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I hadn’t been exaggerating though. I was pretty sure Daisy had said yes to at least three guys for Homecoming. And I was pretty positive they all knew about each other, and just didn’t care. And why would they? When they could have Daisy.
I couldn’t imagine that situation happening to me though.
Not that there was ever any danger something like that ever would.
I’m not my sister.
"Skylar's got a big date too. She’s going with the school's basketball star," said Daisy, obviously trying to move the attention from herself and onto me.
My father's eyes widened in shock in the rearview mirror, and a pulse of disgruntlement flashed through me.
"Is that so, little bird? Good for you."
I muttered “thanks”, feeling embarrassed by how surprised he’d been. Not that my mother's reaction had been any different.
My father talked the entire way to the mall, not seeming to mind that neither of us were really talking back. Evidently, he’d just gotten back from California. He rode his motorcycle all the way from the northern tip to the southern one, not stopping until he got to the border with Mexico. I listened avidly to all of his tales, trying to picture the things he'd seen.
I wondered if I'd ever get out there.
When we finally got to the mall parking lot, Daisy pushed open her door like the cab was on fire and she was desperate to get out.
I followed at a more leisurely pace. As we walked across the parking lot, my father took the nape of my neck and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"How's your new school going?" he asked, actually sounding genuinely interested.
For a second, I got the insane urge to tell him everything that had happened. To walk him through the almost daily embarrassments I had thanks to Noah. Tell him about the story I was writing, the one with a character who actually took control of her own life.
But that urge immediately disappeared when an attractive woman in a tight skirt walked by, and my dad’s attention was immediately redirected.
"It's going great," I finally say with a sigh, knowing he wouldn’t hear me now anyway. Not while his attention was on something far more prettier and shiner than me.
Daisy shot me a knowing look at the lie.
She knows I’m not exactly settling in well at Bayshore High. And even though her knee jerk reaction was to go full protective big sister mode and fix it so that I don’t feel like such a pariah at our new school, I made sure to nix that in the bud. Having Daisy defend me, because I wasn't doing a good enough job of it myself, only reminds me of my shortcomings. And I’ve got enough of those.
After the skirt with legs disappeared from his view, my dad finally remembered that we were there too, making up for his distraction by pretending he was actually interested in finding us the perfect dress to take to the dance. As we walked through the mall, going in and out of the stores, he tried his best to keep conversation going by asking us questions about our new home life. Tired of his lame attempts at sounding interested in what was happening in our lives, Daisy eventually turned the conversation back to him. It didn't take much coaxing for him to start going on and on about his own adventures.
We both knew that our father’s favorite subject has always been himself.
We’d gone into at least five stores before I found a dress that I liked. It was more on the expensive side, but Daisy forced me to try it on.
I hadn't wanted to look in the mirror in the dressing room, but eventually I had, slightly taken aback by the image of myself in the mirror.
I looked…good. Something I didn’t think very often of myself. The pink shade of the dress made my skin look more olive than its usual drab paleness. It also accented the highlights in my hair that I’d gotten from trying to walk my frustrations out every day after school.
"Sky…" My sister gasped as she forced her way past the curtain into the dressing room. I immediately crossed my arms in front of myself self-consciously.
"Don't do that," she commanded. "Don't hide yourself away. It's okay to let people see…"
"Let people see?" I whispered.
"Let people see who's the actual star in our family," she answered back with a shy smile before leaving the room without another word.
I stared after her in shock, a warm, bubbly feeling fizzing up inside of me.
"Little bird, let's see it!" my father called, my sister obviously having said something.
I took a deep breath and pushed the curtain aside with a sigh, walking out of the dressing area, self-consciousness tearing at my skin.
