His talent made him stand out like a star, he was going to be famous one day, everyone thought so. None more so than Harper, she had been in love with him since they were in kindergarten and he had stolen her skipping rope.
While they both played in the string section of the band, she could never get his attention. Not even if she accidently poked him with her violin bow – which she did quite often.
“Nope. So you can see why I need to live through you and Eli. It gives me hope,” Harper said. “You’re going to be great together, I just know it will all work out.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Of course I am. Am I ever wrong?” She was, quite regularly, but Kaley didn’t point that out. “Although, I think you’re going to have to decide what to do about Harvey. He’s not going to like hearing you’re going out with Eli.”
“Will you stop that, Harvey and I are friends.” Kaley rolled her eyes with the thought of it. “I swear neither of us think any differently. We’ve known each other forever. He won’t have a problem with it. He might even be happy for me.”
“So why haven’t you told him about it then? You walked to school together this morning, didn’t you?”
“Because it’s a girl talk thing. I wouldn’t gush to any guy about another guy. They would stop listening after two seconds.” Kaley was convincing herself just as much as Harper.
Ever since she had initially brought it up, every minute she spent with Harvey she found herself analyzing his words and actions. It was driving her crazy. Why, after all these years, would Harvey suddenly see her as anything but the nerdy next door neighbor? It was ridiculous.
“Whatever you say,” something in Harper’s tone of voice betrayed the fact she didn’t believe her.
“Whatever you say, what?” Harvey’s voice behind them made both girls jump.
“Just Harper being Harper.” Kaley smiled, wondering how much he had heard. She quickly changed the subject. “Did you get everything on the list?”
“Thyme was the last thing and it was exactly where you said it would be. Thanks for saving my grade.”
“You’re welcome. We’d better get inside and hand over our finds before the bell rings. He might disqualify us, you know how Mr. Prescott likes to make up the rules as he goes along.”
They nodded, knowing exactly how Mr. Prescott liked to keep them on their toes. Once during his class he pitted them all against each other as they had to locate one tiny little plant in the school yard. Whoever returned first with one of its leaves got an A grade.
The twist was that he stripped all the leaves beforehand so there was literally only one left. There were no rules, if you found it and someone stole it from you, then it didn’t matter. It was pandemonium for the entire class, similar to that of a terrible reality show.
They delivered their bounty back to Mr. Prescott who checked their goods and put a star next to their names in his grade book. They had no idea what a star meant, it could be code for anything. If Mr. Prescott was anything, it was unpredictable. At least his classes were interesting, you could never fall asleep in them even though they were always in the afternoon.
The bell rang as the last few students raced in to meet the deadline. Harper hurried off to band practice while Kaley and Harvey started their walk home.
“So you want to tell me what you were really talking about with Harper before?” Harvey asked casually, with a hint of a smile on his lips. “I noticed you changed the subject pretty quick.”
“Just stuff, you know, girl stuff. Nothing you’d find interesting, I’m sure.” She tried to shrug it off, hoping he would drop it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
“You and Harper don’t normally keep secrets from me.”
“We’re not, it’s nothing.” Kaley stole a glance to judge his reaction. He didn’t look happy, he looked a little hurt actually. She took a deep breath and dived in. If he wanted to know, then she would tell him. After all, it wasn’t going to mean anything to him. “Fine. We were talking about Eli Stone. He kind of asked me out… like on a date.”
Her confession was met with silence. Harvey nodded but didn’t say anything for a very long time. “You like Eli Stone? I didn’t know he was your type.”
“I don’t really have a type. He seems like a nice guy and I like him so I guess we’ll go out. It’s no big deal or anything.”
She couldn’t be sure, but Kaley thought Harvey had started to walk faster, like he wanted to get away from her. She shook her head, telling herself she was just imagining things. She wished he would say something, anything. She had never known him to be speechless. She wondered when everything had gotten so complicated.
“Do you not like Eli?” Kaley asked, trying to work out exactly what the problem was. She refused to believe Harper, he didn’t have feelings for her, it wasn’t possible.
“Eli is okay. I mean, he’s a football jock, but I guess I haven’t heard anything bad about him. Isn’t he going out with Abigail?”
“I guess they broke up.”
“I recommend you check on that point before you get too excited about Eli. Abigail is a force to be reckoned with. You don’t want to be caught up in her storm.”
Now it was Kaley’s turn to be speechless. There was so much harshness in his voice, like she was doing something wrong. Sure, she didn’t have all the answers he wanted, but it wasn’t really any of his business either. She was trying to figure it all out too, she didn’t need his judgment.
He walked faster, this time it was obvious. Kaley stood on the side of the road and let him go. She didn’t know what she had done so wrong, she let him walk off his steam.
By the time she arrived home, there was no sight of Harvey in the house next door. She took out her keys to let herself in but didn’t have to – the door was unlocked.
Mother Barbie was home.
