Naomi Ca---- “No, we still need to think of a guy name for you,” said Natt.
He was brushing my hair…making me feel calm and relaxed. I sighed, yup, I love it when people brush my hair or run their hands through it when they’re trying to fix it. It so soothing and it always gets me relaxed and lightheaded.
“Naomi?”
“Hmmm?”
“You’re acting weird.” Nick stared at me while his brother agreed with a nod as he continued to brush my hair.
“I am?” I asked softly. My eyes were closed.
“That’s it, stop it Natt. She’s starting to sound like a drugged hippie.” Nick took the hairbrush and dumped something on my lap. “Put it on.” Nick started digging through his clothes and then took out a navy blue jacket.
I stared at what he handed me and realized that it was a wig. My hair was lightly tied back by Natt and I put the wig on and hid my ponytail inside it. “Is this really necessary?” I asked.
“Of course it is… Unless you want to be the only female among the hungry male population that is going to be at the party, then, no this shouldn’t be necessary.” Nick shot me ‘no more questions’ look.
“Fine.” I tugged at the neck of Natt’s shirt. They made me put on his black shirt that had ‘You Suck’ written on it. “Why do you have a wig anyway?”
“Long story,” Natt said. He took my arm and hauled me up on my feet. He and his brother led me to the tall mirror. When I saw my reflection… I thought I didn’t look too bad.
The image in the mirror was a boy. He had long brown hair, his bangs hid his eyebrows. He was wearing a black shirt and loose denim shorts that reached below the knees. I didn’t look like a girl. This is so embarrassing…
Nick nodded in approval. “This wouldn’t have worked if you were a C or a D.”
“Yup, good thing you’re a B.” Natt grinned.
“Hey!” I blushed and covered my chest. “Don’t talk about my boobs that way.” I glared at them. They made me wrap my chest so that it would look flat. And yes, it worked. Especially with the black shirt. It looks like I have no boobs!
“West liked a D-cup girl once,” Natt said casually, he took the jacket and handed it to me.
“Yeah, now she was hot,” said Nick.
“SHUT UP!” I yelled.
“Yeah, we better stop or she’ll end up sulking in the corner of her room,” laughed Natt.
“I don’t sulk,” I grumbled. Nick tipped my chin up and grinned. “Then wipe that adorable pout off your face.”
I blushed and jerked my face away.
“Alright, now that you look like a fourteen-year-old boy –“
“What do you mean a fourteen-year-old?” I said.
“Well,” Nick scratched his head. “Considering your height, your features and your body… that’s the age they’ll put you in.”
“I look like a kid?” I asked in disbelief.
“Don’t worry. You pass as a dude. Besides, you look cute…” said Natt. He squinted his eyes, “For a dude,” he added.
I smiled, “Uh, thanks?”
“Moving on,” Nick said sitting down. “We need to work on your guy voice. Now, show me what you got.”
“Uh… Hi?”
Nick frowned. “Deeper.”
West Gray…
“Hello?”
“West dude! Party at Sky’s!” said a very familiar voice.
“Owen?”
“That’s me.”
“You got Sky to have a party at his place?” I asked in disbelief. Party? That didn’t sound very Sky-like to me.
“Not me, man. Walker’s the one who talked Sky into it.”
“Oh, well that I can understand.” Walker Stone. That demon has the monstrous ability to blackmail anyone. I think he has dirt on everyone in school. Including the twins. And that’s saying something.
“We’ll be there at maybe three. Oh, by the way, Cherry’s comin’. So I guess you better hi –“
“What!?” Shit! Why’s Cherry there? She’ll annoy the hell out of me and everything will be ruined. “Tell me she’s moved on,” I begged.
“Sorry. She’s coming to see you. She’s not giving up man.”
“If you’re so sorry then why the hell did you invite her!?” I demanded desperately.
“Well… I also don’t know how she found out about the party… But she texted Summer who’s riding with us and she said she’s already driving right behind us.”
Damn… “Can’t you lie to her or something? Tell her that you guys moved the party to –“
“We tried. But she said she’ll just go and visit you at your house.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to go to the party Owen,” I said trying to find a good excuse. “I’m sick. I was taking care of Naomi and –“
“You’re not sick. You’re just trying to find a way not to meet the scariest babe. Who’s Naomi?”
I blushed, remembering the way she looked when she woke me up with my face between her soft palms. She looked like an angel. Her big blue innocent eyes were looking straight into mine and her lips… just inches away from being helplessly kissed… Dammit, stop it West.
“She’s nobody,” I lied. There’s no way I’ll tell them about her. They’ll try to meet her and they’ll see how cute and hot she is.
“Doesn’t sound like that to me,” laughed Owen. “Well, I gotta go now. See yah at the party West.”
“See yah…” I said as I hung up. I looked at my watch and it was already 1:30 pm. I sank down the sofa and replayed what happened this morning. God she looked adorable. Her hair smelled nice too… She smelled nice.
Speaking of Naomi… Where is that girl? I’ve been avoiding her since yesterday and now I haven’t seen much of her. Last time I saw her was lunch… and she was acting quite gloomy too. And the twins were acting too cheery for my liking. I still haven’t forgotten the bullshit they’ve been doing behind my back.
Wait… where are Natt and Nick? Are they with Naomi?
I started to get up to go and check on them, but I changed my mind. I had better things to do than to act like a jealous idiot. The twins aren’t really stupid enough to ignore my warning.
Right?
Shoving that thought aside. I got up, shook my head and took a deep breath before slowly expelling it. I needed to take a bath, go to Sky’s place, and plan my escape routes for when Scary Cherry comes. I’m planning on having fun at that party. And the only way that’s happening is if that I somehow manage to avoid freaky Cherry. And I better tell mom to lock the house once I’ve left.
