If the Shoe Fits (Completed)

Part 3

Part 3

School passed quickly and, thankfully, no one else found out about Ailia’s secret admirer, for which she was grateful. The ball, which was to occur that Saturday night, was all anyone could talk about. Discussions of make-up and hair plagued the girls’ bathrooms; outfits were debated during classes; and the choice of whether or not to rent a limo was voiced at lunchtime.

Bibi was sick of it. She had no date; she had no secret admirer to giggle over. And the person who did didn’t even care. Ailia acted as if it were another school day, not even giving boys a second glance to try to figure out who her Prince Charming was. If that were Bibi, she would take each and every boy of the student body and interrogate him one-at-a-time in the supply closet until she found out his identity.

But, she mused. Maybe that was why she didn’t have a secret admirer. Maybe she was too direct, too honest for a boy to use such a sweet means of communication. After all, it was Ailia who was timid and shy. Bibi was just the wild best friend.

And was she even as pretty as Ailia? She definitely wasn’t as fair with her straight brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. But boys still liked her, right?

Bibi mumbled a ‘hello’ to her mother as she walked through the front door. Her mother was in the kitchen, rolling tamales. It was an old family recipe passed down from her own mother, who was from Puerto Rico. Normally Bibi would offer to help, but she was not in the mood.

“Something came for you in the mail!” Her mother called after her daughter as Bibi started up the stairs. “It’s on your bed.”

“Okay!” Bibi yelled back, dumping her bag on her bedroom floor. She turned to her bed and her heart stopped.

A delicate rose just beginning to bloom was on her bedspread. The color was such a deep hue of red it seemed almost painted; as if should you hold it upside down the color would drip from its petals and onto the floor in scarlet rivers.

With trembling fingers Bibi picked it up, noticing as she did so that there was not one thorn on the stem. A sliver of a note was attached to the stalk, a winding white band of thoughtfulness.

In case you were feeling left out

That was all it said. Seven small words written in slightly familiar, loopy script.

Bibi reread it. And then read it again, not fully understanding what it meant. Did she have her own Prince Charming? Or was this Ailia’s date simply feeling bad for the poor best friend? She suddenly wanted to throw the rose at the wall but, upon looking at it once more, decided against it. The lovely flower did her no harm; it was simply the messenger.

She glanced back down at her bed, hoping for the answers to her questions. But it was empty save for her favorite stuffed animal –a blue dog who went by the name of Bernard. She sat heavily beside him and picked him up, moving his face towards the rose.

“Sniff,” She ordered. The dog did so. Then Bibi sniffed as well, although she was not smelling the rose. No, Bibi sniffed and snuffled because the person with whom she wanted to share this delicious bit of information with was not there.

If he was there, she would have dashed to his room, the rose clutched in her hand, and told him all about Ailia’s secret admirer and her horrible feelings of jealousy towards her best friend. He would have comforted her, given her advice.

Bibi sniffled again and a tear dripped down her cheek, landing on Bernard’s ear. It made a small circle of navy blue.

Almost sordidly, Bibi wiped the trail of salt away from her skin and stood up. Leaving Bernard and the lovely rose on her bed, she did what she always did in times of missing him: she went to his abandoned room and grabbed a sweatshirt from his closet, putting it on. It was much too big around and went down to nearly her knees but she didn’t care. She went back to her room and grabbed the stuffed dog once again, clutching him to her chest. The sweatshirt smelled of him. She breathed it in deeply and clung to the dog even harder. Then, she let the tears fall.