"What am I, a hermaphrodite?" Becky said, laughing.
"Okay, fine, I have one female friend. Most girls are bad, though."
"What about Natasha or Mimi?" Becky challenged. "Are they bad?"
"Okay, okay! You win!" I said, smiling. Becky was my best friend.
Today there was another fiasco. The sink and the toilet were broken. Big surprise there. I was still in my pajamas, as I had just gotten up. I tightened the faucet, cleaned the sink, and plunger-ed the toilet. Oh, I cleaned it, too.
I took a bath, relishing the fact that I could. I heard Anastasia and Drizella fighting again.
"La la la, I can't hear you!" Anastasia said.
"You're such an immature crybaby," Drizella scoffed.
"Girls, girls!" step-mother said, most likely breaking them apart. I stepped out of the tub, drying myself off. Girbits had invited me to his house after my late field trip. It was a trip to the science center, but we only needed to be at school by eight thirty. He had volunteered as a helper, I guess, because he was joining us. I would go off the bus with him at the bus stop closest to his house.
I went up to the mirror to fix my hair, noticing step-mother checking her face out. I thought that she was checking for wrinkles. Well, they were there all right, lots of them. I noticed the sparkling ring she still bore on her finger. She hadn't sold the ring after all, but I never really thought that she would. Step-mother had actually loved my father, I think. At first I just figured she was just after his money, but perhaps it was a mix.
I stepped into my step-sisters' room to make Drizella's unmade bed. Lucifer was sitting on it happily, smiling, as if amused by all of this. Scat, cat. But really, he wasn't bad. Step-mother headed off to the gym. Ever since that comment Drizella had made months ago, step-mother had been visiting the gym, mainly doing chin-ups on the chin-up bar. She said that she often saw our neighbour, Mitch Lee at the gym working out, as well as some acrobats and magicians. It made sense, since we lived in the center of new beginnings and dreams coming true. Would my dream ever come true? And what was my dream, anyway? To live on my own, to get married, to be a successful singer? I would never know. Or maybe I would. Maybe I would pursue something only to find out that being a dancer was my dream. But that would never happen since I hated dancing.
Drizella walked in, having just finished eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I made. She shooed step-mother and I out, so I just spied on her through the door lock. I felt like a creep. Drizella studied her teeth for a while, then glanced around. She then picked her nose. I backed away from the door, wanting to throw up. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Thankfully, I heard the sound of the water running, so I wouldn't have to be scared of Drizella infecting everything she touched. I just had to be sure that I would never touch her hand.
The bus horn honked and I ran out to catch the special late bus. Of course, I was the first one to board it, but soon enough it was filled with two classes of students and some teachers. The Science center was fun and interesting, but I was a little lonely. I was walking with five friends in my grade, but my eyes kept drifting back to Talan, who was constantly sneaking kisses to his latest girlfriend, Alora Platt, who was a freshie. It was disgusting how he was dating someone two years younger than him.
I told all of this to Girbits on the way to his house. He was a lot taller than me now, but he looked the same. His house was beautiful. The outside was grand and luxurious, but the inside was even better. I stared open-mouthed and in awe at the slightly Victorian styled house. His family room contained a gorgeous chandelier, two perfect pink couches and two perfect pink chairs. The curtains, lamps and flowers were also pink. The fireplace was rich and the television was old-fashioned, but it managed to fit in with the rest of the room.
His dining room was simple, but still far more than what I had. It had six straight backed white chairs surrounding a long wood table. His kitchen had tiled floors, a microwave, dishwasher (glory be!), a sink, oven, fridge, cabinets and five marble counter tops. One bedroom contained a pink bed, a chair, a nightstand with a lamp and a bookshelf. Very simple. Behind it was a bathroom that had a toilet, bathtub, sink, towels and a medicine cabinet. It also had a makeup kit laid out on the counter. Behind the bathroom was another bedroom, with a leopard print bedcover, a flat-screened television, two blue chairs, a game system, a desk, a computer, and a dresser. I assumed this to be Girbit's bedroom. There was a another simple tiled floor bathroom, a hallway desk, and even a garden. All the doors were high-arching. It was quite simple.
