Saving Georgia

by Kristin Flynn

  Once we hit the city limits, it was in no time that we hit the mall. I hate city traffic but sometimes it is a necessary evil. Going to the mall is a feat in itself. In order to get into the parking lot you have to enter from across the stupid street and cross over a bridge to some stupid over pass and then you’re in the parking lot. Who does that? The mall itself is nice, and big and filled with all the standard things you’d expect in a mall; granite, gold plating, rich colors and woods. Tons of teenagers with no supervision like us and they are filled with infinite possibility. In this sea of people, somehow Jenn spots Harper Kelly from across the way like she has some type of popular girl radar. Here come the high pitched squeals.

  “Harp!” Jenn shrieks across the food court.

  “Jenn!” Harper squeaks back. “I’m so glad y’all made it! Come I made an appointment for us.” Harper ushers us along to some sleek nail parlor.

  I never knew getting a manicure would be so painful. The pedicure part is divine, however. My nail artist, if that’s what you call her, has cut me several times doing my fingernails and she is yelling at me in, Chinese I think? I am not sure. Harper and Jenn are going on and on about boys, and the football and baseball teams and what they will wear to prom. I haven’t even thought of prom yet.

  “Pho, could you get the hot wax? We need to clean up Georgia’s brows.” Harper called to the lady up at the front of the salon.

  “I’m sorry, what are we doing now?” I ask. Wax sounds nice, this could be good.

  “You’re eyebrows.” Harper tells me, plainly, as if I should know what that means from biscuits to beans. “Pho, nothing crazy, just clean them up a bit. We don’t like pencil thin, we want them full and gorgeous, but neat.” Harper tells her.

  Suddenly my chair reclines and I am staring at the ceiling. This hot, beautiful and velvety wax is applied to my brow line and then Pho is putting a strip across that feels like fabric and is massaging my brows. Then….

  “Holy Moses that hurts like heck!” I shriek. Oh this is painful, like I just got my face ripped off. And here Pho comes again for my left side. I hadn’t recovered from the right and now she is ripping off the fabric.

  “Geeze! Oh shoot that hurts! You guys doing this on the regular? This is insane!” I cry out. Jenn is pouting somewhere I am sure, and Harper Kelly comes up and inspects Pho’s work.

  “Good job, Pho, gorgeous work. Georgia you should see them.” Harper hands me a mirror. I look in the mirror and honestly, my brows do look better, however I am not sure if it is worth the pain to get there.

  Once Jenn’s manicure was finished we made our way down to get our hair done at Mitchell’s hair salon in the mall. The stylist was on a first name basis with Harper.

  “The usual ma’am?” He asked, pointing to a seat for Harper.

  “No, we’re here for my friends first please. Can you do something with this?” Harper says, putting her hands deep in my curls.

  “Oh yes, most certainly. What were you thinking? Sleeking it out? Blowout? There are tons of options.”

  “I’d like to see it sleek, with a good cut for when it does curl as well. You can go ahead and wash it? Whatever is needed, I give you full carte blanche.” Harper tells him, as she pushes me into the salon chair. Don’t I get a say in this?

  “Please don’t make me look foolish.” I beg the stylist. “I’m not much for trendy and edgy, please don’t make it one of those ‘should have been an art project’ haircuts.”

  “I promise gorgeous, I will make you very happy. Come this way, I’m going to treat you like a princess and we’re going to wash your hair. You’ll love it! The shampoo smells like papaya.” He tells me, grabbing me by my hand and pulling me into the back. I sat down and leaned my head back. His hands did magic on my scalp and massaged me. I think I fell asleep, it was so relaxing! And he was right, the shampoo smelled so good.

