Every Girl Does It (8 page)

My list had missed that part,
Bobby is vertically challenged
,
and I
know I
have no room to talk. In reality, he
made me feel
better
a
bout my lack of height
. I accepted myself
,
because he accepted himself and
he isn’t
that
short. If I were
to guess
,
I
’
d say he
’
s around
five-nine. But
in comparison to Preston
’
s
six foot four inch
stature
,
Bobby
looks like a child.

Bobby
shakes
his head
,
obviously annoyed at the interruption and let
s
me finish. He
takes
off without saying thank you a
nd slammed the door behind him.

“Geez,
you’re
welcome
,”
I mumble
under my breath.

“Don’t worry about Bobby
.
H
e’s always like that
,”
Preston
says
as
he began taking off his shirt.

“What are you
doing?
” I
shriek in annoyance
,
not able to take my eyes off his chest
.

“Um
,
don’t you
have to fit us for the muscle T
-shirts
?” His face
is
mildly amused
.
I
,
however
,
am not
. He totally
throws
me off
with his
confidence
.

“Yes, you
'
r
e
right. Sorry I—
“
Instead
of finishing my sentence
,
I sh
ake
my head and beg
i
n
measuring
. It
;
s different having to see him
this close up. His abs
are
real
and he
doesn’t
need the spray tan
to make them look better or more defined
.
They
’re
perfect.
Upon
closer inspection
,
I
can
see they
too deserve
their own fan page on Facebook. I want to touch them
, to make sure
I
’m
not
seeing things
.

It
isn’t
until I hear Preston clear his throat that I realize I
’ve
been holding the measuring
tape across his abs without
measuring. But I
’m
s
taring open mouthed at his six pack as if I expect
it to speak to me
. He
chuckles
to himself
, and
I let the measuring tape snap his bare skin, a
nd then apologize when he
yelps
. H
e deserves much worse.

“Okay
,”
I
say
coldly
.
“
You
can put your shirt back on now. We
’
re almost done.” I
try
not to watch him put the s
hirt back on but fail
. If your last boyfriend
had been
Dere
k
,
and you had no one
but a cat to keep you company
, you
’
d be staring as well
. Especially
,
if the man in your house
looks
like h
e
’
s shooting a commercial for
—Well
,
it woul
dn’t matter
because
,
as I look at him now
,
I realize
I
’
m so buying.

I shake my head as I watch the shirt pull down over his tight chest and try to think ab
out Grandma Ned, but it doesn’t work
.
Summoning my
self-
control
,
I
think about Grandma Ned and how she got so mad that one time she caught me watching TV during Christmas break. Yes
,
that was a bad
time
.
I believe her choice word was “
heathen
”
. I
f Grandma Ned
were
here
,
she
’
d call me much worse.

“Are you done yet?” I plead
,
voice crack
ing
.

“
I’m not the one doing t
he measuring, seamstress lady.”

Oh
,
he did not just call me that
.
I feign a smile through c
lench
ed
teeth,
while I secretly
hop
e
the gym isn’t crowded so I can go running l
ater this afternoon. If I don’t
,
I’ll spontaneously combust with all this tension
.

Preston
waits
for me to finish with the last measurements. I escort him to the door in h
opes he
’ll
leave quick
ly,
before I either kill him or
steal
his virtue. Just as he
crosses
over
the door frame
,
he
turns
to face me and
says
,
“I think you’re afraid to go on a trip with me. You like
me, admit it.”

I smil
e
sweet
ly
while leaning in
. H
is eyes t
ake
on a smoldering look
of anticipation
. Then,
as I close the distance, I slam the door in his face.

****

It
'
s
official
.
I
’
m going to Hawaii. Yes, I know Preston
will be there. But I
won’t
back down from a challenge. Please, afraid of him?

There
’
s no fear,
but there
’
s attraction
,
and it’s like gravity. And if I
’
m being honest, that does scare me
. Because
I deserve to be hurt by him
.
T
he whole situation is the perfect revenge.
If I have any fear it
’
s that his sarcastic and arrogant presence will tempt me to end
h
is
life before we land in Hawaii.

As my chest heaves thinking about his smug grin, I start to feel my heart beat faster
,
and I begin to panic.
Is this what it feels like to have a mental break down?
What
’
s happening to me?
Without thinking
,
I run to my computer and WebMD comes up as my homepage.
Kristin would kill me if she knew I still checked my favorite website.
Searching my symptoms
,
I start to hyperventilate
. And
so I call Kristin
,
forgetting she’ll be up
set that I’m doing this, again.

“Hello?”

“
Kristin
!” I
’
m seriously loud at this point.

“
Y
es?” Poor dear is afraid of me.

“I’m going crazy.” There
,
I said it.

“No
,
you
'
r
e
not.”

“
Yes
,
I
am
!” I argue.
“
I have all the symptoms. I—
”

“Amanda
,” she
scolds
.
“Did you go on Web
MD again? I thought
we discussed this, no more Web
MD
.
Remember last time you did this?”

“No,” I lie.

“Amanda.” Now she
’
s using her mom voice.

“Okay
,
fine
,
I remember.”

“Now,
be a good girl
,
hang up the phone
,
and go for a run or something
to expend all your energy
.
No coffee.
Wha
t
’
s gotten in
to you lately
? How did it go with the
measurements
?
S
orry for that
,
by the way. And you
’
re leaving in less than
three
days for vacation with your best friend
.
You need to calm down.”

She
’
s right, so
I
take
a deep breath and
hang
up the phone. She
isn’t
just right about me needing to calm down and run
,
she
’
s also right about the whole WebMD thing. Last time I went online
,
I convinced myself that not only was I going to die from a paper cut
,
but
also
that I had some sort of flesh eating disorder that was going to shut down all of my internal organs. I spent a
night in the hospital over the
paper cut and freaked out not only my friends but my family that ended up driving
three
ho
urs just to make sure I was going to survive
.

It was
ba
d
,
but it was
four
years ago
. H
ow dare she hold that against me
.
And
it wasn’t even my fault. Even if I was watching a special
on Dateline about germs and how if you
’
re too clean your body can’t fight off the germs anymore leaving you exposed to fles
h eating viruses. So it
’
s
Datelines fault for keeping America
too informed.
And how was I to know that paper cuts are sometimes more painful than normal cuts becau
se they slice the skins surface; s
tupid nighttime television.

Sighing as I look at the clock
,
I see that it’s around
eight pm
so I still have time to make it to the gym.
These next few days are going to be jam packed with work bef
ore we leave for the airport.
As I think about Hawaii
,
I
cho
o
se to buy an extra ticket for Mrs. Butterworth. I couldn’t bare the thought of her having to have some strange p
erson cat sit.
It sounds creepy to have someone come in and feed you, pet you
,
and leave again.
Well, that
’s
what I get
to look forward to when I die alone in a retirement home. Sigh.

This time I shall be prepared. Not for
Preston, but in general. So I pack my cute work out clothes,
yoga pants as well as my new hot pink racer back top
.
Just in case there
’
s so
me new gym member that looks interesting. Heading
to
my car
,
I hop in and speed of
f
to the REC center.