Dare to Be Different (17 page)

“Oh, yeah! I found some really cute things.”

“Yeah, real cute,” Dani said, rolling her eyes.

Mom raised her eyebrows and said, “Great. Then we can have our own private fashion show when we get home.”

“Sure, Mom. No problem.”

After dinner, Mom sat on the couch. “Drew, why don’t you get those things that you bought so we
can make sure that everything is acceptable for you to wear.”

“Mom, I know the rules and I followed them. I don’t see what the concern is.”

“There’s no real concern, honey, but I’d appreciate if you don’t argue with me and just humor me. I am only looking out for your best interests.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go get them.” Drew left to get her bags from the room that she shared with her sister. She stomped down the hall, careful not to be disrespectful, but made sure that her mom knew she wasn’t happy.

Plopping her bags down on the couch, Drew waited for the verdict. Her mom wasn’t too happy at all when she saw how small and short some of the shirts were. Drew said, “Hold on, Mom. Before you say no, let me try them on.”

Skeptically, she agreed to reserve judgment until she had a chance to see the items on Drew.

After Drew had the first outfit on, Mrs. Daniels realized that they were layering pieces and that the shorter items were worn on top to reveal the layers beneath. “Well, now, that’s not so bad. But, Drew, you have to promise me that I’m not going to catch you wearing those clothes
alone or in any way that shows your belly.”

“I already know that, Mom.”

She raised her eyebrows, waiting.

“Okay, I promise. Really.”

“Well, then, everything is fine; and I especially like the belt you bought. It’s definitely a cool piece.”

Dani had been sitting quietly on the other side of the room, watching the process and waiting for the verdict. She quietly got up and went to her room, softly closed the door, and got ready for bed. She wasn’t too happy, but she didn’t really know what it was that was bugging her.

“Too many changes,” she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2

They woke to the sound of steady rain on their windows. Because of the weather, the girls decided to ride the bus to school that day even though they much preferred to walk. Nervously, they waited on the porch and watched the corner at the end of their street for the first sign of the big yellow bus as it turned onto their street.

The bus slowed to a stop in front of their house while Dani and Drew scrambled to gather up their backpacks and purses from their perch on the front porch. Squeezing between the familiar seats, the girls stepped over the legs that spread far into the aisle and the backpacks carelessly strewn across the seat backs as they searched for an open seat to share. They headed toward the
back of the bus but stopped short of the last few rows, knowing that those were reserved for the seniors. Ninth graders had to sit somewhere in the middle of the bus, and if they attempted to sit somewhere else, the seniors would make sure they paid for it. They chose a seat and settled in for the short ride.

As the bus pulled away from their house, Drew pulled out a small bag and unzipped it. Dani looked on with interest. “What’s in the

bag?”

Drew grinned wickedly and pulled out a tube of lipstick and waved it in Dani’s face. “Look what I’ve got.”

Drew had managed to smuggle a full set of makeup and a mirror out of the house without being seen. Dani just watched as Drew applied the makeup that she hoped would make her look even older than a ninth grader.

At Drew’s insistent prodding, Dani applied some sheer lip gloss and just a tiny bit of sparkly blue eye shadow to her fresh face. She liked what she saw in the mirror and handed it over to Drew, who shook her head.

“That’s all you’re going to put on?” she taunted Dani. “This is your chance. Are you chicken?”

Dani wouldn’t take the bait—she felt guilty enough already—so Drew gave up with a shrug of her shoulders and continued to cake it on.

First, she applied some heavy black eyeliner around her eyes and then mascara to her lashes. The bumpy bus ride made the mascara difficult to apply, but eventually she managed. Then Drew took out the red lipstick and began to apply it to her full lips.

Dani gasped. “Do you have any idea what you look like?”

“I don’t care,” Drew replied. “I like it.”

Shaking her head, Dani allowed Drew to continue; but, wanting no part of the mess, she took out a book and pretended to read while watching Drew out of the corner of her eye.

The bus slowly squealed to a stop in front of the school. The girls stood from their seats—the sticky plastic peeled from the backs of their legs leaving red, sweaty marks—and collected their things.

“Hold on,” Drew said as she grabbed Dani’s sleeve. “Let’s let everyone else pass, and then we’ll get off.” The girls waited, and when the last student passed them to get off the bus, they began to make their exit. As they stepped out into the
aisle, Drew paused for a second and rolled her gray plaid knit skirt up a few inches. The skirt that had once reached Drew’s knees, and the skirt that her mother was thrilled to see Drew wearing to the first day of school, became a miniskirt that Drew would never have been allowed to wear out of the house. She looked like a completely different person than the one who had kissed her mom as she left the house this morning—a person Dani wasn’t sure she liked.

“What are you hoping to accomplish with this new look of yours?” Dani asked her sister, making no attempt to hide her disgust as she looked from her heavily made-up face to her now-revealed knees.

“What do I hope to accomplish? Well, sis, I intend to have a boyfriend this year; and I want to be noticed for me, not just for being one of a pair. It’s time to make my mark on this school. It’s time to shine.” Drew lifted her chin triumphantly.

“Well, don’t bump into anyone—or with all of that makeup on your face, you’ll make your mark all over their shirt,” Dani replied sarcastically.

