Pinky Swear

Chapter 15: New Look

I felt extremely nervous entering through the double doors of the school dressed as I was.

I had stared at my reflection in the mirror this morning and hadn't even recognized myself. I hadn't used to put so much effort into dressing up to school. I just go for casual clothing, which I usually feel comfortable in. But today, I had tried something different.

I exhaled out, trying to gain some much-needed confidence. The sweater was okay, but the skirt was just too short. It wasn't that it showed too much, only made me look...different. I had also taken Alex's advice and put on some makeup, which I usually don't bother to use. I used to only make use of colorless lip gloss, no more.

But today, I had put on a little bit of foundation, mascara, which made my eyes pop and some cherry lipstick. I drew my eyebrows too.
I was good with makeup and all, mum taught me, but I just didn't like doing it for myself.

I strutted down the hallway, ignoring the flirty looks of some boys and jealous glares from some girls. I tried searching for Alex, but I could not find her anywhere, maybe she wasn't at school yet. It was a bit late when she left my house this morning. I did find Jane, however, at her locker, but she didn't quickly notice me.

"Hi, Jane." I stood beside her and watched her rummage through her locker.

"Hi..." She briefly glanced at me before stretching the word and stared at me, dumbstruck.

"Too much?" I asked as she proceeded to eye me with her jaw ajar.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to seeing you dressed like this." She shook her head and continued to do or look for whatever she was in her locker. "You look really different, any reason why?" She winked at me, making my cheeks tinge pink.

"No, just decided to look different today," I answered her, she finally found what she was looking for and closed her locker shut.

"Well, it's good, you should do this more often. Anyway, have you seen Alex?" We proceeded down the hallway together to our classes, but we had different ones, though.

"No. Maybe she's just running a bit late." I replied, remembering what had happened last night. I hoped she was okay, although she did look fine this morning it could all be an act.

"Okay, see you in the third period." She said and then shuffled away to her class, we had the third period together.

I was close to my class when I saw Ryan with his football buddies as they joked and laughed down the hallway, my heart skipping a beat when I saw him.

He was dressed in dark pants and a white shirt under his football jacket with his midnight black hair styled in a faux hawk giving him that bad boy vibe. He really stood out among his friends as he was the tallest and maybe the most handsome.

He noticed me then, and I watched his eyes roam down my body, but he didn't even look one bit surprised by my choice of dressing. His lips only curved up a little before he was distracted by Jenny leaning on him and kissing him on the cheek. I stood stunned for a while, I thought they had broken up already.

He didn't push her away but instead held her and smiled at her, while I continued to stand there staring like a dummy. He didn't even acknowledge me again as he was busy fawning over Jenny.
I swallowed my pride and went to my class, feeling like an idiot. Why did I even decide to dress like this? What was I thinking?

Yeah, we talked yesterday and shared memories, but did I think we were just friends now. He probably thought of me as a pesky childhood friend he had to be polite with.
The thought of him and Jenny now back together really irked me, and I just wanted to break something.