Tomboy or Not, Here I Come !

Chapter 3

An annoying ringing noise startled me out of bed.

Thump!

“Ugh…” I groaned, rolling onto my back side on the floor. I pushed my weight on my elbows, and reached for my bedside table for my phone. I quit the alarm before checking the time.

7 freaking a.m.?!

I rubbed my eyes. Why the hell would I wake up so – Oh, right. Shopping day with Barbara. I groaned again, just from the fact that I had to go shopping today, before getting up and heading to the bathroom. Seriously, the things I do for my friends! And they make me read Vampire Crap in return!

So, needless to say, I wasn’t not exactly a morning person. Well, that wasn’t quite right, during school days I made sure to get up early enough to run – sometimes with the company of Riley, sometimes not – before making breakfast and getting ready for school. But, having gone to sleep at roughly 1 a.m., I wasn’t functioning as I usually did. I needed at least 8 straight hours of sleep. No more, no less. And two hours were a big difference for my body.

I brushed my teeth and took a bath, making sure not to take too long, since Barbara would be coming to pick me up at 8.

I went over my room, into my wardrobe. Hmmm. I decided on a pair of faded jeans that had holes on its knees, and an I Heart Dance white tee. I then started to go through my shoe boxes; I wanted to wear converse today, but I couldn’t find them.

I heard a faint voice,

I’m coolin’

I’m coolin’ coolin’,

I’m coolin’ coolin’,

I’m just coolin’

I’m coolin’ coolin’,

That was Barb’s ring tone. I ran out of my wardrobe, giving up on my search, and quickly put on my DC brown-and-green shoes. I put all the things I needed on a loose brown purse that Barb had gotten me, and rushed out the door, taking the spare key with me. I saw Barb’s baby blue Prius. I sat in the backseat, since Wilton had called gunshot.

“Thank you so much you guys!” Barb gushed. I rolled my eyes discreetly; it wasn’t that much of a torture for Wilton as it was for me. But I’d gotten myself in this plan, so there was nothing I could do.

“So, where do you think we should shop?” I asked, trying to sound as normal as I could. I was sure, however, that there was at least a faint trace of my annoyance.

“Well, Wilton told me about a couple of store, like Mimi’s, and the XShop. But after that, I guess we can just walk around, see if there’s anything else.” Barb said, with a huge grin on her face. She knew I hated malls, but she wasn’t going to let an “opportunity” to shop with me pass by.

I sighed at that.

“So, Wilton, how was your summer?” I asked, trying to stay away from the subject of shopping, but I knew we were barely 5 minutes away from the mall.

“Not much, I went back to London for two weeks, and aside from that I’ve been hanging with Mitchell and Brian.” Wilton shrugged. He was my best friend since 7th grade, and had told me he was gay during freshman year. I still remember how he came up to me, asking to talk to me, his cheeks flushing. He was so nervous, I guessed what it was – and I was right, thank God. It would’ve been awkward if he wasn’t gay.

Mitchell and Brian, I knew, were gay, too. But they kept that a secret – like Wilton – since our school had the typical prejudices against homosexual people. And although they could all defend themselves – Mitchell and Brian were part of the football team, and Wilton worked out a lot – they preferred being saved from humiliation and degradation from our fellow students.