Girl at Heart

by Kelly Oram

  He looks at the mound of food Mrs. King is working on to feed the army of teenage girls in the house. “Thanks, but I don’t want to cramp Charlie’s style.”

  “Dad. You’re cramping it by saying something that lame.”

  He rolls his eyes at me. “I have some errands to run. I just wanted to stop by and meet you all, and I have something for the girls, if that’s all right?”

  Jace, Leila, and their parents all exchange curious glances. They look to me, but I can only shrug. “Don’t ask me. Dad’s big on surprises.”

  He grins at me. “Okay, this one first.” He hands me a bag from the Converse store that is definitely big enough to have a shoebox in it. “I think I solved your high heels problem.”

  It doesn’t click until I open the box and see the royal blue high top Converse All-stars inside. “No way!”

  “I already checked. They’re the same color as your dress, and you won’t be rolling your ankles in them tonight.”

  Dad gets the giggly-squeal-tackle hug again. “That’s so awesome! Thank you, Dad!”

  Leila claps her hands and joins me in the squealing. “Oh my gosh, Charlie, this is so cool! You’re going to look so fun!”

  Dad chuckles, then clears his throat and hands me a pamphlet of services offered at an expensive spa. He hands one to Leila, too, then addresses her parents. “If it’s all right with you, I booked the girls for a day at the spa so they can get all pampered before prom.” He grins at us. “I got the full-treatment package, so you can do as much on the list as you want, and they’ll even do your hair and makeup all fancy for you.”

  “WHAT?” Leila shrieks, gaping at my father with wide eyes. She gulps down a breath, trying to calm herself, and then shakes her head. “Mr. Hastings, thank you. That’s so nice of you, but I can’t accept such a generous gift.”

  Dad turns his pleading expression on Leila’s parents, who look as hesitant as she is. “Please,” he says, his voice suddenly wavering. “I wanted to say thank you. What Leila has done for my daughter…” He swallows thickly and rakes his hand through his hair. “Charlie is an entirely new girl. I’ve never seen her glow with happiness before. I’m not good with all the girl stuff. I didn’t know how to help her like that. I didn’t even know she needed it.” He shakes his head and forces a smile at Leila. “Thank you for being such a good friend to Charlie.”

  My eyes water up, and I slip my arm around my dad’s waist. He wraps his arm tight around my shoulder and practically begs the Kings to accept his gift. “Please allow me to do something nice for the girls today.”

  Before they can refuse, which they look a little less likely to do now than before, I speak up. “In truth, he’s probably already paid for it whether Leila comes with me or not. I’d really love to have her come with me on my first trip to the spa.”

  Leila is biting her lip and trembling with anticipation. I think she’ll be heartbroken if her parents say no.

  “You should let her,” Jace murmurs quietly. I shoot him a grateful smile.

  Mr. and Mrs. King share a look, and then Mrs. King nods. “All right. If you insist. Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”

  “Really?” Leila squeaks as if she can’t believe her mom said yes.

  Leila’s parents nod, and Leila squeals, giddy with excitement, then runs at Dad, showing him firsthand where I learned the tackle-hug thing from. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Hastings!”

  Dad laughs and awkwardly pats her shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

  Leila lets him go and comes at me next. I hug her back, laughing. I’ve never seen her so excited. “I’ve always wanted to go to a spa!” she cries. “This is going to be so amazing!”

  I mouth a thank-you to my dad, happy that she’s going to get to experience something new, too. She really has done so much for me. I’m glad I can give back.

  The spa is amazing. We start with a soak in the whirlpool before we both get our legs waxed for the first time. That…well, the end result is nice, but let’s just say that waxing is not my favorite thing about being a girl. But the aromatherapy massages and the body polish and toning treatments that follow more than make up for it. Then we get facials where they actually put cucumbers over our eyes like in the movies!

  It’s been hours by the time we get to the mani-pedis. I pull out my phone to check the time while my feet soak and find that I’ve missed seven calls from Eric and a few texts from Jace. I check the texts first.

