No Thanks, Mate [Completed]

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter 21

I sat in front of the mirror in my room that stands up on the desk, to make it easier to do hair and makeup.  I couldn’t believe Katie did this to my face.  It wasn’t bad.  In fact, it was amazing.  I looked really… different.

My hair was curly, like usual, but it was all pulled over one shoulder, and Katie made me let her put some sort of gunk in it to make it shiny.  My eyes were lined and I had shimmery on white eye shadow to go with my navy blue and white horizontally striped dress.  It looked like some sort of sailor dress, with a ruffly-bow-thingy at the point of the neckline.  The skirt part came down just past my knee, and it had sleeves that came down to my elbows.  I was wearing white flats and a dark red lipgloss.

I walked over to my jewelry box and looked through it, finally pulling out a certain gold heart locket with a half of a pearl embedded on the front, as if it was whole, but the other half had been pushed through the front of the charm.  It was the same locket I had yelled at Carly for touching weeks before.

“What are you thinking about for jewelry?”  She walked over and saw the necklace in my hand.  “The locket?  You haven’t worn that since…”

“Since Kenzie died?  No, it was a few months longer.  I just haven’t looked at it since then.”

On my twelfth birthday, McKenzie gave me a locket with a picture of the three of us together.  I never took the picture out, and now I was really glad.  My mom wasn’t big on memories, so she didn’t even own a camera until a year before, and Katie’s parents weren’t big on taking pictures of us kids, so it was one of the few pictures I had of Kenzie.

I clasped it on in the back for the first time in years.  It felt normal, like it was just another necklace, not one that was from a dead person.  Wow, how creepy did that sound?

I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table.  “It’s six thirty.  Why’d you make me get ready so early?  He won’t be here for half an hour.”

“He might be early.  You never know.  Hey, um, I have a question.”  I looked at her, scared of what it might be.  “It’s just, since everything happened, you’ve seemed to be more, over Cody and Kenzie.  I just want to let you know that I’m happy for you if that’s right.  You’ve been hung up over this way too long, and it’s just good to see you wearing that necklace again, and going on a date-“

“You are making me go on this date.”  I gave her the guilt eye, and then continued.  “But no, I think you’re right.  I mean, I’m not getting back into dating, but hey, I can’t deny that guys have hearts anymore.  Just because one guy screwed me over-” I stopped mid-sentence when I realized that was exactly what Kyle had said to me.  “One guy was a dick three years ago, and I don’t think it makes anything better to sit around for the rest of my life, wishing he’d come back for me.  I think someone very smart taught me that.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“The part about you being smart?  Yeah, you’re right.”  We laughed and she started brushing me up on date etiquette.

“So, remember, don’t order anything more expensive than his, since he’s paying, and keep your elbows off the table.”

“Yes, mom.”  I joked whenever she told me to do something polite.  “Oh, hey, should I bring a purse with money, you know, just in case, and my phone?”

“Not a big one.  Maybe a clutch.  How about that small white one with the bow?”

I went and looked through the box of my purses and accessories, and came out with a small white purse with a triangular flap at the opening and a bow in the middle.  I looked at the clock again.  “Ugh!  Six forty five!  How do I look?”  Just then Gina walked in with wet hair clinging to the back of her ratty tshirt, coming down almost to the waist of her sweat pants.