The party was tomorrow so today Cherry and I were having an us day. We were going to go shopping for our halloween costumes and probably a few other things. My dad left his card with Sherry so we had a pretty good bit of money to spend. He never told her a limit and we love to shop so it was going to be lots of fun.
We started with breakfast, I woke up early enough to make a good meal consisting of waffles, fried eggs (her favorite), and lots of bacon. Bacon was our favorite and my parents get us tons of it before they leave for any extended period of time. She was so excited when she got up, the smell, she said, was pungent even from her room upstairs. Very random conversations came up as we enjoyed the food, like about how it is for Sherry to work for dad full time instead of going to college.
"I like it but he's always sayin' 'You're gonna run this one day if you keep learning like you are' and I don't really wanna do that. I just didn't wanna go to college for this year."
"Still thinkin' about goin' to Florida or Texas or somethin'," I asked, taking the last few bites of my breakfast after.
"I don't know. It'll be hard to leave you."
I chuckled because if it were me who had the chance, I'd go as far away as possible. I love Sherri but this place is too small for me. "You shouldn't let me stop you."
"If I leave, Lena, I ain't gonna come back. I know that. I'll visit, of course, but I've had enough of this little city. I want to be here for you, though, mom and dad don't support you like I do." She finished up her bacon and put her plate in the sink. She was right, she was the one who kept me sane here. My parents loved me but they didn't accept me as I was, they wanted me to be like Sherri and I never would. I wish she didn't feel like it should hold her back but a selfish part of me is glad.
"You're such a good sister," I say with a smile.
She chuckled, "I wasn't always so I gotta be extra good for you now." The sound of the sink filled the silence now as she rinsed her plate and mine after I handed it to her. I decided to go and get ready with her not too far behind. I usually shower at night so all I had to do was throw on some jeans and I settled on a dark green shirt, throwing my hair up into a ponytail and putting on some lipgloss. I didn't wanna do much but if we're going shopping I'd like to look a little nice because I knew Sherri would.
Then there she was, dressed in a pretty white and blue dress with her hair nice and curly. She also didn't wear makeup but threw on her signature red lipstick. I was so excited! It's been so long since we've been shopping and there's these shopping centers all over Tulsa that have cute halloween decorations as well as costumes. Since we're both dressing as devils, our theme is obviously red. Our parents would have a fit but it's a good thing they aren't around.
Our first stop was a party supplies store. We got a good bit of decorations. I loved how even though it was my friends, Cherry was still excited to help decorate and be a part of it, but when it was her party I was excited too. We just love decorating and helping out. The first thing in our little basket was a little red door curtain for as soon as they walk in and then a lot of these little red balloons with black confetti inside of them. I had a strong feeling that at least a few would be popping so that would be fun.
Strolling down the aisles, we saw these red light bulbs and I wasn't thinking about it but it was definitely something I wanted. The whole living and dining room could have a red tint! We, of course, had to get lots of plastic cups, plates, silverware, and a couple little platters for snacks.
We'd gotten a few things but I felt like we needed a little more so I opted for more balloons and the last decoration was little streamers to hang off the ceiling.
After the decorations, it was time to put together our outfits. We tried a few different clothing stores but couldn't find something that matched what we wanted, Cherry would likely wear a skirt while I'd wear shorts and probably some cute stockings.
Cherry was kind of hard to shop for because she didn't like just anything. She wasn't a fan of those boxy dresses or skirts, she said they make her look old and stuffy. She liked patterns but when she tried them on she always changed her mind. Eventually she decided on a nice bright red cropped blouse and a matching red pleated mini skirt that went to about mid thigh.
I picked out a long sleeved red top that tied in the front, it was a bit small, stopped a little above my belly button, and I had some cute red shorts that went just below my belly button. We got matching sheer stockings and at the halloween store we got our little horns, red tridents, and clip on tails. Boy our parents would kill us if they could see these! Funnily enough that made me more excited, it was a good thing they won't be home for another couple days.
