IT'S TOO LATE TO SAY SORRY
"My birthday is tomorrow. I can't believe it's finally here." Jolie exclaimed to Darcy.
They walked the short distance to Tish's house only to find that she wasn't home. Her mother explained that her daughter went to visit her grandparents in Little Rock, Arkansas, and wouldn't be back until the next morning.
Honestly, Jolie received the information with a little bit of sadness. Things hadn't been the same since her friend stormed away from her at their school lockers. Tish was the one person she spoke to several times a day when she wasn't with Ben of course.
Not hanging out and chatting it up with her BFF wasn't easy to take.
Tish even went so far as to turn her away when she walked to her house just the other day in an attempt to fix the mess between them.
Finally, the morning before her birthday, she allowed her bestie to scratch the surface of her big secret during their ride home on the school bus. Jolie promised to tell her everything and stop hiding stuff from her best friend.
"I wish you had trusted me enough to tell me what was going on in the first place instead of shutting me out." The tall slim golden-brown young lady spoke her piece about the reason she was so angry with Jolie.
It was evident that she had really hurt her friend's feelings by not including her in such an important life transition. Tish shared all of her major decisions with Jolie including her first time.
When she and her boyfriend Cordell started dating in the seventh grade, Jolie was the first person to know about it. The night they did it for the first time in the tenth grade, Tish called her the instant she plopped down on the bed in her bedroom. They laughed about how gross boys were, how it hurt a lot at first, but then how good it felt once they did it again and again.
By the time they were seniors, all of the girls they associated with had boyfriends. Even quite a few of the dorky quirky girls had someone as well. Jolie was one of a handful of girls who didn't show any interest in anyone.
Because she often dressed in baggy boyish clothes, many of the people she had known since kindergarten figured Jolie might have a thing for girls. It never occurred to them that she was actually trying desperately to hide the changes she underwent from the chunky thirteen-year-old who everyone remembered from long ago into the sensuously big beautiful woman she had become.
In Tish's way of thinking, none of that mattered because Jolie chose to hide a part of her life from the one person who shared everything with her, and in doing so, she was worried her best friend might stay mad at her for a while.
It wasn't until her friend's mom insisted that her daughter would return in plenty of time to attend her birthday party that she finally released a sigh of relief.
Nothing in the world would suck worse than if her buddy intentionally missed her birthday party. Something like that had never happened since they met on the first day of Kindergarten. Jolie was glad to know the girl who was just like her sister would be there for her on her special day.
As she and Darcy headed back towards downtown Loveall, she lost herself in deep thought unaware of the car that crept down the street as it followed their every move.
The teens visited each store that carried formal and semi-formal dresses looking for the perfect outfit for her big day.
"What would you like to wear?" Darcy's question reached beyond the thoughts that were swirling inside her mind and pulled Jolie from the concerns paralyzing their progress.
"Honestly, I would love to find something like the powder-blue dress worn by Cinderella. Only, I don't want all the big puffy flowing material. I'd prefer something that's cotton candy pink or baby blue." She thought out loud as they walked around the boutique considering all the different options that caught their eyes.
"Is there something I can help you, ladies, with?" An older woman with a blonde beehive addressed them. Both girls tried to show respect for the middle-aged woman and not laugh at her atrocious hair. Their eyes screamed to one another as if to say that the hairstyle was ridiculously outdated.
"No, ma'am. We're just looking for now." Darcy explained to her while barely holding in the hysterical laughter threatening to roll out. After they walked around the store for a little while, hunger interrupted their search sending the young ladies running across Main Street over to one of the best restaurants in town.
"Oh, my word. I thought I would die laughing when she walked up to us." Jolie squeaked as they made it to the restaurant door.
She tried her best to keep her voice down, but they were unsuccessful at containing their bouts of laughter. As soon as they calmed themselves, the two young ladies ordered cheeseburgers, fries, and the restaurant's famous strawberry milkshakes. Once the waitress delivered their drinks, they lost themselves in a giggle-filled discussion about their plans for college. The moment their food was delivered, the ravenous teens dug in.
"Hello, ladies. How are you today." A blond-haired blue-eyed stranger greeted them within a few seconds of submitting his order at the counter.
"We're fine, but... how do we know one another?" Jolie asked him in a matter-of-fact manner of speaking. She didn't fool around with strange men, period.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Where are my manners?" His apology quickly shot over the girls' heads as he sat down at the table next to theirs.
