Page 2 of It's in the Contract
“I love working out together,” Mom says.
I hesitate, just for a beat. “I love it too, Mom.”
She releases me, and I head upstairs to shower.
“What do you think, girl?”I ask my adorable pug, Butter. She snorts from the top of my pastel pink and yellow bedspread. Where she’s not supposed to be.
Butter’s short doggy hairs cling to the otherwise pristine blanket from when she climbed into bed with me sometime in the middle of the night. I blow out through my lips.
“Mom is going to be so mad at you,” I say, leaning forward to squeeze her smooshy cheeks. Butter looks up at me with her big brown eyes, her tongue lolling out. “You’re not supposed to get in bed with me.” I jerk my head at Butter’s doggy bed in the corner of the room. “You sleep there, you turd.”
I turn back to the mirror to double check my appearance. The light gray knit sweater dress looks great with my pale pink tights and ankle boots. I pair it with a chunky silver necklace and pink pearl earrings.
I check my phone on my bedside table. My heart sinks. Still no response from Noah.
“No big deal,” I say. “He probably went to bed early last night so he’ll be fresh for the first day of school and all ready to see me, right?”
I haven’t seen him this week, but that by itself isn’t too out of the norm. His family vacationed a lot this summer, and he had football camps in between. But through it all, we’ve kept up a near constant stream of texts. Until this week.
I finish my makeup and move on to my hair, curling it into beachy waves. “Noah better get back to me soon if he wants to keep me as his girlfriend.” I release a curl and turn to my doggy. “Get off, you little pill.” Butter complies, plopping more than hopping off the bed and waddling across the floor to her pile of blankets. Her dark brown eyes peer over the edge of a ratty bear toy, watching my every move.
I mist my curtain bangs with hairspray so they stay out of my face and then take the time to replace each makeup item neatly. I stand and shake off the bedspread as best as I can, and dog hair flies into the air. I wave a hand in front of my face. It’s pointless. I’ll use my hand vacuum later.
I still make the bed and fold down the top blanket. My room is spotless. Gray houndstooth patterned rugs cover the dark wood floor, and matching bedside tables bookend my bed. The walls are bare except for a ticking clock and a canvas mural of an artsy pink flower that my mom picked out at a farmer’s market. On the wall is a shelf full of cheer trophies.
There’s a tiny hole in the wall that mom hasn’t covered yet from where I once thumb-tacked a picture of me and my best friend, Suzy—both of us beaming at the camera, wearing matching shirts of our favorite band, BTS, while we were at their once-in-a-lifetime concert. Mom took it down the day after I put it up and lectured me about damaging the wall.
Now for the two most important steps of my routine. I take out my bottle of nail polish remover from my dresser drawer andgrab a cotton ball to rub off yesterday’s nail polish. The sharp smell of acetone fills the air, and Butter screws up her nose and sneezes.
“C’mon, girl. Aren’t you used to this by now?”
I apply a new coat of nail polish, forest green and white on alternating nails. On my pointer finger I use a nail stencil to paint the number twenty-two. It looks perfect.
I hold them out for Butter to inspect. “The colors clash with my outfit, but I want to surprise Noah and wear our school colors and his jersey number.”
Butter’s eyes are closed, and she’s snoring softly.
And now for most-important-thing part two. I study the two long lines of perfume bottles on top of my vanity. My friends tease me about the size of my collection, but I believe that there’s power in perfume and in choosing which scent to wear each day.
Finally, I hold up two options. “Which one, Butter? Lavender glow? Or rose crush?” Butter’s still snoring. “You’re no help.”
I look from one bottle to the next, the lavender scent a purple, round bottle with an old-fashioned puff sprayer that I adore. The rose is square, made of heavy glass, with a red and green striped print. “Lavender for serenity? Or rose for romance?”
I set down the lavender and spritz on the rose.
One light spray on my neck, one on my right wrist, then rub together with my left. The scent is heavenly, floral and rich. “Excellent choice,” I say to my sleeping dog. I lean over to give her a kiss on the head.
I pull out my phone and check my to-do list.
“Work out, check. Get ready for school, check,” I say, tapping the button to make each item disappear. I smile, satisfied. The rest of the list is blank for now and will be filled in later with cheer practice, homework, and time with Noah. But for now myfinal reminder is, “Knock ‘em dead.” My daily item that never gets checked off.
It’s going to be a great day.
Two
It’s never too early to start thinking about the Homecoming Dance. Which dress should I wear, pink and frilly or purple and lacey?
Snap Chat by @blueicecream-5.
