It was hard to believe that I had only known the boys for a month and one of them was already dating my sister. But, when you have a sister like Rhenda, you kinda have to get used to it. I'm not saying she was a whore or a slut or anything, but she definitely had something that made boys fling themselves at her feet. I didn't want this "talent" necessarily; I wanted her confidence.
"Mike'll be here any minute to pick me up," Rhenda grinned. She squealed as if she hadn't been on a date in a million years. I looked her up and down in her outfit.
"Really, Rhenda?" I asked. This question had double meanings. On the one hand, it was simply asking if Rhenda had the time correctly. Was Mike really coming to pick her up in a matter of minutes? On the other hand, it was asking if she was seriously considering going out looking like a complete prostitute. Her skirt barely covered her butt and her shirt barely covered her chest. I wondered if she had showered in glitter.
"Mmhmm," Rhenda giggled, obviously answering the first implication of the question. I could've sworn that if she bent down for anything, the whole world would be mooned.
The doorbell rang and Rhenda jumped. She looked at me quizzically before making a motion for me to go back into my bedroom. I sighed, closed my magazine, and walked to the front door. Rhenda looked panicked.
"What are you doing?" she mouthed.
"He's my friend too," I shrugged. I swung open the door. "MIKE!" I shouted happily. I gave Mike a big hug. "Why don't you come in? Rhenda's almost done getting ready." Behind my back, I motioned for Rhenda to go back into the bedroom. Once I heard the door quietly click shut, I opened the door all the way and let Mike stride into the living room.
"How're you doing, Reggie?" Mike grinned. "Sorry for not asking sooner, but I've been so caught up taking care of the pre-date jitters…"
"Don't sweat it," I shrugged. "I'm fine. And you?"
"Like I said before, 'pre-date jitters,'" Mike laughed nervously.
"You'd never believe it, but Rhenda was just as nervous a few seconds ago," I winked. Hey, Mike was my best friend. I had to help him get over his nervousness.
"Really?" Whoa. Was Mike's voice seriously trembling like that? What the hell?! What happened to Mr. Cool?
"Absolutely," I grinned.
"Hey, Mike," a familiar voice purred from the doorway of Rhenda's bedroom. I let out a sigh of relief. I was kinda done lying right now.
Rhenda wasn't nervous. She was ecstatic to be going out on Saturday night. And I was left at home to do boring little things while rain pattered on the dirty windows and sad music wafted out of the '40s style radio…okay. So maybe I'm being a bit of a diva here. But, I was still going to be lonely for the evening.
"Oh," Mike casually remarked over his shoulder as the couple left. "Micky told me to tell you that he'll call a little later and make sure you're faring okay."
"Mkay," I sighed, not really noticing what Mike had said until the door latched and I heard the car drive away. "Wait…WHAT?!"
I began to panic. What would I say? What would Micky say? I was so freaked out that I almost fainted right there in the middle of the floor, but my amazing respiratory system was able to keep up with my fast heart rate. Was it hot in here or was it just my wild imagination? That same imagination that told me that Davy was demeaning me every time he opened his mouth to speak...
About an hour passed and I still hadn't calmed down. In the meantime, I had picked up my favorite novel (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin), but, as one can imagine, it didn't really help much. I had flipped through magazines and catalogues, but I was still jumpy as hell. When the phone rang, I almost hit my head on the ceiling…Okay. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. I fumbled with the phone as I held it up to my ear.
"He-Hello?"
"Reggina? It's Micky." OH GOD! "I was just calling to make sure you weren't bored or anything."
"Nope," I said perhaps a little louder than I meant to. "Not bored! Not this girl. Bored? Not at all!" There was some laughing in the background.
"Why don't you go over there, Mick," Davy teased. "Sounds like you could join in on the party."
"Turn off, will ya?" Micky told Davy simply. He returned to the conversation with me. "Are you lonely? I could come over." My mind raced for an answer.
I could say, "Um…It's okay. I have plans." I could say, "You really don't have to trouble yourself on my account." I could say, "Stay away from me, you creep!" Anything that would've kept him from coming over to watch me make a fool of myself.
"Sure," I blurted out. In my mind's eye, I slapped myself in the forehead. Rhenda came to mind.
"You are such an idiot, Reggina Mary Sullivan!" she scolded. I shrugged helplessly.
"Mkay," Micky said. "I'll be over in a few minutes."
"Okay. Bye," I squeaked out before hanging up. Again, I would've fainted, but again my breathing kept up with my heart rate, though I was pretty sure that was impossible. However, I did fake-faint on the couch before running off to run a brush through my hair and change clothes.