  Jace: Hey! Hope you’re having fun at the spa. I was just wondering…how set are you on going with Leila and her group to dinner tonight?

  Jace: We can still do that if you want to, but I wondered if you might like to go out just the two of us instead of going with a bunch of loud, rowdy football players that we hardly know. Reynolds already said it’d be fine if we ditch him and Rachel.

  Jace: But only if you want to. This is your night.

  A smile creeps over my face. It’s like Jace read my mind. As much as I love Leila, and I know some of her friends a little better now, I’ve not been looking forward to having to spend prom night with a bunch of random strangers. Especially when our football team has a reputation for being…well…a bunch of party animals and tools. (You didn’t hear it from me.)

  “Hey, Leila? How disappointed would you be if Jace and I ditched you for dinner tonight to go do our own thing?”

  Leila snorts. “I wondered if Jace would try to get out of tonight. He really hates hanging out with people he doesn’t know very well.”

  I laugh. “He’s not the only one.”

  Leila sighs. “I know. You two are peas in a pod.” She looks me over and then nods. “It’s all right. I’ll miss you, of course, but you guys will have a better time by yourselves, and we’ll still meet up at the dance.”

  “Definitely.”

  The grin is back on my face when I text Jace.

  Charlie: It’s your night, too, and that sounds like the best idea ever. Let’s do it. Leila says it’s fine if we ditch her.

  Jace: Cool. Think you can be ready by six thirty?

  Charlie: Yup.

  Jace: Great. I’ll pick you up then.

  I sit back in my chair with a smile on my face. I’m really excited now. Aside from that first game we went to together, last night in his room for fifteen minutes was the only time we’ve spent together, just the two of us. A real date alone with Jace has the butterflies awake again.

  My good mood slips a little when I listen to the voice mail Eric left. “What is it?” Leila asks when I sigh.

  “It’s Eric. I need to call him back.” I look around the room. It’s not exactly private, but I can’t wait another hour or hour and a half until we’re finished here. I apologize to Leila, feeling bad for worrying about this during girl time. “Sorry. This will only take a minute.”

  She waves me off. “Do what you need to do.”

  Eric picks up on the second ring. “So you’re just going to ignore all my calls now?”

  I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. When I speak, my voice is tired. “I wasn’t ignoring your calls. I’ve been at the spa all day. This is the first I could respond.”

  “The spa?”

  I laugh at the confusion in his voice. “Yeah, you know, massages, body scrubs, facials, mani-pedis. It was a gift from my dad for Leila and me.”

  There’s a short pause, and then his voice is strained when he says, “Leila.”

  I don’t understand the question. “Yeah. So we could relax and get ready for prom. They’re going to do our hair for us and everything. Although, the waxing? Yeah, that’s not relaxing. It hurts. And I’ve been hit by your fastball. But the massage? You should definitely get in on that. It’s awesome.”

  There’s another pause, and then a sigh that makes me feel self-conscious. “Eric? What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

  “I want you to come to prom with me.”

  His answer is shocking. It was all I wanted to hear from him weeks ago, and I don’
t understand why I’m hearing it now. “What?”

  “With us,” he corrects. “With Diego, Kev, and me.”

  My heart slows down to a normal pace. That makes more sense. “Eric, I would, but—”

  “I know you don’t want to go with a big group of people you hardly know. You don’t do big crowds or strangers.”

  I smile to myself. Eric and I may be having a rough time, but I’ve never doubted how much he cares about me. “You’re right. I don’t. That’s why Jace and I are going to go do our own thing tonight. We’ve already talked about it. We’re not going with Leila’s group. He doesn’t like crowds and strangers, either.”

  Eric sighs again. “Come with us. Please.”

  I pinch my eyes shut. His pleading tugs at my heart.

  “Charlie, please. You’re my best friend. We hardly hang out anymore. I miss you.”

  My chest caves in on me, and my eyes start to sting. “I miss you too, Eric.”

  “So come to prom with us. We all want you there.”

  That’s nice to hear, but I can’t give him the answer he wants. “Look, Shelly doesn’t want me there. She’s made that very clear every time I’ve seen her. She’s mean. She says awful things to me. She threatened me.”

