What You're Not | ✔

13. Thirteen Again

A little after Miles left me dazed and confused last night, Nikki and Aunt Linda stopped by to pick me up.

I used to spend every Halloween with Nikki. When we were younger, she knew which houses had the best candy. Now that our trick-or-treating days were over, Nikki's new specialty was finding the best parties.

She really showed off her mighty party-finding powers when she found a Halloween party on the weekend. Which was our only option since Halloween fell on a weekday and our parents wouldn't allow us to go out.

"I'm just gonna say it," Nikki announced as we stood in front of her full length mirror. "We look cheetah-licious."

I knew it was coming, but it was still funny. She was absolutely right, though.

We were dressed in the infamous track suits the cheetah girls wore in the final scenes of the first movie. Nikki was in pink, like Galleria. I wore lavender, like Chanel. Danesha and Kyla, two of Nikki's friends from school, were supposed to be arriving soon dressed as Aqua and Dorinda, respectfully.

"Anyways, back to Green Eyes," Nikki said, wiggling her eyebrows at me. "What's up with him?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," I told her, plopping down on her bed.

She applied some lip gloss to her lips, smacking them together before saying, "I don't even know him."

"Exactly," I exclaimed. "Neither do I. And every time I think I'm getting to know him, he switches it up. He makes me dizzy."

"Sounds nauseating," she joked, looking over at me. "Since we're on the subject of boys, I'm kind of seeing this guy and I'm meeting him at the party tonight."

My brow raised at her. "You're mom lifted the boyfriend ban?"

She didn't answer me. She didn't need to. The answer was written all over her guilty looking face.

"When she finds out I'll be the one outside looking for an appropriate switch to whoop you with," I laughed.

"Shut up," she ordered, picking up a pillow from the bed and whacking me with it. "Her ban is stupid. She just said it because of Jackie."

Jackie was her older sister. She had her first baby when she Nikki's age. Now, at twenty-four, she has four kids and three baby daddy's. If I was Aunt Linda I'd issue a boy ban as well.

The doorbell rang and Nikki dropped the pillow, jogging down the hall to answer it. I followed behind, figuring it had to be the other two girls.

My guess was correct. Nikki's friends were there, dressed as the remaining two Cheetah Girls.

"Mama, we leaving," Nikki shouted, right into my ear causing me to flinch.

The four of us piled into Nikki's Honda, which needed cleaning as it was littered with Pop Tart wrappers and old Pepsi bottles. Before we pulled out of the driveway, Nikki had to get the music started. The minute the song began I already knew what it was.

"Really, Nik?"

She flashed me a toothy grin. "What? We need to get into character."

Cheetah Sisters blasted through the speakers as she began to drive. As much I resisted the urge to sing along, I failed. The four of us sang the song loudly and most likely off key. It didn't matter though, it felt great.

That's what I loved about hanging out with Nikki. No matter what was plaguing my mind and bringing me down, Nikki could fight it off with her carefree, fun-loving attitude.