  When he was done we went back to the salon chair and he combed my hair out and pinned it up and started cutting. I felt a mild anxiety attack coming on, but I was able to calm myself down. It’s only hair, and if I don’t like it I can hide it under a John Deere cap. The long locks were falling, cascading down my feet,and Ronaldo’s , I think that is his name. I closed my eyes until the ordeal was done with. Jenn was getting something done to her hair, some moisturizer treatment, and gosh I have no idea what Harper was doing. Suddenly, I felt the warm air of the blow dryer, and he was still brushing away, pulling and tugging my hair down, and then he used some other device and put more products in my hair. I have no idea what this guy is doing to me, but I am praying real hard that I don’t look like I stuck my finger in a socket.

  “Voila!” He says, with a bunch of flair and flash. I kept my eyes closed.

  “It looks spectacular Ronaldo. She looks like a gem!” Harper says, walking over to me. “Open your eyes dear, don’t be rude. You look fabulous.” She says, so authoritarian like, that frankly it seems a bit degrading.

  Slowly I open one eye than another and I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. There was this gorgeous girl in the mirror, but I couldn’t find myself anywhere. She moved when I moved, she moved just as how I moved but this couldn’t be me. She has long, sleek golden hair, with a good cut to it. Her eyes look big and blue.

  “Is that me?” I ask dumbfounded.

  “Don’t be silly, of course it’s you.” Harper chides.

  “I look awesome. Thank you!” I say, hoping to my feet and giving Ronaldo a hug.

  “My pleasure, bella, you come back to me anytime you need your hair done.” Ronaldo tells me, walking me to the front of the salon.

  “Jason’s going to die when he sees you.” Harper tells me, leaning up against me at the counter.

  “That’ll be 120 dollars.” Ronaldo says. I flat-lined.

  “For a haircut!” I cough.

  “This isn’t Supercuts sweetheart.” Ronaldo hisses.

  “I got it, my treat.” Harper says, pulling out a credit card. Must be her daddy’s, because there is no way she has one of her own, right?

  Jenn emerges and walks up and stops in her tracks when she sees me.

  “Oh my Georgy, you look,” she starts and pauses looking for the word, “wow, just wow.”

  “Thank you,” I blush.

  Once we left, anytime I saw a mirror I looked in it. I couldn’t believe the reflection staring back at me. We made our way to Sephora and got our makeup done, and I spent quite an amount on some things to make myself look girly. I have to admit that this is kind of fun, and once I saw myself again all made up I just can’t believe that it’s me. Kohl-lined eyes, bronzed and peached cheeks, sleek hair and all; this is just not what I would normally do. If you were lucky I wore perfume and chap stick. I got a cute little training session on how to apply all of this stuff, and I am sure if I get intimidated, confused or all the above that Jenn will come to my rescue.

  Ninety-six dollars plus tax later we emerge from Sephora, and according to Harper it’s time to find a cute outfit. We saunter and sashay over to Belks and made our way to the summer dresses and shoes. I am wondering how on earth these girls walk in some of these things. I normally have my cowboy boots and sneakers. I may have a pair of flats or two somewhere, but anything that would supply me with a significant amount of height, I immediately shy away from. This is going to be an experience. Jenn hands me a pair of sandal wedges and I gave her a look of ‘you’ve gotta be kidding me.’

  “They would look awesome on you.” She insists.

  “Yeah, until I try to walk.” I protest.

  “Georgia, you’ve got to at least try.” Harper backs up Jenn. Of course she would.

  “I will try but I guarantee you that I will face plant.”

  “We’re only asking that you try. Here, put this dress on with it.” Harper hands me a pale pink summer dress with a floral pattern on it. “Jason likes pink.” She adds.

  “OK.” I offer in defeat and make my way over to the dressing room.

  I take off my shorts
and tank and shimmy the dress on. I stare in wonder at the person in the mirror and I wonder if I am still the same person on the inside. I sit down and put the wedges on, and they are right they do look great together, but I know that I have not been blessed by God the gift of grace, and that I will stumble repeatedly. I foresee many a face plant in my imminent future.

  “Are you done Georgy?” Jenn asks, and I know she is dying to see what her little project looks like. However mean that sounds, in all honesty I am having fun and I feel gorgeous.

  “Yes ma’am.” I say, opening the door and walking out so she can see. ‘Please don’t fall, please don’t fall, please don’t fall’ is the mantra I’m reciting in my head.