“Don’t be jealous, sweet sis. You, too, can have all of this and more.” Drew made an exaggerated flourish as she moved toward the front
of the bus as she stopped to look in the driver’s rearview mirror long enough to fluff her new haircut and check her teeth for any lipstick smears. Satisfied, she smiled at her reflection, while Dani just rolled her eyes.

Exiting the bus, the girls entered the throng of students making their way toward the front door of the school. Smiling, Drew sneaked up on several of their friends. When they turned to see who was behind them, they all registered shock at Drew’s appearance.

“Oh my goodness! You sure changed a lot over the summer. I really love your hair,” Cara shouted above the noisy crowd.

“You look like a different person,” Stacey said in shock.

“Did your mom let you dress like that?” Cara wondered.

“You two don’t look anything alike anymore. I’ll have no problem telling you apart now.”

Dani was stopped short by this last comment. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling so well and just wanted to escape the crowd. Mumbling something about making it to her homeroom class on time, she darted away, getting lost in the crowd before her sister even noticed that she was gone.

But Drew was too enthralled with the attention she was getting to pay much notice. Before entering the school, Drew pulled out her pocket mirror and reapplied her lipstick, as her fresh-faced friends looked on in awe.

Crash!
While Drew was looking in the mirror, something crashed hard into her back and sent her sprawling in the grass. Dazed, she sat there for a moment trying to compose herself and then looked around to see if she could find her backpack and purse that went flying. Her mirror lay broken on the sidewalk, and her lipstick was rolling away, headed under the bus.

“Oh, man, I am so sorry.”

Drew looked up to see the cutest boy in school standing over her head, offering her a hand to help her up. As she allowed herself to be righted, she looked at the boy. It was Trevor Jaymes, the captain of the varsity football team and star quarterback, in his clean, game-day uniform. Once he had her standing upright, he took off to find her things. Drew and her friends just watched as he picked up the pieces of her mirror and ran off to catch the still-rolling lipstick.

Drew couldn’t help but giggle when Trevor walked toward her, trying to figure out how to
twist the lipstick back down so he could put the lid on it. He pushed on it for a minute and quickly realized that wouldn’t work. He looked perplexed when he saw the red smudges on his fingers. Looking for somewhere to wipe his hands, he shrugged and wiped them on his white football pants, which caused pink streaks.

As she watched Trevor struggle with the lipstick, Drew couldn’t contain herself any longer, so she began to laugh. Then, Trevor, determined to get that lipstick to close, pressed hard on the lid and then realized that he completely smashed the top of the stick.

“I am so sorry for everything,” Trevor said as he walked toward her, appearing to blush with each step. “I think I wrecked your stuff.” With a red face, he held out the broken pieces of Drew’s mirror and her ruined tube of lipstick.

Drew couldn’t help but laugh at his discomfort. “It’s no big deal,” she assured him. “It’s really nothing.” She noticed that he was giving her a funny look and standing there a little longer than he needed to. He was so cute—the cutest boy in school, really. She was sure that he would never be interested in a freshman like her. He was a junior, after all. She was lucky he even stopped
to talk to her.

“What’s your name anyway?” Trevor asked her as he was backing away from the group.

“It’s Drew,” she answered him, coyly not offering any further information.

“I’m Trevor Jaymes,” he shot back as he got farther away.

“Oh, I know who you are,” Drew answered and then began to blush as she realized that she shouldn’t have said that; she should have played it a little cooler. In order to redeem herself, she turned away before he did and flipped her long, dark hair back over her shoulders as she started to walk away, making sure her waves bounced as she walked.

“Catch you later, Drew,” he called after her. Proud of herself, Drew pretended not to hear him and continued to walk away.

“Why didn’t you answer him? He clearly liked you.” Stacey was appalled that Drew had been rude to Trevor.

“Oh, Stacey, you have a lot to learn about boys.” Drew laughed. “You never want to be too eager, and you always want to keep them guessing. They will never want what comes easily to them. If you play hard-to-get, it will make
you look more important.”

“How did you get so smart? You’ve never even had a boyfriend,” Cara pointed out.

“While Dani was reading the actual Bible, I read
Seventeen
magazine all summer. It’s the bible of boys and fashion. You girls should check it out.” She pointedly looked them up and down and then laughed, teasing them.

On her way to class, Drew stopped in the hallway to check out the notice board. Her friends paused with her, curious to see what she was looking for. Nodding her head, Drew turned away from the wall, looking satisfied at her find.

“What?” Cara asked. “You’re so full of mystery these days. What did you see there that you

liked?”

“I think I’m going to try out for the cheer-leading squad, and I wanted to find out when tryouts are. That’s all,” Drew answered.

“Oh, I think you should,” Stacey encouraged. “What does Dani think?”

“Well, that’s the thing. I’d like her to do it, too. But it hardly seems to be her thing, you know?”

“Speak of the … well … angel, here she is,” Cara said as Dani turned the corner and joined the group.

“Who’s the angel?” Dani laughed.

“So, you and Drew are going to go out for the cheerleading squad, I hear.” Stacey baited her. Drew shot daggers at Stacey with a glare that even Dani didn’t miss.

“I told them you hadn’t decided yet.”

“Hadn’t decided
yet?
The words ‘cheerleading squad’ have never even been spoken to me. I had no idea this was something I was supposed to be deciding.”