Chapter 14

Mike and Pete threw away their half-eaten soft pretzels and stood up. "Don't worry," I assured them. "This really wasn't my idea. You don't have to give me your opinion at all. Really." I could feel my cheeks burning, and I was determined to salvage at least a shred of my dignity.

"Just stand here and pretend to talk to me for a minute," I begged. "That should satisfy her, and then I can go give the dress back. I'm sorry that she put you on the spot like that. It really wasn't necessary. Kendra already pointed out how bad this thing looks on me!"

"Are you kidding?" Mike grabbed my hand and twirled me around. "This dress is great! You should definitely buy it."

"Yeah," Pete said, his eyes wide. "Is Kendra blind or something? How could she possibly say that this dress looks any less than phenomenal on you?"

Mike spun me around and wrapped his arms around my waist. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear, "Laina, you look delectable." His lips brushed my earlobe and I felt myself shiver at the touch.

"Mmmm..." he breathed. "Absolutely delicious."

I was enjoying the attention, but Mike's proximity was starting to make me a little bit nervous. I didn't want to give him any ideas. I placed both of my hands on his chest and pushed him away slightly. "So, the dress looks good, then?" I smiled. I wondered whether it would be rude to tell him to back off when he was in the middle of complimenting me.

Kendra joined us, and Mike loosened his hold on me, sparing me the trouble of trying to squirm out of his grasp. "So, Laina," she asked, "are you ready to hit the outlets? We'd better get going, or we are never going to find a dress that fits you before the stores close!"

Without warning, Pete grabbed my wrist and sat down on the bench, pulling me out of Mike's grasp and across his lap. I shrieked in surprise and then looked at him curiously. He didn't answer my questioning glance, challenging Kendra with an icy stare instead.

"Alaina has decided to stay here," Pete announced.

"Yep!" Mike chimed in. "She's already found a dress that fits just fine."

"Oh, I know it's fine," Kendra replied, "but Laina wants more than just fine. She wants to look good for the Fall Ball. And I am going to help her find the perfect dress."

Pete winked and gave me a little squeeze. "She's already found it. The only way that this dress would look better is if it were in a crumpled heap on my bedroom floor."

I don't know why guys always think that line is so clever, but you would not believe how often I hear it! I've been told that my jeans, my shirts, my dresses, even my band uniform would look really good in a crumpled heap on the floor of someone's bedroom.

I guess that they must think it is some kind of compliment. I think that it's extremely rude and degrading. I hate it! It makes me feel like I'm just an object, a piece of meat. I wanted to slap Pete! I managed to extract myself from his grasp and stormed back into the dressing room to change back into my safe and comfortable t-shirt and jeans. I bought the dress, though. I'm not sure why.

No one ever makes degrading comments like that to Kendra. Or to Andi. But I hear them all of the time. I don't understand it. What makes the guys think that I would enjoy that kind of attention? Because I don't.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't want to be noticed. Just not that way. I mean, I like to imagine that I am pretty. I try to believe that is why guys always tell me that they want to sleep with me. I tell myself that boys are simply too obsessed with sex, that they are too clueless to realize that it's not flattering, that it probably comes up in conversation with everyone, all the time. I tell myself that, but I know that it's not really the truth.

The truth is that for some reason, boys simply don't see me as a real person. When I look in the mirror, I see a girl with hopes and dreams and aspirations. When guys look at me, they just see an object, like I'm some sort of trophy. The sad truth is that they simply don't respect me. And I don't know if they ever will.

Kendra never has that problem. When boys talk to her, they have regular conversations, and they almost never talk about sex. Kendra can talk to boys about politics or philosophy or potato chips. The subject really doesn't matter; the point is that they talk. Of course, I can talk about all of those things too, and I have some great conversations with some of the guys that I spend time with. But sex always finds its way into the conversation somehow.

Even Jarod sometimes takes his teasing to inappropriate extremes. I don't understand it. I'm certain that is the biggest reason that Kendra has a better social life than I do. The boys respect her and see her as a real person, not as an object.

Kendra always has a boyfriend. She says that men are like tissues, because when you're done with one, another always pops up to take its place. She isn't really serious. I think that she heard it on a movie or something and thought that it sounded cool. But for Kendra, it really is true. Right now, she is dating Brandon, and she's happy with him, but Josh has made it perfectly clear that he is waiting for her to be available again so that he can ask her out.

I have never had a boyfriend. Not really. Of course, there was Seth in grade school, but when he moved away in the 4^th grade, that was the end of my romantic life. Except for my long-distance "romance" with Sebastian James in junior high school. I met Sebastian when I was visiting my cousin for spring break in 7^th grade. Sebastian was my cousin Cari's next door neighbor, and we went for a walk together on the first day that I was visiting her.

It was kind of cold, so Sebastian let me wear his jacket, and he held my hand to keep it warm. We saw each other every day, and I really liked him a lot. When I went home again, Sebastian told me that he loved me, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. He even kissed me on the cheek when we said goodbye.

We wrote letters to each other for 3 years, until we just kind of stopped. I still wonder what happened to Sebastian. And sometimes I wonder whether he ever wonders about me. Probably not.

But the boys that I go to school with simply aren't interested in dating a girl like me. Sometimes, we flirt, and of course, I have been propositioned many times. I have even been on a few first dates, but it never develops into anything. The boys that I know simply don't see me as girlfriend material. Sometimes, I wonder if they even really see me as a person.

Comments like the one Pete made at the mall are common. Actually, I have heard that exact pickup line at least 3 times, just this month. I hear it all the time. But that's not the worst of it. I can handle the "subtle" innuendoes like that. I can usually laugh it off and convince myself that it's just a matter of boys being boys. So, even though I hate it, I'm usually not too bothered by it.

But sometimes, the propositions are much more direct and overt. That's when it really hurts. That's when I really wonder who I am and what kind of person other people see when they look at me. I mean, what kinds of signals am I throwing out that would make these guys think that I could ever welcome that kind of attention? That's when I am tempted to give up, when I wonder if the effort is really worth it after all.

Chapter 13

Our height is the only major difference between Kendra and me. I'm 5'8 ½", just like Andi. Kendra is barely 5'2". When I stand next to her, I actually feel tall. Of course, I know that I'm not tall. My parents are both over six feet tall, and Jarod is 6'4"! They all love to tease Andi and me about how "short" we are. But next to Kendra, we both look pretty tall. Still, height is really nothing. Who really cares if we're the same size, anyway? Friendship is not determined by size!

Kendra and I could never share clothes with each other or any of that stereotypical best girl friend bonding kind of stuff, because her things would never fit me, and mine would never fit her. (Kendra wears size 8 petite, and I wear size 6 tall.) But really, what is the big deal about sharing clothes, anyway? There are plenty of other things (like our hopes and dreams) that we do share.

In all honesty, I'm kind of glad for the size difference between us. I really don't think that I could wear any of Kendra's clothes, even if we were the same size. I mean, don't get me wrong. The clothes that she wears look really good on her. Believe me; she turns heads wherever she goes.

All Kendra has to do is walk into a room, and all eyes are on her. She's a lot like Andrea in that way – so much more admired and popular than I will ever be! But those clothes simply wouldn't work on me. She likes short skirts and tight, revealing tops. And they suit her. But I would be so uncomfortable if I tried to pull off that style.

Sometimes, though, I wish that fashion was as easy for me as it is for Kendra. Shopping is so easy for my best friend! Invariably, she finds the perfect outfit in the very first store that we try, while I can spend days on end searching and never find anything that fits just right.

Last year, Kendra and I went shopping together for our Fall Ball dresses. As always, the first store we walked into had Kendra's perfect dress on display. It was royal blue, long, and strapless. The bodice was form-fitted to her exact measurements, and the straight skirt had a high slit. She looked absolutely amazing in it, almost like it was custom made just for her! Five minutes into our shopping trip, and she was already done!

The dress was so beautiful on the mannequin that I had to try it on too. I chose one in a dark forest green color. This green dress would have looked terrific on Andrea, since Kendra and Andi both have those nice, even proportions. It did not, however, work for me. It was too tight in the bust and hips and too loose in the waist. I felt like a stuffed sausage, and I was afraid that I might spill out of the top if I inhaled too deeply. I knew that it was a long shot anyway, but it was still heartbreaking to discover how much this gorgeous dress didn't fit me.

