He yanked up. His new strategy worked: the zipper gave in, and the pull slid up in a satisfying swoosh.
Perfect.
Success!
As long as I didn’t bend. Or sit. Or breathe.
I turned around to face Cooper triumphantly, liketa-da!
I think—though we may never know for sure—that his eyes widened at the sight of me. In a good way. Like I was surprisingly nice to look at.
I wanted to give him a high five, but I was afraid to reach up that far.
Next, Cooper said, “That’s the shortest dress I’ve ever seen. It looks like you forgot your pants.”
I ignored him and pointed at the high heels resting on my suitcase. “Can you hand me my shoes?”
“Those?” Cooper said, sounding doubtful.
“What?”
“You can’t walk in heels.”
“I can now,” I said.
Cooper didn’t buy it. “Did you get new feet?”
I flared my nostrils. “I’ve been practicing for a solid week.”
Cooper set the shoes down in front of me, and I held on to his shoulders for balance as I worked my feet into them. “Yes, they hurt like hell,” I said, answering his unspoken question. “But guess what? There’s an inverse relationship between how excruciating your heels are and how effective they are. That’s just math.”
Cooper looked like he was stifling a smile.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I said. “You’re thinking I’m ridiculous.”
But Cooper shook his head. “I’m not thinking that.”
“You’re not?”
Cooper and I both turned to check out my whole look in the door mirror.
“I get it,” Cooper said, taking in the sight of me. “You need to look different today. You need to show everybody that you’ve grown up. You need to shock them into seeing something other than the kid who got chased by a schnauzer on the Vargases’ driveway.”
Well, that was surprisingly accurate. “I’d forgotten about the schnauzer.”
My shoe felt weird. Did I have a pebble in it already? I turned back and grabbed Cooper’s shoulder so I could pull it off.
“Another pebble?” Cooper asked.
“It’s fine.”
Cooper went on. “You were always—no offense—kind of a classically overlooked middle child. Ashley was always out there achieving and being perfect, and Pete was always in trouble for setting off fireworks. You flew under everybody’s radar. I always wondered if you felt invisible.”
What a question. I felt a funny pressure on my chest.
“You weren’t invisible to me, by the way,” Cooper added. “Just so you know.”
I took a long breath.