Last but not least, we needed food. Since there'd be alcohol and definitely marijuana involved, I knew we'd need good, easy to serve food. I decided on chips and dip, Cherry got little sandwiches and pinwheels, and I got a platter of fruit as well as a platter of meat, cheese, and crackers. The last thing we picked up was a couple boxes of different flavor cupcake mix. I'm not the biggest cook but I love to bake so I wanted to make the cupcakes for us and maybe if anyone came early they could help.
When we got home I was absolutely elated, I couldn't wait to put the decorations up and I didn't. Cherry and I went ahead and started with the high things like the streamers and the doorframe curtain and I even switched the lightbulb in the living room, there were two lights in the fixture so it was red but still bright and that was what it would look like in the dining room and hall as well.
After that, Cherry and I did each other's nails while watching TV.
"So, Johnny's comin'?" Sherri asked. Surprisingly, the topic of boys hadn't been mentioned all day, I had been thinking about Johnny a lot, I was a little nervous about him coming to my house for the first time and seeing my outfit.
"Yeah." I was focusing on the little black dots I was adding as a final touch on some of her nails.
"Excited?"
I giggled, "Yeah, also scared. I hope my friends don't embarrass me and I hope he doesn't think my outfit looks too trampy and I hope he has fun, I've only seen him in a party setting once but he was really relaxed so I'm wondering how he'll act if he drinks. Or what if he smokes? What if he sees the house and doesn't wanna come in? What if his friends don't wanna come? There's just so much to think about."
In between blowing on her finished set of nails, Sherri let out a laugh. "It's supposed to just be fun, don't think too much."
Whenever I'm going on and on, she always tells me not to think so much. I wonder what it's like to be someone who doesn't think too much. Must be easier for people like that. "Easy for you to say, you don't gotta worry about that stuff. You never dated anyone who was so different than you."
She nodded, "I may not get it all that well but I know that he's a good kid, he cares about you and you care about him so no matter what your friends do or how small your outfit is, he'll still enjoy being with you. If anything, your outfit may make him wanna disappear into your room for a while," Sherri teased with a wink.
"Stop it!" My cheeks turned bright red at the thought. I finally finished her nails and she moved onto mine after letting them dry a bit.
"Any of his friends coming?"
I nodded, "I told him he could bring a couple, Jenkins invited Soda and Steve. I told Iona she could come but she may be busy, if she does she may bring Darry. I hope he doesn't bring Ponyboy because he's so young."
"Wonder if he'll bring Dallas."
I shrugged, "We talked one day about why he's so close friends with him and I think maybe if he acts decent I wouldn't mind but Johnny knows I ain't a big fan." I looked at the TV which I almost forgot was playing reruns of I Love Lucy, I rested my head on my knees as Sherri continues with my hands. "I'm gonna be so nice if he comes, though, because then he knows I ain't the problem."
Sherri nodded, absentmindedly. "If he comes, Lena, and I've had a few drinks, don't let me anywhere near him."
"I'll let Ronnie know to keep his eye on you," I joked, "Not that he wouldn't have done that anyway."
"Oh man, that boy is something else, isn't he? Been a while since I've seen him."
"I know," I say with a chuckle, "How are you anyway? Since you and Bob ended things you really don't seem too down about it."
"Oh, I ain't. Ever since graduating I feel a little different, y'know? Like I really ain't a kid anymore. I ain't a cheerleader and don't got good grades anymore. I guess he just didn't see that change the same. Never talked about what he wanted to do next, if he even wanted to do anything. I don't know I guess I want a man with goals. I don't wanna be workin' my whole life, that's for sure."
I nodded, lots of the guys were like that, I felt. It was like they never wanted to grow up, like high school was their glory days and they don't wanna stop living in them. I knew Johnny wouldn't be like that. He was already ready to be done with school but he said he'd probably be like his friend Two-Bit or Sodapop, either in school for way longer than he should've been or a dropout. I personally value school but I do get where he's coming from. Sometimes life gets in the way.
Sherri gave me little triangles on my thumbs and stripes on the rest, she always did really cute little designs for me. We ended up falling asleep on the couch, snacks surrounding us on the table and two blankets sprawled on top of both of us. The TV was still on and no one was here to yell at us about it. When we woke up, it would be time to start getting things ready!
little bit of sister action. This story isn't getting the clout it deserves but I still love it so I update it anyway bc I know it will eventually lol.