A Beautiful Mess

Tenth: Why Do I Care About The Boy?

Tenth: Why Do I Care About The Boy?

I decided not to leave the house.  I curled up beside the window and grabbed a book trying to forget what my brother said.

       Still, I couldn’t help myself but to rewind all the things that Andrew said this morning.  He said that Ethan wanted to impress Rachel, were she even that beautiful and charming to be worth impressed at?  I know that I didn’t have feelings for him.  Heck, I didn’t have anything for him at all!  So why should I be bothered?

       Mom arrived.  She was a bit sweaty and it was obvious that she worked very hard at the Café today by the looks of her filthy apron.  Despite all she has been too, she never forgets to wear her smile.

       Andrew and I were watching TV when she came and suddenly stood in front of us perfectly blocking the view. 

       “Guess what,” too excited to even speak, she began, “Melissa asked me if we can sponsor this upcoming Summer Dance. All the people near the beach will be invited and that means are Café would be promoted! I told her we’d be glad to. What do you think?”

       The Summer Dance was always held every year in summer.  Random people were invited and mostly all of them were from our neighborhood.  So instead of meeting new people, we meet the same person again and again, except for when some new family moved.  The weirdest and nerve racking part of the dance was that you weren’t allowed to choose your partner.  Every girl who decides to attend the dance will have to sign up and write their name in a piece of paper then drop it off the box.  Then when all of the names are dropped, the boys will have to pick one paper whether they like the girl or not.  It wasn’t the best idea but it seemed that they made it a tradition ever since the Summer Dance was invented.

       A few years ago, my brother and I joined the Summer Dance for the first time and you wouldn’t believe who my brother picked: me.  His fingers randomly picked my name.  I was so mad at him even though it wasn’t his fault.  We asked if he could have another chance but they wouldn’t let him since it was against the rule and wasn’t fair for everybody.  So the whole night I was with my brother who I was very annoyed at.  He wouldn’t even act like a gentleman.  We were on the dance floor and he kept stepping on my foot.  So I decided to step on his foot too and at the end of the dance, our feet were full of bruises.

      

Andrew and I stared at each other.

       “Mom, you made a decision without before even asking us?” Andrew shook his head and let his head fall on the couch.  It was obvious that he didn’t like the idea.  Dad heard the news and sat beside me. 

       “I think it’s about time to have our big break.  We’ll absolutely enjoy it.” He added.

       I wanted to ask Andrew why he was upset.  But I think I knew.  Since our Café will be sponsoring this year’s Summer Dance, he’s afraid that mom and dad would be their every minute to see him ask girls out and that would be extremely awkward for him.  But I wasn’t sure if that was his case.

       Mom continued, “You kids enjoy the dance and leave all the catering to us. I think you deserve it.”

       “I’m going to the dance too?” I asked.

       “Of course. Why wouldn’t you?”

       “I don’t know.”

       “It’s up to you. Besides, it’s still in two weeks’ time. But right now we have to organize as early as possible and honey,” she turned to dad, “we need to look for people to hire. It’s not as easy as it looks. But I’m sure we can handle it.”

       “Not a problem at all.”

The sun was already gone.  I peeked outside the window just to admire the fading colors of the sky.  I did this every time the sun would set and it had been a part of me and my daily routine.  Maybe the thing that catches my eyes the most is when the sky shifts its color from the light that the sun has left.  The way it mixes smoothly and produces a more vibrant color.  The way it glimmers in my eyes and tells me that there is more out there that I haven’t seen.  More than a desire I could ever hope for and more than a million stars that I could ever wish for.  It’s just amazing and there’s no words to describe how unbelievably beautiful it is.

       Sometimes I wish I could pull all the people out from their comfort zones and just show them how incredible there is out there.  But it seems that they don’t have the guts to come out and just admire.

       Once I stepped in my room, I opened my closet and found the shoe box where my shells were hiding.  The yellow cockle shell necklace that Bridget gave me caught my eye and I pulled it out of the box as if I was pulling a rabbit out of a hat.  I turned it to one side and saw tiny bits of sand dust fall.  I held it and wondered just how beautiful things can fall off the beach every day.