Kendra tried to make me feel better about it. "It's fine, Laina," she told me. I knew that it really wasn't fine by the way that she refused to make eye contact. "If this is the dress that you really want, then you should go ahead and buy it. People will probably be so concerned about themselves that they won't even notice that your dress is the wrong shape for you. And we can always do something outrageous with your hair to draw attention away from your body."

I put the dress back, and I heard Kendra breathe a sigh of relief. I guess I will leave the sexy, strapless numbers for people like Kendra and Andi, those gorgeous, perfectly proportioned goddesses! I breathed deeply and tried to prepare myself for a long day of fruitless dress shopping.

Finally, in the very last store in the mall, I found a black, calf-length velvet and lace dress with a fitted bodice, full skirt and capped sleeves. It was a little bit fancier than I thought I wanted, but I tried it on anyway. It fit fine. For once, the dress wasn't too tight or too loose, and it actually mostly fit my lopsided proportions. At least, it fit well enough that I was willing to emerge from the dressing room to let Kendra give me her opinion on it. Most of the dresses that I had tried on were so awful that I didn't even get that far.

I stepped out and slowly twirled for inspection. "Well? What do you think? Does this one work at all?" I asked.

"Hmmm…" Kendra eyed me critically and frowned. "Well, I guess it's better than any of the other dresses that you have tried on today. That purple dress was absolutely horrendous!"

I shuddered. She was right. I had looked absolutely horrible in every dress that I had tried on so far. Even worse, I hadn't even noticed how horrible I looked. I had seriously considered buying a few of the dresses (the horrendous purple one, for example) until I stepped out of the dressing room and Kendra showed me their flaws.

I was starting to think that I was never going to find a dress for the Fall Ball, but I was grateful, at least, that I had Kendra along to stop me before I made a huge fashion blunder! "But what about this dress?" I asked. "I wish that this store had a three-way mirror. I can't even see myself clearly!"

The sales clerk, a rotund, grandmotherly type with silver-white hair, approached. "Oh, we do have a three-way mirror, dear. Come with me. You must see how adorable you look in this pretty dress!"

She took me by the hand and led me, gently but firmly, to the front of the store. She placed me in front of a large three-way mirror, right next to the entrance, where I could easily be seen by anyone who happened to walk by. Then, she stood back, beaming like a proud grandmother, while Kendra offered her unbiased opinion on the dress.

"Well," Kendra began, "I'm not sure. Black is a good color for you, because it's so slimming, and it tends to hide all of those body issues. And like I said, it is better than anything else you've tried on today."

"So I should go ahead and buy it then?" I breathed a sigh of relief. I could finally walk away from the torture of the dressing room. I was free as soon as I put my own clothes back on. I started to walk away from the mirror. I couldn't wait to slip back into my comfortable jeans and t-shirt!

Kendra shook her head and frowned. "Well, I guess you can get it if you really want to, Laina. If you're comfortable with it, then I guess that's all that really matters, right?"

I stopped and turned back to the mirror for a closer inspection. "What's wrong with it?" I asked. "Be honest."

"Oh, nothing. Really, it's fine." Kendra turned her full attention to inspecting the rack of half-price plaid skirts. "Why don't they ever have things in my size?" she cried.

I cringed. Kendra hates plaid. She always says that plaid is what uncoordinated people wear because they think it matches with everything. She would never wear a plaid skirt! I knew that it had to be really bad news if she would rather shop for a plaid skirt than give me her opinion of the dress!

"Kendra," I took a deep breath and spoke slowly, steeling myself for whatever was coming, "just give me your honest opinion of this dress on me, please."

She wouldn't look me in the eyes, but slowly, she spoke. "Well, I didn't want to mention it, because I know how sensitive you are about your weight and everything, but don't you think that it's a little bit too tight on you? I mean, the skirt is fine. The fullness actually hides your big hips. But the bodice is really fitted, isn't it? It shows off your figure a little bit too well, don't you think?"

I turned back to the mirror for a closer inspection. "What do you mean? How does it show off my figure too well?" I squinted and turned slowly, watching my reflection from every angle, trying to see myself through Kendra's eyes.

She fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with the task of telling me, yet again, that I had picked an unattractive dress. "Personally," she muttered, "I think that it makes you look chubbier than you really are. But if that doesn't bother you, then you should get it. Whatever you're comfortable with. That's all that really matters. I am sure that whatever blind date that Andi digs up for you won't really care what you look like."

I glared at the mirrors. I don't know how I had missed the rolls of flab that were so evident now that Kendra had pointed them out! That's why I never go shopping without her. She always saves me from making a huge fool of myself by pointing out when something makes me look too pale, too chunky, too geeky… whichever adjective applies. Sometimes I wish that she didn't have to save me so often, but I am so grateful that Kendra cares enough to tell me when I don't look good. Everyone else tries to spare my feelings by telling me that I look great when I really don't!

"Well," I sighed, "I guess we can try the outlet stores across town. Maybe they'll have something on the 'irregular' rack that will be perfect for an 'irregular' girl like me!"

"Nonsense, dearie!"

I jumped. I had forgotten that the sales clerk was still there, and her sudden outburst startled me.

"You look just precious in that dress," she gushed. "Why, all of the boys will be lining up to be the first one to dance with you!"

I laughed. Some people will say anything to make a sale! "I appreciate it ma'am, but I don't think so. I'll have to look somewhere else and hope that someone has a dress that will fit me." I turned toward the dressing rooms at the rear of the store and took two full steps before she stopped me.

"Oh, fiddlesticks!" she laughed. "You just wait one minute, missy! I will not have you thinking that I am one of those pushy sales people who will lie and flatter to make a sale. You will get nothing but the honest truth from me. I promise you that!"

She shot a withering look in Kendra's direction, then took me firmly by the elbow and let me back to the store's entrance. But this time, she didn't stop at the mirror. She led me right out of the store to the benches that were gathered in a small seating area outside.

"If you don't believe me," the sales clerk continued, "just ask these handsome young men. They have been sitting on this bench, trying to pretend that they weren't staring at you, for the past 5 minutes!" She pulled me over to the bench closest to the entrance and pointed to Mike and Pete, who were eating soft pretzels and talking about cars.

"Boys, this beautiful young lady needs your opinion," she announced. "She doesn't know if she should buy this dress or not. She is afraid that it isn't flattering on her. So be honest, and tell her what you think of it, okay?"

The clerk smiled and patted my shoulder. "I will be waiting by the register when you are ready to complete the sale, dearie," she winked. Then, she spun on her heel and walked back into the store.

Chapter 12

To be honest, I'm not sure why Kendra and I were ever enemies. There were never two people who had more in common than we do. We even look exactly alike! Well, mostly. Kendra and I are like twins. Almost.

We aren't the same size, but we have so much in common that you hardly even notice a minor detail like that. If you looked at pictures of Andrea, Kendra and I, you would probably pick out Andrea as the one who wasn't related to us. She is far too glamorous. And Kendra and I really are practically twins, we are so similar.

First of all, we both have curly blonde hair. Granted, it's not the same length, but that's not the point, is it? My hair is really, really long (too long, actually), and it falls in soft waves of loose spiral curls. Kendra's hair is pretty short. It doesn't quite come to her shoulders, and her curls are tight and frizzy, which makes her hair look even shorter than it really is.

People often tell Kendra that her hair is really cute, like a poodle's. I know that it's a compliment, but Kendra really hates it when people say that. But other than the length and type of curl, our hair is exactly alike. We even have the exact same shade of blonde hair – except for the natural auburn highlights that I have in my hair, of course.

Kendra and I both have fair skin, freckles and green eyes. She has more freckles than I do, but they look really cute on her. They actually fit her so well that no one really ever even notices her freckles any more. I'm not so lucky. I only have 5 little freckles on my nose, but everyone notices them.

Jarod loves to point out the way that my freckles get darker whenever I'm embarrassed. I don't know if he's just teasing me or if it really happens, but it makes me feel like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every time I start to blush! No one ever picks on Kendra about her freckles!

Our eyes aren't the exact same shade of green either. Actually, Kendra's eyes are closer to Andrea's eyes than mine. They both have amazingly vivid and bright green eyes that catch your attention even from across the room. My green eyes also have flecks of brown and blue in them, and sometimes, depending on my mood, the brown or the blue color comes out more. This makes it look like my eyes have changed color. I don't usually think much about it, because it's just the way I have always been, but I guess it must be pretty freaky, because people are always pointing out my strange eyes.

When I went to the DMV to get my driver's license on my 16^th birthday, I filled out the height, weight, hair color and eye color sections on the application. When I turned it in, the lady behind the counter almost wouldn't give me my license, because she kept insisting that I put down the wrong color for my eyes!

