Who Is Lucas Ryker O'Riley?

29. A FUN LITTLE GAME

Before we left the house, Mom had been able to calm me down from the nervousness of reveling myself in a swimsuit to my dad and brother, but now the anticipation of hanging out with strangers all afternoon, trying to convince them I was a girl had me so anxious I was shaking.

I searched back to how I had felt while Mom and I were shopping and I told myself I was dressing up in a costume, pretending to be a whole different character, one that I knew would soon no longer be a character at all, but instead who I was.

As we left the house, I began to wonder just where this new character might take me.

Walking up the Miller's driveway, mom reminded Dave to be on his best behavior and told him, "I better not see anything other than complete support for Carla. Treat her like anything other than your sister, a young lady, and your game console will be two generations out of date before you even so much as see another video game loading screen again."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh, Mom," he replied.

"Wanna try me?" Mom snapped at him. 

Dave glanced over at me, but didn't say anything else.

We rang the doorbell, and when the door opened, Mr. Miller was standing there and invited us inside. We were all introduced to the Miller family, Mrs. Miller, Jeremy, their son, and Lisa, their daughter. Mr. Miller told us to make ourselves at home and Lisa immediately grabbed me as if I now belonged to her, taking me straight away to her room.

I guess she was eager to show me her room and all her prized possessions, getting started on the whole 'making friends' routine.

Upon entering her room, I immediately noticed how it was decorated. Everything in her room was either frilly pink pastel or just ridiculously cute.

Thinking back to when I had last spent time in Mandy's room, I couldn't help but contrast these two bedrooms.

Mandy was as pretty as any girl I've ever met, and even though her room and clothes were decorated in feminine colors, the colors she chose were always more vibrant/bold than the soft, muted pastels of this room.

I decided I preferred Mandy's room to Lisa's and that I would rather have my room decorated in bold colors, rather than pastels which looked like a gaggle of forest pixies with a stomach virus had thrown up everywhere. It also doesn't get much cooler than when your best friend, guy or girl, has an authentic hand-forged Japanese fighting sword on her wall, and knows full well how to use it.

Returning back to the present, I found myself politely nodding at Lisa's enthusiastic, yet slightly nervous show-and-tell as she filled me in on the significance of each knick-knack and stuffed animal in her collection.

Lisa was talking at a rapid auctioneer's pace by the time she started telling me the story behind her third collectible porcelain figurine. I gave her a big friendly smile, but was bored out of my mind, so I quickly interupted her, asking, "Would you like to go swimming now?"

This knocked her off of her show-and-tell storytelling stride. She cheerfully nodded her agreement and headed to the bathroom to change into her bathing suit.

I took off my shorts and top, then gathered my towel and sunblock from the bag. Seeing the large lensed, girly shades Mom had given me, I decided I might want to hide behind them later, so I put them on my head, then quickly decided to pull them down on my face.

Mr. Miller, Dad, Dave and Jeremy were already out back once we headed there, while our moms were still inside talking, and working on side dishes in the kitchen.

"...Ours is a saltwater pool as well." I heard my mom telling Mrs. Miller as we approached the kitchen.

"Wow, you two look terrific," encouraged Mom, as we walked through. She gave me an emcouraging smile and a wink.