Dad's smile widens. "Oh, she's going to shit bricks," he agrees.
"Screw that," says Steve. "She's gonna shit an entire building!"
The three of us start laughing at Mom's expense and earn ourselves more pissed off stares.
"Why are you doing this, Dad?" I wipe the tears from my eyes. "It's too much, I don't deserve all this!"
"Like hell you don't," Dad says. "You work your ass off, Tar, don't think I haven't noticed, even if I'm not always around here to share in it. I'm happy to do all this for you. And Steve and I want to spend some time with you before you leave for college."
I tear up again, this time from gratitude. "Thanks, Daddy," I murmur.
"Don't mention it, kiddo." Dad squeezes my hand. "I love you."
"I love you too." I let Dad kiss the back of my hand, like the handsome prince in my childhood storybooks.
"Okay, enough mushy mush," Steve points his chops sticks at us. "Some of us are starving here, let's eat!"
Chapter Four
Shopping for prom is torture. Actually, I've left it pretty late, most of my friends had their dresses and shoes picked out months ago. So today after school, when Kim insisted we go prom dress shopping, I could hardly refuse.
Kim already has her dress, this awesome, sexy A-line gown in baby blue with spaghetti straps and a slit up the side. You would think our school wouldn't allow her to show so much skin, but they don't really pay much attention to be honest. Besides, it makes the year book pictures look so much nicer.
We go to Beverly's, which is this pretty cool dress shop downtown. The prices are high but if you're in my crowd you don't go just anywhere to get your prom dress. Everyone expects our dresses to be the best, so they are. No matter how much the "best" costs.
Kim flicks through the racks of dresses quickly. "You can't wear blue because I am. And you can't wear red, you'll look like a slut."
I stand nearby, my arms crossed and wait for her to pick out an appropriate gown. It would be kind of nice to make my own choice, but that's not going to happen.
At least the sales ladies leave us alone. They're all busy helping a nervous bride and her mother pick out a wedding dress. I watch them wistfully, daydreaming about getting married. I bet Mr. Hayes looks amazing in a tux!
Kim disrupts my imaginary romantic interlude and pulls out a gorgeous lavender gown. "Oh, this is nice!" She holds it up to my chin. "It has a high neck too so it will cover your scar."
It is a very nice dress, and I love the color. I reach for the tag and blanch.
"Holy shit! Kim, this dress is nearly eight hundred dollars!"
Kim makes a face. "Well, that sucks." She hangs the dress back up. "Well I give up. It's impossible." She's in a weird mood today. Quieter and less bitchy than normal.
"What's the matter?" I ask.
Kim sighs. "Ryan, is quite possibly, the most boring lay ever." She fluffs her blond hair and pouts. "I mean, all this time, I've been waiting for him to be a man. And it's like, I lay there, and I want to die."
I snort out a giggle and one of the prissy sales ladies gives me a nasty look. "It can't be that bad!"
"Really?" Kim raises an eyebrow at me. "You've never done it before so you don't know how good it can be. Trust me, Ryan is a snooze in bed. And I feel like I've wasted the last however many months on him. It's time to move on." She halfheartedly goes back to searching through the dresses.
My interest is immediately piqued. "You're going to dump him, for real?"
"Well, yeah!" Kim rolls her eyes. "It's obvious this is a lost cause. And Jason and I have been, well, we've been spending a lot of time texting and stuff." She giggles. "He's my soul mate. I never should have broken up with him."
"Ryan is going to be devastated," I murmur. And he'll need a shoulder to cry on.
"He'll be fine. He's got his X-box." Suddenly Kim's face brightens. "Ah- hah! This is the one!" She pulls another dress out and holds it up. "This is fucking perfect!"
I have to admit, she's chosen well, yet again. The dress is beautiful; it's aqua and long and full with a tulle covered skirt and a high sheer neckline. It's fit for a princess.
"How much though?" I can't ask my mom to shovel out a shit load for this dress. She's been extremely pissy ever since Dad gave me the car.
Kim checks the price tag. "Not bad! Under $400."
I breathe a sigh of relief. "Alrighty then! Aqua Princess, I shall be!"
◆◆◆
Shopping makes me late to work and Manny is there, arms crossed, waiting to greet me.
"I'm sorry!" I rush past him into the back room and grab a hair net.
He follows me back and shuts the door. No, he slams the door.
I look at him, my eyes hesitant. I'm kind of regretting being snarky with him when he cleaned our pool. It seems its payback time.
"I was...” I pause. I really don’t want to tell him I’m late because of shopping. My mind searches for an excuse. “Traffic was bad. Really bad.”
"Oh, shut up!" Manny snaps. "I'm so tired of your excuses, Bishop! You are this close..." He holds up his finger and thumb and puts them in my face. "This close to being canned and I'm not kidding. If it was up to me, you'd be gone. But my old man says we have to keep you."
I smooth my hair under the hair net, gazing at myself in the mirror so I don't have to look at Manny's angry face. "Well, tell your father
