A Little Bit Ninja

19: A Little Bit Stalkerish and One Big Date

“Is she hot?” his eyes lit up with a spark of excitement.

Score. Insert beautiful distraction, and I don’t have to worry about Abe following me around at the concert.  

Chapter 19: A Little Bit Stalkerish and One Big Date

Millie, Erica and I rolled our eyes at Abe. Why is that always the first thing guys ask? Okay, I understand that there has to be a certain amount of attraction to make chemistry. I’d be lying if I said it isn’t important to me. But do they really have to be so transparent about it?

Wouldn’t a more pertinent question be, “Does Sammy eat condiments?” because aside from sweet and sour sauce, she doesn’t. It could be a deal breaker, like onions with dear Rakesh.

“She looks like Millie, kind of, with long brown hair, but she has deep brown eyes—and she’s shorter.”

Abe looked down to Millie, who—when standing up straight—is five foot three.

“How much shorter? I don’t want to look like I’m robbing the cradle or anything.”

I almost told him she was four feet eleven inches last I heard—meaning, she’s well over a foot shorter than him—but decided it was immaterial. Tall shoes can fix that. But Abe was starting to get under my skin with his line of questioning.  

“Why is it such a big deal? What if she’s four feet tall, and wears glasses, and dresses like a boy? What then? Is she undateable?”  

He shrank back from my baleful glare. Okay, I know I’m not usually this touchy about the whole judging people by appearances thing. I think I’m just having residual frustration after fighting with Landon about it two days in a row.

Just to clarify: I believe that appearances are important as one of the ways we broadcast what we want others to think of us. But I also know that, appearances can be like book covers, so you can’t go on looks alone. I mean, how about Landon? He looks like he’s nice; more than nice. 

Abe looked from Erica to Millie to confirm that they were witnessing the same thing as him, but they avoided his eyes. He probably had no idea where this was coming from, but Erica and Millie did. They knew what had happened with Landon.

I just couldn’t tell Abe, not when it happened, and it just didn’t seem important any more. Despite all the years since he’d come home with Mom and Dad that we’d spent playing together, I just couldn’t risk him choosing Lan instead of me. It should have been a pretty straightforward choice. Right?

I’m his sister, his flesh and blood—well, figuratively anyway—it shouldn’t even be a choice. It should be a given. But Landon was his best friend, and I’d always just tagged along. Abe never acted like it bothered him, but as the only girl I’d always felt a little outnumbered. Maybe that’s why I started dressing like them anyway, to fit in better.

But I just couldn’t face it if my own brother were to choose a crap for brains chauvinist over me. So, I removed myself from the equation.

I still remember the first time Abe saw me wearing a skirt, and make-up—of my own volition. Mom’s dress up sessions didn’t count—he did a double take when I came into the room. I was even wearing the contacts that had been collecting dust in my bathroom since my last trip to the optometrist. He looked at me like he was trying to reclassify my genus, species and subspecies.

Homo> Sapien> Female

Landon happened to be there. I hadn’t seen him since the party. He started cat-calling and whistling, until mine and Abe’s combined glares shut him up.