Almost Famous: The Next Phase

Chapter 16

"I think you should just tell him how you feel and this time punch him really good before you do it. Ya know! Just as proof for him that you're not jerking him around."

That was Rachel's bright idea awe she sat on my bed Indian style making the snake around the pole with the gimp string that I had laying around from years of camp growing up. I laid on my fluffy pink and yellow tie dye bean bag and at one point wanted to get up and hit her with it. She really feels like talking to somebody with a hardheaded ego is that easy. Not only that SHE'S SERIOUS! The plain and thoughtless face I wore wasn't convincing enough to her that I wasn't having it. She glanced at me momentarily and with a slight smirk on her face she dropped her arms in her lap and hugged through her nose.

"Regs it can't get any better than that. If you like him that much then this shouldn't even be that big of a deal to you. Just tell him or.....leave him alone."

Still wearing the same blank face I turned over in my bean bag and faced my tv away from her.

"Rachel either way that's not gonna help me. I wanna stop liking him. Not keep saying it over and over again so he can keep calling me a jealous friend. At this point I don't even know if I should call ourselves friends. Prince thinks my feelings are a joke."

"Well he's a joke too so what are you saying?"

"Coming from the one who passed out in the hall when he shook your hand."

"Hey! That was a temporary moment of weakness!" Rachel hissed with a laugh.

"Yup! And a lifetime of embarrassment!" I laughed back as I looked over my shoulder to find her mouth hung open in shock.

I turned back to her and in seconds I had a pillow tossed in my face.

"Hey bitch! No fair! You had the advantage!"

"Ahhhh it's groovy ain't it?"

We were both tickled by our behavior. As typical high school girls we threw the pillow back at each other without care that we could possibly break something. It in that very moment that for the first time in a week Prince wasn't the focal point of my night anymore. I was actually able to smile genuinely and have fun! Rachel was the key to help me get over my crush. After she clobbered me a few more times with the pillow I tossed it to the other side of the room and was ready to get down to business.

"So! Fall formal! What do you think I should wear? And who's going to be my date?" I asked her trying to catch my breath.

Rachel flopped down on the floor Next me and pulled out a few magazines from under my bed that had some of my favorite dresses inside.

"Well you need something that screams date me I'm a foxy curly haired mama." She joked.

I could only laugh and roll my eyes as we flipped through the pages curiously looking at the lavish and expensive dresses we could find. One dress in particular caught Rachel's attention and she looked at me with a big smile!

"Hey! I bet I can get my mom to make that dress for you! She has similar fabric at home and she makes dresses all the time and sells them at the boutique uptown."

"You're mom's a designer?" I asked her curiously since this is the first time I heard anything about her mom's career.

"It's more like a hobby. I never talk about what my mom really does because it's.....well.....it's a little embarrassing."

"Oh stop it. How bad can it be?" I said to her trying to make her feel better.

"Ok just....don't tell anybody I told you. Not even your mom."

"Stop stalling! It's not like she's a hooker or anything. She isn't....is she?"

"NO!!! My mom works......down at the dump."

I almost wanted to laugh but I couldn't because I would be a very terrible friend for doing so. To keep the conversation going I kept her talking.

"Like she sorts the trash and stuff?" I asked.

"Yeah! Like if everyone at school finds that out their gonna laugh at me! My mom took that job because she said it pays more. It was a supervising position and she's the only woman there. All the men there hate it. My parents fight all the time because daddy doesn't want her there. Said it's a mans job. In a way he's....kinda right! I don't want her there either! But daddy was just laid off and when he applied he was told that he didn't qualify. I think he's mad that my mom got it and he didn't. Before that she used to be a dancer on broadway. Then she got hurt when the stage collapsed during a rehearsal. I think the doctors said it was her back that got all messed up. She's not allowed to lift anything but somehow she works at the dump. I guess she does the paperwork and stuff. I don't know. She tries not to talk about it because of it pissing daddy off. She will talk for years about the boutique."

"At least she's happy! I mean she's working in male dominant workforce! So that means she's paving the way for other women who want to do the same thing! Like.....Rosie the riveter. She had to makes airplanes during World War One and still take car of a family while her husband was overseas. Strong woman work the hardest jobs to make sure home is ok. Why do you think my mom works at the hospital. Some days my mom comes home so exhausted that she goes to bed without eating. I get scared for her sometimes because her job isn't pretty either. She'll come home at least once a month covered in blood from somebody who was shot stabbed or just beat the hell up. She even has to watch people die. Even kids. But she doesn't quit because she still has to take care of us. So think of it that way. It's nothing to be ashamed about. You're being taken care of so screw everybody else."

Rachel felt much better and I could tell that she's been dying to talk about her feeling for a long time but didn't want to say anything because she wanted to uphold the Gross name. After a brief silence we finally went back to talking about dresses and the dance and before long it was 9PM and it was time to send Rachel home.

"I'll talk to mama about making some sample fabrics for your dress Regs. And.....thanks...for keeping my secret."

"That's what friends are for! Now get home before your mom starts calling!"

Rachel gave me a hug and went out the door across my backyard and over the fence. Seems like that's the thing to do when she or Prince came over. I closed the door and locked it and made my way too my room. I just happened to glance out my window when I saw a tall figure moving in the dark. My first thought was that it was Rachel but she was way shorter than whoever was lurking out side. I quickly turned out my lamp to get a better look and as soon as I got to the window they were gone.

  "I must be wigging out or something." I said to myself.

I didn't even bother to turn on the light so I climbed into bed and settled my thoughts. When I was about to close my eyes.....I saw a flash from outside my window. That flash was an SOS call that I wasn't in much of a mood to answer.