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“I liked meeting your dad too.” We hadn’t spoken much, but he was nice.
Collin’s whole family sounded close and nice. Nothing like mine.
“I’m not sure this is me.” I fidgeted in front of the mirror that hung on the back of our closet door.
“I am.” Rachel moved behind me and placed her hands on my bare shoulders. “You look like a princess.”
In the reflective surface, my sister was one. She was glamorous, even in just a sweatshirt and a pair of leggings.
“You look pretty in this dress. It’s yours.” Lifting my arm, I reached for the side zipper. “It’s you, not me.”
“Don’t take it off, Addy.” She batted my hand away. “You’re meeting Collin’s parents tonight. That’s a huge deal.”
“I know it is.”
I was so nervous. My mind was spinning, and it had been that way ever since Collin first kissed me behind the cafeteria. Many more kisses had followed, and a little groping of my boobs and ass that had started a fire he hadn’t even tried to put out yet.
Monday, we’d made out in the back of Andy’s van while my sister and Andy went at it in the front seat. Tuesday and Wednesday were more of the same. But today was different because Andy and Rachel were no longer together, and my sister and I had taken the bus home, not Andy’s van.
“But I have to be myself.” I turned to look at Rachel. “I can’t pretend I’m you.”
I’d been wearing borrowed clothing that night at Winston’s, the first time Collin had really noticed me. Would he have noticed me if I just wore my favorite band shirt and jeans? I didn’t know the answer to that, but I knew I wanted him to want me for me.
Rachel stepped back. “Okay, Addy.”
“Thanks, Rach, for trying to help. I appreciate it.”
I quickly undressed, watching her in the mirror. Moving to her bed, she sat, continuing to look pensive. She’d been withdrawn since ending her short fling with Andy.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“Andy, you mean?”
“Yeah,” I said while wriggling into my favorite pair of jeans.
“Are you going to sayI told you so?” She narrowed her pretty blue eyes at me.
“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have butted into your love life in the first place.” After all, I wasn’t even following my own advice, considering I was now involved with Collin.
“It’s okay,” she said, but her expression didn’t match her words. “I shouldn’t have been defensive. I knew going into it with him that I wasn’t serious. He thought differently. We talked after band practice today and agreed that the band is our priority. We’re going to just be friends, and not let the fact that we didn’t work out mess up the group.”
“That’s good. Smart.” I latched my bra and drew on the faded Brutal Strength shirt she hadn’t let me wear to Winston’s. “So, you’re not upset?”
“No.” She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “Not really.”
That didn’t sound encouraging. “What’s going on in your head?” I asked her. Crossing the room, I picked up the garments we’d rejected and laid them on her bed before I sat beside her.
“Just stuff,” she said, twisting a long length of her blond hair in her hands.
“Stuff about Andy, other guys, or something else?”
Her brows pinched together. “Do you really think we can get out of here when you graduate?”
“Yes.” I placed my hand on her knee. “I know we will. I’ll have plenty of money saved by then. And who knows?” I lightened my tone. “We might even leave sooner if ABCR is discovered and gets a big cash advance from a record label.”
Her brow smoothed at that. “We are pretty good.”
“You guys are amazing.”
