DAY 1 “I loved that movie! It was so adorable! That part where the bird falls down was just so cute!” I gushed, twirling a strand of my light brown hair on one finger.
“He’s not within earshot”, my so-called ‘best friend’ Sandra replied boredly. I immediately relaxed.
“Good. Because I was wondering if my hair looks okay. Does it? Does it look too out-done? Too fancy for the movies? What about my outfit? Too bright? I made sure it was just the right amount of casual mixed with classy. I also decided my attitude will be totally cool. Like I don’t care. I just hope he notices me”, I rambled on, straining my neck to catch a glimpse of him.
Of Jesse Hollen. He was the ‘bad boy’ of our school.
You know the type. Ditching classes, occasionally putting on eyeliner, being in a heavy-metal band, playing the drums, picking on other people, having wild parties, etc. I also had a major all-time crush on him. He was my everything. I dressed for him, changed for him, did everything.
Yet he never seemed to notice me.
“Notices YOU? He’s got Mindy Warris by his side, dork”, Tina, my other ‘friend’ pointed out.
For the 456th time, I wondered why I surrounded myself with these people. They obviously didn’t care at all. But they still felt obligated to call themselves a part of my social scenery.
Maybe I was a little selfish and untrusting, but these weren’t the type of people to stay loyal for long. Still, they were fun to be around sometimes.
“Hey Jesse”, I greeted, moving toward him.
“Hey”, he responded coolly, not taking his eyes off his girlfriend, Mindy.
“Hey, I’m here, you know”, I joked, chuckling. He cast me a bored glance before moving back to Mindy.
My smile turned to a frown as I racked my brain for what I was doing wrong.
My hair was curled nicely, my dress was perfect outdoor-casual, my attitude wasn’t weird or strange. My shoes were my lucky ones I wore everywhere.
So what was I doing wrong? Maybe he liked the gutsy ones more? Maybe I was being a wimp?
“Dare me”, I challenged.
“What?” he asked, interest finally sparking up in his eyes.
“I feel like a dare. Do it”, I answered, folding my arms.
“Okay, here’s one. Go away. You like that?” Jesse laughed, still not taking his eyes off Mindy.
“That’s so mean, Jesse”, Mindy responded, shoving Jesse’s arm.
“I’ll give you one”, she told me.
“I dare you to… lick the underside of Jesse’s shoe! He just stepped into something green and really gross”, Mindy smiled kindly.
And that’s how I ended up with a crowd of people around me, urging me to lick Jesse’s shoe. It's for him, it's for him, I chanted to myself, taking in the shoe with disgust.
It isn’t so bad, I tried to convince myself.
“Do it”, Jesse dared, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ll do it if you jump from now until when I do it”, I tried to bargain.
“Fine”, Jesse said, starting to hop up and down.
Everyone laughed. Even I did. And I think that’s partly the reason I decided to lick the shoe after all.
