It was her, but it wasn't the her she saw every morning in the mirror. The girl who gave up at being beautiful before she started eighth grade. The polished, perfect version of herself had sparkling, copper hair. She had dull strawberry. That version had sparkling blue eyes. She had light blue. She decided not to hurt his feelings since he was the most sensitive of the lot.
"It looks, great."
"Thanks." He replied trying to hide his happiness,
"So, when does stage crew start tomorrow?"
"Who decided to abuse your talents?" She asked smirking.
"Tall girl, white written-on converse, light brown hair, brown eyes."
"Oh what're we going to do with Jen? What did you do to get this job?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah."
"I left my backpack in the balcony from working lights in theater, and I got caught when stage crew showed up. I was already late once to work and if I was late another time, I would get fired. I really need the money, so this Jen offered to pay double if I painted scenery."
"Were you there at the very start?"
"Yeah."
"Did you hear the music?"
"Yeah-"
"Oh, God."
"You're a good singer by the way."
"You're lucky Meghan didn't catch you, you would've been in real trouble."
"When does it start?"
"Eight-Thirty."
"T'anks" She laughed.
"What?"
"Sorry, I've just never heard you say that."
"That's what us in Manhattan say." She smiled and looked at the Sky.
"I should be getting home. See ya maybe tomorrow?"
"Definitely." He said smiling.
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I walked home trying to remember that smile. He looked so cute when he smiled like that. He was definitely one of the sweetest guys I had ever met. I fell asleep in a happy haze. Knock knock I looked at my alarm clock. It was nine-thirty. I jolted out of bed and threw on a black shirt and black pants. Knock knockIt sounded like it was coming from my window. I pushed back the curtain. There was Mush holding out a coffee. I opened the window.
"Hey, what'cha doing on my fire escape?"
"Hey is foah horses. You need a ride to stage crew? I brought food."
"Aw thanks! You're awesome! One second okay?" I said looking back before I closed the door as if he would be gone the minute I closed the door. I ran downstairs to find my Mom cooking breakfast.
"Mom, guess what!" I said still not believing he was sweet enough to buy me breakfast.
"What?" She asked not looking up from the frying pan.
"I don't need a ride today. Mush from down the street is giving me a ride!-"
"That's nice. Call me if you need a ride back."
"AND I'm not done yet-"
"Who is this boy now?"
"HE BOUGHT ME BREAKFAST! ISN'T THAT SWEET?" I shouted smiling hugely.
"No need to shout! You're going to wake up the dead!"
"Sorry. Nick Meyers from down the road. The one that worked at the paint store."
"Oh, I don't know why you give your friends nicknames. That is rather childish."
"Can I go? Please?"
"Be back on time!"
"Thanks! Love you!" I said running back upstairs. I ran a comb through my hair and climbed out the window.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah. Thanks so much!"
"No problem. 'Specially for a best friend that's as pretty as you." I smiled at my shoes. We walked to an old beat up pick up truck parked at the curb.
"Ladies first." He said holding out the passenger door. He was acting like we were going out on a date. No wonder he's called Mush. We buckled the seat belts and he started the truck. An old song from the eighties came on.
"What do ya want? Butter croissant or egg and cheese sandwich."
"Croissant sounds good. Thanks."
"Have you started the English paper yet?"
"Yeah, it was real easy."
"An easy five paragraph essay?"
"This is why I get called a nerd."
"You're not a nerd! You're just smart."
"Come on, glasses? Straight A's? Reads a lot?"
"You don't wear glasses."
"Next week I'm getting them."
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholdah. It don't matter what anyone says. You're perfect." My ears reddened like Ron Weasley's. "We're staying late today, so you might want money for dinner."
"It's okay, I'm used to being hungry."
"How about I buy you dinner since you bought me breakfast?"
"Deal." He said spitting on his hand and holding it out the other hand on the steering wheel.
"Do all of you do that?" He laughed.
"When you're raised in New York, it means it's a serious deal. And a sign of respect. Jacky used to have to do that every time he walked into Brooklyn."
"Why?"
"Brooklyn was Spot's territory. He was the most feared and respected guy in New York, And probably everywhere else."
"Spot?"
"Yep. Hard to believe, right?"
"Especially since he's shorter than me." I said giggling.
We got to stage crew and we walked into the auditorium. Meg was glaring at me, arms crossed, tapping her foot.
"You're late, Pip. You know it started an hour ago. Who is this guy?"
"Jen wanted him to paint scenery since Bruce bailed."
"Why didn't you tell me, Merry?"
"Sorry, Meg."
"Why are you late, Pip?" She was using my nickname, so she wasn't extremely mad. I had to tell her the truth.
"I'm really sorry, Meg. It was the anniversary of my dad's...you know. I forgot to set my alarm with all my Mom's..."
" I forgot. That's understandable Pip. How is she doing by the way?"
"She was actually decently sober the whole night. There was a lot of crying though."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I should be used to it by now." I said trying not to remember.
My dad was a scientist. He traveled the world. We couldn't go with him. He always sent us things from his travels. When I was ten, he was sent to the coast of Antarctica to pick up where scientists from 1950 left off. His boat crashed off the coast after due to a submerged iceberg due to the cold, he died of hypothermia. Every year, my mom sits down with a bottle of wine and turns on the radio, waiting for him to tell her he's coming home. I have a few things of his including a compass, photos of the pyramids, maps, and a typewriter that was his dad's. I never told anyone except close friends. I pretended I was normal and went on with my life.
