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"Yes, dear?"
"Do you think you could drop Simon and me off at the mall? I need new clothes. Nothing fits, and I was hoping we could go by ourselves since we're older now."
She looked up from her frantic organizing and regarded me. Nodding enthusiastically, she smiled wide before standing. Wiping her hands on the apron she wore, she grabbed her keys and started to immediately move for the door, apron still on.
"Yes, yes, that will be good. Let's go!" She spoke so fast, I had a difficult time catching it all.
"Hold up, Mom! Aren't you forgetting something?"
When she turned, she looked confused, a furrow in her brow. The monitor went off right then, and I saw her wince at the sound. She hadn’t been sleeping much and I felt guilty now for asking her to take us somewhere.
"I'll get Noah. You grab his bag, and I'll meet you in the car. Sound good?"
"Yes, yes! Perfect, honey. I knew I could count on you. You're the best big sister."
She kissed my cheek and jogged out of the kitchen. Shaking my head, I went into Noah's room and pulled the turd out of the crib. He was six months old now and starting to get to the fun stage. He giggled at me and started pulling my hair as I carried him into my room.
Simon looked at me when I entered and smiled at the baby in my arms. Handing him off, he took him gladly and started blowing raspberries on his tummy.
"My mom said she'd drop us off. So, I just need to grab my stuff, and we can go. You tell your parents?"
"I'll text them. They won't care if I'm with you."
Smiling, I buckled my sandal on and grabbed my cross-body purse. It was the newest Vera Bradley pattern of blue flowers and swirls. It had been a gift from my parents for my birthday and starting high school. It was my favorite thing I owned, and I couldn't wait to show it off at school.
Taking Noah back, I placed him on my hip and nudged Simon out my door. When we walked by the kitchen, he stopped, and I bumped into him.
"What happened in there?"
"Mom was rearranging or something. It's fine. Come on, let's go, move it!" I chuckled, grabbing his arm to pull him.
"Are you sure she's okay?"
"She's fine. Mom just gets antsy sometimes. She'll be okay in a day or two."
"Okay…."
"Gah! Simon. Quit trying to find problems, and let's just go to the mall already. This turd bucket is heavy, you know."
He stopped resisting, looking shocked at finding me with Noah, apparently having forgotten. Shaking his head, he walked out the front door. I managed to lock it while holding a squirming baby. Mom was already in the car with it running. She had a massive grin on her face and made a "let's go" motion with her hand.
Picking up the pace, I opened the back and latched Noah in. I was barely buckled in myself before she pulled out of the driveway and backed out into the street. Speeding off in the direction of the mall, I wondered if maybe Simon had been right to worry. Biting my lip, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Dad. He'd know what to do. Feeling settled, I laid my head back on the seat and sang along with Mom as the music blasted through the speakers.
We were all dancing and singing by the time we got there, and I ignored my earlier doubt. Kissing her cheek as I got out of the car, I promised to see her in a few hours. She hurried us along and sped off in a different direction. Simon and I shrugged before I grabbed his arm and headed in to find new clothes.
Pulling myself out of the memory, I smoothed out the black A-line dress with little cherries on it. It was my own creation that I'd mocked off a vintage dress but added in slits on the skirt part and a see-through overlay on top to give a peek-a-boo look. You could see the red bra I wore. It was racy and classy, my perfect aesthetic. Wrapping the ribbons of my favorite red espadrilles around my calves, I tied them in a bow. I was officially ready to rock this date.
Simon was working late tonight, so I didn't have to worry about sneaking past his room. I hadn’t told him about my date yet. It was one of the first times I'd kept something from him, but I wasn't sure how supportive he would be after his reaction to the app.
I was tired of being on the sidelines, and the only way to get in the game was to take a chance. Hopefully, it would go well, and I could prove him, and myself, wrong about my dating curse.
* * *
Two strawberry lemonadesand a fried pickle appetizer later, I regretted my decision to try online dating. Si was right. I should’ve known better about online relationships after my pen pal.
In our freshman year of high school, Simon and I thought it would be fun to do the coast-to-coast pen pal exchange. It was something we saw advertised through our favorite TV show back then, Letters from Space. It was about a high school set in space, and they wrote letters to another high school on Earth. Of course, there were a lot of other plots, but it was interesting to watch these two schools and how similar they were. Spoilers—the high school in space was in the future!
The show had set up a Letters from Space Pen Pal program. Anyone, from anywhere, of any age could sign up and be paired with someone. We were told not to give any identifiable information and not to even use our real names. Our letters were sent to the headquarters and then mailed from there, so it was completely anonymous.