Girbits was rich.
He lived with his grandmother, Melanie Worthington, which explained all of the pink. It must've been tough living with his grandmother. She seemed very grand-motherly, though. She loved to garden, she was incredibly nice, she was a family person and she was just a tiny bit clueless sometimes. She also loved to bake cookies for her grandson. When I met her, her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, so it was easy to see her lovely earrings.
Girbits approached me. "Cindy?" he said in a throaty voice I had never heard before. I turned to him. He was very close to me. "Cindy... I... I..." Oh no. He wasn't going to ask me out, was he? That would be so awkward for both of us.
"I have homework to do," I said, a little rudely. "From the science trip. Don't you need to fill out some paperwork, too? We can do that together," I amended. I grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the kitchen. He let out a cry of surprise when our hands touched. I didn't feel a tingle or buzz or anything, nothing. The biggest tingle I ever felt was when I was around Chad Luck. But that was nonsense Chad had to be at least four years older than me. He was much too old.
And so Girbits and I did our work quietly at the dining room table. We didn't talk much, but I saw him gazing at me. I blushed horribly. I hoped dearly that he didn't like me that way. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. And besides, I didn't like him that way. He wasn't... right.
Later, when I was telling Anastasia about how rich Girbits was, Anastasia told me that it was nothing compared to Calvin Best's home, where she had been invited for the evening. She described how it was very modern, with a rectangular shape, a flat roof, a gorgeous fountain at the front, and a outdoor cooking setup on the roof. She talked about the numerous bedrooms, the room with a desk and two easels. The billiard table and jukebox, the giant flat-screened television, the super cool and super modern fireplace, the exercise machines, the four expensive vehicles, and the pool, for God's sake, the pool. I admitted that maybe the Best family was a little bit richer. Best of all, they had a lovely kitchen that contained everything Girbit's had, as well as a garbage crusher.
"And the one girl, Abigail, is the complete opposite of Mandy. She's such a tomboy! But she's actually quite nice. Then there's Maria, who's just adorable! She's the sweetest little thing. And then there was another one, but I couldn't even tell if the toddler was a boy or a girl." Anastasia had squealed, amazing me. I never knew that Anastasia liked kids.
"Did she die!" I exclaimed.
"No, I think she just left him," Anastasia mused. "But anyway, he started making dinner-pasta, I think-while I lit a fire. It was SO romantic."
"Creep," I said with a laugh.
"He has giant ears, if that means anything. Calvin has them too. Calvin didn't really inherit his father's looks. Or his mother's, I suppose. Catherine isn't too bad looking. Mandy got all of the looks in the family," Anastasia said enviously. "Calvin was a little boring. All he wanted to do was homework. Bo-ring!"
"I swam in his pool-which is really nice by the way-in case Evan would look at me. But he just kept cooking and the water was cold, so there was no point. And actually, this totally surprised me, but Mandy, like, is really good with her siblings! Just not Calvin, probably. But she took care of Maria when she was crying, so she can't be so bad," Anastasia blithered.
"And that's all of interest that happened. Eventually I just got bored and told Calvin, 'Thanks for inviting me over, but it's getting late so I should probably be heading home.' I'll be back though, I swear. Now that Mr. Best isn't with his wife that leaves an opportunity for anyone to pick up the position... And I mean anyone," Anastasia finished.
"Yeah, sure. I'm pretty sure his children would sever you alive if you went after their dad. Pretty much at Girbits I played this cool real-life simulator game that goes over your eyes. It's really fun. But then all of a sudden, Lela Whitfield-Barry Whitfield's older sister-comes to the door, and she shakes hands with Girbits all friendly like. So I'm like, okay, whatever, no biggie. Barry's okay, so Lela must be fine," I said.
