Page 22 of A Tinsel Tale
Dee bites her lip. “You’re right. I just don’t want you to have any regrets. Nobody would be happier than me to see you let go and maybe even have a little fun with our boy Jamie.”
I finish, then wash my hands studying my flushed cheeks in the mirror. I make a funny face at myself then ask, “Am I sexy?”
Dee snorts with laughter. “How many times do I have to say it? You are the sexiest,” she says.
“No, I’m sherious,” I say, but the slight slur in my speech belies the statement.
“You just don’t get it. But I guess your insecurities only add to your charm.”
I scoff. “Me, charming? I’m bor-ing,” I say in a singsong voice.
“You’re the last person I’d call boring.”
“Remember my high school yearbook tag line?A beauty taking on the world… one book at a time.”
“And you took that as an insult?”
I stick out my bottom lip pouting. “To me it said boring with a capital B.”
“Books and boring are not synonymous, not even close. You’ve never been boring! Smart yes, boring no. And why focus on the book part? Don’t forget the beauty part,” she says firmly.
“I got teased so much about being a brain that I developed a complex.”
“Even though you were going steady with the hottest guy in the entire school?”
“Fluke. He was blinded by dating the coach’s daughter. And that’s another thing,” I say putting my hands on my hips, “it didn’t help that Mom and Dad were prom King and Queen back in the day. He was the star football quarterback, and she was the head cheerleader. I always worried that I was a disappointment to Mom. She didn’t have a cheerleader to pass on her tips to.” I hiccup and pinch my nose, holding my breath then swallow three times. It doesn’t work and I hiccup again and giggle. “Instead, she was shtuck with me. A bookworm.”
Dee looks incredulous. “You and Jamie were a power couple. Everyone wanted to be you. I’m sorry I never realized how insecure you felt back then. I must have been a terrible friend.”
I wave my hand and wobble a bit as we leave the bathroom and pause in the hallway to finish our talk. I throw my arm across her shoulders and kiss her cheek. “I promish you, it’s not your fault. I did everything I could to hide my insecurities. You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for.”
She sighs. “I guess I was busy dealing with my own nerd complex. My nickname was Mouse, if you’ll remember.”
“What a joke,” I snicker. “Obviously coined by someone who knew nothing about you. With Jamie and me, I could never quite believe that all that athletic gorgeousness was mine, ya know?”
“But he was. He only had eyes for you. Half the guys in school had the hots for you.”
“I only got popular because of Jamie Barrington.”
“And you got boobs,” she teases. “All I know is I wouldn’t go back for a million dollars.”
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” I quote Charles Dickens. “That about sums it up for me.”
“Speaking of our past, I forgot to tell you, I spoke with Eric a couple weeks ago.”
“Really?” He made up the third member of our merry band of three, who now happens to be a professional gamer making boo coo bucks.
“He said to tell you hi and sends his love. Speaking of revenge of the nerds, right? He’s doing great. Who knew he’d wind up being the richest guy from our graduating class.”
“We did. He’s brilliant.”
We return to the couch to reclaim our seats. “What did we miss?” Dee asks.
“Ref called pass interference against us,” Caleb says.
“Dang it!” She says sitting down then tilting her head up for a kiss.
Caleb leans down and kisses her on the lips. “Love you, Babe,” he tells her.