I was heading up to my room when I passed by the twins’ room…
I heard Naomi’s voice.
I stopped dead short in front of the door and frowned. Those two idiots… what are they doing in there? I thought suspiciously.
I knocked. The voices died. I don’t like the looks of things.
“Who is it?” asked Naomi.
“You idiot! You weren’t supposed to say anything! What if that’s West?” I heard Natt hiss.
“Shhh, be quiet you morons,” whispered Nick. He cleared his throat. “Uh, is that you Mrs. Gray?”
“No,” I said in a deadly voice I didn’t recognize as my own.
Silence dawned upon the guilty room.
“Oh, West… Um, what’s up?” Nick said lamely.
“You tell me.”
I took the doorknob and was about to turn it when something slammed against the door. It was Nick trying to stop me from getting in. “I forgot to lock the door!” he whispered urgently to his twin.
“Open the damn door,” I ordered.
“Sorry West, we’re um getting dressed, and it’s embarrassing to have you open the door.”
“What kind of lame excuse is that you sissies. Now why don’t you two be good and OPEN THE DAMN DOOR.”
I was going to push through when…
“West!” Naomi said.
I stopped.
“G-Go away!” she yelled.
…
Naomi Carter…
“G-Go away!”
We all stared at the door. Please go away West. I don’t want you to see me like this.
We heard him release the door handle and then we heard his footsteps as he walked away.
Nick and Natt relaxed. They locked the door and slumped against it. “That was scary…” said Nick.
“East is a demon…” breathed Natt.
“D-do you think he’s mad?” I asked.
“Hmm… Not mad. Just… rejected,” said Nick.
I gulped. Oh no… I didn’t want him to get mad, I just…
“Ah, Nick. Look what you did,” said Natt.
“Shit, why are you crying?” Nick asked in disbelief.
“I-I’m not…” I said.
“I feel like I’m bullying a kid,” Nick said.
“I know. She looks like a little boy with that wig on,” said Natt. “Though her features are still too feminine.”
“C’mon, stop crying. West won’t stay mad at you just because of that. Besides, he’ll see you at the party anyway. Pray that he won’t recognize you.” Nick fixed the bangs of the wig and then went to take a shower to get himself ready for the party.
“Do you think West will recognize me like this?” I asked Natt nervously.
He looked at me from head to toe. “Nope.”
I stared at him. “You just lied, didn’t you?”
“Yup,” he said with a cute boyish grin.
For the rest of the remaining hours, they made me practice my ‘guy’ voice, my actions and gestures, and also the way I sit. It seems they found it a big fault that I always cross my legs when I sit down. They said I’m too girly and if I don’t want to be humiliatingly discovered as a girl or labeled as gay, I better start following what they say.
“It’s time,” the twins announced in unison.
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Naomi?” they said.
“Yeah?”
“Let go of our hand,” they laughed.
“Oh,” I said, blushing slightly and letting go. We were standing in front of Sky’s house. It was 3:30 and we could hear the voices inside. I took a deep breath and followed them inside.
Holy… crabs…
How many friends do West and the twins have? There were so many guys in there. The living room was full. Guys were hanging out by the stairs and also jumping in the pool. How can Sky be allowing this? I scanned the house, looking for that tall handsome redhead. No sign of him.
Wait a minute. There were girls here!
I stared at Natt and Nick in angry disbelief. “You said it was a guys’ party!”
They shrugged. “A party’s not a party without girls.”
“Then dressing like this isn’t necessary!” I hissed.
To my annoyance, they grinned. “Now that wouldn’t have been fun, now would it?”
“You tricked me for fun?” I snapped.
“More or less,” they said together.
I raised my fist but then… “Yo Hills!”
“Hey Owen,” Nick and Natt greeted.
I turned and found a tall guy with tanned skin, dirty blond hair, and cheerful blue eyes smiling widely at me. “Who’s the new kid?”
I was about to inform him of my original age because he called me a kid, but Nick stepped on my foot. “This is Nash Carter. He’s a friend of ours,” he said smoothly. Nash?
He smiled at me warmly. “I’m Owen. Nice to meet yah Nash.”
“Ni –“ I cleared my throat and tried deepening my voice as I had practiced. “Nice to meet you too.” Actually, when I was practicing, I was brutally criticized that I have absolutely no acting skills and that I was the lousiest liar they have ever met. And so they advised me to just forget about acting and just meet everyone normally. They told me not to try to act, they ordered me to be myself, just with added restrictions and a reminder of not doing girly gestures.
Owen grinned. There was a mischievous glint in those friendly blue eyes that seemed out of place. “Well, want me to introduce you to the guys?” he asked, treating me like a little kid and putting his arm around my shoulder. Behind me, I heard Natt say, “Uh-oh, he’s gonna do it again…”
“I remember the time he did that to us,” Nick murmured.
“Well, we did pay him back with a nice big paint bomb,” Natt laughed.
Before I could understand what they meant, or before I could refuse Owen’s offer, he whistled.
To my horror, every single head turned in our direction and silence followed. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce our new little friend. He’s fourteen and in need of our awesome guidance!” he joked. The crowd stared curiously at me. The twins were right. They think I’m fourteen and not to mention the fact that he called me little!
“So let’s get along with him and let him know what a real PARTY is!” He said. The crowd cheered.
Oh God.
I heard the twins bubbling with laughter. I tried to desperately avoid eye-contact with everyone. But unfortunately, I accidentally locked eyes with a pair of wonderful green eyes.
West was staring at me with his mouth open.
Owen raised my hand. What the hell was wrong with this guy!!?
“Nash Carter everybody!” he shouted happily. I hate you Owen!