"So whats up girlie, you working all day?" Rhonda asked the girl behind the counter.
I didn't know her too well, except a few times when my mom sent me here for milk, and sandwiches. She'd wave to me, and I'd say hi, but that was about it.
"This is my friend Amanda, she lives down the street, Amanda this is Ambra."
"Yeah i see you working here a lot", I smiled," whats up?"
"Yeah you do look familiar, I've been working here a while, and i'll be working all day. So Rhonda, did you hear how your brother came in here asking for my number? I was like, wow i have to tell her!"
Ambra naturally had light brown hair, you could see her roots coming in underneath the blond box dye she'd used. She was about the same height as me, but with thicker legs, she looked a little older than us, and had super thin eyebrows that were clearly over-plucked. We hung around people we didn't like, we'd judge them before knowing a thing about them besides their appearance. That's just the way things worked back then,
Rhonda sighed, "No he didn't tell me, and he probably won't, which was it Jay or Leon?"
Rhonda hated when her friends bragged about her brothers trying to date them, it wasn't cool. We were her friends and her brothers were related to her, that's just gross.
I looked at Rhonda, while she shrugged her shoulders. The boys came to the front counter and pulled money from their pocket. Rhonda went over to the clear bucket of bubblegum and picked out three 25cent pieces. She put them on the counter and smiled at Seth.
"Seriously Rhonda? Okay but you owe me!" Seth said.
I watched as she completely took advantage of him, just because she knew she could. Seth was always in love with her, even though we were fourteen we knew what love was supposed to feel like, and if anyone in our school loved her it was him. We'd always go over his house and jump on his trampoline, it could be midnight and we'd lie there the three of us just talking about life. i would see him stare at her, and she paid no attention to him. She'd ramble on about how this boy in the mall asked for her myspace link, and we'd all laugh although our minds were in different places. Seth would be thinking of all the things he wanted to experience with her, how he wanted to kiss her perfect lips. How he hated when i came to prevent that from happening, and how he knew that's why she'd invite me every time. She'd keep talking of how she turned the guy in the mall down, and his friends made fun of him when she'd keep walking, but my mind was traveling with the sound of her voice. I wondered why i couldn't be as pretty as her, her flawless skin, her perfect light green eyes. I wanted to be that confident. I was so insecure, with bad skin problems, and being so skinny ,"just skin and bones" my mom would say. I wanted to be wanted like that, to experience a day in her shoes. Watch everyone stare at me when I'd walk into a room, and know they were staring because i was beautiful, not because of some pimple i had on my cheek. At the end of the day, I'd realize i wasn't the only girl who'd wish they were Rhonda, because every girl did.
Even Ambra, as she tried to flirt with Seth and Vince while they paid for their drinks and
"I hate that girl, I guess she thinks she earns cool points for giving my brother her number, that's not cool that's desperate." She said.
"I know, i was thinking the same thing." I replied, knowing i was thinking the opposite.
Her brothers tried to date all of us, they'd asked for all of our screen names and our phone numbers but at the end of the day the last thing you wanted was Rhonda to find out you had given it them, she'd go nuts!
We continued to walk along the street. Cars passed quickly, some people stared out their windows, while others had them rolled up. It was terribly hot outside, our faces grew red but we didn't pay attention to it. The boys rode beside us, frequently swinging their legs down to keep their balance. You could see the heat rising from the black street "were almost there" i thought. Vince pulled up along me, his face was covered in
"So do you think your mom will let you go to my house today?" he asked.
I turned to him with a blank expression plastered on my face,
"possibly? Why are Rhonda and Seth going too?"
"Not sure, but i didn't know if you were allowed yet, so i wanted to ask you first."
He smiled at me, and i smiled back. Although Rhonda and Seth weren't officially a couple, Vince and i were. When i first moved into the small town i was now calling home, i didn't know anyone. I was only thirteen when my mom decided this was the best place to start over. The first person i meant was the girl who lived across the street. We hung out a few times before she introduced me to Rhonda. My first day at school i meant Vince. We sat next to each other in Social Studies and barely paid attention. Shortly after spending nights on the phone talking about random things we began to "date". Meanwhile Rhonda, being my new best friend, spoke to Seth and we all started to hangout together. By now it was kind of routine, I'd spend the night over Rhonda's house and we'd stay up until the sunlight glowed through each crack of her blinds. When the school year ended we'd pull "all-nighters" and not sleep until the next night, she'd have a white fan next to her bed, blowing directly on her face. At first i couldn't fall asleep because of the noise, my arms were covered in goosebumps because she'd always pull the blankets we'd share to the other side of her bed. I'd lie there awake, as her breathing died faintly in the sound of the wind blowing across my face. I can remember this one specific time I watched as her eyes fluttered under her eyelids, she flinched and a thin layer of sweat filmed over her forehead. Her eye lashes were so dark and thick, and her skin so smooth. The next day i went out and bought myself new makeup.