  “She what?”

  “She’s jealous of me, she’s threatened by me, and she hates me. I’m not scared of her, but I’m not going to ruin my senior prom spending it with her while she calls me a freak, and fat, and a loser, and a million other hurtful things and threatens to ruin my relationship with you if I don’t stay away from you.”

  “She said all that?”

  “Yeah. And I’m not going to put up with it all night. I’m not letting her ruin my prom.”

  “So I’ll dump her,” Eric says. “I’ll go by myself. I don’t want to go out with her if she’s treating you like that anyway.”

  The fervency in his voice warms my heart. He didn’t even hesitate. I’ve missed that loyalty. And I’m so tempted to take him up on his offer. If I hadn’t just made plans to get some alone time with Jace tonight, I might have cracked, but as it is, I just can’t do it. “I want to be petty and selfish right now and take you up on that offer,” I admit. “But it’s Shelly’s senior prom, too, and I’m sure she’s been looking forward to it a lot longer than I have. Don’t bail on her hours before the dance. No girl deserves that.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing. It would destroy her. Just go with her. There’s obviously something about her that you like if you asked her out. Take her to the dance. Have a good time. And we can hang out another night. How about after the party tomorrow, you and the guys come over, and we’ll pull an all-nighter? Or maybe we’ll kick Kev and Diego out at some point and just have some good old-fashioned Eric/Charlie time.”

  There’s a long silence. Longer than I would have expected. And then there’s a long, heavy sigh. “You promise?” he asks quietly. Hesitantly. “Tomorrow night?”

  The vulnerability in his voice is shocking. It makes me feel like the biggest jerk ever. Was my dad right? Does Eric really think I’ve ditched him for new friends? Have I been hurting him as much as he’s been hurting me? I can’t stand that thought. “I promise,” I croak. “Pinky promise. You and me, tomorrow night.”

  After we hang up, I scrub my face and let out a long breath. This thing, this tension between Eric and me is exhausting. I’m glad we’re finally going to hash it out.

  My nail tech starts working on my feet, so I sink back in the comfy massage chair and let out a sigh. I swear I’m about to fall asleep when Leila breaks the silence. “So you and Eric made up?”

  I glance her way. It’s not the question that surprises me so much as the careful tone in her voice. “Not yet,” I admit. “That’s why I asked him to hang out after the team party tomorrow. We need to hash this out once and for all because I can’t live with our broken relationship anymore, and I don’t think he can, either. This is the worst fight we’ve ever had.”

  She hesitates, and then, still using that carefully neutral voice, asks, “Does Jace know you’re planning to spend alone time with Eric?”

  I think of Jace and smile. “I’ll let him know tonight. He’ll be happy. He’s the one who’s been encouraging me to make up with Eric.”

  Leila’s brows pull together. “Are you sure?”

  I understand her concern, but I’m sure about Jace. “Yeah. That’s one of the things I love the most about your brother. He gets me, you know? He understands that I come with a guy for a best friend—three guys, actually—and he trusts me. He’s never acted like Shelly and asked me to give up Eric. I couldn’t be with a guy who didn’t accept Eric in my life.”

  Leila chews on her bottom lip, still looking worried, but she seems to accept my answer. “Okay.” She’s quiet for another minute. Then her face smooths out and she gives me a small smile. “So…Jace kissed you.”

  My face flames, and Leila relaxes even more. “You have no idea how hard it was for all us girls not to grill you about it last night.”

  I chuckle. “I’m sure. I appreciate it, though. I was a little overwhelmed.”

  Leila giggles. “Yeah. We could tell. Was that your first kiss?”

  If it were anyone besides Leila asking me that, I’d die right here in my massage chair. It’s different with her, though. I feel like I can tell her anything. “Yeah. Well, I mean, he kissed me in his room right before that, and that was my first kiss. Kendra caught us and told your mom.”

  Leila rolls her eyes. “Yeah, she’s such a little tattletale.”