It was so embarrassing. I had to pretend that I had accidentally checked the wrong box because I was nervous about my driving test, and I let her check the "right" box for me. Then I had to wait until I got my driver's license in the mail to find out what color my eyes are officially! (They're brown, according to my driver's license, by the way.)

Of course, if that were the extent of it, I wouldn't mind my freaky eyes. I mean, how often do you have to renew your driver's license anyway? But apparently, my weird eyes must really bother all of the guys I know. It is so frustrating! As if I don't have enough trouble getting them to notice me, now I can add "freak" to the list of reasons that I can never get a date!

Every single day, when I go into work, my manager, Doug, stops me to check out my eyes. He's always saying things like, "Hey, how come your eyes are brown? Weren't they green yesterday?" or "Wow! I never noticed what pretty blue eyes you have. How did I never see that before?"

Even worse, though, is the fact that Shane thinks I'm a freak too. He points out my freaky eyes every single morning! I think that I could get used to being weird if only Shane Crawford wasn't so disturbed by it. But I guess it's a lost cause.

Every morning, I get to school early, and I eat my breakfast (one cup of nonfat strawberry yogurt and a cinnamon rice cake) in the cafeteria while I wait for the day to start. Every morning, Shane and Rachel join me, and Shane checks his chemistry homework against my answers while Rachel and I talk.

I always wonder why Rachel bothers to talk to me. I mean, we were friends in grade school, but we don't have anything in common any more. Rachel is a cliché – the perfect head cheerleader. She is pretty and popular and talented and graceful. She has a gorgeous boyfriend, and every other boy in school wants to be near her. And she has beautiful, deep, dark brown eyes that never change color. I am everything Rachel is not. But she still talks to me for exactly 5 minutes every morning while Shane works on his chemistry homework.

Every morning, when Rachel kisses Shane goodbye and hurries off to her early-morning cheer practice, he closes his books and we find something to talk about. Sometimes, we talk about Rachel or our other friends. Sometimes, we talk about our classes or our teachers.

Often, we talk about our poetry and he lets me read his latest poems. (I don't usually let him read mine, though, because I'm not nearly as talented as he is. I don't want to give him another reason to laugh at me.) Sometimes, we talk about nothing at all. But every morning, Shane stares intently at my eyes throughout our conversation. I finally told him that it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable when he stares at me that way.

"Alaina," he replied, "I can't help myself. You have the most interesting eyes I have ever seen. They are so mysterious. I swear they are different every time I talk to you. Believe me, I've tried, but I can't stop staring at your eyes!"

"So what you're saying is that you are staring at me because my eyes are too weird to ignore?" I wished I had some dark glasses to wear. If I could find some way to hide my eyes, it wouldn't always be such an issue.

Shane smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I wouldn't call them weird, though. Interesting. Mysterious. Fascinating. Your eyes are kind of like one of those optical illusion puzzles where you have to keep staring at it until you can see what it's supposed to be. Sometimes, it takes me ten minutes just to figure out what color your eyes are."

I shook my head and let my hair fall across my eyes. "Maybe I don't want to be an optical illusion, Shane. Did it ever occur to you that I would rather be a real person?"

He reached over and swept my hair out of my face. My skin tingled as his fingers traced the contours of my cheek. "Don't hide your eyes, Laina. Not from me. I kind of like trying to figure you out. I don't think that there is another person in this entire world quite like you."

I wanted to close my eyes forever so that no one could see how weird they are, but Shane told me not to hide them from him, so I couldn't do it, even if it did mean letting him stare at my deformity.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the way that Shane will sit and stare at me. Kind of. I mean, I wish that he was staring at me for different reasons, but I do like having his attention. It gives me a chance to stare back at him, and he is so gorgeous! But I want Shane to think that my eyes are "beautiful" or "vibrant," not "interesting"! If only he was looking at me because he likes me, and not because he's trying to figure out which category of freak that I fit into!

I usually try to play it off like it's no big deal. In fact, I have made a big joke of the whole issue. You see, I have this "mood ring" that I always wear. It was my mom's in high school, and she gave it to me for my 12^th birthday. I wear it every day. People are always asking me what color my ring is in order to get an indication of my mood. (Blue is "full of energy," turquoise is "calm," green means that I am "ready to try something new," etc.)

Actually, it's usually not very accurate. I'm sure that most people know that, but it's still a fun conversation starter, and everyone at school knows that I wear that silly little mood ring. So now, when guys start to stare and to make a big deal about my "interesting" (translation: "really weird") eyes, I laugh and tell them that I have "mood eyes" to match my "mood ring!" I always tell them that anyone who really knows me can tell exactly how I'm feeling by paying attention to the color of my eyes.

It's kind of funny, but that really is true. When I'm happy or excited, my eyes are green. The happier or more excited I am, the brighter the green in my eyes. When I am really excited about something, my eyes are almost even as vividly green as Andrea and Kendra's eyes are! When I am relaxed and mellow, my eyes are a rich, chocolate brown. Again, the intensity of the color varies in relation to the intensity of the emotion behind it, but when I am really, really relaxed, my eyes are so dark that they're almost black!

Ironically, when I am really sad, when I am feeling lonely and out-of-place, when I feel like I'm just an outsider looking in, when I want to find a quiet place to cry, my eyes are a pale, smoky blue. When you stop to think about it, I guess that there is something a little bit humorous in the fact that my eyes are blue when I'm "blue," isn't it?

I think that the blue is the prettiest mood for my eyes. It really goes well with my golden hair. But I don't like the emotion that comes with it, so I try really hard not to keep those gorgeous blue eyes when they pop up. As soon as someone says "I never noticed that you had blue eyes," I know that I need to do something to cheer myself up. Usually, I find Jarod, and we have a silly conversation that gets me laughing hard enough that I forget to be sad.

Kendra always tells me that she wishes she had eyes like mine. Andrea says the same thing. I think that's the only thing that they ever agree on. Of course, I know that they aren't really agreeing. They don't really want freaky eyes like mine. They would hate it if I ever found a way to trade eye color with them. But I think it's so sweet that they try to make me feel better about my "interesting" eyes by pretending to envy them! That is the measure of real friendship.

Chapter 11

Andrea and I have so little in common that it's hard to believe we're such good friends. I imagine that people are often shocked to see us hanging out together. We really aren't the types that you would expect to see together at all. I guess that whole "sisters" thing must be pretty powerful, because, honestly, if we weren't related, I don't see how we would ever have been friends! I don't even know how we can get along so well!

I never have to wonder what I have in common with my best girl friend, Kendra Smith. She and I are like two proverbial peas in a pod. We could practically be twins! We are even exactly the same age. We have the same birthday!

Well, we almost have the same birthday. Kendra is only three days older than me, so we figure that it's close enough to tell people that we share a birthday. In fact, ever since we found out how close our birthdays are, we have celebrated our birthdays together with joint birthday parties or a special birthday dinner together.

Actually, it was the amazing coincidence of our nearly-shared birthday that brought us together as best friends for life. Believe it or not, Kendra and I did not like each other when we met! In fact, I really hated her at first.

Once upon a time, back in 1^st and 2^nd grade, I was the most popular girl at Whitcomb Elementary School. The girls wanted to be just like me, and the boys thought that I was pretty neat. Seth and his best friend, Kenny, even fought on the playground one day over who got to be my boyfriend. I never could understand that, because I didn't even love Kenny! I was sure that Seth would be my boyfriend forever, and I told my mom that we were going to get married one day. Still, I thought it was kind of flattering that they both wanted to be my boyfriend so much that they would fight each other about it!

When Kendra moved in, near the end of 2^nd grade, she was an immediate hit. Rachel and Missy invited her to sit in the empty chair at our table in class, and they were enchanted by her description of life on her new ranch. No one even wanted to hear about my new tree fort that my daddy had built in my back yard.

At recess, Carla and Sharon told Kendra that she could be the princess stuck in the tower, even though I was the one who invented the Princess in the Tower Game! They wanted me to be the wicked witch, but I told them I was too busy picking dandelions for a bride's bouquet. Why would I want to be a wicked witch?

To make matters worse, during silent reading time, Seth let Kendra share the big beanbag chair with him. I usually sat on the big beanbag chair with Seth, but that day, I had to sit on the pillow pile in the corner with Kenny, Rob and Carla instead.

