Crushes Over Papercuts- A Mid 90s Tale

Chapter 24

Tiffany stood in the doorway of Nicole's bedroom watching the four of us apply our makeup and style our hair. "Where are you guys going tonight?"

"We're getting ready for the football game. Now get out of my room." Nicole tried to shut the door but it wouldn't close. Tiffany's foot was blocking her.

"Lauren, I think a light pink shade of lip gloss would be really pretty on you," Tiffany told her. "I'll let you borrow mine if you want."

Lauren put the burgundy lipstick down.

"And Jenny, you should clip the side of your hair. It'll highlight your high cheek bones."

I lifted a section of hair and gazed in the mirror. "That does look nice. Thanks."

Nicole eyed Tiffany suspiciously. "What do you want, Tiffany?"

"Everyone is still at campus and I don't have any plans for tonight. Can I go to the game with you guys?"

"No."

Tiffany clasped her hands together. "Oh, come on, Nicole! It'll be fun."

"Go bother your own friends." Nicole struggled to shove Tiffany's foot from the doorway but it wouldn't budge.

"All my friends are away at college."

"Sounds like a personal problem."

Tiffany's shoulders slumped and her face bore a look of sadness I'd never seen on her before. "Please. Don't make me beg." Then she perked up. "I'll introduce you to Dan Barnard. You used to beg me before. Let me tag along with you guys and I promise to make it happen."

"Dan Barnard?" Lily asked. "You haven't mentioned his name in months, Nicole."

Nicole stopped struggling against Tiffany's foot. "That's because I don't have a thing for him anymore."

Tiffany folder her arms across her chest. "I saw his name in your diary."

Nicole's face turned red. "What the hell, Tiffany?"

"I didn't mean to, but you write so big and –"

"I can't believe you're reading my diary!"

"I can't believe you didn't tell us you still like Dan Barnard," Lauren teased.

"I don't." Nicole glanced at the three of us in her room and easily read our faces. "Fine, you can come Tiffany, but I don't want to meet him." She opened the door to let her in. "And you have to drive all of us."

"I'd love to! Thank you! You won't regret this."

#

The players rushed onto the field when the whistle blew and my heart thumped a little when I found him. It had been less than a week since Ben asked me out but my life was beginning to feel different...altered in a way, and I loved it. He called for the first time Wednesday night saying he had a chemistry question, though he never got around to asking it, but two hours on the phone later, I had learned he fell out of a tree when he was seven and we both prefer the beach over the mountains.

Since the night of homecoming, I'd been counting down the days until our date night and each minute had felt like an hour had passed in its place. The closer our date got, the harder it was to wait.

I wished it were tonight.

Cody mentioned during tutoring that there were no parties this weekend and that the guys planned to hang out at Dylan's dad's house. I wondered if that included Courtney but I'd never ask. I still wasn't ready to even entertain the thought of going to another party but I felt a little better knowing I wasn't missing out on anything.