"Whoever coined the term 'High School Sweetheart' never met Collin Ayers."
Paige Thompson, an aspiring singer/songwriter, always felt like the late bloomer of her tight-knit, wild friend group, which included her older sister and music duo partner...
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Now that everyone was back from university for the summer break and I was riding the high of graduation, the group decided to celebrate. With the invites and group chat updates flooding in, worrying about college admissions transitioned to planning a link-up that upcoming weekend after the last class. By now, I was over hiding at home and could muster the stamina to attend a party for once. I had no choice but to live more, so that was on my agenda permanently.
I felt more excited than the rest of our group as the weekend approached for how long it'd been since I even got to dress up at all compared to the girls.
Swamped with portfolios, scholarship applications, and college admission letters left no room to look in the mirror some days, resulting in a high ponytail for as long as I could manage until graduation and prom. I took advantage of the extra hours of sleep I was awarded for the grueling months, pulling all-nighters to maintain my high GPA. Having a sibling meant that at least one of us would have to aim for a full ride in university, and that would have to be me. If I wanted to get a scholarship from a musical arts program, one Josie would also attend, I had to stay on track with every class. I had yet to see the fruits of my labor but could put that all past me for now.
After finally having room to breathe and not think about my future for once, I realized that I owned nothing dressy to wear besides my two formal dresses. Not even a funky pair of pants. By Josie's sneering at my 2XL band t-shirt, as I stood at the front door, relying on my makeup and hair to pull the look together, she was not pleased, nearly pushing me into her bedroom to change my outfit.
"Your look has to go with mine tonight. Bitch I'm tired of the damn oversized shirts."
Since I was a few sizes bigger than her and a couple of inches shorter, her clothes fit much tighter on me, clinging to my frame and increasing my anxieties about a zipper popping and taking someone's eye out like the Looney Toons. But Josie's enthusiasm as we stood before her full-length mirror assured me that 'glam over comfort' was working. Adjusting my spilling boobs through the tight square-neck corset top that pushed the air out of my ribs, I turned to her, "Can I at least wear my shoes?"
The three of us arrived later than expected due to Josie, and I's endless bickering about what Bratz doll clothes she wanted to fit me in, not understanding that her clothes barely fit her. Then it escalated to her wanting us to wear matching colors, an offer I swiftly refused; Josie could be just as embarrassing as our mom.
My heart raced with anticipation on whether Collin was arriving, but he had been silent in the group chat since yesterday, only liking everyone's messages. I was gambling on whether he'd attend since going MIA. The three of us arrived a few minutes after everyone else. We stepped into the colorful LED-lit entertainment room connected from the backdoor with a vast movie room projector connected to surround sound speakers blasting a miscellaneous top 50 rap playlist that only a rich white kid would put on.
