"Bethany, come on. Let's go. I'll drive today."
"But my car is here!"
"Ask Brett to drive it home. He walks to school anyways."
"Fine." she says annoyed. She heads off to give Brett her keys. I lean on my car waiting for her return. That's when I hear footsteps. I turn and see no one. I shrug it off and turn back around.
"Hello Emily."
Oh dear lord. It's Billy. And Cathy. And her group of plastics.
"Hey girls. Billy. Howsit going?"
Before I even finish saying this, Billy leans in really close to my face and pins my arms against my car. Which wasn't very hard since I was already leaning on it.
"Listen here princess. You getting it on with that Bryan guy. No. Will not happen. You don't deserve him. He doesn't deserve trash."
"Let me guess. I'm trash?"
"Exactly. We are on the same page."
"Um no we're not, actually."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm going out with Bryan. I like him and after yesterday, he obviously likes me. You should know best. You think you can control my life. But you can't. Not happening. So leave everyone alone."
"Bitch."
"Call me what you will. As long as I have Bryan, I have confidence. And with confidence, comes no bullies. And you Billy, you were born to be a bully."
He stares at me with shock and rage. He turns around and sulks off, smoke pouring out of his ears. Not literally of course. That would be dangerous. Cathy stares at me with almost as much rage as Billy had in his eyes. But there's something else. She's somewhat proud. And even as she slaps me and walks away with that plastic, swishy-hip movement thing, she's proud. She's proud I stood up for myself. I turn around and see Bethany in awe once again.
"Did you just--?"
"Yup."
"Was she just--?"
"You saw it too?"
"How?"
"I don't know. Found my confidence I guess."
"Bryan is the best confidence ever. Lets get you ready for your date now."
"Okay."
We drive to my house blasting Nick Jonas because he is bae. I pull into the driveway and park. I put my bike in the garage and go inside. Me and Bethany grab some Pringles and pudding and go upstairs. We watch some Once Upon a Time then we decide I need to get ready. Bethany looks through my closet and picks out some clothes. She grabs my denim mini skirt and a pink V-neck sweater. I put a white tank top under the sweater and step back. Bethany takes one look at me and almost cries.
"Emily I'm so proud of you."
"Bethany, come on now."
"You look gorgeous! Like even more gorgeous than before."
"You're to kind." I say with a dramatic hair flip.
"That's it! We need to re-curl your hair."
"Okay."
She grabs the curler and starts curling my hair. It looks even better than it did this morning.
"You look great but something's missing."
"What?"
"Accessories!!!!"
She looks through my jewelry and lays her hands on my favorite necklace.
"Hey! Don't touch that one. Please."
"Okay. Why not?"
"It was my great grandma's. It's to fragile. She got it from her great grandma. It's like super old."
"Ohkay. Then how about this one?"
She picks up a gold chain necklace with a gold outline of a heart for the charm. The heart is outlined with fake diamonds. The gold is also fake. The necklace was also $0.50 at a thrift shop.
"No way."
"Okay how about no necklace."
"How about no accessories?"
"Fine. Makeup?"
"Fine."
She whips out all her makeup, which is a lot, and gets to work. First she applies some pink blush to bring out my cheeks. Then she applies some light and dusty pink eyeshadow. She then puts on mascara. Like, a lot of it. She says it will bring out my eyes but whatever. She picks a deep shade of red lipstick and spreads it across my lips. For a finishing touch, she grabs her glitter brush and brushes glitter across my face. She picks a perfume that smells like vanilla and sprays it literally everywhere so my room is permanently vanilla scented.
"Jeez! Why so much?"
"I want some to, girl."
She goes back to my closet and picks out some ballet flats. I shake my head no. Because no! She picks out my light pink converse with gold laces.
"Definitely." we say at the same time. I slip them on and look at myself. I'm taken aback. I actually look nice. Bethany is in tears and is sobbing about how beautiful I am. But all I'm wondering is what if Bryan doesn't like it? He liked me for the ugly me. Hopefully he likes me for me and not my looks. All to soon, comes a knock on my door. My mother peeks in and breaks down in tears.
"You look stunning honey."
"Thanks mom."
"You picked a good one."
"What?" I ask with a puzzled look.
"Bryan came over a half hour ago."
"Oh my god did I keep him waiting!?"
"No honey! Not at all. He came over to politely ask permission to take you on a date." she motions for Bethany to come over and she whispers something in her ear. She gasp, cries, sobs, and hugs me.
"Go be with him now."
"Thanks Bethany. Sleepover tonight? After my date?"
"Of course! I'll hang out with your mom and dad while you're gone. I'll ask Becky if she can sleepover."
"Ok. Bye. Here I go. Bryan is downstairs right?"
"Yes sweetheart. Go have fun."
I take a deep breath and go downstairs. My breath is taken away at how amazing Bryan looks. He's wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of jeans. His hair is ruffled to look messy and sexy. I give him a smile. And only then do I realize, that I also took his breath away.