Delphic Song

Chapter Three

“You're not my dad!” I flung after him. Huffing dramatically, I finished cleaning up the stand. I was still muttering exasperatedly as I stomped up to the house.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh,” I groaned into my phone as I flopped down on my bed.

“What’s wrong?” Payson asked. She sounded concerned. “Is your awesome Maybelline mascara missing? I swear it wasn’t me!” Her voice went up a few octaves.

I frowned. “What? No, that’s not what I was – wait. I haven’t seen that mascara around since last week! Payson…”

“Nope! Don’t look at me! It wasn’t me!” Payson squeaked.

“Okay: A), You are an awful liar, and B), I expect the mascara returned tomorrow when you come over.”

Payson sighed. “Fiiine. But I just want to let you know that it looks suuper good on me.” she paused. “Wait, why am I coming over tomorrow?”

“Because…” I let my voice trail off dramatically.

“Get on with it!”

“…I might…”

“Spit it out, girl!”

“I’m going on a date!”

“OMG!” Payson squealed. “Who? Is he hot? Nice abs? wait, don’t answer those. I want to see you in person!           Why the hell would I come over tomorrow! I’m coming over right now!”

Payson’s definition of now was, in actuality, a half hour later, after she had packed her green overnight duffel with enough clothes to dress a small army and a whole separate bag of nail polish – rainbow shades colors, neon, sparkles, glitter, glow in the dark, crackle, and every other type of polish you could imagine. Like in all the inane chick flick movies she watched, Payson believed that every meaningful girl-to-girl conversation required both parties to be painting their nails. So, seeing as our discussion would involve boys, Payson saw fit to break out her polish.

“So tell me everything,” she bubbled as she coated her toes in It’s Raining Plumdrops purple. Wriggling her eyebrows, she added, “Even the dirty details.”

I rolled my eyes. “So, his name’s Nate, and-”

Payson interrupted me. “Hotness? Scale of one to ten.”

“One hundred and ten,” I answered, not skipping a beat. “Payson, he was so hot. I didn’t even know it was physically possible to be that sexy. I'm not joking.”

Payson whistled. “Does he happen to have any brothers? Or a long lost twin? Ooh, maybe one with a tragic back story? Like, he killed some evil guy, but instead of becoming a hero he was misunderstood and thrown in jail. And now, because of it, he can’t trust anyone anymore. Except for me, of course. I break through his shell and we fall in love-”

Holding up a hand, I interjected. “I think you might have seen too many movies.”

Payson grinned. “Maybe just a few.” Finishing with the purple on her right foot, she began with a base coat of clear polish on her right. “Okay, we’re off topic here. What else about my future husband’s brother-” suddenly, she squealed. “Omigod, we’ll be sisters! We can have a double wedding and our kids can grow up together!”

I slapped my forehead with my hand. “Why didn’t I think of that sooner?”

Payson broke down laughing, rolling around on the floor with her toes in the air to avoid smudging. Watching her, I couldn’t help but laugh to, and next thing I knew we were both laughing so hard that tears streamed down our faces and my stomach muscles burned.

“So,” Payson gasped, wiping her eyes. “Continue with the details.”

I used my sleeve to dab at my own eyes. “Well, we didn’t stop talking the whole time. It wasn’t awkward at all.”

“That’s good.” Payson nodded.

“Yeah. We just talked the whole time.” I smiled as I looked back on the perfect afternoon. When he had hinted at enrolling at Fryeburg just to hang around with me… my stomach fluttered. “Oh! And guess what?”

“Yesss?” Payson painted her big toe with a layer of clear top coat.

“He said he wanted to come to Fryeburg!”

“What! OMG! That’s so great.”

“I know.” I sighed dreamily. His eyes… a shiver went up my spine. They had been so intense, staring into me. Chips of blue-green sea glass that I could’ve gazed at all day. And his mouth… tingles swept over my body as I pictured it and I blinked. He was almost too perfect to be human –

“Earth to Gwen,” Payson sang. I jolted, turning guiltily to her.

“You’ve got it bad,” she said knowingly.

I grinned. “Is it that obvious?”

Payson smiled, but it wasn’t her usual vivacious one. She looked a bit… worried? “Just don’t let him break your heart,” she advised. “You're way too good to deserve anything but loving and sweet.”

“Aw, thanks, girlfriend.” I leaned over and hugged her tightly. “You're the best.”

“I know,” she said, back to her giggling self.

“But, if I'm going to get my heart broken by anyone, I want it to be him,” I said, smiling. “Because at least I can still appreciate his hotness factor.”