"My name is Tadley Rothe but you may call me Tad. I was in attendance at the party for the 'three young artists who have invigorated the town'. I'm a friend of the host, Benjamin Collier." He said with great flair, a charming smile, and a slightly detectable hint of sarcasm.
Jolie felt her face heat up at the mention of Ben's name.
At something as simple as the mention of that name, she felt herself spiraling out of control. How in the world was she supposed to handle living without him when she moved clear across the United States to attend college? She decided it was best not to allow her mind to linger on the small things. After all, she was about to be an adult and she needed to manage loss much like the adults she had grown up around.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Rothe." She responded.
"Please. Mr. Rothe is my father's name. I would appreciate it if you would call me Tad." He spoke the words as his eyes focused on Jolie.
"It was nice to meet you Tad, but we were just about to leave," Darcy stated in a somewhat rude fashion.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, but we're getting ready to go when you came over. I hope you enjoy your lunch."
The girls smiled as they said their goodbyes and excused themselves. They walked a few blocks down the street when Darcy decided to inform her of the truth of which she was sure Jolie was unaware.
"You know that guy was into you, right?" She blurted out.
"That doesn't even make sense. Why would you say that?" Jolie couldn't take her new friend seriously. She saw nothing that gave her an inkling that Tad showed interest in her.
"His eyes were locked on your face as if he would pounce on you given half a chance." Darcy countered.
"Why would he want me? He looks like he was the captain of his high school football team. Besides being a really handsome blond-haired blue-eyed wonder boy, I'm sure he's had tons of women."
Jolie brushed the thought away because it made no sense. Her mind drifted to other things as Darcy's head shook at her naive and unsuspecting friend.
La Petite Boutique Rouge was their final stop.
At some point, they were tempted to give up hope of finding a special dress for her party. Her mother told her to look for a dress early on, but because Jolie didn't listen, she risked missing out.
As they walked in the door, she chided herself for not doing as she was told.
The ladies standing at the register gave them the once over. Well, it was apparent that they had no idea of the contribution she and Darcy made to the town's image. They were two bleached blond cardboard cut-outs who did everything you would expect of racist snobs.
Neither lady greeted them. They were far too busy walking around the store trying to make sure the black girl and the poor white trash weren't trying to steal anything. Jolie was fed up with the women's rudeness and was about to give them a tongue lashing when she saw it. The dress she had been searching for all day was here of all places.
"What is the size of that dress?" She asked politely.
"I'm sorry dear. That dress is definitely too small for you." The lady closest to the register stated and turned up her pointy little nose at Jolie. She refused to allow the cashier's negative attitude to affect what she was trying to accomplish. It was a beautiful flowing cotton-candy pink chiffon dress that she absolutely had to have. That dress would make her the 'Belle of the Ball'.
"Do you have anything else like it in a larger size?" Jolie questioned the ladies. They shared a knowing glance with one another and the one standing furthest from the register walked to the back and brought out the same dress in a creamy teal color. She handed the dress over and pointed to the dressing room for her to try it on.
When Jolie returned to get Darcy's opinion, she heard noticeable sounds of disappointment coming from the highly unprofessional women working in the boutique. She strolled back and forth and even found a pair of pumps to match.
"Oh my goodness, Jolie, you look like an angel," Darcy whispered. The look on her face said it all. Judging by her new hangout buddies' response, she had found it. Jolie returned to the dressing room, took off the dress, and grabbed some footies to try on the shoes. It was settled, she wanted them both.
Satisfied with what she had found, Jolie proceeded to the checkout to purchase her items.
"That will be $175.26." Of course, the two of them couldn't resist the urge to smirk as if they thought she wouldn't be able to pay for the items. Jolie reached in her wallet and withdrew nine $20 bills and placed them on the counter. The look of shocked surprise on their faces was worth the sinking feeling in her heart when she heard the total for the items.
Once the bag containing her purchases and her change was handed to her, she convinced Darcy to walk with her to the Movie Reel. After finding the perfect birthday outfit, the girls headed were eager to rent some movies and make it a movie night.
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PARTY PLANS
Everything was taken care of.
The food was prepared. The decorations were hidden. Even some of her surprises had been stashed throughout the house. Jolie's mom got everything she wanted and needed to make her daughter's 18th birthday party legendary. Darcy spent the night at her house to help them get ready for the big event.
Twenty-six hours. Jolie's life would dramatically change in twenty-six hours and she knew it wasn't just birthday gifts she was so eager to indulge in.
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