Living on Blue Time

Chapter Two

As it turns out, we didn’t. Which is fantastic because those shoes are expensive. I hope mom doesn’t care. After all, I only get 1 Meeting.

“Where to next?” Wesley asks us.

“Home,” Sidney says as we walk out of the store. “Ray can get her hair done on the day of.”

“Yes!” I shout.

“I— I mean… No…” I say as soon as I see Sidney’s glare. Wesley rolls his eyes at my enthusiasm.

Wesley drives us back to my house and drops us off with the large bag and a shoebox. My mom is waiting on the porch, sipping iced tea. She smiles when she sees us, or maybe she smiles at the shoebox I’m holding.

“Sidney! What did my little Ray of sunshine get to wear for her Meeting?” Mom wisely asks my friend. Sidney glances at me.

“You know Mrs. Jane, I would love to tell you, but wouldn’t it be better if it were a surprise? For everyone?” Sidney slides through the door and into my home.

Mom pouts, “I’m her mother.”

“I know, Mrs. Jane. But Ray insisted.”

Mom’s eyebrows skyrocket. “She did?”

“Yes. I did. Is that so hard to understand, mom?” I ask as I step into the house, leaving mom sputtering on the porch.

“I think we handled that well,” I say as Sidney and I trudged up the stairs to my room.

“We did, didn’t we?” Sidney agrees, flopping on my bed with a sigh. After I put the dress in my closet with my shoebox right underneath it, I flop down next to my friend.

A moment of silence passes until I ask, “What do you think he’ll be like?”

“Well, he has to love movies, read, frozen yogurt, and all things lemon,” Sidney says as she grabs a pillow for her head.

“Why can’t he like ice cream instead?” I ask.

“Because he’s supposed to be your perfect other half. It’s in your Match’s genetics to love frozen yogurt.”

“What about changing? Like, moving furniture or hair die?”

“That’s with the frozen yogurt. It’s in genetics,” Sidney says, “Like with Wesley and me. We both like shopping, and shoes. And apple crisp and pineapple.”

“What do you think he’ll look like?”

Sidney takes a minute to think.

“He’ll be tall. Blonde. He’ll be skinny but muscular at the same time. He’ll look great in anything you put him in.”

“Like clogs?”

“No one looks good in clogs.”

“True.”

“What about his personality?”

“He has to be funny, but not too funny. He’ll always tell you what he’s feeling,” Sidney says immediately.

“I feel like you’re describing me.”

“I’m not… Everything but your hair... And your eyes... No one can compare with your hair. Not even Ariel,” Sidney jokes.

But she’s right.

My hair is so red it looks like the hair version of blood. Ariel’s hair couldn’t compete. And the funny thing is, it’s not curly like Scottish genes say they should. It’s more of a gentle wave. And my eyes, oh my eyes, I got them from my dad. He had the bluest eyes in the world. They were deep blue at times, and then a Caribbean blue.

“If only I can grow a tail,” I say wistfully.

“That’s another thing.”

“What?”

“Your Match has to daydream all the time. He has to have the biggest imagination in the world.”

“He sounds amazing.”

Sidney replies, “For you, he will be.”

I smile and bring my wrist to my face.

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