Still, I was certain that the novelty would wear off, and by the end of the day, everything would be back to normal. But then, Kendra played the ultimate "I win" card. She told everyone in class that they could come over to ride her pony, Dolly, any time they wanted. After that, I knew that I had lost. There was absolutely no way to compete with a pony!

For nearly a year, Kendra and I were bitter enemies. I prayed daily that she would go away. I hoped that she would move back to wherever she had come from. No such luck! And no matter what I did, Kendra always won. I wasn't the most popular girl in school anymore, because everyone liked Kendra too. Even Kenny stopped following me around at recess, because he decided that he wanted to be Kendra's boyfriend!

Then, in 3^rd grade, I brought my favorite homemade cream-filled chocolate fudge cupcakes to school for my birthday. Every year, the kids in my class told me that my mom's famous cream-filled chocolate fudge cupcakes were the best ever, so I knew that this was exactly what I needed to restore the proper social order at Whitcomb Elementary.

I thought that I was going to cry when Kendra walked into class, proudly carrying a tray full of cupcakes as well! Hers were white cake with mountains of pink frosting and purple and white sprinkles. Each one was topped with a large rock-candy gemstone. They weren't homemade, because Kendra's mom doesn't enjoy baking like mine does, but they were very pretty, and I was afraid that I was going to lose again!

Our classmates all said that it was the best birthday celebration ever because everyone got two cupcakes that day. Luckily, Kendra and I don't like the same kind of cupcakes, because if they were the same, Mrs. Grover would have told everyone that one cupcake was plenty. She did that when Bryan and Brenda (the Baker twins) each brought a batch of cupcakes for their birthday. They had to take half of them home again, because Mrs. Grover didn't think it was a good idea for children to have too much sugar in one afternoon. But when Kendra and I brought our cupcakes in, Mrs. Grover couldn't decide which one she wanted to try, so she let everyone have one of each.

I don't think I will ever understand how anyone could possibly prefer boring white cake to a rich, chocolate fudge cake, but I didn't complain when Kendra whispered that she didn't like chocolate and offered to give me her chocolate cream-filled cupcake. I gladly traded my white cupcake for it, since I wasn't planning on eating it anyway, so we were both happy, even though I clearly got the better end of the deal!

Mrs. Grover even gave us an extra long recess that day. She said that we needed extra time to run off all of the sugar we had just consumed or we would never be able to concentrate on our multiplication tables. All of the girls decided that Kendra and I should be Twin Princesses in the Tower, and even the boys agreed to play with us. Seth was a brave knight that fought all of the evil dragons and ogres (Josh, Rob and Mark) and defeated the evil wizard (Kenny) to set us free. Kendra and I have been fast friends ever since.

 

Chapter 10

After we "Robbed the mall" (and got kicked out by Rob's boss), it was time to move on to phase two of Andi's script. We had decided to "hit every Mini Mart in town." Literally. We drove to each of the eight Mini Marts, got out of the car at each one and smacked the side of the building. At the second Mini Mart, we ran into Andi's really cute friend, Dave.

Dave used to work with me, when I worked as a telemarketer last year, so he kind of knows me too, but he is obviously hooked on Andrea, like every other ordinary, red-blooded American teenage boy! Dave stood there, watching us jump out of the car, giggling like crazy, and smack the side of the Mini Mart. Before we could run back to the car, Dave asked me, "What in the world are you two pretty ladies doing?"

Through fits of giggles, Andrea managed to explain our quest for the evening. "Well, you see, everyone always says that Alaina here is a perfect angel. I decided that she needed a little bit of corruption in her life,"

"I could help you corrupt her," Dave grinned.

Andi ignored him. "So I am taking her out on a wild night of crime and passion. We already 'robbed the mall'…"

Dave looked at me in confusion. "You did what?" he asked.

"We just got finished Robbing the mall," I assured him, trying to keep my expression as serious as possible.

Dave scratched his head and squinted at me, as if he was trying to decipher a particularly intricate puzzle. "Okay, I know that you would never do something like that," he insisted. "You really have to fill me in on the joke."

After I explained the whole idea behind the word play, Andrea continued, "… and now, we are hitting every Mini Mart in town."

Dave laughed and asked if he could join our "gang," but we had to make it clear that there was no room for any "yucky boys" in this little crime spree! After all, this was strictly a sisters' night, and Andi and I were not going to be sidetracked, no matter how cute Dave might be.

Still, he wasn't easily discouraged, and when we left the Mini Mart, Dave actually started following us! He showed up at every one of the Mini Mart parking lots all night long, so we added him to our narrative, saying that "we led a high speed chase through the city streets." Even on our strict "girls-only" night, Andi had cute guys following her around. I can't really be upset about it, though, because Andrea didn't invite him along or anything. He kind of invited himself.

Meanwhile, we went through the drive through at Hardees and ordered nothing but water. That way, we could add "drinking and driving" to our "high speed chase!" Dave even followed us to Hardees, although he didn't follow us through the drive through lane. He waited in the parking lot while we got our drinks.

Finally, as we "hit" the last Mini Mart, Dave looked at his watch. "Oh man! It's 10:15!" he exclaimed. "I've got to go! I was supposed to pick Heather up after work at 9:00! She is going to kill me! I will catch you later girls – if I'm still alive!"

He quickly gave us each a hug and ran back to his car. I shook my head as he sped away. I couldn't believe it. Andi is so cute that she even makes guys forget about their girlfriends!

Our night ended at the Burger King on Main Street, so that we could say that we "harassed and threatened the employees." In other words, we stopped to tease our friends a bit. (It seems like half of the kids at Southbrook work at Burger King!)

Shane was working, so it was really hard to stick with the "no yucky boys" rule. I really wanted to flirt with him, because I am determined to try to make him like me. But I was good. I didn't flirt at all, even though I did talk to him the whole time we were there.

And when he started picking on me, I threatened to stop helping him with his chemistry homework or something. Of course, I would never actually do that, because then I wouldn't have my good excuse to hang out with him outside of class, but I had to make some sort of threat, or the narrative wouldn't work, would it?

I didn't really want anything to eat, especially not fattening fast food. But Shane was working at the cash register, so I had to have some reason to hang around for a while. The cups of water we originally came in for wouldn't give us any excuse to stay, because really, how long does it take to fill two cups with ice water? So I ordered some French fries, and then we stood at the counter to talk to him while he got the fries for us.

Andi was telling Shane all about our "night of crime," and he decided that he had to contribute to our delinquency. "How would you like to add Grand Theft, Auto to your list of felonies?"

I smiled. "Oooh. Does this mean that you're gonna let me steal your car? I'll take good care of her for you." Shane has a 1956 Chevy Bel Air convertible that I absolutely love. He rebuilt the engine all by himself. Well, at least, he worked hard to earn the money with which he paid the guy who did the work all by himself, and that's got to count for something, right?

The car is red and white and rust. Yeah, it needs a paint job, and there are some dents that need to be fixed. Sure, it's missing the glove box, and there is a tear in the upholstery of the back seat. But that car has potential. It has personality.

Shane's car is a lot like me – it could be beautiful with a lot of work, and it really needs a lot of work, but it's still fun in the meantime. On the few occasions when Shane has given me a ride home from school, I have felt so comfortable in that car. One of these days, I'm sure that I will get him to let me drive it.

"Not a chance!" Shane laughed. I love that laugh! It turns my insides to mush! "I don't let anyone drive my baby. You know that. But I will give you a ride in her. I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

"Anywhere? Hmmm…" I had to really be careful, because it would be so easy to flirt when he gave me an opening like that. And flirting was strictly against the rules for our "no yucky boys" night. Still, I had to say something – something to show Shane the importance of choosing his words carefully.

Of course, I knew that he didn't really mean "anywhere" when he said that he would take me anywhere that I wanted to go, but I had to pretend that I thought it was an open invitation. I figured that the safest bet was to choose someplace so outrageous that he would never agree to it. Someplace way beyond the scope of reality.

"How about Disneyland? That's the 'Happiest Place on Earth' you know." I figured that Disneyland was a safe choice. It was far enough away to be completely outrageous. (There was no way that he would agree to take a trip of hundreds of miles and across state lines just to keep a half-hearted promise to me!) And Disneyland isn't some kind of romantic destination that would imply flirting or anything.

"Disneyland?" he asked. "Sure. We can do that. How about we start tonight? Just wait until I get off work. I'm pretty sure that I could even find a deserted dirt road somewhere along the way where we could run out of gas. Then, I can take you to the 'Happiest Place on Earth.'" Shane winked. I blushed. Andi laughed like crazy.

