Stalk Me

Me:  I have a date for you. 

Ri:  Who??!!!

Me:  Sander. I’d say he trumps a no-name lacrosse player. Even one that got buff over the summer. But don’t tell. Make it a surprise.

Ri:  I thought we weren’t allowed to date each other’s exes?

Me:  I’m okay with it. Really.

Ri:  Vanessa will be pissed, but OMFG!! I LOVE YOU!! He’s so hot. I’ll be at your house at 8:30, looking AH-MAZZZING!! You liked my dress, right? 

Me:  Your dress is more than ah-mazing.

 

Ri:  Sander will totally be my love slave by the end of the night. I’m sure of it.

How to play the game.

11:45pm

After di

I don’t understand Brooklyn. Why can’t he go just because he loves me? If he really loved me, wouldn’t he go?

Were Vanessa and RiA

I sit down and stare at the moonlight glistening on the water. I love the beach. It totally relaxes me. The sound of the ocean rushing and retreating is incredibly soothing.

I close my eyes and just breathe.

I think about how I sat here on prom night. How I wondered about my true love. How I wondered if he was looking at the moon too.

At the time, I thought Brooklyn was my true love.

But I’m starting to think I was wrong.

Brooklyn startles me when he sits down next to me.

He runs his hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m sorry. I didn’t grow up with all this. I don’t know how to play the game.” Brooklyn’s dad sold his internet company just four years ago. Before that, he lived a very middle class lifestyle. “I’ll go to the party, okay?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. Just don’t make me walk down the red carpet. Can I sneak in the back?”

“I don’t care how you get in, just come dance with me. Make my birthday feel like a fairytale.”

“I was hoping I already did that.”

“Prince Charming always goes to the ball; you know that.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Are we cool? You’re my best friend. I don’t wa

I kiss him. “What the hell am I supposed to do about the asshole?”

He laughs, but says seriously, “You were playing games with me; serves you right.”

Saturday, August 20th

Kill the troll’s bubbles!

5:15pm

Brooklyn just dropped me off at home. We had a late lunch of spicy shrimp at Buddy’s. I don’t know what’s going on, but Brooklyn is acting weird. He was going on and on about the shrimp, and he was savoring it like he wouldn’t get to eat it again for years.

Cush texted me during lunch and told me he’d be here tonight. That he would be riding in the party bus with us to the club. But he hasn’t said much else.

I walk in my front door to total chaos.

Avery is riding a stick unicorn and wearing a tutu and a crown.

Ivery is dressed as a mermaid and is blowing bubbles down the hall.

Emery is chasing the bubbles and swatting them out of the air with a plastic bejeweled sword, screaming, “Kill the troll’s bubbles!”

Gracie is wearing a swimsuit, tutu and fairy wings. Her hair has been “fixed” by one of the girls and has about thirty multi-colored barrettes in it. She’s riding her red trike into the mahogany fireplace wall and giggling each time it practically gives her whiplash. The na

I walk back to Tommy’s office, following the smell of cigar smoke. They have the big sliders open to the courtyard, but I can still smell it. Tommy is sitting at his big wooden desk, and James is in one of the sleek, brown leather chairs across from it.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

“Probably, but I’m a little worried about your children. Gracie is riding her bike into the fireplace giving herself whiplash, and laughing about it.”

Tommy chuckles. “They are a handful, but so cute.”

“Kym is almost here,” James tells me. “You better go shower. You know how she gets when we’re not all on schedule.”

Tommy leans back in his chair and takes a big puff of his cigar. “So are you excited for the party?”

“Of course I am! And Brooklyn is coming as my date, so it’s kinda a big deal.”

“Why is it a big deal? You’ve been with him all summer.”

“You know that, but my friends from school don’t really know that. Like they expect me to be with Cush.”

“High school drama?” James asks.

“Hopefully not,” I reply.

Mom and I are sitting in her huge travertine bathroom getting our makeup done. My hair has been blow out, flattened, then teased at the crown for a bit of a retro look. My finger and toenails have been painted a gorgeous pale peach, and my makeup looks simple and natural.

It’s amazing how much makeup it takes to look perfectly natural.

Kym wanted me to look beach-kissed. Lots of peaches and bronzes, which will look really pretty with my cream-colored, scalloped Herve Leger dress.

I love my dress. It’s both sinfully sexy and little-girl flirty.

The strapless neckline is scalloped, and the dress fits tight through the bodice and down to my hip, then there is a flirty little flounced skirt that hits mid-thigh. I feel very sexy in the dress and can’t wait for Brooklyn to see me in it.

And then there are the shoes.

Oh, how I love these shoes.

Nude-colored, satin, platform, t-strap sandals that are embellished with what looks like a vintage jeweled choker and a big ribbon tie at the ankle.

The makeup and hair stylists leave and I’m ready to head back to my room.

“Keatyn, wait. Tommy and I want to give you a present.”

Tommy walks out of their closet with a small wrapped package in Tiffany & Co.’s iconic robin’s egg blue paper.

I unwrap the box and look inside. “Wow! These earrings are gorgeous!”

“Tommy thought we should get you something timeless, so he chose the gold and diamonds. I thought we should get you something fun, so we settled on these. Do you like them?”

I hug her tightly. “Mom, of course I love them. They’re incredible, really. I don’t know if I can wear something like this. These suckers look like the earrings you see at the Academy Awards.”

Tommy quips, “Well, baby, you don’t have to worry about security. People are go

“Do you really think you still have to worry, Mom?”

“We’re just not taking any risks, honey. James has it all taken care of. Don’t worry about it. You just have fun at your party!”

I put the earrings on.

“I knew they would look perfect with that dress,” Mom says.

I hug them both again then twirl around.

“Do you think I look okay?”

“You look gorgeous, honey. I can hardly believe you’re seventeen. It seems like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms.” Mom starts to get misty-eyed.

“I want to go show Brooklyn my dress before Vanessa and everyone get here.”

“He’s in the living room with James.”

“Tommy, would you tell him to go in my room? I want to surprise him.”

“Will do,” Tommy says as he saunters out of the room, looking handsome as usual in a charcoal suit and black shirt.

“We have another surprise for you tonight,” Mom whispers.