“Kaley! I’m so glad you’re home.” Georgie gave her a hug before she could even put her backpack down. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
That didn’t sound good. “Oh, yeah,” she replied sarcastically, dreading what was about to come. Georgie’s surprises were never something to look forward to.
Once she surprised Kaley by taking her to the lingerie store for her first bra fitting – she was ten at the time. Another surprise resulted in them getting kicked out of the movie cinema for yelling at the screen because Georgie didn’t agree with the character’s decisions. While good intentioned, they always brought with them a sense of doom.
“We’re going shopping for your big date!” Georgie threw up her arms in a surprise! motion. If she had a streamer gun, she probably would have fired it at that moment.
“You don’t have to do that, Mom. I don’t even know where we’re going yet. I can just wear something from my closet.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. We’ve gone through your wardrobe recently. Trust me, you need to buy an outfit if you’re going to impress that boy of yours. Now, put down your backpack, pick up your bag, and let’s go.”
Kaley did as she was told, fearing it would only be more painful if she had to be led away in handcuffs. A small part of her was excited too, but she would never admit that to Mother Barbie. Or anyone for that matter.
She did need new clothes, something that would make her sparkle. For the first time, she wanted to stand out. If Eli could see her, perhaps others might start to as well. New clothes would just be the beginning.
Georgie drove them to the Sandyridge Shopping Mall. It boasted two hundred and twenty shops and was huge. If they couldn’t find something there that made Kaley visible, then they would be unable to find it anywhere.
They started at the clothes store nearest the entrance and worked their way around. The amount of outfits on the racks was overwhelming. It didn’t make it any better when Georgie shot down everything she pointed out.
Apparently Kaley had no taste, none at all. If it wasn’t boring, then it was too shapeless. If it wasn’t too dull, then the colors clashed.
There seemed to be some unspoken rule about how to dress and only Georgie had the official rulebook.
It appeared to Kaley that Georgie really enjoyed picking out clothes for her to try on. It was like she had a real living doll to dress up. But what she chose left little to the imagination. Apparently she wanted Kaley to dress like a hooker and show as much skin as possible.
It was the exact opposite of what she would pick out for herself. Bright colors and little fabric, it wasn’t exactly the look she was going for. Not that she really thought about it much, but Kaley guessed she would consider her style to be conservative and functional. She wore what was comfortable, which wasn’t always the fashionable choice.
Mother Barbie, on the other hand, liked dressing on trend. Whatever was popular at the time was what she wore. She was such a fashion victim.
“What about this outfit? It’s quite cute.” Kaley held up a dark purple dress. It didn’t have any ruffles or lace like the ones Georgie pointed out.
She made a face of disgust. “You can’t be serious. It looks like a nana should be wearing it. Think young, Kaley. You’re not going to have that gorgeous body forever.”
Kaley returned it to the racks, defeated. She kept flicking through the hangers although she thought for sure she would never be able to find something deemed suitable.
What was more worrying was the pile of clothes Georgie was accumulating over her arm as they browsed. If she expected Kaley to wear any of them, she would be disappointed. There was too much pink in there for a start.
“Maybe we should try somewhere else.” Kaley finished the rack and came up empty handed.
“There’s plenty here. Don’t worry, I’ve got some for you to try on. To the change rooms, my girl!”
Kaley looked toward the exit, she might make it if she ran for it. The clothes would slow down Mother Barbie, she wouldn’t be able to catch her.
As if she had a choice.
She followed her mother to the change rooms and was shoved behind a curtain. There was no escaping now.
Making her way through the vast pile that was surely over the limit of garments allowed in the change rooms, Kaley didn’t know what her mother was thinking. One of the dresses was so short she wouldn’t be able to sit down without showing everything that shouldn’t see the light of day.
Another dress was neon purple with cut out panels around the waist. A few had more lace adornments than an old woman’s house. And another had a neckline that went down to her bellybutton. There was seriously something wrong with her mother’s fashion taste.
The worst part was Georgie insisted on seeing every single item. When Kaley took too long, she would pull open the curtain to see what the problem was. She had to change quickly or risk her underwear-clad body being exposed to all the other shoppers.
“Oh, Kaley, you look so beautiful!” Georgie exclaimed as she looked over Kaley’s shoulder in the mirror. She was wearing a black dress with puffy sleeves and a lace panel on the back. Kaley couldn’t understand what her mother was seeing. To her it looked like she’d stumbled into a bad Madonna video. Or any Madonna video, really.
“It’s not me, Mom.”
“But look at those curves, you’re bumpy in all the right places. Girls would kill to have a figure like yours and all you do is cover it up.”
“I don’t like the dress.”
Georgie had a look of disappointment on her face. “Well, keep going then. You might find one you like.”
Kaley doubted that but she closed the curtain and tried the next one. It was the last one in the pile. If she didn’t like that one, then they would have to try yet another store. And that meant another pile of clothes she would have to try on. It was overwhelming just thinking about it.