  “Oh my!” She shrieks and wraps her arms around my neck. “You look like a model! You look perfect!” She coos.

  “Jenn, you’re embarrassing me. Please get a hold of yourself.” I beg her. I have never, ever had to mutter those words to my friend before, but frankly she was making a scene and I don’t want any more attention than what I am giving myself right now.

  “I am buying you several sundresses and, oh my gosh, purses and accessories and…. Ooh!” Jenn squeals and heads back to the sales floor, leaving me alone in this silly sundress that does flatter my figure, in this thankfully empty dressing room. I must admit I do like the way I look in pink.

  I peeled the dress off and started to put my shorts back on, when Harper dumped a pile of clothes for me to try on. More dresses, oh joy.

  I must have modeled seventeen dresses for them, and still the first was my favorite. I did enjoy the black and white striped dress, and a few other floral prints. Also, the polka dot dress was nice as well.

  “How dressed up is this party of yours tomorrow that I have to wear a dress.” I ask.

  “It’s not formal, if that is what you’re asking. It’s a casual summer party, but what we’re trying to accomplish for you is a more feminine look for summer, so you blend in with the girls and not the boys.” Harper states so matter of fact like. “And, it looks like we’ve accomplished just that. You look wonderful.” I guess she was going from the ‘lift them up after you kick them down approach.’

  “Thanks. I think?” I spit out. “am I done trying clothes on?” I plead.

  “Yes, this is fine. We’re going to go check out. You can dress yourself.” Harper states, as she grabs the clothes and heads out the sales floor.

  What is going on? I need to stop dwelling on things, I am reading much too much into things and I should just be able to enjoy what has befallen me. I put my clothes back on and made my way out to where Jenn and Harper were and they already had packages in their hands.

  “Here!” Jenn hands me her bags. “These are all for you.”

  “I can’t accept all this. You all have already paid for my hair and my nails, and that very unfortunate eyebrow incident, please let me get the dress.”

  “Too late, we’ve already gotten it and some more to go with it.” Harper says, and then turns to Jenn “I’m going to start heading home. I have to get things together for tomorrow. Bring her by early so we can straighten her hair and get her dressed.”

  “OK, we’ll be there.” Jenn smiles and links her arm into mine. “We will see you later. Call me!” and Harper walks off.

  “We made it back to the food court and grabbed a slice of pizza and Jenn showed me every dress that they had gotten me. They were quite lovely. I’m still mad that I didn’t get to pay for it. Between the two of us we had three to four bags each. We made it back to the car and started heading home.

  On the ride back we both were singing every song we knew on the radio and I think this was the best day that I have had with my best friend in a long time. No major worries, no social stigma separating us, and just pure happiness.

  Once we got home, it was late and I made my way into my room. I put the pink flowery dress on and touched up my makeup. I was a sight to see. I lay down on my bed and snuggled up with muffin, listening to the radio when I heard something hit my window. I quickly jumped to my feet and scampered to the window to see if there were any cracks on the window and there was none. Sometimes the birds have a way of hitting the windows, since they have a nest in the tall oak by the window. As I made my way back over to my bed, I heard the noise again. This time I tore open the window and looked around. That’s when I saw him.

  “Hey beautiful,” Jason calls out to me.

  “Jason! What are you doing here?” I ask, baffled that he even knows where I live.

  “I’m here to see you. Come down here.”

  “OK!” I call back and started to make my way downstairs and that’s when it hit me that I still have this stupid dress on. Too late to change now, and besides Harper told me he likes pink on girls.

  “You look wonderful. What did you do to your hair?” He says, pulling at my silky locks.

  “Harper and Jenn took me to get it done.” I offer as an answer, because frankly I don’t know what was actually done to my hair, I just sat there with my eyes closed.

  “It looks great. You look beautiful, especially in this.” He says as he pulls at the spaghetti strap on my dress.

  “Um, thanks.” I muster up, afraid to look at him. I feel so insecure, so vulnerable that I don’t know how I’m even still standing here.