  “It was really embarrassing, but the kiss was amazing. No awkwardness at all. He just went for it and I melted into a big ol’ puddle. Best first kiss ever. Until the Kendra thing, of course.”

  Leila wrinkles her nose. “That’s kind of gross, now that I think about it. I really don’t want to know how my brother kisses.”

  I laugh. “Sorry. I’ll spare you all the details, then.”

  Leila sighs. “It’s kind of weird. I’ve never been friends with anyone Jace has dated before—not that there have been many girls in his life.” She glances at me again, and that worried expression reappears on her face. “I’ve never seen him so into a girl before. He really likes you, Charlie.”

  My blush returns, but I can’t help the smile that sweeps across my face. “I really like him, too.”

  She studies me a moment, as if trying to gage how sincere I am. In the quiet, the lady doing my toes holds up a bottle of royal blue polish. “This right color?” she asks in broken English.

  I nod. My toes will match my dress—not that anyone will know that since I’ll be wearing Converse, but Leila still insisted.

  Leila also confirms her pale pink color that matches her dress, and then casually asks, “So, are you guys official now? You and Jace, I mean. Like boyfriend and girlfriend?”

  I frown. “I don’t know. I mean, we didn’t talk about it, but we kissed so…doesn’t that make us a couple?”

  “Not necessarily. You should talk to him about it tonight so that there’s no confusion. You guys have been doing this weird dance of are we or aren’t we. I know you say Eric is just your friend and that Jace trusts you, but deep down he’s got to be a little self-conscious of your relationship with Eric. Any guy would be. I think it will make him feel better if you put an official label on the two of you. If that’s really what you want…?”

  I hear the question in that last statement. She’s worried again. I honestly think she’s more concerned about my relationship with Eric than Jace is. When I look at her, the vulnerability in her expression hits me in the heart. “Please don’t hurt my brother,” she says softly.

  I reach over and squeeze her hand. “I have no intention of hurting Jace. We had a nice, long talk last night, and he helped me make sense of my feelings for both him and Eric. Helped me put things in perspective. I love Eric. Always will. But Jace is the one I want to be with. I promise.”

  Leila takes a deep breath in throug
h her nose and squeezes my hand again. “Okay. I trust you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Leila suddenly squishes up her face and lets out a tiny squeal. “Just think. If you guys get married, we could be sisters!”

  I laugh so hard the nail tech yells at me to hold still.

  Apparently a girl simply cannot get ready for a dance on her own. Girlfriends are a must. So, after the spa, we stop at my place to pick up my dress, shoes, the boutonniere, and a special surprise for Jace. Then we head back to Leila’s house. Rachel joins us there, and the three of us spend a good hour and a half getting ready even though Leila and I had our hair and makeup done at the salon. But we help style Rachel’s hair and get her makeup perfect.

  Looking in the mirror, I can hardly believe the person staring back at me is me. With smoky eyes, rosy cheeks, red lips, and a beautiful French manicure, I’ve been transformed. My hair is up in a beautiful chignon with a couple of loose ringlets falling around my face. My dress, a bright royal blue, complements my tanned skin tone and golden hair, and it really makes my big blue eyes pop.

  It’s a floor-length gown with capped sleeves. The bodice is hand-beaded lace while the skirt is chiffon and flares out just enough that it’s easy to walk in. The slit up the leg gives it just the right amount of sexy while still making me feel modestly dressed. (I felt way too naked in most of the dresses I tried on.) And, of course, my royal blue Converse high tops complete the ensemble, making the whole thing look surprisingly fun. I don’t think I’ve ever looked better.

  Leila and Rachel step up on either side of me, grinning bigger than I’ve ever seen them. “We are so hot,” Leila says.

  Hot isn’t the right word. Gorgeous, maybe. Rachel is stunning in her deep purple gown, and Leila looks like a goddess in her pale pink ball gown made of ruffles and tulle. Her bare shoulders glimmer with body glitter, so she literally sparkles. It’s so completely Barbie princess, but that’s Leila for you. She’s breathtaking, and her date is one lucky guy.

  Leila’s mom knocks on her door, startling us from our reverie. “Girls, your dates are here.”