Managing Boys

Managing Boys (11)

I stared at myself in the mirror and let out a shaky breath. My legs were pale, but that was really the only immediate problem that I could see as I stood there in the short skirt.

But then there was a whole different problem with the shirt.

I continued to pull the top of the shirt it up every couple of seconds just out of habit, even though there wasn’t enough fabric to cover my entire stomach and all of my chest. I felt uncomfortable, but I just needed time to get used to it.

“Hey, Aria, can I borrow your—” I heard my sister begin as she opened the door, but she cut herself off when she saw what I was wearing. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Is that my skirt?”

I awkwardly tugged at it. “Uh… yeah. You can borrow whatever you want of mine.”

She nodded, still staring at me as she picked up a pair of flip flops from my closet. Everything that I was wearing right then belonged to her; the only reason it had been in my closet was because our mother had accidentally put them in my room on laundry day.

I looked at myself one last time in the mirror, and I knew I was ready. It was time to see what everyone thought of the new me, though it wasn’t exactly new. It was the old me, really. As I looked in the mirror, all I saw was freshman Aria.

I let out a breath and tugged on the skirt one more time. I was ready. There wasn’t anything else I could add to this outfit, so it was time to go.

But then I realized something.

I realized I didn’t even have anywhere to go. It was Saturday, and I didn’t have any plans with my friends. I was all dressed up and I thought I looked fantastic, but I didn’t even have anyone to show it off to.

So I grabbed my phone, punching in the familiar number before pressing it to my ear and hoping to be answered right away so I wasn’t stuck in my house, all alone, looking this way.

“Hello, Aria!” Zoey greeted. She then giggled when she realized what she had said, and I cringed.

“Hey,” I greeted back, not about to comment on what she had said. “You and Parker should come over today.”

She seemed surprised as she asked, “Why?”

I shrugged. “I can’t just hang out with my best friends?”

Both Sophie and my mom were out, so we’d have the whole house just to ourselves. We could do whatever we wanted. Not that we would have done anything more than sprawl out on the couch and watch movies.

When the doorbell rang ten minutes later, my heart skipped a beat. This was it. Someone outside of my family was going to see me in completely different clothing. It might have been my best friends, but it was still a big step for me. I didn't know how they'd react.

“Oh, Aria!” I heard Zoey sing through the door, which caused me to feel even more nervous as I made my way toward it. “Hurry up and open the door!”

She continued to sing nonsence until I opened the door, and she didn’t even notice anything at first. But after getting a good look at me, her eyes went wide.

“Aria!” Zoey gasped, her jaw practically hitting the floor. “What… what are you wearing?”

I looked down at my outfit, not really knowing what I was supposed to say to her. I was wearing the same kind of clothes that all the girls at school wore, so it wasn't that strange.

“Hey, guys,” Parker greeted suddenly as he entered my doorway, but then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. “Whoa.”

“Yes, I understand; this is different,” I snapped, grabbing his chin and pushing his head up so he would no longer be staring at my chest. “Close your mouth.”