up and down. I know we’re acting silly, but that’s the best thing about having best friends you’ve known all your life. You can do things like this.
When we stop jumping and screaming, everyone else in the room comes over to give me hugs and congratulations. I am so happy, I could float away. There’s food, and people start to fill up their plates. I introduce Emily and Janet to Tina and Haley, but they say they’ve all been here for about an hour and that everyone knows everyone else already.
“Except Chris,” says Janet.
“Chris,” says Tina suggestively. “The beautiful Chris.”
“He’s also a great guy.” Haley smiles.
Emily looks behind me and whispers. “That must be him.”
I turn around and see that he’s standing nearby, smiling at me and listening to Tyler. Janet turns and looks at him, not very subtly, either.
“Oh my God!” she cries, typically Janet. “You are so hot!” She says this last part directly to Chris. He blushes.
“She’s hilarious,” Haley tells me. “I like her.”
“A girl direct and honest,” says Tina. “Imagine that. In Orange County.”
“Get over here,” says Janet to Chris. Shy, she’s not. “Let’s get a look at you.”
Chris comes over and shakes hands with my pals, a total gentleman. “It’s good to finally meet you two, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“We’ve heard a lot about you, too,” says Emily to Chris.
He puts his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. “I’ll leave you girls to catch up,” he says. “I’m getting some soda. You want anything?”
We say no, and when he leaves, Emily says bluntly, “He is so the one.”
“Yeah,” I say, low, hoping my dad isn’t listening. “I want it to be him.”
Emily, Janet, Haley, and Tina grin at me, and Emily says, “You have to tell us everything.”
“Totally,” agrees Emily.
“Every detail,” insists Tina.
“All of it,” says Haley.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I’ll tell you guys everything.”
Well, I think, maybe not everything.
Haters Page 29