She slipped into the last dress and pulled the zipper just as Georgie opened the curtain.
“Oh my, Kaley, you can’t tell me that one isn’t absolutely gorgeous.”
Instead of replying, Kaley stared at her reflection in the mirror. The dress was dusky pink with black dots. The neckline was framed with a thin line of black lace and it tied at the waist with a sash of the same material. It flattered her curves without them being overt. It almost reached her knees and it had a boat neckline. It was her.
“I like this one.”
“I can tell, you aren’t pulling a face.” Georgie laughed and finished tying the sash. “I think this is the one, my girl.”
“I think I agree.”
Kaley didn’t want to take the dress off, she loved it so much. She changed anyway and returned the castoffs.
They left the store but apparently Georgie wasn’t done with her yet – they had to accessorize. She was dragged to another three stores while Georgie picked out a necklace, earrings, and shoes to match the dress. Kaley was too worn out to argue, she agreed with anything she was shown. Sure, her jewelry was overly sparkly and her shoes too high, but she was beyond caring.
Perhaps Eli would like them.
She was finally allowed to go home. Her ordeal with Mother Barbie was over, the mission a complete success.
When they arrived home, Kaley headed for her room after thanking Georgie for all her help. She was amazed at how much her mother enjoyed doing things with her. She guessed she didn’t get to do it that much anymore. With school and spending time with Harper, it didn’t leave them many opportunities to bond.
Perhaps there were a few good things to come out of their evening: a fantastic dress and an intact mother/daughter relationship.
In the safety of her own room, Kaley put on the dress again and studied herself in the mirror. Without the pressure of having Georgie breathing down her neck, she could look at every inch of it.
The pink fabric with black spots really made a cute dress. And even better, it was nothing like the popular girls would wear. It was her and nobody else. She hoped Eli would like it. Even more importantly, she hoped he would call soon so she knew for sure she would be able to wear the dress on the date. Hopefully he wouldn’t want to go bowling.
Feeling exceedingly happy, Kaley pulled out her guitar and songbook. She had a tune in her heart that was being transferred to her head. She needed to get it out. She started singing, her fingers on the guitar moving automatically.
Whenever you smile,
My heart skips a beat,
You make me dance,
I can’t stop my feet.
Sometimes I wonder,
If you are truly real,
You seem too good to be true,
But that’s how I feel.
Unable to keep still, Kaley stood and started dancing around her room while still playing along. Her thoughts were full of Eli and her dress and her date and all the wonderful things that could happen.
You spin me around,
And I get so dizzy,
I can’t keep my head,
My thoughts are just too busy.
I knew you were special,
The moment I saw you,
Your eyes they twinkled,
Like I knew you were true.
She broke into a guitar solo, still dancing around like a little child. She didn’t care how she looked, she was too excited about everything. Never before had anything like this ever happened to her. She was going to enjoy every moment.
My heart beats so fast,
You gotta take my hand,
I don’t know how I’ll last,
Please help me to stand.
She slowed down and geared up for the chorus, the last part of the song she had to write.
When we’re together,
Everything is better.
The ground shakes,
And it’s too much to take.
Through any weather,
I know it’s forever.
She stroked the guitar for the last time and took a bow to her invisible audience. She collapsed on the bed and hurried to get it down into her songbook. She had to keep repeating it from the beginning to try and remember it all.
When
Kaley finally decided she got all the words correct and the notes in somewhat of an order, she lay on the bed and tried to catch her breath. She didn’t know what had come over her, but notes and lyrics never come to her so quickly. It wasn’t even a terrible song, she had done a half-decent job of it.
Something caught Kaley’s eye as she lay there, something outside the window. The window! She had completely forgotten her curtains were open.
She sat up and saw what had caught her attention – Harvey. He looked at her through the window, shock apparent on his face. Her stomach dropped like it was made of lead, how long had he been standing there?
Her face started to redden with the embarrassment. She prayed he had only just walked in. Why had she been so stupid? She was so caught up in her stupid song she forgot to close the stupid blinds. Stupid Kaley, Stupid, she scolded herself.
She went to the window and waved, mouthing a ‘goodnight’. Harvey did the same and watched as she closed the curtains. She took off the dress and went for a shower, mortally embarrassed about the whole thing.
She resolved never to mention it, despite wanting to know exactly what Harvey saw. If she ignored it, perhaps he would forget about whatever he saw.
Chapter 9
Kaley could feel eyes staring at her. She was sure they belonged to Harvey. He was sitting two rows behind her in Science class and she still wasn’t over being embarrassed about the whole dress and song incident.
She begged Georgie for a ride to school that morning so she didn’t have to speak with him. She guessed they would still have to walk home together after school, but maybe some miracle might occur in the meantime. Like the school exploding or something.
Lost in her daydream, when a note landed on her desk, it startled her. She carefully looked around to Harper but she was flicking through her textbook. She opened the note and read:
Love Songs (Secret Songbook #1) Page 8