This was starting to sound like flirting. At least, I hope it was just flirting. I hope he wasn't seriously agreeing to take me on an overnight road trip. I hope he didn't think that I was really, seriously suggesting it! And flirting was strictly against the rules for our "no boys" (are they really that yucky, after all?) "night of crime."

So I steered the conversation back onto safer ground. "Well, if I don't get to take your car, then how do we get away with Grand Theft Auto? You do realize that I am not up to committing any real felonies, right?"

Shane and Andrea both laughed this time. And they laughed for an awfully long time before Shane managed to speak again. "Oh, Alaina! You are so sweet and naïve! That is what I love about you!" (Did Shane say he loved me? I sure wish he meant it!)

"No, I get it," he chuckled. "Believe it or not, I actually caught on to the whole idea. Don't worry. That's not the way that I want to corrupt you. I can think of other ways that would be much more fun." He winked again, and Andi laughed so hard that she had to sit down, right on the floor.

Shane didn't charge me for my French fries, and he gave us at least twice as many as would usually be in a regular order of fries. (That made it "grand theft," right?) Then, he gave me one of the Transformers car toys that they were giving away in the kids' meals, because he knows that I have a collection of kids' meal toys at home. He didn't charge me for the toy either, which made it "grand theft, auto," right?

Andrea kept nudging and winking at me while we were talking to Shane. I could tell that she thought he was interested in me. I have to admit that I was really hopeful. I would love to believe that he was trying to flirt with me last night. After all, he did give me free stuff, and it took him almost 20 minutes to get my fries for me while we talked. It was almost like he was taking a long time on purpose because he didn't want me to leave yet.

But realistically, I know that he was probably too distracted with watching Andi to remember what he was actually supposed to be doing. Besides, as we were leaving, he said "Goodbye, beautiful ladies," and he smiled right at Andrea!

It was fun, though. And after our "wild night of rebellion," no one could ever claim that I won't consider breaking a few rules! After all, in only one night's time, we "Robbed the mall, and then hit every Mini Mart in town. We led a high speed chase through the city streets while drinking and driving. We threatened and harassed the locals, and then we committed grand theft, auto!!" Can you imagine what it would do to my "perfect angel" reputation if that rumor started making the rounds at school?

The best part is that Andi kept her promise. Say what you will about my flaky little sister, but she never breaks a promise. I know that I can always count on her. And as always, Andrea was watching out for me that night. She made sure that I didn't have to break a single one of our parents' rules or do anything that I wouldn't normally do in our whole big, "wild" and "dangerous" evening! I could still look at myself in the mirror afterward and like the person I saw staring back at me.

Chapter 9

Anyway, as I was saying, Rob works at the mall information desk on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, so we stopped by to say hi and to give him a hard time. We walked up and Andrea flashed her biggest smile. "Hi Rob. My sister and I would like some information please."

Rob straightened his tie and tried to look professional. "Anything for Alaina and her little sister," he grinned. "I am the man with all of the answers, after all."

"Well, we'll see about that. I bet we can stump you." Andi's eyes twinkled mischievously. She always loves a challenge. And if it involves getting attention from a cute boy, it's even better.

"Okay, you're on." Rob looked at me. "Laina, if you can come up with even one question that I don't know the answer to, then I'll leave your diary alone for a week. But when I prove that I am smarter than you, then you have to take me out to lunch next week."

I couldn't believe that Rob was questioning my intelligence! Again! I thought that we had settled this clear back in 8^th grade, when he told me that I wasn't smart enough to read and understand a book as long and complicated as Gone with the Wind. I bet him that I could read it in a week. Not only did I read the book in only 6 days (it would have been less than that, but I accidentally left it in my locker over the weekend), but I only missed one question when I took the extra-credit English quiz over the novel!

If that wasn't enough to prove my intelligence, there was the time in 9^th grade that Rob made fun of one of the short stories I was working on. He told me that I didn't know how to write, so I stapled the pages together and submitted my rough draft to the Young Author's competition.

My story won first place in the local competition and an honorable mention at the state level. I am certain that, if I had taken the time to revise the story and submit it in a better format, it would have won the state competition as well. Maybe it would even have placed at the national level.

Then, in our sophomore year, Rob told me that I wasn't smart enough to compete in the Math Olympiad competition. I entered, and I kicked his butt! Well, okay, I didn't really kick his butt. I tied with Rob for 2^nd place. But the point is that he didn't beat me!

And last year, when he told me that I would be humiliated and laughed out of the running with my entry for the History Fair, I submitted my map of Marco Polo's travels anyway, and I won 4^th place! It really doesn't matter that Rob brought home the blue ribbon, because I still proved that he was wrong. I was not laughed out of the competition, and I think that 4^th place is still a great accomplishment!

I don't know what makes Rob think that I am not very bright, but I was not going to let him get away with questioning my intellect! "All right, Mr. Know-it-All," I asked, "who invented the zipper?"

"Well, the basic zipper was invented by Whitcomb L. Judson, although he didn't actually call it a zipper, and it was not widely accepted at the time. Gideon Sundback improved on Judson's design and made the concept a little bit more popular, but he still didn't call it a zipper. So I guess you could say that the B.F. Goodrich company, when they decided to use Sundback's design on some rubber boots and called the contraption a zipper, really invented the 'zipper' as we know it."

Andi giggled. "I'm impressed, Rob. You know a lot about zippers. What about geography? What is the capital of Ghana?"

Rob didn't even bat an eyelash. "Accra. Next question, Laina."

"Okay…" I thought for a moment. "What is the atomic weight of Beryllium?"

"Well," Rob smiled, "that's kind of a trick question, you know. Many scientists would argue that atomic weight is a misnomer, since weight is determined by a combination of mass and the gravitational pull exerted on an object. Thus, weight would vary slightly by location and be an inaccurate measurement. A more correct term would be relative atomic mass. However, since most non-scientists, like you, simply accept the term 'atomic weight' as correct, I will let this one slide. The answer is 9.012."

I hate when Rob does that! I know all about the difference between mass and weight! I was hoping to trip him up with my trick question, but instead, he made it look like I simply didn't know what I was talking about! I was fuming! But I didn't have long to worry about it, because Andi was ready with the next question.

"Which author used the pen name Peter Jackson in 1923?"

"Ernest Hemingway. Your turn, Laina."

I decided to try to trip Rob up with a really obvious, easy question. "Who is Ted Geisel?"

Rob hesitated, and I grinned. I was sure that I had him! But then he smiled and started speaking in that annoyingly patronizing tone that he likes to use when he talks to me. "I think that your question should be 'Who was Ted Geisel?' since he's dead. But I guess I will let that slide too. Theodore Geisel, or Ted, as you called him, was the real name of that beloved children's author, Dr. Seuss. He also wrote some books under the pen name Theo LeSieg, which, as you may or may not know, is Geisel spelled backward!"

I did know that. What I didn't know was why Rob tries so hard to make me feel dumb!

Andi decided to get clever. She borrowed a question from one of our favorite movies. "What is the average airspeed velocity of a fully laden swallow?"

I laughed. I expected Rob to ask her to specify whether she was talking about an African or a European swallow, but he didn't. He just answered "11 meters per second" and then turned to me, waiting for my next question.

I blanked. All I could think of was my dad's favorite ice-breaking question. "What do you think of the political situation in Zimbabwe?" It wasn't really a question with a set answer, but I decided that it still worked, because it did ask for information, and it still had the potential to stump Rob if he couldn't come up with a coherent answer.

But as I asked the question, Rob's boss came striding over. "Sorry, ladies, but I am going to have to ask you to leave. Rob has work to do, and I am not paying him to flirt with pretty girls."

I laughed. "Oh, we are not flirting, believe me! We needed some information, so we stopped here."

Rob's boss snorted. "Well, now it's time for you to move along, miss." He rolled his eyes and spun on his heel to walk away. As he left, he looked over his shoulder and barked, "Rob, kiss your girlfriend goodbye and get back to work!"

Rob blushed. Andi and I laughed. I looked at Andi. "I didn't know that you and Rob were an item. When did this happen?"

She smiled. "I'm not sure that I remember him asking me out. Maybe he's your boyfriend. But either way, I guess he should have our phone number so that he can call me, I mean us, later!" Andi turned to Rob. "Do you have a pen? I will write our number down for you."

