Blended Family

Elliott

Joey could hardly contain her excitement that day at school.  It was Friday, which added to the glory.  All day, I would see her in the hall and she'd be giddy and laughing with her friends.  Her party was the talk of the school.  She and I were pretty much the only kids here with famous parents, so there was a bit of a wow factor.  Kids who hadn't been invited were extremely jealous.  Like Cara, who suddenly appeared in front of me at the end of the day.

"Hey," she greeted me simply.  I tried my best not to look at her cleavage, but I failed.  Quickly, I averted my eyes back to her face.

"Hi," I said.  "How's it going?"

"Oh, fine," she said, leaning against the locker next to me.  "Going to Joey's party, I assume?"

"Yeah," I said as I put a couple textbooks away and exchanged them for others.  The end of the school year was approaching and teachers were piling on the homework and projects.  "Should be pretty lit."

"I bet," she said, watching me.  "I heard Selena Gomez is gonna be there."

I looked at her.  That information was top secret.

"Uhhh...." I stammered.  I was under strict orders not to tell anybody.  Not even Joey.  That had been very hard.  My mom had arranged it all.

"Relax, Elliott," she laughed.  "I won't spill.  As long as you let me in."

I gaped for a moment.  Was she...blackmailing me?

"W-what?" I asked, staring at her.  She stepped forward, inches from my face.

"I want to be there," she told me deliberately.  "I want to party with Selena."

"Cara, this is Joey's party," I reminded her.  "Not homecoming. The guest list is really tight."

"Come on, can't you sneak me in?" she asked, adjusting the collar on my shirt.  My breath ceased momentarily and I could smell her perfume.

"Cara, I promised..." I trailed off when she cupped my chin in her fingers.

"I'm counting on you," she told me, giving me a long stare.  Her eyes lingered, then she was off.  I watched her walk away, her hips swaying side to side.  She knew I was watching.  I stood there, shaken, for a few moments before I got hold of myself enough to finish packing my bag.

A minute later, Joey was rushing up to me.

"Ready?!" she asked, grasping my hand.  It broke my heart that Cara had just been flirting with me and now here was Joey, full of joy and trust in me.  I just nodded and gave her hand a squeeze back.

We walked out to the front of the school where my mom was waiting.  She'd booked Joey an appointment at some fancy hair salon.  I tagged along because my favorite pretzel shop was next door.  I grabbed my snack then plopped down in the chair near where Joey was sitting.  She was showing the stylist pictures of a hairstyle she'd found online. She was nodding, telling her that Joey would look great.

Joey beamed as the stylist began working her magic.  I thought Joey always looked gorgeous, but I was blown away by the final product.  She looked like a movie star.

Afterwards, we went home to finish getting ready.  Joey's mom had arrived earlier that day and I knew she had mixed feelings.  We knew now that she wasn't going to try to force Joey to live in Chicago, so there was less tension.  Joey gave her mom a big hug and they started to chat.  Her mom complimented her on her hair and asked if she could help her finish getting ready.

They disappeared to Joey's bedroom.  I chilled in my own room for a while, knowing it would take a while for Joey to get ready.  Close to 6:00, Lin knocked on my door and told me it was time to start getting ready.  I planned on wearing some nice slacks, a dress shirt and tie.  The times I'd had to tie I tie were few and far between, so I had to go to Lin for help.