One of the Guys (7 page)

“
It doesn’t matter,
Logan.”

“
It does, Chase.
I’ve noticed you acting different sometimes. I know it’s hard, with
the guys, but we’re all friends, and
they
don’t care that you’re a girl.
Plus, ignore Carl. He’s been wanting to hook up with Carly for a
while, so he was trying to get her attention.”

“
I don’t give a shit about Carl.” I
muttered. “He’s an ass.”

“
Yeah he can be, I agree. Don’t let
it get to you, ok?”

Logan put his hand on my bare arm,
and my whole body broke out in goosebumps.

“
You’re right.” I said. “It
shouldn’t.”

But it does.
I thought.

*****

Logan dropped me
at home, and I went up to my room to put my things away. Ruffles
was lying on my bed, as usual, ignoring that I was
there.

The comments that the girls had
said about me were flying around in my head.

“
She’s not a real girl; she
doesn’t even go to the salon.”

“
Why does she wear such huge tops?
Is she hiding a flabby stomach?”

“
Why does she still hang out with
the guys? Can’t she find any friends of her own?”

“
Why does Logan even talk to her
still?”

“
She could be really pretty if she
weren't trying to be a boy.”

I looked at myself in the mirror. I
must admit, I wasn’t bad looking and mascara was the limit of my
makeup, but I still looked very much like a girl.

My blue eyes were framed by long
eyelashes that curled up all on their own, my nose was average, and
my full lips were so feminine I could pout like a 50’s Hollywood
star. Just a little red lipstick and I’d be all set.

Yuck.

I took off my T-shirt and looked at
my body. My waist nipped in, tight and defined from years of hard
work. My slim shoulders and arms were toned and strong, yet still
feminine.

I didn’t understand why I felt so
embarrassed about showing off my figure. Any normal girl, my age,
would be flaunting what she has with pride. All I know is, I felt
uncomfortable. I guess I really didn’t want that attention. If I
could muster up some courage to wear something a little tighter,
and more my size, maybe I could get used to it.

I’m sure that day will come, maybe,
but right now I wasn’t ready.

Slipping my T-shirt back on, I made
my way downstairs to find my Mom. We were going to the spa, and she
was so excited to go. I was thinking about pulling a ‘sickie’ when
she spotted me.

“
Chase! It’s almost time to go for
our appointments.” She beamed at me. I felt bad at thinking about
getting out of going. She looked so happy. “I can’t wait to go.
Some girly time together, it’s going to be fun!” She clapped her
hands like an excited teenager, and I just smiled, but inside I
wanted to scream.

“
Here are my favorite girls.” My
Dad said as he walked into the kitchen. “Looking forward to your
session?” He asked me, and I could see that he was just dying to
laugh. He knew I didn’t want to go.

“
Yeah, Dad. I’m ecstatic, can’t you
tell?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“
Come on Chase, you’ll have a good
time with your Mom.” He pulled me into his arms for a hug. “Your
Mom has been looking forward to this all day. Don’t back out.” He
whispered into my ear.

“
I won’t.” I sighed.

“
Let’s go!” My Mom chirped, kissing
my Dad before we left.

We got into the car, and my Mom
chatted happily all the way there. I zoned out a little when I
heard Logan’s name.

“
Sorry, what?” I asked.

“
I said, how are things with
Logan?”

“
Um… Ok, I guess. Why?”

My Mom smiled at me like there was
something going on. I only wished there was.

“
Well, you’ve been friends for a
long time, honey. Don’t you think it’s a little strange that he
always wants to hang out with you?”

“
What’s that supposed to mean?” I
said, a little too harshly.

“
Oh, Honey. I didn’t mean that in a
bad way. I meant that he always wants to be around you. Don’t you
think, as a teenage boy, that he might want to be around you for
other reasons?” She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“
We’re friends, Mom. We’ve been
hanging out for almost three years. Being a teenager has nothing to
do with it.”

I knew what she was getting at,
but I didn’t want to give her the impression that I did, or
that
I
wanted
more than to just hang out with Logan.

“
That boy has something for you,
Chase. I think he likes you a different way too.”

If only that was true.
I thought.

“
He doesn’t, Mom. I think I’d know
if he did. Anyway, we all hang out together most of the time.
Sometimes, when the others are busy, Logan and I will hang out
alone, to study.” I hoped I sounded convincing enough. It hurt to
admit to my Mom that there was nothing between us, because I wished
that it was different.

“
If you say so, honey.” She said,
patting my knee with her hand.

I turned my head to look out of the
window as we drove by the stores on the main shopping
strip.

Lots of boutiques, salons, shoe
stores, and cafe’s were lined up. You could seriously go into just
a couple of the places and walk out like a different
person.

My Mom pulled up outside a modern
looking place, with all its silver, and oak signage, and a glass
door with silver writing. It looked nice, but it wasn’t my
thing.

Reluctantly, I walked in behind my
Mom and she went to the counter to announce that we were there for
our treatments.

I looked around, and there were a
few stations were the staff were doing nails, some where putting
makeup on customers and some were doing something to their
feet.

Oh God! Please let me go
home!

I could see some rooms, near the
back that had ‘treatment room’ followed by a number on the doors. I
guess that’s where they went for the private things like waxing and
stuff.