Rob, still a brilliant shade of crimson, shook his head and laughed self-consciously. "No need. I already know it. I'm the information guy, remember? It's my job to know all of the important information that people might ask about. And Alaina Andersen's phone number definitely tops the list, doesn't it?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes, and we walked away. It was such a typical Rob thing to say. I've never given him my phone number, and there are about a million Andersens in the phone book, so how in the world would he know which one was my number? Why would he even want to know my phone number? It's not like we do much talking outside of class. And he would never stoop so low as to call me for help on the homework, even if he needed it!

As we walked away, Andi nudged me. "See?" she whispered. "It is so obvious that he is completely in love with you!"

I don't know what she was talking about. Rob was rude and insulting to me the entire time that we were talking. Andi was the one that he was being nice to! He didn't make fun of her questions or pick on her at all!

Chapter 8

First, we went down town, and we "Robbed the mall." In other words, we stopped at the mall to say hello to Jarod's friend Rob. He works at the Mall Information Desk, and Andrea thinks that he is really cute, so we try to find a reason to stop at the mall every time she and I go out together.

Of course, Rob likes Andi too. I mean, he's a guy, right? I have never yet met a guy who doesn't have a crush on my little sister. Rob is definitely not an exception to the rule, even if she does keep insisting that he is "obviously" hooked on me. I don't think that it is very obvious! Not that I want him to be interested, of course. Rob is nothing more than a friend.

Rob is in my chemistry class this year. We have exactly one class together every year. This year, it's chemistry. Last year, it was world history. Before that, it was algebra. It's kind of funny how it always works out that way, every single year.

In fact, we almost didn't have any classes together this year. On the first day of school, I was surprised to find that Rob wasn't in a single one of my classes. But as luck would have it, they accidentally put Rob in the wrong math class, and he had to change his entire schedule to fix the error. When they finished rearranging everything, lo and behold, Rob was in my chemistry class!

Of course, I had to tease him about it. "Gosh, Rob, are you stalking me or something? I think it's pretty fishy that the one time we didn't have a class together, you had to change your schedule and suddenly here you are in my chemistry class!"

Rob grinned. "Yeah, you've got me. It was all an elaborate scheme so that I could make sure I had some chemistry with you." He laughed. "I mean, so that I could have chemistry class with you." He winked at me, and I felt myself blushing. Why do I get embarrassed so easily?

"It's entirely your fault you know," he teased. "Last year, you wouldn't tell me what classes you were going to sign up for this year, so I had to take drastic action. I purposely signed up for the wrong math class so that I would have an excuse to change my schedule after I found out what classes you had this year."

"Really?" I asked. I couldn't believe that he would actually go through that much trouble just to make sure that we had another class together!

Rob laughed loudly, and the entire class stared at us. "What? You thought I was serious?" He grinned. "Man! You've got quite an ego, little girl!"

Rob always teases me about being stuck up and egotistical. Usually, I shrug it off and ignore him, but sometimes, it bothers me. Am I really as self-absorbed as Rob says I am? Is that why I'm so unpopular? Is that why no one ever asks me out on dates?

I guess Rob's opinion shouldn't really matter to me, but it does. You see, he is good friends with Shane, and I know it's important for a guy's friends to like you, or you never stand a chance. Since Rob and Shane are such good friends, it's imperative that I don't completely alienate Rob.

I don't know how close Rob and Shane are, but I figure that it's better to be safe than sorry. I know that Rob and Jarod and Shane all used to hang out together back before the big fight between Jarod and Shane. I don't know how much time they spend together anymore.

I never see Shane and Rob together outside of class or anything, but they are practically inseparable in chemistry. In fact, they team up to pick on me absolutely mercilessly every single day! I managed to snag Shane as my lab partner, and Rob sits at the table right in front of me, so the three of us have lots of opportunities to talk.

We usually have some pretty fun conversations, but sometimes, I really wish that I wasn't such a geek. I always wonder what they're saying about me after the bell rings. Of course, they probably don't even think about me at all, and I suppose that's a good thing.

Rob and Shane like to steal my diary out of my bag and try to read all of my innermost thoughts. Usually, I can get it away from them before they read too much, but they have managed to read enough that now I write my most personal thoughts in code. At least, that keeps me safe from the biggest embarrassments, but sometimes, it is absolutely humiliating!

A few weeks ago, I spent my entire lunch period watching Shane with Rachel and writing in my diary about how I wished that she would disappear. Luckily, I didn't really mention Shane's name that time, because Rob managed to steal my diary in chemistry, and he read that page to Shane before I could get it away from him. Shane spent the rest of class trying to find out what I had against Rachel. Of course, I couldn't tell him the truth!

"I don't know," I hedged. "I guess I just feel like such a nobody next to Rachel. She is so pretty and perfect. I could never compete with that. So sometimes, I wish that she would go away."

"She's right," Rob announced. "Man, your girlfriend is hot! No doubt about it – she's a ten! How did a loser like you ever score a babe like that anyway?"

Shane sat back and ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair. "I guess it must be my charm and my rugged good looks. I make all the girls swoon." He winked. "Right, Laina?"

"Oh yeah," I teased, batting my eyelashes and trying to look like I wasn't entirely serious. I guess that is one good thing about the guys reading my diary. Sometimes, it gives me a perfect opportunity to flirt by simply playing along when they make fun of me.

"Shane, you are so gorgeous," I breathed. "I don't know how I will ever survive if I can't make you mine." I leaned on him and pretended to swoon.

Shane wrapped his arm around my waist and laughed. "See, Rob? It's easy when you're a stud like me." He gave me a little squeeze and added, "You know, Laina, what Rachel doesn't know won't hurt her. There's enough of me to go around."

Rob huffed. "Hey, pal, back off." He walked over and pulled me away from Shane, then stood between us. "You already have Rachel. Isn't a perfect ten enough for you? Tell you what," he grinned. "I'll take Laina off your hands. I mean, she's no Rachel, but she's probably got something to offer a guy. Besides, you can't take all the girls. You've gotta leave something for the rest of us!"

Of course, I laughed and played along. I mean, it doesn't really bother me so much when Rob picks on me like that, because he's kind of a casual friend. So it doesn't really matter that he only sees me as some sort of consolation prize for a guy who can't get one of the really pretty girls. Not really.

But I am still hoping that, one day, Shane will see how perfect I would be for him, and then I won't be just his nerdy lab partner. I try to tell myself that the guys don't really mean anything by it when they pick on me, and I guess any kind of attention is better than being ignored, but sometimes I wish I could be like Rob's lab partner, Stella. They never pick on her at all. They are super polite and nice to her. They never tease or make fun of Stella at all – probably because she is so pretty.

 

Chapter7

I giggled. That was so like Andrea - always oversimplifying the issues. "Yeah, that sounds like a perfect plan," I quipped. "That will definitely work. No doubt about it. Oh! Except for one minor detail that you overlooked."

I fought the tears that threatened to spill over and tried to keep my voice light. "I'm not like you, Andi!" I exclaimed. "I don't have a million guys lined up around the block waiting for a chance to date me. I don't even have one guy who is interested in dating me! And somehow, I don't think that it would make Shane crazy with jealousy if I tried to introduce him to my invisible boyfriend, Absolutely NoOne! Even back in 5th grade, when I made him up, I couldn't fool anyone into thinking that I had a boyfriend."

I shook my head and chuckled as I recalled my foolish attempt to make myself seem popular. Kendra and Rachel and Sharon all had boyfriends, and I felt left out, so I pretended that I had my own admirer, an older boy whom I had met at the mall. I covered my notebooks with hearts and doodles, writing A.A.+A.N. all over everything. It didn't fool my friends for long, because I couldn't introduce them to my mystery boyfriend. Kendra hadn't even been fooled for a minute. She had laughed for weeks at the idea that an older boy would be interested in me. But Andi was the only one who ever knew the whole truth. I could only admit to my little sister that I was certain it would be Alaina Andersen and Absolutely NoOne forever.

I sighed and dragged my thoughts back to the present. "Besides," I asked, "even if I could find someone to date me, wouldn't it be cruel to date someone just to make Shane jealous?"

Andi rolled her eyes and giggled. "No, silly. The trick is to get yourself a boyfriend that you like anyway. Then you win no matter what. If Shane wakes up and gets a clue, then you get Shane. If he doesn't, then you still have an amazing boyfriend, and eventually you completely forget about Shane Crawford. You can't lose!"

I laughed. "Andi, you make it sound so easy. It's not like I can decide to have an amazing boyfriend and then have one fall at my feet. Where am I supposed to find this terrific guy in the first place?"

"What about Jarod?" Andi asked. "He's really cute, and you wanted to date him before he introduced you to Shane. Besides, you guys are always together, and I know that he wants you. Make him be your boyfriend."

