Chapter 17: Seventeen

“You are going out again tonight.” Rebecca said in a dangerously teasing voice. And then her lips moved too fast they trembled. I wondered what she’d said to him.

Bradley snorted. “You’ll always have that hanging over my head.”

“So you’ll be a good brother and wait for your favourite sister to get her nails done.”

He leaned in close. “This is torture.” He sighed. “You could’ve asked Zane to do your nails and hair.”

She glared at him. “I don’t think that would’ve been a good idea.”

He flashed her his perfectly whites and sat as far away from anybody else in the room, tapping his foot rapidly on the floor, sighing often. His lips quivered as though he was fighting a smile.

Suddenly the air charged with electrical vigour, I didn’t think I could be more aware of Bradley than I already was. I straightened up, clinched the chair tightly, sitting very still and pinned my feet to the floor fighting the invisible pull drawing me to him. I glanced at him in my peripheral view – he was mimicking me as though he too was fighting the strong edge to come sit next to me.

Rebecca was attended immediately; she didn’t have to wait in line with the rest of us. Annette made small talk, I was barely listening. How could I concentrate on anything other than Bradley? The painful realisation stung as I finally admitted that I was completely and utterly fascinated by him, obsessed by his inexplicable demeanour.

But my heart ached when I realised that he could never be interested in me. Not even to befriend me. Like Christopher to Annette, Bradley was way out of my league. He was too beautiful, with his too perfect face and too perfect life. Beautiful woman threw themselves at him, and who asked me out? Unbearable Benjamin? Lame Inez?

By the time my hair was done, my eyes stung. It was hard to face the fact that I wasn’t the type of girl that boys queued in line to ask out on dates, I wasn’t the type to turn heads and I wasn’t the least bit interesting, not even to nerds. Something was very wrong with me. I was abnormal, even my brain refused to work the same way of other people my age. I was simply boring.

I said my goodbye to Annette, with a promise to see her at the party tomorrow, and walked out as fast as my wobbly legs could allow not being able to stand another anguishing second of being close to Bradley and not talking to him. I was careful; I didn’t want to embarrass myself by falling.

I almost gave up on finding a suitable outfit for tomorrow – I hated shopping – simply because I could never decide in time what to buy. Choosing an outfit was equally as stressing as solving a math equation to me. Just as I was leaving the mall, with a painstakingly permanent pout; a green dress caught my eye by the window. I stopped and almost ran into a couple holding hands coming out of the store; I mumbled an apology and resumed my pace.

Eventually I made it to Janice’s house. Her car was in the driveway. I paid the cabbie and gathered my shopping bags. She was in the kitchen already busy with tonight’s dinner.

“Hi mom, what are we having for dinner?”

Janice smiled at me and whispered, “Noodles.”

“Why are we whispering?” I asked, my voice automatically tuning down to a whisper. “Don’t tell me you have someone upstairs.” I was only joking, I knew that Janice would never get over my father, not in this life time but a girl can only hope. Dad has been gone for almost two decades.

She laughed. “Beth,”

I frowned. “Mom please, Beth sounds girly.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You look...” I frowned as I searched for the right word.

“I feel weird.” She finally said.

“Did you drink?”

She giggled, “Just a bottle or two.”

“Zack!” I shouted.

“Shh, he’s sleeping.”

“I should wake him up. He has to eat.”

“No.” She giggled hysterically. “We ordered some pizza, yours is in the oven.”

“Then I should probably go to bed.” I said. I was nervous about my first dance. It wasn’t any dance; I would be dancing with an angel. By the end of tomorrow night, at least six of his toes would be broken.

The next morning, when I woke up the stranger was still in my bed, my heart beat twice as hard. Using his arms as pillows, the stranger had his back to me. He was half naked, with broad shoulders and a too perfect body. I gulped, preparing myself to shake him awake. Zack was sleeping with Janice downstairs.

There was a knock at the door, loud and irritating. I panicked, shaken.

“Honey, are you awake.” Janice whispered.

Irritated I said, “What do you want?”

Janice was silent for a second. “Breakfast is ready.”

I sighed. “Whatever.”

I listened until I couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore. I looked back besides me and almost screamed. The stranger was gone. I didn’t hear him get out of bed. I angrily threw the blankets away from me and went down for breakfast.

“Are you okay?” Janice asked as I opened the fridge.

I bit my bottom lip hard to keep myself from answering.

“Elizabeth.”

I sniffed. A lone tear rolled down my left check.

“Honey you are crying?” Concern was evident in her voice.

“Leave me alone.” Sniff “You always ruin everything.”

I left my shocked mother standing in the middle of the kitchen. A pang of regret pulsed through me as I pushed past her and made my way to the bathroom. After my shower I got dressed in my new dress and did the usual bun in my head and then slipped on dad’s old watch and Janice drove me to the party. The car ride was awkward. I didn't bother to make some talk and I guessed she was worried she would say something that might upset me and so she played her favourite rock band. She dropped me off a few blocks down the road. The parking lot was already crowded. I made my way inside. I was too distracted thinking about the stranger to take the décor in. Before I could put my hand on the handle, the door opened. My eyes shot up, I sucked in a breath, Bradley looked luscious, and he was simply breath-taking. The tan of his skin was a perfect contrast to his light blue tuxedo with purple and white Armani shoes; his hair was more tousled than usual, still wet from the shower. He frowned looking down at me with concern, leaning against the door frame.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded looking at the old watch on my wrist. It stopped working years ago.

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’ll be fine.” I mumbled.

He nodded reluctantly.

We stared at each other for what felt like eternity. Looking away wasn’t an option on my part. I didn’t want to look away; I didn’t want his eyes off me either.

He smirked. “You look like you need to sleep.”