One of the Boys (Original Story)

Chapter 2

There was this one Saturday right before the lake trip, when Casey, Elody and I were hanging out in the mall's food court. I had wanted to get a big pretzel in between stores. they had been buying new swim suits before certain sizes were gone, but I needed a break from the constant "does this look good" questions for the past three hours. I wasn't much for shopping. I didn't find it fun because no matter what I tried on, it wasn't gonna look like it did on them and we all knew it. Clothes shopping always made me uneasy. It was different when I was five and all knees and elbows. 

Most of the time I wore Noah's old board shorts and a swim shirt. If I was in the water, I was typically surfing and wasn't worried about looking cute. I think that was honestly the start of my dissent, all those early mornings of just me and the guys and our boards. Elody and Casey would never be caught actually swimming in the ocean. They would wade out till their knees were underwater but never any further.

Elody was staring at her reflection in her phone, trying to decide if she needed new sunglasses, since she had liked the heart shaped ones Casey had just bought, even though she'd said they were ugly five minutes prior. "I don't know Case, these are pretty dinghy. They are four years old."

"What's so bad about that?" I self-consciously resituated my five year-old sunglasses on my head. They were large, white plastic frames, but they still looked new. 

"Nothing, Hilly. She's just looking for a reason to go back," Casey said, popping a stick of gum in her mouth. I shrugged then, taking another bite of pretzel. 

"I'm going to go buy a pair. Anyone coming with me?" Elody said, grabbing her purse off the back of her chair. 

"The cute cashier said his brake was in a few minutes, so I'm staying here," Casey said. 

"I'm a little pooped, plus I don't think I'm allowed in the store with my pretzel," I told her. 

"It's okay if you want to hangout with the cute cashier, Hilly. You don't have to lie to us," Elody teased. 

"Oh please. Hilly only has eyes for Grayson. Everyone knows that, except Grayson of course," Casey said tearing off a tiny bite. 

"Shut up," I said. I could feel the  tips of my ears begin to burn. I hated that everyone knew I'd had a crush on Grayson for most of my life. It was embarrassing to dedicate that much of your life to daydreaming and filling pink fur covered diaries with hearts and your first name and his last. 

The cute cashier walked up not too long after Elody left. He was cuter up close I realized. From where I had been standing by the manakins out of the way of the check out line, he seemed too perfect with his chiseled jaw that seemed almost square and his hair quaffed with too much hairspray it looked fake. That was typically Casey's type though. She liked people that were always put together, something she had developed from her mom who wouldn't come downstairs in the morning till her make up was done and her hair curled. I liked imperfections. I felt like I could fit with someone who had flaws too. Maybe that's why I never tried to tell Grayson my feelings. He had no flaws, which often confused me as to why I liked him anyway. 

More up close I could see a small scar on his chin and his bottom teeth were turned slightly. It made me feel more comfortable sitting at a table with him. "You waited," he said to Casey, sitting down. The plastic name tag on his shirt said his name was Charles. I decided he looked like a Charles too.

"We had a date," she said as if that were obvious. She smiled then, before going back to eating her salad, Charles checking her out. I was always jealous of how she could get boys to wrap themselves willingly around her pinky finger. "This is Hilly, by the way." Charles seemed to notice me for the first time, like I'd snuck up on them from behind.