My Story

We got home and my stomach was doing somersaults. In less than two hours I would be going to Knox to meet Justin, on my very first date. What was I going to wear? Should I apply make-up? How about nail polish? I didn’t want to go overboard, if only Amy was here, she would’ve helped me with all this stuff. Sixteen years with Catlin as my sister and you think I would have been an expert at this sort of stuff. I guess I tried to be as different to my sister as possible. Adam had his music and Catlin was the most popular girl in school, thanks to her fashion sense. I didn’t really have anything to tell me apart from the crowd. It normally didn’t bother me that I was so… normal, but if I were so normal, why would Justin ever want to go out with me? Maybe I was just nervous about the date, or maybe I was truly afraid that Justin would take one look at prettier girl and leave me forever. Maybe I just had problems with people leaving me, no matter whom they were.

My grandmother died when I was seven. We were close, closer than she ever was with Adam or Catlin. She called me her favourite out of all her grandchildren but that may just have been because she saw me the most, or maybe she just said that to all of us. After she died I locked myself in my room for a week and wouldn’t come out. I cried myself to sleep almost every night and when I finally came out I looked terrible. My room was a mess, I hadn’t showered in days and I was almost faint from hunger. I refused to eat every meal my parents gave me.

I went to my wardrobe; there wasn’t much of a selection. Most of the clothes I owned weren’t suitable for a date. It took me almost half an hour—a record when it came to some people—to decide on what to wear. In the end I settled on my light blue, knee length skirt; my white, spaghetti strap top; a grey cardigan; my black boots and—for a change—my ‘H’ necklace. Nodding in self-satisfaction I grabbed my clothes, leaving my boots and necklace, and went into the bathroom. I took a ten-minute shower. I know it’s not as good as the water saving four-minute shower but I needed to calm down. I was getting more nervous by the second.

After the shower I changed into my clothes and slipped my boots and necklace on. I placed Adam’s necklace carefully back in it’s box. This was the first time I hadn’t worn it since it was given to me.

Taking a deep breath in and left my room. I knew it was a bit early to be going; well it was 4:00, so half an hour early but I didn’t care. I decided to take a trip to Catlin’s room. Maybe I’d catch her in one of her happier moods. I knocked—to quick raps—and Catlin’s voice called through the door.

“Yes?”

“It’s me,” I called back, hoping that she knew who the ‘me’ referred to.

I heard her mumble something but she was to quiet and too quick, a few seconds later the door swung open. It appeared that Catlin had just had a shower because she had her hair up wound around her towel. She was wearing a blck t-shirt with the picture of converse shoes, her grey skinny leg jeans and her bright pink, fluffy slippers.

“Yes?” She asked.

“Are you going somewhere?” I blurted out.

Catlin rolled her eyes, “If you must know, yes I am.”

“Where?” I asked, I was eager to know.

“That’s none of your business,” she snapped back at me. She turned and walked over to her bed.

I followed her in and leaned my back against the wall, “Come on, I’m just curious. I’m going somewhere to.”

“Oh really?” she rolled her eyes and sat on the bed. She looked over to me, “well your clothes say as much. Don’t you think you’ll get cold?”

“Why? Is it cold outside?” I asked worried.

“A bit, you might want to put on some tights; and some lip-gloss; and maybe some foundation if you want to look great,” Catlin told me, absentmindedly scrutinizing her nails; they were painted black.

My eyes opened wide. Was Catlin, my sister Catlin, actually giving me advice? “Um… okay then.” I went to leave.

"Hold on,” Catlin stopped me. I turned back and she threw me a bottle of liquid foundation, “That should be your colour.”

“Thanks,” I said. Catlin seemed to be in a nice mood so I decided I’d ask her about where she was going, “So… where are you going?”

She sighed, “If you must know. I’m going on a date,” she said casually.

“Really?” I nodded, “With who?”

“Oh you wouldn’t know him. He doesn’t go to our school. His name’s Brad.”

“Oh. If he doesn’t go to our school then how do you know him?” I asked.

“You know that party I went to a couple of weeks back?”

I nodded.

“Well I met him there. He’s cousins with Phil,” Catlin stated.

“Who?”

“Phil, he’s this guy in my year level,” Catlin dismissed.

“Oh okay. So you like him then?” I asked, pushing it now.

“I don’t know Holly. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see how things go today.” She unraveled the towel from around her head and walked into her bathroom to place in on the rack. When she came back she was brushing her hair, she had been blessed with nice curly hair that fell in ringlets.

I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t know who this Brad was, but if he was making Catlin nice again I wanted him to stay, “Okay.”

“Now go on and get ready for your date,” Catlin teased.

I rolled my eyes and left the room, closing the door behind me. It took me almost ten minutes to finish getting ready, in which time Catlin knocked on my door to see how far along I had come; it wasn’t very far.

“You have to spread it evenly,” Catlin sighed, charging into the room and grabbing the foundation brush out of my hand.

“Well sorry,” I snapped back sarcastically. Foundation wasn’t my strongest point. “You do it then!”

“I will then,” Catlin rolled her eyes. Unlike me Catlin was completely ready for her date. She had straightened her hair, applied mascara and added a touch of lip gloss. She was wearing her knee high boots, over her skinny leg jeans.

She grabbed the compact from my dresser and started dabbing my face with foundation. When she was done I looked in the mirror and gawped. I didn’t look any different. Why do people wear makeup when it doesn’t even look any different? How pointless is that, it’s not like I even had anything to cover up. Well not anything that I cared about anyway.

“Well? What do you think?” Catlin asked.

I smiled, “It’s looks great. Thanks Catlin,” It’s not like it wasn’t true. Catlin was in a good mood and I wanted to keep her that way.

“It’s 4:20. We better go,” Catlin said.

“We?” I asked confused.

“Yeah, my date’s at 4:30.”

“Oh, so is mine.”

“I know,” Catlin giggled, “come on.”

It turned out that our dates were not only at the same time but also in the same place, Knox. We were in the car and my phone started to buzz. It was text from Justin.

Hey, meet me in the food court.

I texted back, saying okay.

We arrived at Knox and Catlin was dropped off at the cinema. I got out then aswell, to save my parents the trouble to driving further. The walk to the food court was not a pleasant one. I saw many people I knew, including Olivia and Chase, also out on a date. They looked perfectly happy and at ease. I found a table that no one was sitting near and sat down to wait for Justin.

I had to admit I was nervous, my heart was thumping and I was constantly checking phone for the time since I didn’t have my watch—Catlin thought it would clash with my outfit. So I was very relived when I heard Justin’s voice, though the words I heard weren’t the ones I was hoping for.

“This is who I came here to meet?” Justin said scathingly.

I looked up at him in surprise, “Hi?”

He was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, a blue hoodie and black chucks. Justin grabbed the back of the chair opposite me and pulled it out, scraping the legs across the floor. Sitting down he said, “Well I suppose I could have done worse.”

I scoffed, “Why are you being such a jerk?”

“Why are you, you?” He retorted.

“Well I guess if I’m not good enough for you I’ll leave! I know when I’m not wanted,” I shouted at him, getting up and storming off.

I heard him yell, “Good,” as began running out of the food court.

I didn’t let the tears spill over until I was well away from any prying eyes.