  Quickly he puts his hands on my face, and pulls me into him. His lips crushing against mine, and I feel almost suffocated. No, I definitely feel suffocated and though a part of this was without question very enjoyable I also feel the brink of an anxiety attack coming back on. I step back for a minute to grab my bearings.

  “What’s wrong baby?” He asks me, as if I slapped him in the face.

  “Nothing, just overwhelmed I guess.” I said, turning down to look at my feet.

  “Sweetie, it’s ok. Nothing is going to happen; I can control myself you know.” Jason says, trying to make me feel comfortable the best he can.

  “Thank you for saying that, because sometimes I feel you might not be able to, or I may give in to your requests or something to that extent. Does that make any sense?” I ask, wondering if my ramblings were formed in any sense of comprehension and cohesion.

  “Completely, I understand things like that take time.” Jason nods in response.

  “OK. Good. Now you can kiss me.” I said, still not taking my eyes off my feet, and almost instantly he picks me up in his arms and we are all lips, and breathe and heat.

  Chapter 6

  In the morning, I woke slowly. I can feel Jason still all over my body. My hair smells like sweat from being out all night, and my body aches with such a delicious throb of mammoth proportions. A stupid smile is still painted on my face, and I feel absolutely glorious. I rolled over and saw that makeup is smeared all over my pillow cases. I sat up and saw that I am still in the dress, and my cat is sitting at the edge of the bed, staring at me like she is judging me. The smell of bacon and pancakes fills the air, and lazily I spring to my feet and make my way into the bathroom to wash off the sticky sweat, and makeup.

  I peeled the dress off in the bathroom, and saw that I have raccoon eyes, and I look like a clown with lipstick smeared across my face. I rummaged through the drawers for Jenn’s makeup remover and cotton balls, surely she has some somewhere. I found them stowed away under everything else she has and put the cool fluid on the soft ball and wiped away the remnants of charcoal and mascara. Somewhere underneath all this muck is my face and that’s what I am looking for.

  I am not sure if I can wash my hair or not, so I tie it up and jump into the shower and let the warm water bead down my body, removing the sweat and aroma of stress. I used Jenn’s Ralph Lauren ‘Pure Romance’ body wash, and that should surely give me the girly essence I am going for.

  Once I got dressed, I hobbled down the stairs to see Jenn in the kitchen. Breakfast was waiting in front of me; orange juice, pancakes and bacon. She was being very conspicuous and coy. I’m pretty sure breakfast was a form of bribery as she wanted some gossip on Jason
and me from last night, but there wasn’t anything to tell. We just kissed, a lot, a whole lot. In fact, my mouth still feels swollen and I think she can tell.

  I soaked my pancakes in butter and syrup, and got to it. If I keep my mouth stuffed, I can’t talk and answer questions. This is the best logic I can come up with.

  Shoveling the fluffy cakes into my mouth, Jenn smiled and sipped her orange juice from her glass.

  “Enjoying your breakfast Georgy?” She asks me. I just nod in response. “I bet it’s not the best thing you’ve had in your mouth in the last 12 hours though.” She snickers.

  I turned beet red. I even choked on pancakes, of all things! “Excuse me?” I ask.

  “You heard me, Georgia. I know what you two were up to last night. Dish.” She pries me for information.

  “There’s nothing to say!” I protest, hoping she would take me at my word and move on with it already.

  “Nah no way, what were you too doing until the wee hours of the morning?” She presses.

  “Just kissing, nothing else, I swear!” I hate feeling accosted. “Are we through?” I urge her.

  “Hmm” she starts, and plays with her fork. “For now.” She sighs,“I believe you, I just wanted more information; envy, jealousy, all the above.”

  “What? You’re nuts. You’re gorgeous and this should be you and not me. You do know that, right?” I assure her the best I can. She means much too much for me to lose her.

  “Relax. I’m not mad at you.” Jenn pushes her plate away and gets up from the table. For someone who seems not mad at me, I’m really getting the other impression.