I Love You Ms. J!

Chapter 26: Mysterious stare of Deanna!

The next morning I woke up thinking about how I could fix everything. If the answer was simple then I guess it wouldn't take so long to come up with. I climbed out of bed, and went to Ken's room to grab some clothes. But it was locked.

I knocked on the door, but he wouldn't opening it. "Hey, let me in, I need some clothes."

"Wear that junk you bought before." Ken shouted from his room.

I didn't understand what the big deal was, so I knocked on his door again. "Stop playing around, I'll be late."

"I'm tired of you wearing my stuff!"

This really ticked me off. He normally didn't care about that sort of thing. But then again, he was getting older. Maybe he was finally embarrassed that his sister was stealing his clothes. I really had no choice but to wear the stuff that Bella help pick out. If this was going to be a problem, then I'd have to buy my own boys clothes.

And so I changed into one of my tomboy outfits. I had planned to leave it just like that, but I looked weird without fixing my hair like I did before.

So I did, and added make-up while I was at it. When I looked at myself in the mirror I thought it would make me miss Bella. But it didn't. I saw myself smiling. I forgot how pretty I could look.

In class I got those looks again. People just weren't used to me dressing up, and when I did it always seemed to be a hit. I didn't know why, but I wasn't feeling uncomfortable anymore. I mean, sure, my brother's clothes were favorable, but I remembered when I used to wear these things and feel like a freak.

Aiko couldn't stop looking at me. I wondered if I had found the downside to dressing up like this. But when she finally talked to me she told me she like the way I looked before. I don't know why, but for some reason it sort of hurt my feelings.

Did she really prefer the boy over the girl? I knew Aiko wasn't that shallow, but it still made me feel a bit sad.

If Aiko wasn't all that excited about my tomboy look, Deanna was the opposite. She was staring at me too, but for different reasons. She wouldn't admit that she preferred this look, but she wouldn't deny it either. Somehow that perked me up a bit.

The next morning it was the same deal. My brother told me to wear my own clothes again. I had went to him out of habit, but I found I wasn't upset with him anymore.

I wanted to look nice. And I realized why. I wanted to see if Deanna would stare at me again. Sure enough, at school I got the same reactions from Aiko and Deanna.

"This isn't going to be an everyday thing, is it?" Aiko asked. "I mean, I know I told you to wear what you want, but I thought you liked the boy look better."

"Well my brother doesn't like me wearing his clothes anymore." I told her. "This is what I have."

"Are you going to buy your own boy clothes?"

I pretended to be hurt and teased her. "Do I look that bad?"

"No. I just... never mind."

That's when I realized that wearing this helped Aiko get over me. Deanna, on the other hand, was having troubles keeping her eyes off me. She was doing give a gallant effort though. But it was getting so bad at it that even Aiko noticed.

When Deanna wasn't listening Aiko leaned in close to me and whispered: "Looks like she can't help herself, can she?"

It was boosting my self-esteem that my new look was pleasing Deanna. I knew I couldn't wear the stuff Bella got me that were ultra-girly, but I was starting to like the tomboy look.

After school that week I even went shopping for more clothes, and they weren't from the boy's section.

Finally the weekend was approaching. Life was getting better in our little group now that Deanna and Aiko were talking about, but there was that unspoken thing between them. I knew it was their feelings for me.

A break-through happened in art class, when Aiko placed her art-stand next to mine and painted near me so we could talk. It had been a while since she had done this, even though we were friends again, so I was happy.

"I think you should ask Deanna out." I was a bit surprised by this, but I didn't know if Aiko was trying to play the martyr.

"I'm not going out with anyone." I told her plainly.

"She wants you. It's so obvious."

"Only because I'm dressing like this now." I lied. I knew it was more than that. My appearance was just the icing on the cake.

"Bullshit." Aiko nudged me, causing me to streak a line across my painting. "Opps!"

I wasn't mad. The line was easily fixable. But I pretended to pout anyway. "Look at what you made me do!"

"I'm sorry!" Aiko quickly said.

"It's alright. I can fix it..." I pretended to be placated. I don't know why I was acting the girl now. Maybe I liked seeing Aiko squirm a bit. It was kind of funny.

"Seriously though, I think she'd loosen up if you ask her out." Aiko was back to the dating topic. "I'm not just saying that. I think both of you would be happier that way."

"I can't do that to you." I turned to her, dropping all prettiness. "You're my best friend, I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"What friend would I be if I let you pass up a cutie like her?" Aiko shrugged. "And besides, I think I'm over you now."

"Oh thanks." I acted offended.

"You know what I mean. I think a lot of what I liked about you was taking care of you. When you're... when you're dressed like your brother it means you're scared and need someone to watch over you. I think I got addicted to that. When you started dressing like this, I guess I realized you don't need me to baby you anymore."

"I'll always need you." I quickly told her, being completely honest.

"But not in the way you used to. You need something else now, and you can't get that from me." Aiko looked embarrassed telling me all this. "Geez, are you really going to let me go on and on. I hate talking about stuff like this. Just date Deanna already."

"But... But I don't even know if I like her like that." I admitted.

"Yes you do. You just won't allow yourself to think like that." Aiko almost pushed me again, then remembered I had a paint brush in my hand. "You like that she loves your new outfits... tell me I'm wrong."

I couldn't. She was completely right. Maybe now was the time to get over Bella once and for all. Maybe I should ask. Deanna out.