Part 8 (2/2)

”Yes, Mom, he's a senior at Boise.”

I could see the relief on her face and in the way her shoulders sagged. I think she harbored this fear that I would one day run off with a much older man. Sort of like what she did when she met my father, who was seven years older than she was.

”Is he new? I've just never heard you mention him before.”

I smiled and shrugged. ”He's new to me.”

She laughed at that.

Kyle shuffled into the kitchen to open the refrigerator door. ”What's funny?”

Mom shook her head. ”Nothing.”

He looked from her to me, and then put his head back into the fridge. ”What's for supper?”

”I'm ordering Chinese. It'll just be me and you tonight, buddy. Salem has a date.”

Kyle b.u.mped his head as he pulled it out to gawk at me. ”You have a date?”

I sneered at him. ”Yes, I have a date. So what?”

”It's just weird, is all. I didn't think you dated.”

”I've had boyfriends before.”

”I know, I just don't ever remember any of them taking you out on a aedate' before.” He shrugged, then went back to inspect the contents of the refrigerator.

”What time are you going out?” Mom asked.

”At six.”

She glanced at the clock on the wall. ”That's in an hour.” She frowned at me. ”You're not wearing that are you?”

I glanced down at my plain white t-s.h.i.+rt and dark wash jeans-about the only pair I owned that didn't have holes in them-and nodded. ”Yeah. Why?”

Without a word, she grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall to her bedroom. When I saw where she was going, I started to back peddle.

”Mom, nothing you own is going to look good on me. I hate pink. Unless its neon and has skulls on it.” I collapsed on her bed and covered my face in her pillow.

”Not everything I own is pink. I was cool once too, you know.”

I heard her as she opened her closet door and started to rummage through the hangers. The snap of plastic hangers being pushed to the side one by one echoed around the room.

Finally, she must've found something decent, because it landed on my back. She must've thrown it at me.

”Try that on.”

Reaching around, I pulled the silky blouse off my back and held it up to my eyes. It was a dainty baby-doll camisole with spaghetti straps in a pretty teal color. Frowning, I slid off the bed, stripped off my t-s.h.i.+rt and slid the thing over my head. Pouting, I allowed my mom to direct me to her floor length mirror on the back of her bedroom door to see what it looked like on.

I was pleasantly surprised.

”That color is radiant against your skin, Salem.” My mom beamed behind me, as if I'd just taken my first steps all over again.

But she was right. The teal color looked really good on me. It brought out the green in my eyes.

Getting into the spirit of the occasion, she tucked the hair behind my ears and smoothed out my bangs so they hung over only one eye. She smiled at me in the mirror. ”You're gorgeous, honey.”

I smiled back. Although gorgeous might've been a strong word, I did look pretty d.a.m.n good. Uber fine, would be my choice of words. I even was able to fill out the chemise pretty well considering I was barely pus.h.i.+ng a B cup. Everything hung just right emphasizing my attributes, my pale skin, the slim line of my flat waist. I'd even date me.

I smoothed my hands down the silk of the blouse. ”Thanks, Mom. It's perfect.”

She beamed at me again, and then pressed a kiss to my cheek. ”You're welcome.”

Josh arrived at exactly six o'clock. Which I found extremely odd for a guy. I'd never met one in my life who'd ever been on time.

I didn't know what to expect when I opened the door, but it definitely wasn't the clutch of white daises he held in his hand.

I looked at them, unsure of exactly what to do. Thankfully, Mom came to the rescue again and saved my a.s.s from looking too dorky.

She took them from my hand. ”These are lovely. I'll put them in a vase for you, Salem.”

”Okay.” I smiled nervously at Josh. ”Thank you for the flowers.”

”You're welcome.” He held out his hand for me. ”Shall we go?”

Everything felt so surreal I was unsure of what to do. I'd never had a normal guy come to my home to take me out, or bring me flowers, or be nice and polite to my mom when she introduced herself. It was uber strange. Weirdly enough, I really liked it. It made me feel special. I hadn't felt special since my tenth birthday party where I begged my mom for a Disney Princess party. I'd dressed up as Snow White and had my pictures taken. An 8X10 framed picture still hung on my mom's bedroom wall.

My mom handed me my white jean jacket and my bag before Josh could pull me out of the house. I smiled at her, and then followed him down the walkway to the sleek-looking, black, sports car parked along the curb.

He opened the pa.s.senger door for me, and I slid into the b.u.t.ter soft leather seat. The inside of the car even smelled nice-that spicy mouth-watering scent that clung to Josh.

When he slid into the car and started the engine, I asked, ”So, where are we going?”

He just smiled, pushed in a JT CD-yes, G.o.d forbid, Justin Timberlake-and gunned it. I laughed despite myself and settled in for the ride.

Chapter 12.

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