I Can't Make You Stay

To say I was desperately rushing around my room trying to figure out what to wear was an understatement.

My hair had taken much longer in the shower than I had expected. And when I had gotten out, it was already 3 p.m., which meant I only had an hour to get ready. This included drying my hair, styling it, getting dressed, and doing my makeup, and I hadn’t taken anything out.

There was no way I was going to be ready when he came to pick me up.

“Julie!” I yelled, searching the linen closet in the hallway between my room and the bathroom. “Help!”

“With what!” Julie yelled. Aha! I found the blow dryer and straightening iron and rushed into my room to plug them both in.

“Hair! Make up! Oh my god, clothes!”

I wasn’t normally like this. You know, freaking out over what to wear or stressed for time. Actually no, running out of time was a daily thing in my life – you could ask anyone that.

As I struggled to get the plug in to heat up the straightening iron, I put the blow dryer in the socket above it and Julie strolled into my room. She watched from the doorway and made a tsk-ing noise with her tongue.

“You’re pathetic,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

“How!” I exclaimed, throwing the closet door open. “Never mind that. Just find me something to wear.”

“Don’t most girls do this the night before? Spend all night on the phone with their girlfriends giggling about what to wear on the dream date with the beau, spending even longer on what hairdo’s look best and taking 50 pictures?”

“Shut up. I don’t have any girlfriends.”
And Adam doesn’t do that type of thing. I think he’d kill me.

“Are you gonna help me?” I needed to choose my makeup, and I couldn’t do that without an outfit to base colors off of.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she snapped, casually walking towards my closet. I watched the wheels turn in her head as she walked back in forth in front of the side of my closet with the regular school/go out clothes. She pulled one or two garments out before going all the way to the end and pulling out something. “Aqui.”

“Yo e-speak-a ingles,” I told her, but I looked over at what she picked anyway. “No way in hell.”

“It’s a date, isn’t it?” My sister asked - her eyebrow arched.

I didn’t want to tell her Adam would kill me.

“I’m sure Adam won’t mind,” she said, a satisfactory smirk appearing on her face as I stared at her in shock.

That bitch.

Julie walked over to my vanity and picked out a powdery blue eye shadow, left it next to my mascara, and walked away. “Wear your Juicy bracelet from Adam. And the black flats with the bows by the toes. Leave those nasty Converses. You can thank me later,” and with that, her hand was up in the air, waving to me.

“You’re such a creeper.” I looked longingly at my Converse in the corner of the room.

It changed to the middle finger, “Ten minutes have passed. Might wanna get a move on.”

Shit!

--

Hair freshly dried, and straightened to perfection, I slipped into the dress my lovely sister had picked out. It was a blue halter dress from American Eagle, with two spaghetti straps that were supposed to be tied at the neck. I liked it, but not enough to wear out like this. Adam would flip when he saw me.

…That’s not you, Aubrey. Why’d you wear it?

Yeah. Wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

My Red Berry (my red Blackberry, for those who might not understand) buzzed from on top of my desk as I attempted to smudge my eye shadow in. I really didn’t have time to be texting anybody (not that anyone ever texted me), with about 5 minutes to spare before he would be at the corner, waiting for me. The fear of it being he, ready extra early plagued me, and I reached for it with the non-eye shadow hand and cleared the screen.

What are you gonna wear?

I rolled my eyes.

You’ll c Ad ;)

I can’t know now?

No. Now let me put my shadow on

Not that you need it. Text when you’re coming over.

“Adam being a pest?” A voice said, one I recognized to be my older sister, who stood in the doorway once again.

I didn’t respond and finished putting my eye shadow on the other eye. I tend to put on eye shadow before mascara, which I probably shouldn’t.

As I finished I heard Julie enter the room and sit on my bed, which was close to the door.

“Knew the dress would be fine. Lemme know if he tries to cop a feel or some shit.”

I rolled my eyes and searched the small vanity table for the silver Juicy Couture charm bracelet that Adam had given me on my birthday this year, along with the small chain necklace with the ring in the middle.

“No necklace,” Julie automatically said. “Can’t make him think you’re taken already. See the rock on that thing? He’s gonna think you’re fuckin’ married or something.”

I ignored her but lay the necklace back in its spot, and slid the bracelet on. I touched up my hair once more, which was half up/half down (if only someone knew what this was called) and went over to my full-length mirror.

“You look fine,” Julie said. “Just do me a favor.”

“What?” I said, reaching for my black wristlet to make sure I had money, a tampon, ID, and my keys.

“Try not to mention Adam at all tonight.”

My Red Berry buzzed again.

I’m here