Page 4

He sat down on the chair in front of me.
“Hey,” Peter said to Chloe, then turned back to me and leaned in close to me. “I want to ask you something.”
“Just because my name is Ava doesn’t mean I want to be in your own sexy version of Fifty Shades of Grey. I’m not going to call you Master of My Universe,” I added with a smile.
Peter and I had been joking about this ever since he found out that Ava was the name of the girl in the novel. He laughed out loud, and Chloe stared at me like I had just grown two heads and was juggling balls.
He answered, “Nah, maybe you could call me that later when I come by tonight with a radio under your window.” I knew we usually joked about like this, but I knew this was for Chloe’s sake. Chloe’s eyes widened in astonishment, which proved this.
“I came to ask you out tonight. You know how you said you had trouble making friends? Well, I decided that my mission is to help you stop being so anti-social. You and I are going to party tonight at Pulse Lounge,” he said. “I would have told you at lunch today, but I have detention today and can’t make our usual lunch date.”
I wasn’t really startled because he had been dropping hints that we should go somewhere else than The Nook Café, like a party at a place called Pulse Lounge. I don’t think so.
“Thanks for the offer, Peter, but I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I remarked.
“Come on, it’ll be fun. You know you want to,” he added with a smile that made me feel better.
I shook my head no. I knew for sure that I wouldn’t feel comfortable at a party, and I remembered what had occurred at the last party I had been to.
“No, really, Ev…” I started to reply, but Chloe, who had been sitting quietly next to me the whole time, cut me off and added,
“She’d love to go with you. Tell her what time you’ll be there.”
Peter looked at me to see how I was doing and then said, “I’ll pick you up at eight. Don’t be late and wear your dancing shoes because we’re going to make some moves. Oh, and give me your phone.”
I gave him my hand when he reached out. He typed in what I thought was his phone number and then gave me the phone back.
He stood up to walk to his seat in the rear, but not before he turned to Chloe and whispered, “Thanks.”
Chloe waited until she was sure he couldn’t hear her before she whispered to me, “What was that about? I thought you said it was just my eyes playing tricks on me every time he came in smiling at you!”
“I…I…” I muttered.
“Missy, I’m not done with you. You have lunch with him every day. I feel like I don’t know you anymore. Next, I’ll find out you’re a student by day and a stripper by night,” Chloe said as she continued her diatribe.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about lunch. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Friends,” I added as I leaned in for a hug. Chloe leaned in, too, and held me tightly.
“Friends, you better know that I’m coming home with you today, and you’re going to sit and take every pitch and poke that I do to you for the party tonight. You better not complain,” Chloe stated near to my ears.
“Okay.”
“Sit still; your eyebrows look like a crazy person. I have to pluck them,” Chloe stated.
I was sitting on the side of my bed in my room when Chloe came in front of me and did something to my eyebrows that hurt a lot.
I yelled, “Aww,” at her.
“Sorry about that. If you could just sit still,” Chloe remarked.
After an hour of things like that, I was finally ready. I had my eyebrows plucked and shaped correctly, and I shaved my legs and arms. Chloe knew I liked the natural look, so I only wore a little makeup.
I was in front of the big mirror in my room. I wore a silver top that fastened behind my neck. It was snug about my breasts and flowed loosely from just below my breasts to my waist. Then, it was worn with black leggings and high silver shoes. I had brown hair done in a bun on top of my head, and Chloe had pulled some of it out so it fell in front of my face.
Even though I knew I wasn’t a size two, I had to admit that I didn’t look too awful. I looked quite fantastic and felt good about myself. The loss of weight may not be big in practice, but it was worth it to see how I appeared today compared to how I would have looked two years ago.
Chloe came up behind me as I gazed in the mirror and remarked, “You look beautiful.”
“Yeah, I do,” I answered, and this time I really believed it.
When I left my house, I spotted Peter resting beside his car. Chloe stood behind me and put her hand on my shoulder to stop me from going any farther.
“I know you’re not sure of yourself, but you’re beautiful inside and out. I want you to have fun. Let go of everything and just have fun, okay?” she urged.
I shook my head and walked up to Peter. I heard him whistle a bit as I got closer.
“Someone took a dip in the honey pot because you sure look sweet,” he replied, humorously looking me up and down once or twice.
I looked at his dark grey t-shirt, black pants, and black boots and said, “You don’t look so bad yourself.” His hair looked like he had genuinely bothered to comb it, even though it was normally messy.
He opened the door for me and closed it when I got in. Then he moved over to the driver’s side. I turned around and saw Chloe still at the entrance. I waved to her before Peter and I left for Pulse Lounge.
Twenty minutes later, we were rolling up to a stylish structure with blue and purple neon lights that said “Pulse Lounge.” It looked like a really popular place because the queue in front of the club went on for a long time. We had to wait a long time.
Peter and I got out of the car and walked towards the people waiting in front of the club.
“Maybe we should have come earlier,” I replied, “look at all these people.”
“Nah, no worries, my friend’s dad owns it, so I could just walk through. Come on, we’re meeting up with some of my friends,” he said.
I didn’t say anything, but I started to feel bad about myself again. I didn’t know what his pals were like, and what if they made fun of me?
Peter strolled right past all the people who were waiting in line and up to the bouncer.
Peter replied to a big man standing in front of the club door, “Hey Troy, it’s a busy night.” He had tattoos on both of his arms and as far as I could see, he also had a lip ring and an eyebrow piercing.
The bouncer looked me over and remarked, “Yeah, you found another one. This one is different from the others.” I looked up, expecting to see a look of contempt on his face, but all I saw was mild interest. Peter didn’t deny that the bouncer was telling us we were together, even though we weren’t. He merely nodded his head and walked through the rope that Troy had lifted.
Peter held my hand, and even though I knew it was merely to help me get through the busy club, it still felt great. We got to the VIP area and went through another bouncer. Peter then stopped a few steps away from a round table where three teens were laughing.
“Look, I want you to have fun, okay? I know you said you don’t like being around people like that, but those people over there,” he said, pointing to the table, “don’t know you, so you can be whoever you want to be tonight. I hope you choose to be the girl I’ve gotten to know because she’s a lot of fun. Now come on.”