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I wake up in my bed, which is late because of Austin. But I have to admit that it was a lot of fun. I put on a peach t-shirt and jeans and tie my hair back in a ponytail. I take an apple and run to school. In a very real sense.
It’s a very busy day, and by lunchtime, I’m so tired. Skye is the same.
As we walk to our table, she says, “I hate school.” I laugh at her and sit down.
“So, how was your date?” Skye asks, and the tiredness in her eyes is gone. Wow.
“Well, it was great, but…”
“What? Did you kiss?” Skye screams. I tell her to be quiet.
“Eric didn’t come,” I say with a sigh. Skye looks unhappy.
“Then how was it great? Did you have an imaginary friend with you or something?” I roll my eyes at her question.
“No, Austin took me out.”
“What’s wrong?” Skye chokes on her spit, and I pat her back. A few tables turn to face us. Why did it seem so crazy?
Skye asks, “You don’t think it’s strange?” No, I shake my head. What makes it so suspicious?
“So, Eric asks you out, but he doesn’t show up. Instead, Austin shows up out of nowhere and takes you out. And don’t forget that Eric and Austin are in a cold war.”
I’m either stupid or I trust people too easily. In any case, I’m dumb. And can’t see.
“I can confirm that Austin had something to do with it.”
I ask, “Have you seen, Eric?” as I look around.
“I haven’t seen him,” Skye says.
“So did Austin ask you to be his girlfriend?” Skye sounds hopeful. I shake my head and do my best not to show how sad I am.
“Oh, my poor Lyra. He might just be scared that you’ll say no. Why don’t you ask him?”
“Does he want to be my boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“No way,” I say, and my voice gets a little high.
“Think about it. I know you like him, and I think he likes you too.”
Yes, that’s right.
********
I walk to the room where the painting is. My eyes go back to his painting, and my heart stops beating. The blue eyes are painted perfectly, and the whole face is painted too. The girl’s lips are curled into a smile, and there are white flowers in her long blonde hair.
And she is wearing a pink dress that looks very familiar. Austin covers it up like it’s nothing, but I’m still frozen.
It’s me.
Austin did my makeup.
A painting of me in lots of colours.
I’m breathing too fast.
Don’t worry.
I can tell Austin doesn’t want to talk about it by looking at him. So, I let it go for now, hoping he would bring it up when it’s done. I gasp as I start to uncover my canvas. It looks bad. Yesterday, my anger got the best of me.
When he shakes his head at my painting, I give him a sheepish smile. The sun doesn’t even look like it. It’s not even close to round.
I take it off, and Austin helps me put on a new canvas. I look at him and wait for him to tell me what we are going to do today.
Instead, he sighs and rubs his neck in an awkward way before looking me in the eye.
“I… I want you to… well, do something for me, bunny.”
“Yeah?” I frown.
Austin says in a voice that makes my heart race, “I have a family dinner tomorrow. Will you come with me?” There is so much emotion in his brown eyes when he looks at me.
“Please,” he whispers.
“Of course. I will,” I say with a smile. He looks relieved and sighs when I don’t ask him anything.
Why me?
What’s going on? We kissed, went out on a date, and now I was going to meet his family. And he still hadn’t asked me to be his girlfriend. Doesn’t he want me?
Why do I feel so bad?
I hold up the two dresses and ask, “Black or Lavender?”
Kira says, “Lavender,” and then rolls her eyes. “You’ll look like yourself in lavender—sweet, shy, and all.”
“I don’t think I can do it,” I say with a sigh.
“Don’t worry about it, babe,” Kira says, popping her gum and giving me a warm look.
“I wish I could be as sure of myself as you are,” I say to her as I sit next to her in bed. She was strong, sure of herself, and able to do things on her own. Would I ever be one of those?
She left because her parents were abusive, and now she has to live alone. I was happy that she was starting to talk to me. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But I don’t think I’d tell anyone what happened.
“And I wish I was as sweet as you. You know you should love yourself for who you are,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Kira, you can be nice, though.”
“And Lyra, you can be sure,” she says in a very high-pitched voice. This time, I roll my eyes.
“Now go change. I’ll do your hair and make-up,” she says before falling back on my bed. I shake my head at her and go to the toilet.
The lavender dress is casual and comes down to my knees. The dress has a sweetheart neckline and long sleeves, and it fits my body like a second skin. It doesn’t look too revealing, but it does make me feel sexy.
As soon as I leave the bathroom, someone pulls me in front of the dressing table. Kira starts to braid my hair as I sit down. It’s so complicated, and I don’t know what she’s doing.
After she’s done, I can’t believe how good my hair looks. Who would have thought that a bird’s nest could be turned into a work of art?
Kira starts with my face, and after a long time, she’s done. I gasp when I open my eyes. I thought she had done something bad, but it looks so normal.
I scream with joy and hug her, but she pulls away.
“You’ll ruin everything,” she says firmly. I roll my eyes and put on matching heels that I borrowed from Kira.
“Thank you,” I say one last time, and she pushes me to the door, laughing quietly. We say goodbye.
I see Austin waiting behind the door. How long has he been here?
I say “Hi” shyly when he looks at me with something like love in his eyes. Pfft, like that.
He says “Hi” in that deep voice of his and then gives me flowers, this time white roses. He is wearing a black tuxedo over his muscular chest. My mouth is watering at what I see.
Don’t.