Who Is That?

“So wait, he ran over and helped you and then he stared at you when you were leaving?” Casey asked as she pulled on a super cute pair of ripped jeans.

“Yes, but please don’t do that thing you do where you try to make up some chemical romance between us that doesn’t exist,” I quipped.

I held my breath because I knew she was about to do exactly that.

“James, you really gotta stop selling yourself short. You are stupid hot and guys notice. Jeff in my Spanish class said he saw you play softball this summer and you are super yums,” Casey boasted.

Casey has called me James ever since I told her that I had my grandpa’s name as my middle name. She used to call me the girl with the manly middle name, but she has really come a long way in her friendly-bullying phase.

“Case, Jeff fingered that girl Coda in the treehouse last May. Then he told everyone about it. No thank you!” I yelled over the dressing room wall.

The shirts I was trying were too tight. I knew my body had developed a lot more over the last year but I was really filling the tops out. It made me uncomfortable.

“Mom I need mediums I think,” I snarfed, as I looked at my cleavage bellowing out of the top of my blue shirt.

“He is hot though,” Casey continued with her Jeff campaign.

“No thanks Case. He is definitely super attractive, I’ll give him that. But I’ll get myself my own homecoming date this year. Just you wait,” I said confidently, pulling on a medium top that fit so well. “This is it mom. It’s perfect.”

We purchased the clothing with my mom and then continued to walk around the mall. We got pretzels and slushies as we strolled along. Casey got the cinnamon pretzels. They smelled amazing. I stole a few as we continued our journey. I stopped in front of the dress store and was caught ogling a beautiful teal dress.

“It’s too short,” my mom said, snapping me out of my love affair with the dress.

“Ms. Hamlin, all the girls wear dresses this short. James will just need some shorts under is all,” Casey stated, almost reassuring my mom that this was ok.

For whatever reason Casey had that effect on people. She would do the same to our teachers and it worked. She was some sort of adult whisperer.

“Fine. You can try it on if you would like Brees,” mom caved.

“No that’s ok. I don’t even have a date yet and we still have 5 weeks before the dance,” I reassured her.

I watched my mom’s shoulders relax as if I had just saved her life at that very moment and it made me smile. I hugged her shoulders and told her that we should head home.

As we drove, I thought about all of the things that had happened that day. Keegan had a girlfriend, my body is definitely different, Casey is still a genius and my mom doesn’t want me to grow up yet. It may not seem like a lot, but for the life of a 15 year old, that was a doozy of a day. I don’t think I could handle anything else today.

We went home and listened to my mom’s 2000’s playlist on the way. We sang and laughed and talked about cute boys on the way. We neared my driveway and I could see someone with long, dark blonde hair sitting on the hood of Baylen’s car. Who is that?