I coughed and waved her away. “I’m choking!”
“Good, that means you have just the right amount on.” She smiled and placed the spray can down on my desk.
“My room is a gas chamber!” I choked.
“The price you pay to look hot, Anna.” Jenna snorted.
It was my turn to snort. “Hot? I’m decent at best.”
“Shut it, you look hot as hell, in fact don’t move, I need to take another picture.” She reached for her phone on my bed.
My eyes rolled. “Haven’t you already taken enough?”
She ignored me and positioned her smartphone. “Give me a hot pose, something that screams, come and get me boys!”
I laughed. “What? I’m not a stripper!”
“No, but in that skirt, you could be…. so scandalous!” Jenna grinned slyly.
Instantly I pulled at the skirts hem. “You said it wasn’t that short!” I stressed.
“Yeah, I lied.” she said nonchalantly. “And no, you can’t take it off!”
Great!
In front of the mirror applying mascara, Jenna cleared her throat. “Um, the whole virginity thing, are you okay about that?”
I shrugged. “I wanted to.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it was nothing to call the president about anyways.”
“It was okay.” I informed her sheepishly.
“Anna!” Jenna’s jaw dropped. “You’re not supposed to be complimenting his skills. You’re supposed to be downgrading them! Jesus, have I taught you nothing in life?”
*~*~*
“Wow.” Dean murmured, scanning me up and down as he rounded his car in the movie theater’s parking lot. “Anna, where have you been hiding?”
I looked away shyly. “I’m still the same girl.”
“Only hotter,” Jenna stated as she got out of the backseat of Dean’s Honda. She smoothed the back of her black sundress. She looked so good. Her long dark hair was in a high ponytail, minimal makeup on, unlike mine, which she happily slathered with all the trimmings. In a skirt and the shiny tank top, I paired the outfit with my denim jacket and black Chucks.
Dean leaned against the hood of his car, smiling at me. I smiled shyly back at him.
“Don’t move!” Jenna ordered, pulling out her smartphone and pointing it at us. “Annabelle, sit next to Dean.”
My eyes rolled and I slid next to Dean, eying him apologetically. “Sorry, she’s trying to spice up my profile.”
“That’s cool.” Dean grinned, putting his arm around me.
“Smile guys.” Jenna ordered, snapping the photo. “Got it!”
Dean lowered his arm and pulled out his phone.
“What are you doing?” I grinned, extending my arm back to lean on it.
“Friending you.” Dean said, playing with his phone.
I blinked. “Really?”
“Yep,” Jenna answered for him. “Just got it and I’m accepting him for you right now.”
Jenna had my account open on her phone so she could add pictures as she saw fit. My profile pic was the first thing she changed. It was a far cry from my original pic, a photo of me when I was fourteen in a witch’s costume for Halloween.
“Just uploaded the photo, and Dean, totally just tagged you now!” Jenna confirmed.
“Great.” I muttered, feeling my face heat at an accelerated rate. Her enthusiasm was killing me. “Can we go now?”
Dean laughed. I could feel his eyes on me. “You two are funny.”
“And hot.” Jenna added as she pulled me off the hood and linked her arm through mine. We headed to the theater’s entrance.
“That’s for sure,” Dean said smoothly, right behind us.
“What else have you been adding on my page?” I whispered to Jenna.
“Oh nothing really, just a few updates on your timeline, accepting a few friend requests.” Jenna answered.
My jaw dropped. “Who? You didn’t say anything about friend requests.” I hissed.
“Relax, it’s no big deal, it’s just a few people from the swim team.” Jenna explained, looking straight ahead.
“Like who?” I pressed.
“Like, Don, Gabe, Tina, Jerry, Sally, Dana,” Jenna said. “And Latisha.”
“Latisha!” My jaw dropped, again. “Why would she friend request me, we don’t talk.”
Jenna snorted. “You think she cares about that, she just likes having a lot of ‘friends’ online, and also because she’s nosy. I put our pictures up on my timeline and that’s how she found you.”
“That’s it, log out of my account.” I ordered her.
“You’re no fun!” Jenna pouted, tapping her phone. “There, all logged out.”
My eyes rolled. “It might be too late, the damage is already done.”
“You should be kneeling before me, praying for my thanks. I saved you!” Jenna exclaimed dramatically, and then chuckled.
“Whatever.” I muttered, and then twisted my neck catching Dean’s amused expression.
“You guys,” Dean chuckled. “Are interesting.”