I rolled my eyes. How could Andrea not know that I wasn't the Andersen sister that Jarod was in love with? "Jarod and I are just friends," I reminded her. "That's it. He does not, will not and never has seen me as girlfriend material. Even if I wanted to, and I'm not saying that I do, how in the world would you expect me to make him my boyfriend? It's not like I can wave my magic wand and change his feelings or something!"

Andi picked up Mr. Cuddles. "Laina, I don't think you need a magic wand." She winked and handed me my teddy bear. "Jarod is completely obsessed with you. Why else would he come over here almost every single night to see you? And you guys talk on the phone for hours on the nights when he doesn't come over. He is completely in love with you, and you are the only person alive who doesn't see it."

She frowned. "But if you don't want Jarod to be your boyfriend, then what about Pete? He's cute too, and he likes you. You could throw yourself at him."

Andi listed each of my guy friends in turn as potential boyfriend candidates. Somehow, she has convinced herself that every guy I know is madly in love with me. She insists that they are all too shy to do anything about it. Rob, Josh, George, Nick, Roger, Jim... according to my little sister, the entire senior class at Southbrook high school is in love with me. When she got to Anthony Matthews, I threw up my hands in self-defense.

"Andi, if you're right," I argued, "then Southbrook must have the largest population of shy teenage boys known to man! Besides, I have noticed that not a single one of these 'shy' boys has any trouble when it comes to flirting with you or Kendra or any of the other girls at Southbrook!"

Andi grinned. "Laina, that's my point exactly. It's not that the guys are terribly shy or anything. The trouble is that you are too amazing! All of these guys are intimidated by you. They don't think that they stand a chance with someone as gorgeous and smart and good as you, so they don't even try. Instead, they settle for a second-best kind of option, like me."

I stood up and pulled Andi over to the full-length mirror on my closet door, and we stood side-by-side for a visual comparison. "Obviously, little sister, you have forgotten what you look like," I told her. "You are absolutely gorgeous! Compared to you, I'm pretty plain."

"You're wrong, Laina. And you are way too hard on yourself." Andi turned and grabbed my hands, her eyes twinkling. "Laina, you know what we need? We need a crazy girls' night out! We're going to have a whole night where we don't even think about boys." She grinned. "Remember when we were kids and we had so much fun with just the two of us because boys were yucky and we didn't even want to think about them? Let's have fun like that tonight. We'll go out, just the two of us, and forget about all of these guys."

Andi was so excited that she was actually jumping up and down. "Let's do something completely wild!" she exclaimed.

I laughed. It really did sound like fun, and I needed a distraction. "Okay, Andi. We'll do it. I'm ready to be crazy for a while. Only you have to promise me that we won't go too over-the-top, because I don't want to get grounded or anything!"

"Don't worry, big sister. I'm not going to drag you down the path to the dark side or anything. We'll just have fun." Andi laughed and pulled a sheet of paper out of my notebook.

"Let's make a plan!" She winked. "We have to prove Mom and Dad wrong, and show the whole world that Laina Andersen is just as much a troublemaker as her little sister, Andi!"

Andi's eyes sparkled mischievously, and I couldn't help laughing along with her. When my little sister goes into scheming mode, it's usually best to get out of the way or just go along with her plans and enjoy the ride.

After only five minutes of thought, Andi managed to draft a clever script for our girls' night out, full of puns and word play. "We're just going to have a bit of harmless fun," she assured me, "but it will definitely raise some eyebrows when we tell the story later!"

Kendra would have thought that we were being too silly. She really doesn't approve of Andi, and she always tells me that I don't take life seriously enough when I hang out with Andrea. The disapproval goes both ways. Andi can't understand how I can be best friends with Kendra Smith. They simply can't stand each other, and I realized long ago not to ever try to spend time with both of them at the same time. It always ends in disaster!

To be fair, I don't really like most of Andi's girl friends either. Stacy and Taunya are extremely shallow, stereotypical rich princesses, and Jocelyn is a total flake. I mean, they're nice enough, I guess, but I always feel like I'm losing brain cells when we hang out with them. I prefer not to include them whenever we can get away with it.

So last Friday night, it was just the Andersen sisters, off on a wild and crazy "crime spree" that took us all over town! It was tons of fun, completely harmless, and as insane as you might imagine with Andi calling the shots.

Chapter 6

Andi is always here for me when I need some cheering up. She hates to see me upset, and she pulls out all the stops when she thinks that I need a mood adjustment. A few weeks ago, for instance, I was really down in the dumps, and Andi decided that we needed a serious heart-to-heart.

After school, she dragged me into my bedroom and sprawled on my bed. “Okay, Laina,” she prodded, “what’s going on? You look like you’re going to have a major meltdown or something. Is this about that Shane guy again?”

I nodded glumly and Andi rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she sighed, “what did Shane do now? And why don’t you just forget about him? The guy really doesn’t deserve you.”

I shook my head. “It’s not really anything specific,” I admitted. “I don’t know! Shane Crawford is so confusing! Sometimes, it almost seems like he might be interested in me. He always tells me that I’m pretty and stuff, and he talks to me all the time, even when I don’t start the conversation. But I never know if I’m reading too much into it, you know? He does have a girlfriend, and he’ll probably never break up with her, so I don’t even know why I bother!”

Andi laughed. “Is that all? I can tell you right now that Shane really likes you. He’s just afraid to admit it. Have you seriously never noticed the way the guy looks at you?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I bet he’s waiting to break up with that Rachel chick until he knows if you like him too. All you have to do is give him a signal, and he is as good as yours.”

“I don’t know, Andi,” I flopped back on the bed and hugged Mr. Cuddles, my big, white teddy bear that Jarod gave me for my birthday last year. “How many more signals does a guy need? I think I’ve made it pretty obvious that I like Shane. I mean, I’m not acting desperate or anything, but I have given him all of the obvious clues. I laugh at all of his jokes, even when he’s not really funny. I always wait for him after class so that we can walk to our lockers together. I have come to see him in every single theater production for the past 2 years, and I even bought a card for his birthday last month. He has to know that I am absolutely in love with him!” I buried my face in Mr. Cuddles’ tummy and let out a scream of exasperation.

Andi pulled the bear away from my face so that she could look me straight in the eyes. “Okay, you’re right, Laina. There’s no way that he could miss the fact that you are interested.”

She looked thoughtful. “Of course, Shane is a boy, so we can’t ever be sure that he’s picking up on the obvious. Sometimes, boys can be really, really dense. Remember Valori and Philip last year?” Andi giggled and rolled her eyes. “She actually walked over and sat on his lap on the bus when we were coming home from that boring field trip to the art museum. And Philip actually thought that she didn’t see him there when she sat down! Maybe Shane is simply clueless, like Philip.”

I smiled. I remembered Valori’s frustration with Philip. It was quite comical to watch her trying to get his attention. The funniest part was that Philip was completely in love with Valori the whole time! He used to ask Jarod for tips on how to get her to notice him! I honestly don’t think that those two would ever have gotten together if I hadn’t stepped in to play matchmaker.

I frowned and stared at the ceiling. I could still see the burn mark above my bed from the night that Jarod and I sat in here with the windows open, burning all of the love notes that he had collected from Kendra over the course of their relationship. That was the night that I had tried to talk to Jarod about my crush on Shane. As soon as I had mentioned his name, Jarod had completely flipped out!

He had slammed his fist on the table, muttering something about how I deserved better than a jerk like Shane Crawford. One of the letter fragments flipped out of the dish that we had been burning them in and it flew across the room, landing on the metal blade of my ceiling fan. The letter continued to burn, scorching the ceiling of my bedroom.

Of course, the conversation was forgotten as we scrambled to capture the paper and put out the flame. That was the last time that I tried to talk to Jarod about my crush on his former best friend. Jarod knows how I feel, but I try not to mention it in his presence anymore.

I groaned and sat up to look at my little sister. “Well what do you expect me to do about it, Andi? Even if Shane did like me and was too clueless to notice my signals (which, by the way, is not the case), who would I get to fix me up with him? Besides, I’m sure that Rachel would object!”

Andi chuckled. “So? Let her object. This guy obviously wants you. I mean, who wouldn’t? We just have to find a way to make him take action.”

I rolled my eyes and nuzzled Mr. Cuddles. “You’re wrong, Andi. Shane is in love with Rachel. He always talks about her. It doesn’t even matter if Shane sometimes flirts with me. Maybe he’s not even really flirting. I think I’m reading too much into it because I want him to be interested in me.”

