#14, School Day

I woke up early, and even though I was tired from the excited of the night before, and the late night talking with Rylie, laughing about the whole situation, and thanking him profusely for saving my butt with the plate episode, I knew that I better look good for school today. I still had not decided how I was going to live down the humiliation I had suffered in front of the guys from school. I realized too late that had I simply stayed there they never would have known how potentially embarrassing it had been. But no, I let my emotion get the better of me, and I made an even bigger fool of myself. At least since it was an "A" day at school, I would not see any of them except Braden until after lunch. And, since I was going shopping with my mom, I might avoid any real contact with most of them.

Rylie said the best way to make them forget how awful I looked and acted was to look hot today, and act like nothing weird happened. Rylie would know. He said no guy is going to make a big deal out of it if you look smokin’ hot the next time they see you, they won’t be able to remember it. Of course, I haven’t looked smoking hot in the entirety of my life, but I could put in some extra effort.

I showered, dried my hair, and then looked in my closet. Maybe it would be a good thing to go shopping today, I really did not have much to wear. I knew asking Rylie for help picking out something would be too much, he had already done me enough favors, and I was guessing since we spent the night talking, I would miss him at our normal breakfast rendezvous. Great, I thought, one more thing to worry about, Rylie was my ride today, and that meant I would probably be late. I flipped through the hangers, tried every shirt I owned on, and then sat down on the bed frustrated. I had nothing to wear.

Just as I was about to give up on the whole idea and just throw on jeans and a t-shirt, I heard a slight rap on my door. I pulled on a bathrobe, and went over and opened it.

My perfectly manicured Mother stood outside the door looking a little sheepish. “Hi hunny!” She said with a little bit too much cheeriness.

“Mom?”

She wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow, I was not making it easy on her, I knew she was up to something, and she knew that I knew.

“I just thought you might like something new to wear. I picked a little something up for you last time I was shopping. The lady at the store said this style is very popular, and, well, I hoped you would like it.” From behind her back she pulled a great pair of jeans and a top.

The jeans were skinny jeans, dark denim with a good wash. They were perfect! I loved jeans, and these were stylish, would show off my best features, and because they have that wash, not look like I was wearing something brand new.

The top was a cute little tank with some embellishment around the neckline.

“I thought you could wear the sweater I got you for your cousin’s graduation over top.” My Mom looked hopeful, and I could see that she had given it some thought. She had flawless taste, and knew my style, and had done a great job of combining the two. It was simple enough to suit me, but also feminine, and stylish. I was thrilled. I could look good without looking like I put in too much effort, or had changed my style.

I took the clothes from her, much to her relief. Then, I gave her a quick, slightly awkward hug, “thanks mom, it is perfect.” I closed the door. I hated that things were always so awkward with my mother. Many of my friends had close relationships with their moms, even shared their stories with them. I felt awkward hugging mine. I did not let my mind worry about it, because I still needed to get ready.

Now all I had to do was pick out the shoes. It was cold in Idaho this time of year, and there was still snow on the ground in some places, so sandals were out of the question. I decided some slip on flats in the same color as the sweater would be good. Shoes were one thing I had plenty of variety of.

I put on the ensemble and evaluated the look in the mirror. It was just right. I had a small chest, but the tank showed it off to its best advantage. The jeans made my butt look great, and the sweater gave the whole look a casual, comfortable feel, while still keeping the feminine edge, and being appropriate for the weather.

“Perfect.” I said aloud to myself. “Hopefully they will remember I can be attractive, and that horrid hunter’s hoodie will be a fading memory.”

I especially hoped Ethan would notice how great I looked today. He had been the jerk that I thought I liked until I realized he was not really interested in me, just in playing games with girls. Even though I hated it, I still carried a little fantasy of a hope that he secretly liked me. On the days I did take the time to get ready it was usually with him in mind. Pathetic.

I did my hair in loose, casual looking curls. I was attempting the movie star look, the perfect, but casual hair, that probably took hours to do, but is supposed to look thrown together. I am not sure if I succeeded, but it felt good to not have it in a pony tail. I decided makeup would be too much, and would make it look like I was trying too hard, so I put on a light layer of mascara, and some clear lip gloss, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Rylie gave me the thumbs up, and Mom looked pleased. Dad was already at the hospital, but Rocco, our farm hand was sitting at the table with a huge stack of pancakes on his plate.

“Hi, Rock!” I always loved seeing him, and was especially glad that morning as he had a way of making you feel like the most important, smartest, most attractive person in the world.

Rocco was easy mannered. He had been working for my family for as long as I could remember. He was practically family at any rate. He had come to Idaho from Brazil, and still had a slight Portuguese accent. I loved it, and loved listening to him. He would tell us stories of his youth, legends of his culture, and anything else that came to mind. He was always fun.

“Good morning little chickie, you look beautiful as always.” He smiled a toothy smile up at me and shoveled a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

We ate in silence, not because we had nothing to say, but because the food was great, and there was little time for anything else. I had to be out the door, Rylie was driving me, and Rocco had animals and other farm related things to get to. The good news was, despite what I thought, Rylie was up and ready, and I would not be late to school.

I scooped up my backpack on my way out the door, and called my goodbyes over my shoulder. It was now or never, I had to go to school and pretend nothing happened. I wondered if the boy who had witnessed my very unlady like snot rocket would be at the school today. I also wondered what he would say if he saw me, and more to the point, what I would say. I mean, how does one go about apologizing for blowing boogers on someone else’s shoe?