You're My Sol

Chapter 15

Lunch again. It was such a cycle. I felt trapped.

I felt even more trapped when I saw Jake sitting in my seat at the table.

"Hey guys," I said, holding my lunch tray, standing awkwardly behind them.

Jake looked me up and down. "You're Penny, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Penelope," I said, gritting my teeth.

"Oh," he trailed off.

"You're in my seat."

Marisol gave me a look I couldn't decipher.

 "You can sit over there," Jake said, pointing down the table to a seat on the end.

I felt a weight in my gut, but I said nothing. I walked stiffly over to the end of the table and sat down. The rest of the group was facing away from me.

I sighed, burying my head in my hands. I munched on my burger while staring off to the side, not listening to what they were saying.

"So are you in, Penelope?" Ashlynn asked, nudging me.

"Huh?" I said, looking towards the group for the first time in fifteen minutes.

"Kate said she got invited to a party and is allowed to bring whoever she wants. You wanna come?" Sarah said, leaning over.

Oh god. I'd never been invited to a party. Was there going to be drinking?

Actually, I could use a drink.

"I'm in, when is it?"

Marisol looked at me funny.

Kate grinned. "Yay! We got Penelope in! I'll text you the details."

"Cool," I nodded.

"Wanna meet up beforehand? You guys can come to my house and we can all do our makeup and whatever," she said.

"Am I invited?" Jake joked.

Kate laughed. "Sorry, girls only. Speaking of, Marisol, are you gonna be with your boyfriend or are you having a girls' night?"

Marisol's gaze flicked to me, and then she snuggled into Jake. "Sorry girls, I'm sticking with Jake on this one. We'll go to the party together."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You guys are too into each other."

Jake looked at Marisol, smiling. "Yeah."

I also looked at Marisol, but I was frowning. She'd rather hang out with her boyfriend than spend time with the rest of her friends?

Well at least I got to hang out with my friends.

* * *

"You're wearing that?" Sarah asked, looking at me as I walked in the room.

I was wearing a graphic t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I inspected myself in the mirror. "Uh... yeah?"

"No, you're not," Kate added in. "Do you want to look like a freshman?"

I shook my head.

"Good, then you can borrow some of my clothes," Kate said, already looking through her drawers.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh. Yeah," Kate said, pulling out a baby-blue sweater and a black, ripped skirt. Scandalous. "Wear this," she said, shoving it toward me.

"Don't you think it's a litte... uh..."

"Slutty? Yeah. But you want a boyfriend, right?" Kate asked, thinking back to the times they thought I was jealous of Marisol.

I paused. I could make Marisol wish she was with me. Wait, what was I thinking? She was straight. She had a boyfriend. I could make her wish she didn't.

"I'll wear it," I said, taking it from her hands.

The rest of the girls laughed and cheered. I smiled, then walked out to go to the bathroom. I opened the door and stood in front of the mirror.

There was my curly blonde hair, my boring brown eyes, my pale skin, my bony arms. I was ugly, there was no denying that. But maybe if I tried to be confident, I could impress Marisol?

Ugh. I leaned on my hands, looking into the sink. I needed to stop thinking of Marisol. I pushed back and got changed. I walked back into the room to a wolf-whistle from Kate.

"See! Hot," she said. I blushed.

"Ooh, Jess should do your makeup! She's great at that stuff," Ashylnn said.

Jessica shrugged. "If you want me to."

My mind drifted back to Marisol, and I nodded.

I sat down on a chair and Jessica pulled one up in front of me. She got out... something... I wasn't sure what. I wasn't exactly a makeup person.

She got brushes and powders and blenders and put them on my face. I sat there, listening to them gossip and chiming in every once in a while. Jessica kept shushing me, telling me to keep still, and I couldn't help but giggle.

Sarah got out a curling iron and started doing her hair. She stared into the mirror. "What do you guys think of Marisol and Jake?"

My eyes shot open.

"Hey!" Jessica shouted. "You'll mess me up!"

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, closing my eyes again so she could continue putting on eyeshadow or whatever she was doing.

"I think they're cute together," Kate said.

"I think Jake is kinda annoying, but if Marisol likes him, then I'm happy for her," Ashlynn said.

Jessica added in, "they seem good for each other.

"What do you think, Penelope?" Sarah asked, turning away from the mirror.

"Oh, uh," I gulped. "I think they're really cute together."

"Yeah," she said turning back to the mirror. "Maybe tonight I'll find someone to look cute with."

Jessica finished putting whatever it was on my face and stood back. "Okay, you can open your eyes now!"

Everyone was staring at me curiously.

"She looks like a completely different person," Ashlynn said.

"Definitely," Kate said.

Sarah nodded.

Jessica tugged on my hand, pulling me up from the chair. "C'mon, you gotta look at this. Tell me I did a good job." She pushed me in front of then mirror.

My jaw dropped.

I tilted my head from one side to the other. They were right: I did look like another person. My eyelids were sparkly and gold, complimenting my eye color. My cheekbones were more defined, my cheeks blushed--I looked like I was glowing.

I was never a girly person, but something about the way I looked in that mirror made me feel like I could take on the world.

I turned back to Jessica, grinning. "You didn't do a good job. You did amazing!"

Jessica smiled. "Now you do mine."

My face dropped.

She snickered. "Just kidding."

We kept laughing and talking until we were ready. We all filed out into the car. We just barely fit, Jessica, Ashlynn, and I had to squish into the backseat.

"All buckled up?" Kate said, putting it into reverse. She was the oldest out of us and already had her liscense, and was therefore the designated driver.

We pulled out of the driveway and I stared out the window at the stars, listening to my friends laugh and gossip, and I felt truly happy.