Girls, why do we always get that feeling of if we're not pretty, the boys won't like us? It's a big lie in many cases! And yet, we spend hours brushing our hair, changing outfits, putting on lipstick and then wiping it all away except for the smallest trace, and pretending like we're not trying when we are!
Anyway, I'm getting off-track. After brushing my hair, changing into something "more suitable," and spazzing about the fact that Micky was going to be here soon and I had no idea what I was going to say, I was finally able to calm down…That is, until the doorbell rang.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" I yelled in a hoarse scream. I checked myself in the mirror before running to the door. When I touched the knob, I shocked myself. "Dang!" I screamed in the same whisper. I rubbed my hand on my shirt before opening the door. "Hey, Micky," I grinned. "What's up?"
Micky was attempting to be cool just like I was. And failing…probably like I was too. He was leaning against the doorway on his elbow, giving me a "James Bond" kind of look. Despite how hot this was, the effect was ruined when his elbow slipped and he went tumbling to the floor.
"Are you okay?" I asked, trying to stifle a giggle. Micky stood up quickly and brushed himself off.
"Uh…Yeah," he fumbled. "I-I'm fine."
"Why don't you come in?" I giggled, though I was still trying very hard to keep it in. Micky stepped through the doorway and I peered out into the night to see if the other boys had decided to drop by or if Rhenda was home from her date yet. When no one came into view, I shut the door and turned around.
Micky was flipping through one of the magazines on the coffee table. My eyes fell on Pride and Prejudice and I thought about how embarrassing it would be if Micky saw it.
"Oh! You read sappy romance novels?" he would say.
"Yeah! I'm just that lovelorn and moody that I need to read about other people's love-life problems to satisfy the fact that I don't have a love-life to begin with!" I would giggle cheerily. I shoved that thought down. Then, I noticed that my fear was about to become reality.
"Hey! Cool!" Micky exclaimed, picking up my novel. "I don't read much, but I hear this book's really good." He turned to me, grinning from ear to ear. Was he making fun of me or was he genuinely complimenting me?
"Y-Yeah," I stuttered. "It's pretty good."
"Maybe I should take a crack at it," Micky thought out loud. "Do you think I could borrow it after you're done?" Words weren't coming out, so I nodded instead. Micky smiled and put the book back on the coffee table.
"You can sit down if you want," I managed to squeak out. Micky looked at the couch a minute before settling into it. I somehow gravitated toward a chair and plopped down. For a few minutes, we just sat there. It was funny. When I didn't know Micky liked me, I was more outgoing, more confident, more Rhenda-ish. But now that I knew, I was suddenly reduced to a little puddle of Reggina-like goop.
"So…" Micky said, breaking the silence. "Besides reading and singing at the bar, do you have any hobbies?" I wracked my brain for an answer. Any answer would do right now!
"HOBBIES!" shouted the little filer in my head. He dug around in the file cabinets of my brain to the H section to find the file completely missing. "Shoot!" The filer went running around, searching for the lost file while I sat looking at Micky like a dead fish. Finally, after what seemed like hours (when it was in fact a matter of seconds), the file was found and the filer pulled something out.
"Oh!" I exclaimed as if this question was not expected at all (which it wasn't), "I can dance a little. And I put some outfits together sometimes, but that's just when I want to look good." Micky's eyes wandered down to my clothes, and then wandered back up to my face.
"I can't dance for the life of me," he chuckled. "Trip over flat surfaces, even."
"Really?" I laughed. AHA! An idea! "If you want, I can teach you…How to dance, that is," I smiled. Micky's eyes lit up.
"I would like that a lot," he grinned.
"Great," I sighed, letting all my held breath out. I heard something in the driveway. "Hold on a minute, okay?" I jumped up and looked out the front window to see that Rhenda was back home from her date. Really? Was it that late? I checked a clock: 9:30?! Insanity!
"I should probably get going," Micky sighed behind me. I jumped and caught my breath.
"Oh god!" I gasped. "Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry," Micky shrugged sheepishly. "I was just saying that I should get back home soon. Mike being away for the night, he probably thinks that the house is a complete wreck. I'm happy to oblige." The almost embarrassed smile I had seen on his face a million times before had totally disappeared into a smile of (dare I say it?) evil and mischief.
"Oh," I said softly. To be honest, I was upset to see him go. "Okay." He must have picked up on my mood because he took my hand and gave it a squeeze.
"I'll call you to set up that dance lesson, okay?" he asked. I smiled and nodded.
Just as Micky left, Rhenda came in the door, swooning like she had just met (and made out with) a movie star. She saw me standing alone in the middle of the room and grinned like she was on hidden camera.
"MY NIGHT WAS AMAZING!" she exclaimed. I smirked. She looked at me, obviously noticing my unusual smile, and cocked her head to one side. "Anything you want to tell me?" she asked.