The Fifteenth Year

July: Part 4

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Dear Friend,

This birthday was pretty cool, but let me start from the top. First, Mom and Dad, Jeremy and me (Brendan can drive so he met us) all picked up Tessa and Renee. I've only told the girls a little about Chloe over the phone, so while we were on the way to her house, I decided I had to give them the complete information.

"Okay, back up. She's athletic, aquaphobic, and dresses like a boy?" Tessa asked. "Well...so what? She can't be all bad. So what if she has some...you know...hygiene issues?"

"She smells like a pig farm!" I practically screamed.

And what do you know; there we were at her house, and guess what? She does live on a pig farm. Wake me up from this nightmare.

Now, holy crap, do I need to be pinched. At that point, Chloe trots out in a blue polka-dotted dress. The spots are blue and the dress is green. This is a birthday party for fifteen-year-olds. I guess Chloe thought about a decade back.

Chloe took a seat next to me in the car. "Wow! This is going to be so much fun!" she squealed.

Mom gave me a warning look and I did not intend on getting grounded on my birthday. Although, this might be considered enough punishment already.

"You guys look so cool!" Chloe exclaimed some more.

Tessa was wearing a pink sequined tank top with blue jeans and her hair was in two French braids. Renee was wearing a black tank top with black denim shorts and her blue leather jacket. She had her hair in a bun. I had my hair curled like I planned, and I was wearing a baby blue sundress with blue sequined sandals. I had just the right amount of makeup on. If you think I sound dressed like a little girl, trust me...I looked like a young woman. I hoped that when Jason saw me he'd be dizzy like I am around him.

"Thanks, Chloe," I said. "Did you bring your rollerblades?"

"Yep," she said, lifting them up in a plastic bag.

Once we got to the park, we met the Conners' there, and I hoped Jason noticed me when I stepped out of the van. He smiled, but he didn't say anything or give off a vibe like I took his breath away. I sighed, but hey, I'm not letting rejection put me down, especially on my fifteenth birthday. Besides, my life doesn't depend on one guy.

Everyone sat on a bench and put on their gear and then rollerbladed around the park. I'm really good now! Since Chloe is so into sports, she seemed to be going the fastest. We tried keeping up with her, but finally gave up and let her lap us a jillion times. Jason and Tracy even skated with us while our parents sat to visit at a picnic table. After about an hour or rollerblading and looking deeply into Jason's blue eyes - oh, and waving each time Chloe passed us, we all left to go eat.

We arrived at the new restaurant in town and oh my goodness was it really fancy. We all stood frozen in awe at the crystal chandeliers, paintings, roman candles, and the people wearing jewelry that looked like a fortune. I thought we looked nice, but next to these millionaires? Ridiculous.

The hostess waved for us to follow her as she seated us between two tables (adults and Tracy shared one) and handed us menus. Then she said something in French. Yes. We unknowingly selected a French restaurant. Naturally we were all confused and didn't understand her. Maybe she meant something among the lines of 'I'll give you a moment to look over the menu and bring you water.'

"Uh...merci," I gulped.

Our faces fixed in frowns at the perplexion that comes with looking at a foreign language on a menu.