Jenna snorted. “And you love it!”
“That too!” Dean grinned, jogging up to us. We crossed the parking lot and entered the crowded theater. The excitement of everyone around us was contagious, even though I still felt slightly hollow.
“Joe!” Dean called at a tall, very familiar figure, busy staring at the movie time board. His dark brown hair was smoothed back and he was wearing a dark blue button down with black jeans.
Joe?
Then it came to me, he was Dean’s best friend. The last time I saw him was at the park when he got into a fight with James.
Joe faced us with a huge grin. He slapped hands with Dean, who then introduced us. Joe smiled at me for a second as he remembered who I was. When his eyes scanned over to Jenna, they twinkled, seeming mesmerized.
“Hey.” Joe said to her, seeming captivated, his eyes never leaving hers.
I stared at her, amused at her just as captivated expression. Jenna gave him a small smile. “Hi.”
Well look who’s boy struck now! I thought, stifling a huge smile.
“Let’s get tickets!” Dean said loudly, breaking their stare off. He eyed me and I could see that he’d caught on and thought it was funny too.
Joe broke eye contact first. “Yeah, tickets.” He coughed. We got in line, the boys in front, Jenna and I behind them. I shoved my shoulder playfully into hers, eyeing her like ‘I know’.
“Shut up.” she muttered, rolling her eyes.
“Wait, let me get my phone out, I can take a picture of you two and you can put it on your profile! Then you can friend him and tag him in it.” I giggled, pretending to reach for my phone. Her hand shot out, stopping me.
“Don’t you dare,” she hissed, her face turning red. This was new. Jenna didn’t get flustered this easily. I guess someone’s got a crush.
Today will go down in the books. The day Jenna turned red over a boy that had nothing to do with being angry.
I quietly laughed. Jenna looked like she was having trouble breathing. I wanted to yell out congratulations to her, welcoming her to the world of crushing on boys.
But because I was a good friend, I decided not to.
She should totally learn from me.
When it’s our turn to buy tickets, the boys pushed themselves forward and crowded the front register. Jenna and I tried to squeeze through to pay for our own tickets, but the boys weren’t having it, barely acknowledging us as we pleaded with them to contribute. The boys paid and the ticket agent slid over four tickets. Dean took two and Joes took two.
Jenna and I gave each other bewildered looks, like we couldn’t believe this was happening.
Dean handed me a ticket. “Here you go.”
I took it from his hand, his fingers grazing my skin purposefully. “Dean,” I murmured. “Thank you.”
He waved me off like it was no big deal, but looked away embarrassed.
I glanced at Jenna who was taking the ticket out of Joe’s hand slowly. Clearly he’s worn her down. They stared at each other longer than normal.
“Hey, let’s get snacks!” I yelled, breaking their trance. “Jenna and I will buy the snacks!”
*~*~*
After the movie, we’d all decided to go to the park. Apparently there was a little game going on with Dean’s friends and he and Joe thought it would be fun to go and watch, maybe even play a little.
I rode with Dean as Jenna opted to go with Joe in his car. Since meeting Joe a few hours ago, she’s had stars in her eyes. Joe was no different, he was completely enamored by her, practically following her like a little puppy dog.
He was officially obsessed. Not that I blamed him… my best friend was awesome. Thinking of them hitting it off this fast had made me smiling big.
“Did I tell you, that you look amazing tonight?” Dean grinned, driving into the park’s parking lot. I’d recognized it immediately, it was the same park he brought me to last time. O’Reilly’s
Let’s hope there isn’t a repeat of that this time.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to stop saying it. A girl could get used to hearing endless amounts of compliments per second.” I grinned.
Dean pulled his car to a stop. “You do, you look amazing tonight. I’m a lucky guy.”
I looked away, embarrassed. “Dean, come on.”
“No, I’m being real with you. I’m lucky.” he assured, grabbing my hand, rubbing his fingers in my palm.
“Then I’m lucky too.” I smiled looking back at him.
“Duh, of course you are. You’re out with Pleasant Views Star Pitcher!” He laughed and got out of the car. I shook my head and got out too.
“Still lacking in confidence I see.” I said across the hood of the car as he gave me a playful grin.
“What’s taking you guys so long, come on!” Jenna yelled as she and Joe crossed the parking lot.
“We’ve been summoned, let’s go before she chops off our heads!” I smirked, grabbing him and pulling him towards them.
“I’ll go anywhere you wanna pull me to.” Dean said.
“Are you sure about that?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”