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And, come on, Toby was adorable.
“I’d like that,” I said, hoping my pause hadn’t freaked him out too much.
“Great.” He sounded relieved. “I’ll pick you up at seven Friday night.”
“Cool.”
We separated in the cafeteria, and I think I skipped—yeah, skipped like a little kid—to the lunch table, my bad mood totally forgotten.
And it stayed forgotten.
For the rest of that week, I didn’t think about how I shouldn’t be thinking of Wesley. I didn’t think of Wesley at all. Not once. My brain was too full of things like What should I wear? and How should I fix my hair? All the stuff I’d never worried about before. Talk about surreal.
But those were the things that Casey and Jessica were experts on, so they came home with me on Friday afternoon, and they were eager to make me their own personal Barbie doll. If I hadn’t been so nervous about this date, I would have been horrified, my feminist sensibilities offended at their preening and squealing.
They forced me into, like, twenty different outfits (all of which I hated) before deciding on one. I wound up in a knee-length black skirt and a low-cut turquoise blouse, cut just low enough that you could make out the curve of my tiny boobs. Then they spent the rest of the time using a flatiron on my unwilling hair. It took them two hours—that’s no exaggeration, by the way—to get it all straight.
It was already six-fifty when they placed me in front of the mirror to examine their work.
“Perfect,” Casey a
“Cute!” Jessica agreed.
“See, B,” Casey said. “All of that Duff shit is ridiculous. You look freaking smoking right now.”
“What Duff shi—uh, stuff?” Jessica asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“B thinks she’s the ugly one.”
“What?” Jessica cried. “Bianca, do you really think that?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“She does,” Casey said. “She told me so.”
“But you’re not, Bianca,” Jessica insisted. “How could you think that?”
“Jessica, don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s no big—”
“I know,” Casey said. “Isn’t it stupid? Isn’t she hot, Jess?”
“She’s super-hot.”
“See, B. You’re super-hot.”
I sighed. “Thanks, guys.” Time for a subject change. “So, um, how are you getting home? I can’t take you if Toby is picking me up in ten minutes. Are your parents coming to get you?”
“Oh, no,” Jessica said. “We aren’t leaving.”
“What?”
“We’ll be here when you get back from your date,” Casey informed me. “Then we’re having an ultra-girly, tell-all slumber party in honor of our B’s first big date.”
“Yep,” Jessica chirped.
I gawked at them. “You’re not serious.”
“Do we look like we’re kidding?” Casey asked.
“But what will you do while I’m gone? Won’t you be bored or whatever?”
“You have TV,” Jessica reminded me.
“And that’s all we really need,” Casey said. “We already called your dad. You don’t have a choice.”
The doorbell rang before I could argue any further, and my friends practically pushed me down the stairs. Once we were in the living room, they started straightening my skirt and adjusting the collar of my shirt, attempting to maximize the amount of cleavage I was showing.
“You’re going to have such a good time,” Casey sighed happily, pushing some hair behind my ear. “You’ll be over Wesley in no time.”
My stomach clenched.
“Shh… Casey…,” Jessica murmured. I knew Casey had told her the whole story by now, but she hadn’t said anything to me about it, which I appreciated. I really just wanted to keep my mind as far from Wesley as possible.
I hadn’t spoken to him since the morning I’d left his house. He’d tried to talk to me once or twice after English, though. I just avoided him, starting up conversations with Jessica or Casey and rushing out of the class as fast as I could.
“OMG, sorry,” Casey said, biting her lip. “I didn’t think.” She cleared her throat awkwardly and scratched the back of her head, ruffling her short hair.
“Have fun!” Jessica chimed, forcing the uncomfortable pause away. “But, you know, not too much fun. My parents might not like you so much if I have to bail you out of jail.”
I laughed. Only Jessica could save us from these awkward moments with such bubbly grace.
I looked at Casey, and I could see a spark of fear in her eye. She wanted me to move on after Wesley, but I knew she was worried. Worried I’d leave her behind again. Worried Toby would replace her.
But she had nothing to be afraid of. This was totally different from my relationship with Wesley. I wasn’t ru
I smiled to reassure her.
“Go! Go!” Jessica squealed, her blond ponytail swinging as she bounced excitedly.
“Yeah,” Casey said, smiling back at me. “Don’t keep the boy waiting.”
They shoved me forward and disappeared back upstairs in a fit of giggles and whispers.
“Freaks,” I muttered, shaking my head and fighting a small giggle. I took a deep breath and pulled open the door. “Hey, Toby.”
He stood on my front porch, looking as cute as always in his navy blazer and khaki pants. He looked like a Ke
“Oh,” I glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“Wow. You look beautiful, Bianca.”
“No, I don’t,” I said, totally embarrassed. No guy but my dad had ever said that to me before.
“Of course you do,” he said. “Why would I lie?”
“I don’t know.” Oh, wow, I was lame. Why couldn’t I just take a compliment? What if I sent him ru
“So are you ready to go?” Toby asked.
“Yeah.”
I stepped outside and shut the door behind me. Toby took my arm and led me down the sidewalk to his silver Taurus. He even opened the passenger’s door for me, like boys do in those old movies. Very classy. I couldn’t help wondering, again, why on earth he was interested in me. He put the key in the ignition and turned to smile at me. His smile was definitely his best feature. So I smiled back, feeling the little butterflies flutter around in the pit of my stomach.
“I hope you’re hungry,” he said.
“Starved,” I lied, knowing very well that I was way too nervous to eat.
By the time we left Giova
“You know,” he said as the bells on the door jingled behind us. “It’s only nine-thirty. I don’t have to take you home yet… unless you want to go home, which is fine, of course.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not in a hurry to go home. But what do you want to do?”
“Well, we can walk,” Toby suggested. He gestured down the sidewalk that ran alongside the busy street. “It’s not very exciting, but we can window-shop or talk or—”
I smiled at him. “Walking sounds fun.”
“Wonderful.”
He looped his arm in mine, and we began to stroll down the well-lit sidewalk. We’d passed a couple small shops before either of us spoke. Thank God he opened his mouth first because, even though I wasn’t that nervous anymore, I had no clue what I could say that wouldn’t make me sound like a complete goofball.
“Well, since you know all about my college situation, I want to know about yours. Have you applied anywhere yet?” he asked.