You know what, D? There is a God in heaven and her name is Tyra.
XO,
Mira
At school, I’d always done whatever I could to hide, with exception to my hair and makeup—I never went without those two things in top form once I learned how to do them properly—but the rest of me was usually in baggy, nondescript clothes and I stayed under every radar. I didn’t answer questions unless called on. I didn’t try out for anything, didn’t do any extra clubs. I decided to change that when I went back junior year. I wanted to make sure Tyra was not forgotten.
On the first day, I dressed to kill. Nothing over the top, but more deliberate than I’d ever been. I wore a pair of kickass boots. My jeans were ripped in all the right places and fit like a second skin. My shirt was snug and accentuated my newly discovered waist, which also drew attention to my chest. I had dusted a fine shimmery powder on my skin that gave it a radiant glow, I tried out one of the makeup palettes I’d used on a bride the weekend before and nailed it, and my hair, which I’d always thought was my only redeeming feature, was in top form.
“Go in there looking good and like you know you look good,” I said Tyra’s words to myself in the mirror and walked out the door.
I didn’t have my license yet, so I lost some of my rockstar vibes when my mum dropped me off in front of the school since I’d taken too long getting ready. It felt like every eye turned on me when I started walking to the door. I turned around to see if anyone was behind me when I saw a few gaping mouths and elbows knocking other elbows to see if the person next to them was looking, but it was just me. Tyra would’ve loved this moment.
Better yet, when I walked through the door, Jaxson, Derek, and another guy I didn’t know were standing there. A guy almost as cute as Jaxson. When Jaxson saw me, his eyes widened and he did a double take, standing up straighter.
“Bells? Holy—what did…you look fantastic,” he stuttered. He looked at the guys who were also gawking at me.
“You look fucking hot,” Derek said.
Jaxson hit him in the chest. I rolled my eyes at Derek but bit back a grin at Jaxson.
“That’s no way to talk to Bells,” he said.
Derek laughed. “But it’s true. You look great, Mira,” he added.
“Thanks.”
The guy next to Derek held out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Miles,” he said. “Just moved here, junior…” He motioned to Jaxson. “My stepdad works with his stepdad, so we met in the summer.”
“Oh, my mum must know him too then. She’s one of the agents. Nice to meet you,” I said, smiling. He was really cute. “I’m a junior too.”
His grin widened and my heart skipped a little faster.
Jaxson stepped forward and took my elbow. “Got a minute?” We stepped away from Derek and Miles. “I came over a few times this summer but never got a chance to see you. You doing okay? You look so…different. I can’t believe it.”
“Not as fat, you mean,” I said.
“No! You were never…that’s not what I meant. You’re like, tall now too. You’ve always been beautiful, Mira. And you look…well, I know it’s been really hard since Tyra. I just wanted to make sure you’re really okay. You’re healthy? And you’re, uh…you’re eating, right? I’ve never…seen you this skinny.” He cringed with those last words and ran his fingers through his hair.
I looked at him, incredulous. “Of course I’m eating. I’m trying for healthier choices more often, and yeah, I finally grew taller. Mum always said I’d be a late bloomer. She was, Gran was. As for how I am? I’ve lost my best friend. Twice. I’m doing about as well as can be expected.”
I walked away, his stunned expression lingering in my mind. He had the nerve to think I’d confide in him after all this time? Unbelievable. And what was the deal with him and my mum thinking I’d starved myself? I wasn’t that skinny.
My inner rant threatened to ramble all day, but midway through the morning, I reminded myself of what I’d set out to accomplish this year. I went to the office when I had a few extra minutes and asked to speak to someone about an idea I had. Within minutes, I was speaking to Leigh, the counselor who’d tried to talk to me several times after everything happened with Tyra.
“I’m so glad you reached out to me,” she said. “I’ve thought about you over the summer. How has it been?”
“It’s been hard, but I’m not really here to talk about that,” I told her. “I’ve been thinking there must be ways we can keep Tyra’s memory alive. I can’t talk about her yet. I don’t want to,” I reiterate, just in case she thinks this is a counseling session. “But I need everyone not to forget her. She loved clothes and—” The lump in my throat grew too big to ignore, but I swallowed it down and tried to change the course of the conversation to be about the end result I wanted. It was still so hard. “Everyone should feel their best, whether it’s prom night or at school every day. I’d like to organize clothing donations. We could call it Tyra’s Closet. No one has to spend any money and it’d be a tax write-off. It can be as simple as people around here cleaning out their closets, but I’d also like to visit businesses and clothing stores who might want to donate new items. We can do three big pushes so there are gowns to choose from for Homecoming, Winter Formal, and Prom…but I’d also like to provide things like flannel shirts and nice sweaters…”
I took a breath then and began to worry when Leigh didn’t say anything right away.
“If I need to simplify it, I can, but this—”
“I love the idea,” she jumped in. “Love it. You’ve obviously put a great deal of thought into it, and Tyra’s Closet—that’s perfect!” She clapped her hands together and I laughed. “I know just who to talk to about this. I’m positive she’ll love it as much as I do and will help us get the ball rolling. Can we talk again tomorrow around this time?”
I nodded, a relieved smile stretching across my face. “Yes. Thank you so much.”
My last class of the day was physics and when I walked in, I bumped into Miles.