"But then all of a sudden, she starts getting all pissed off at Girbits's grandmother for no reason! Actually, I think it was about Lela's mother, Diane. But anyway, it was really weird, and Girbits's grandma just stood there, not even defending herself! Finally Girbits had enough and told Lela that his home was no place to begin a spat! I told him that if he didn't mind too much, it was late so I was going to catch a cab home. He was disappointed, but he let me go."
"I love Lela's outfits," Anastasia said.
"Me too, actually. They're really cool."
Anastasia pushed a strand of hair away from her face before speaking again. "So step-mother and Drizella had to make-do for dinner. Step-mother made salad and Drizella made macaroni and cheese."
"Yeah, I had some. It wasn't too bad," I said. I was impressed with the meal, actually. I wasn't surprised by step-mother's cooking, actually, but I was with Drizella's. Then again, Mac and Cheese wasn't difficult to make.
"Let's watch some T.V." Anastasia announced lazily, plopping down on the couch. I pressed the remote but it wouldn't work. Was the battery out? I kneeled down to the television. It was plugged in. It just wouldn't turn on. Sigh. It was broken. I took out the screwdriver and started fiddling. I glanced over to Anastasia, but she was gone. Instead there was Lucifer, grooming himself. Oh, lovely.
The next morning I caught Drizella pouring over the "Wanted" section of the newspaper. "I think I'll apply for a spa position. I could be a masseur, don't you think?" I nodded.
A few weeks later, Drizella heard a reply. "I did! I'm a spa clothes folder!" she did a little dance of happiness. I laughed. And made the bed. It was the weekend, so all was good. I had a ton of homework to do. I wasn't in the mood, though, so I grabbed Drizella's homework and just copied. She noticed, but she didn't say anything.
I walked in on step-mother watching some television. Her eyes were red and when she saw me she quickly changed the channel. But I saw what she was watching. It was a extremely hairy werewolf jogging. Right, a werewolf with a six-pack. Maybe step-mother was lonely. In all of my times when living with her, she had never dated a man. Or a woman. But she was certainly straight.
Speaking of werewolves, I saw Mitch Lee's wife, Sonoko, biking today. Her skin tone was a ghastly yellow, and I spotted some incisors piercing through her mouth. I suspected that she was a vampire. But that was silly, vampires didn't exist. I was just being ridiculous.
Step-mother was dressed in strange clothes that I had never seen before. When I asked her what they were for, she muttered, "Work" before playing with the cat. Lucifer liked to sleep on the newspaper, the fattie, after Drizella was done with it, but because Drizella hadn't read the paper since she got accepted, Lucfier had been grumpy and unable to have his newspaper to lie on. Step-mother, however, retrieved the long lost laser pointer and started playing with Lucifer. It was so cute watching him run around, the little tyke.
Drizella had her first day of work. She took a long bubble bath with the new bubble bath liquid mixture I had bought her for her birthday. When she emerged, she told me that it was glorious, and thank you very much. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and changed into the clothes her work had given her. She wasn't allowed to wear makeup. She really didn't look so bad like that. She told us that she was going to have a nap on the couch, so could we please keep our voices down? That was fine by me. When I asked her why she didn't have a nap on her bed, she explained that she would probably be too sleepy for work.
Anastasia trotted into the room. "Cinderella!" she whispered. "Step-mother says we can have another party!"
"Oh, no, no way," I said, appalled at the very idea.
"Please, Cinderella? Just invite your friends and I'll invite mine. We'll only have four or five people over. Please?"
"All you want me to do is invite Talan over," I said, disgusted.
Anastasia hesitated. "Well, basically, yes. C'mon, Cindrella. We're in grade 11. We're graduating next year. Drizella is graduating this year. We can hold the party as a celebration of Drizella getting her job!"
I looked into the sky for a few moments, but finally gave in. "One more party," I said. "Just one more."
I looked into the sky for a few moments, but finally gave in. "One more party," I said. "Just one more."
I grabbed sleeping Drizella's cellphone. Anastasia pulled out her own. I dialed Talan's house number.
"Hello?"
No comments:
Post a Comment