“Laina, stop it. You’re being ridiculous.” Andi reached over and took Mr. Cuddles from me. She tossed him across the room to my overstuffed reading chair in the corner. Then she grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. “Okay. I want you to tell me about the latest case of Shane’s possible flirting, and I will tell you whether or not you are reading too much into it. Trust me; I recognize flirting when I see it.”

I squirmed out of her grasp and retrieved Mr. Cuddles before sitting cross-legged on the bed. I leaned against the wall and sighed. “Andi, you aren’t really an expert on flirting. You still haven’t noticed all of the guys who are falling at your feet and trying to make you notice them. But I’ll tell you anyway.”

I set Mr. Cuddles back in his proper place of honor on my pillow, folded my hands in my lap and began. I felt like a little girl, reciting my lessons for my teacher. “Okay, so yesterday, after chemistry, we were talking as we walked back to our lockers. We hadn’t finished our conversation by the time we both had our books, so he walked out to my car with me. I was paying attention to Shane and our conversation, and I forgot to watch where I was going. So I tripped over that uneven patch of pavement between the 2nd and 3rd rows of cars in the parking lot. I almost went down, but Shane caught me and steadied me.”

“So, did you trip on purpose so that he would have to catch you, or was this normal, everyday Laina klutziness?” Andi asked.

I blushed. “No, I just tripped. And I’m really not that klutzy, you know. I’m not the only one who trips up on that patch of uneven pavement! The school really should do something about fixing it before someone gets hurt or something.”

Andi raised one eyebrow. “Mmmm hmmm…. Go on. What happened next?”

“Well, okay, here’s where I think that he might have been flirting. Maybe. Probably not, though. He was probably just making fun of me or something. Who am I kidding? Shane Crawford thinks I’m a complete loser!”

I flopped back on my bed and buried my face in Mr. Cuddles’ soft fur, but Andi grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me hard, forcing me to sit up and look at her. “Will you stop it and just continue with the story? You’re driving me crazy, sis!”

I had to laugh. Andi always gets a little bit melodramatic about these things. “Okay, so after Shane saved me from falling, he kept his arm around my waist the rest of the way across the parking lot. He said that he had to make sure that I didn’t fall again. And then, even after we got to my car, he didn’t let go of me until we finished our conversation and he helped me into the car. He said that he couldn’t let go, because I’m such a klutz that I would probably manage to fall over even while standing still. He’s probably right about that, but I don’t know, I guess it almost seemed like maybe he actually enjoyed being close to me or something…”

Andi covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head. “Laina, I’m starting to think that you are as dense as any boy. How could you not know that Shane was seriously flirting with you?” She looked up. “That was almost as obvious as Valori sitting on Philip’s lap! Shane Crawford is so in love with you that it’s not even funny!”

“No, he’s really not,” I shrugged. “It wouldn’t really matter, though, even if he was interested in me, would it? Shane has Rachel, and they have been together forever. He’s never going to break up with her. What boy in his right mind would ever dump the head cheerleader for a band geek like me?”

“Well, you know, Laina,” Andi looked at me mischievously. “Boys usually want whatever they know that they can’t have. Someone who is unattainable becomes a challenge, and you know how much guys like to win. They will turn anything, even dating, into a competition. You should get a boyfriend. Shane will be so jealous that he will do anything it takes to win you over!”

Chapter 5

I used to be extremely jealous of Andrea, because she is so gorgeous and she gets everything that she wants without even really trying. But it doesn’t bother me anymore. Really. I mean, it’s really not her fault that she gets any guy she wants. And she can’t help it that she usually gets any guy I want too! It’s that whole Snow White syndrome. When you’re the “fairest one of all,” it’s only natural for every warm-blooded male in the vicinity to go crazy when you walk into the room, right?

Honestly, it’s not Andi’s fault that almost every guy I’ve ever been interested in has asked me to set them up on a date with my little sister. She can’t help being more appealing to them than I am. We are just natural opposites. Andi got all of the best qualities from the family gene pool. She was blessed with the beauty and wit and charm and confidence – all of the qualities that guys are looking for in a girl. I got stuck with the brains and a “good sense of humor” – the kinds of qualities that make me just a good “buddy.”

Andi and I have the same height, the same sense of humor and the same last name. The similarities end right there. If you saw us out in public, you would never even guess that we were related! We really don’t look alike at all.

I wish that I could be as thin and gorgeous as Andi is, but it will never happen. We are just built differently. I am slightly chubby. Andi is thin as a rail. Diets never seem to work for me. Andi never has to think about dieting. I have tried every diet imaginable. Andi can eat junk food all day long, and she never gains an ounce!

My measurements are 42” / 25” / 34” and it’s impossible to find clothes that fit me right. I usually have to buy shirts and dresses in size 16 or 18, just to fit across my chest, and then Mom has to pull out her sewing machine to take them in at the waistline so that they don’t hang like a potato sack on me. I guess it’s a good thing that Mom can sew, but it would be even nicer if I wasn’t so top heavy!

Andi’s measurements are 26” / 22” / 26” – a perfect “hourglass figure”! She can always buy anything she wants right off the rack and have it fit perfectly. It’s like the designers used Andi as the model of the perfect woman when designing their fashions. This makes sense, I guess, considering the fact that she really is pretty perfect.

Andrea is such a great sister, though, that I really can’t envy her good luck in the beauty department. She even pretends to envy me so that I won’t feel so bad about my unfortunate shape.

“Laina, it’s not fair,” she’ll say. “How am I ever going to get Mark to notice me when he only sees me around you? There’s no way that I can compete with a body like yours!”

Mark is in band with us, the only class that Andi and I have together. He used to sit next to me in 5th grade, and we would get in trouble for talking too much in class. He is really funny, and he’s always been really good at making me laugh. I introduced him to Andi when we were in the Eastland Junior High wind ensemble together. She has been in love with Mark for years, but she absolutely refuses to do anything about it. She never even talks to him if I’m not around to get the conversation going for her.

Andi thinks that Mark will never notice her. I think she’s crazy. He already has. I’m sure he likes her. Everyone does. All she has to do is snap her fingers, and she can have any guy she wants! Mark is no different.

“Andi, you’re being ridiculous again. You are absolutely gorgeous! Besides, a body like mine is easy to compete with.” I frowned into the mirror. “No one could ever be attracted to this!”

I glared at my reflection and tried to convince myself that the mirror must be warped, like those funhouse mirrors at a carnival, where everything is skewed and disproportionate. I tried to believe that I didn’t really look as bad as the mirror made it appear. But when Andi stood next to me, I had to accept that it wasn’t the mirror that was warped. It was just me. Alaina Ann Andersen, the walking funhouse mirror!

“I’ll tell you what, Laina,” Andi bubbled. “Why don’t we just switch bodies? I can look like you and you can look like me, and then we’ll both be happy. Although, I don’t know why you aren’t happy with the way things are now. I would never want to look like me if I had the chance to look like you!”

“Yeah, why don’t you just get to work and invent a body-switching machine?” I asked. “Let me know when it’s ready, and you’ve got yourself a new body!”

“Don’t be silly,” she giggled. “We both know that you are the brainiac of the family. You’re going to have to put together the body-switching machine yourself – but I'm a great shopper. I can buy the parts you need, if you make me a list!”

We have this conversation almost every morning, while we’re getting ready for school, and it always ends with both of us laughing so hard that we’re almost late. I think it’s sweet that Andrea would put on the act just to make me feel better. Honestly, I would trade bodies with her in a heartbeat, if such a thing were possible, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she would not really trade shapes with me, even if she could. After all, who in her right mind would ever trade being thin and gorgeous for being chunky and lopsided?

But like I said, I am not jealous. I know that Andrea can’t help being the object of every guy’s dreams. And really, she is one of my best friends. We have so much fun together, and I know that she really loves me and wants me to be happy. Even though we don’t have a single thing in common, I really am closer to Andi than anyone else. And it’s not just because she’s my sister. She’s just an amazing person and a great friend. And she always knows the right thing to do or say in just about every circumstance. (I wish I had that ability!)

The bottom line is that Andi is always there for me. Through thick and thin, happy or sad, no matter what, my little sister has got my back. She makes me laugh when I’m feeling blue, she helps me to put things into perspective when I go a little bit crazy, and she is always really careful about trying not to make me feel inferior. What more could I ask for in a sister? I’m really lucky to have Andi in my life, even if she does outshine me at every turn.