“Finally! I’ve been hoping to have a class with you all day,” he said.
“Oh!” I rubbed my lips together nervously and then smiled. “Hi.” I groaned inside at how lame I was. “How has your day been?”
We sat next to each other in the back.
“It’s been long. You’re the nicest person I’ve met so far,” he said. “Jax is pretty nice too. You guys go way back, he said?”
“We do, yes.”
“Cool.” He flipped open his notebook and then faced me, elbows on his knees. “Hey, would you want to go get some gelato after this? Compare notes on our classes? I’m addicted to that place on Girard.”
“Um, sure,” I said. “I won’t have my license for another couple of weeks, so I just walk,” I added.
He grinned. “You can ride with me.”
The bell rang and I pulled out my notebook, the thrill of being asked out on my first date—if you could count going for gelato to discuss school a date—doing a crazy dance in my chest.
When class was over, Miles waited for me to gather all my things and then walked to my locker with me. His locker was across from mine and when we saw that, we smiled shyly at one another. When we had everything, we walked outside. It was one of those perfect days of sunshine with a faint breeze; the fragrance of flowers, salt water, and car fumes wafting in the air.
“I’m this way,” he said.
We walked a few feet and I stopped when I saw Jaxson and Heather walking toward us. Heather had become a pro at schooling her expressions when Jaxson was around. The most I’d heard her say anything negative around him had been at his party so long ago; typically, the times I’d been around them she’d done a good job of acting. When she saw Miles, she smiled so big.
“Hey, Miles. How was your first day?” she asked.
I did an inner eye roll. Figured they were already friends by now.
“Great. I met Mira. Survived lunch…” He laughed.
Jaxson looked between Miles and me, his expression cloudy. I couldn’t tell if he was mad or constipated. Maybe hangry.
“We’re going to Bobboi…no practice today for once,” Miles said.
“You play football?” I asked.
“Oh, we were thinking of doing that too,” Jaxson said at the same time.
“We were?” Heather asked.
“We should join you.” Jaxson nodded.
Miles looked at me, lifting his eyebrows in question.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Jaxson was almost perky now.
What are you doing? I lasered in on him and he just grinned.
I didn’t say anything. This wouldn’t count as my first date after all.
We only had a few minutes to talk on the ride, but Miles was easy to talk to.
“I’ve never lived near the beach,” he said. “Do you surf? I’ve always wanted to try.”
“It’s been a while, but yes, I do. You’ll catch on fast and love it, I’m sure. Where did you move from?”
“Maybe you could teach me,” he said, glancing at me quickly then back at the road.
I smiled. “Maybe.”
“We’ve moved around a lot. My mom and I. But the last place was Indianapolis, Indiana. She met my stepdad at a wedding a year ago—he had just moved here—and they got married at the beginning of the summer.”
“A whirlwind relationship. Do you get along well with him?”
He shrugged. “It’s been an adjustment, but yeah, he’s pretty nice.”
We parked and I reached for the door handle, but my door was opened first.
“There you are,” Jaxson said, holding out his hand to help me out.
“Why are you being so weird?” I said under my breath.
He looked hurt. “I’ve missed you, Bells.”
I shook my head and stepped past him, moving in step with Miles.
“What do you usually get here?” Miles asked.
“I love the pistachio,” I answered.
“Hmm. I’ll have to try that one today.”
Jaxson sighed heavily on the other side of me and I looked at him. “What?” He looked at me like I should be able to read his mind, but I wasn’t in tune with his thoughts anymore.
Heather scooted between us, and we ordered our gelato then took it out to the deck where we could see the beach nearby.
“I love it here,” Miles said, scooting his chair closer to mine. “Mira, did—”
“Miles, did you have fun at that party the other night?” Heather interrupted. “You and Danielle were cracking me up.”
Miles looked like he was trying to remember what she was talking about and then laughed. “Oh yeah, I had to loan her my sweatshirt. She got pizza everywhere! That reminds me—she never gave that sweatshirt back.”
I knew what Heather was doing, but the guys seemed oblivious.
“She thinks you’re hot. Might not ever get that sweatshirt back,” she said, licking her spoon in a way that usually got the guys around her to do whatever she wanted.
Why did it always work? I shoved my spoon in my mouth and realized Miles had turned to look at me instead of her. He put his hand over his eyes and discreetly made a face in my direction, which made me giggle. Maybe it didn’t work on everyone.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said, smiling at Miles.
Jaxson leaned his elbows on the table, studying both of us. He hadn’t taken a single bite of his gelato from what I could tell. “My mum said you got a job, Mira. Where is it?”
I pointed at the cute salon next door to us. “Right there. And then I do makeup for weddings on the side with the owner. I really love it.”
“That’s so great. I’m happy to hear it,” he said, and he looked genuinely pleased.
Jaxson and Miles both tried a few times to draw me into conversation, but it would remind Heather of something they’d done during the summer, her and Jaxson, or the three of them. I was exhausted by the time I got home.
“I enjoyed this,” Miles said, when he pulled in front of my house. “Can we do it again? Maybe just the two of us next time, so I can get to know you better?”
I smiled. “Sure. I’d like that.”
Hmm. I looked up at the sky while I walked inside. Things like this didn’t just happen to me. Tyra was definitely working her magic up there.