Ouch.

I’ll stick to my razor.

“
Chase.” My Mom called to get my
attention.

The woman behind the counter was
looking at me like she’d asked me a question. She handed me a list
of things that they offer.

“
What’s this for?” I
asked.

“
It’s our treatment list.” My mom
said with a huge smile.

I looked down at the list, back to
my Mom, and then to the woman. Then, I realized what she’d booked
us in for.

No way in
hell
was I having that!

Chapter
4

“
I don’t want a
massage!” I almost shouted at my Mom.

There was no way on earth that was
happening.

“
But honey, I’ve booked us in.” My
Mom whined.

“
I’ll have a manicure, but that’s
my limit.” I said.

The staff were looking at me like
there was something wrong with me.

“
How about a facial?”

“
No.” I said through my clenched
jaw, glaring at her.

My Mom knows I don’t like this
stuff and trying to get me to do things, especially when I was
suddenly the center of attention, wasn’t going to make me
agree.

“
Chase…”

“
Just the manicure, I’ll wait
whilst you have a massage.” I said, trying to plead with her to
just leave me be.

“
Just manicures today, thank you.”
My Mom said to the receptionist with an annoyed sigh.

I could tell that she wanted some
girly bonding time with me, but springing that on me wasn’t fair.
She knows I don’t want to be touched, so massages and facials were
off the table straight away.

Sorry to disappoint, Mom.
I thought.

I didn’t like to make her unhappy,
but she knew this wasn’t me.

We got called to our stations and
the girl promptly had us dip our fingertips in some warm
water.

Ok that wasn’t bad at all, but I
wasn’t prepared for what came next. After a couple of minutes, she
took one of my hands out and dried it. Then, she gave me a dirty
look after looking over my nails, before torturing me with a file
and what looked like wire cutters.

“
Ow!” I cried for about the
twentieth time in just a few minutes.

“
Almost done with this hand.” The
girl said, and I was close to telling her that she was done,
period.

After my other hand was slowly
butchered, she asked me what color polish I wanted.

“
None.” I said. “I don’t like
it.”

“
It’s part of the
manicure.”

“
Thanks, but I don’t want polish.
We’re not allowed it in school either.” I lied.

“
Ok then.” She said and then
proceeded to bore me about cuticle care, and possibly having
extensions done.

Yeah, because I so wanted
that!

I know I sound like a brat, but
honestly, I just didn’t want any of this at all. I came for my Mom,
and the way the beauticians looked at me; you’d wonder why I hadn’t
beaten them with their nail files.

My Mom was too busy chatting to
the girl tending to
her
nails to notice.

“
Mom, can we stop at the candy
store? I want to get something for Logan.”

“
Ok, honey.” She said, waving her
hands about to dry her nails.

I had to get her purse to pay for
our ‘treatments’, if that’s what you’d call them, and then we drove
to the shopping mall to the huge candy store.

I wanted to get Logan’s favorite
red twizzlers. They were a different brand from this store; they
were nicer. I knew Logan would be able to tell where they were from
instantly.

Walking out, after buying twenty
dollars worth of candy, I spotted a new store that sold natural
‘earthy’ gifts.

I saw a woven bracelet that was
different shades of brown and black. It was woven tightly with
three small brown beads, evenly spaced, down the length. It was a
friendship bracelet, and I knew Logan would like it. He already had
two leather style bracelets. This one would look great with
them.

On the way home, my phone beeped
and I saw that I had a text from Logan.

Cue rapid heart rate and lustful
thoughts…

Check.

L: How’s your spa session?
:D

C: Done. It was
painful.

L: How is a manicure painful?
XD

C: When the person doing it is a
sadist! :(

L: Haha! Are you going home
now?

C: Yeah. In the car
now.

L: Wanna come over to my
house?

My rapid heart skipped a beat as I
read the text. Of
course
I wanted to go over! I also wanted to find out
what his lips tasted like. I’d never kissed anybody before, and I
really wanted Logan to be my first kiss.

My only.

Remembering that I needed to
answer, I typed back quickly.

C: Sure. Be there soon.

L: K

“
Mom, could you…?”

“
Logan’s house?” She
interrupted.

“
Yeah.” I said, my face
heating.

My Mom drove me to his house with a
smile on her face,

“
Call me if you need me to pick you
up.”

“
Sure.” I said, closing the door
and walking up the path.

The door opened before I even got
there, and Logan stood looking like a magazine model ready for a
shoot. His T-shirt was clinging to his chest, and the sleeves were
wrapped around his biceps as his arm rested on the door
frame.

“
Hi.” He greeted me with a huge
smile, his eyes bright.

He looked more than happy to see
me, and I sighed internally wishing that it was true. That was
until we got to the kitchen.

“
So… Let me see.” He said, holding
out his hands. He wanted to see my nails.

I put my bags on the counter and
held my hands out, without putting them in his. I was too scared
to. I had no choice then because he grabbed my hands and lifted
them higher to look.

“
Nice.” He said,
and I stopped breathing for a second when he looked into my eyes.
“What
exactly
did they do?”

I took a breath and explained, in
gory detail, of the horror that was my manicure. Even the wire
cutters that she used to cut my skin.