Chasing Astrid Malone

7. UNBEARABLE

Brenda pulled up at my house to drop me off, the same time she usually would after school. I was surprised by the number of cars in my driveway. I recognized my Mom's and Josh's cars. The white SUV was new to me, though. Walking in the door, I saw Josh in the kitchen and another guy with his back to me.

"Hey, there's our rookie school skipper. You know they call the house phone and leave a voicemail about your absence, right?" Josh's friend was already smiling before he turned around to face me. We made eye contact, and he stopped smiling. His eyes drifted down my body, then back up to my face. Do men think women are blind? That I couldn't just see him checking me out?

"Don't worry, Astrid, I deleted it before Mom got home. She's upstairs sleeping like a rock. Where were you anyway?" I showed off my store bags. "Brenda took me shopping for my birthday. I'm gonna bring them upstairs before Mom wakes up."

As I turned to leave, Josh said, "This is my friend Tristan from school. He's staying for dinner." I didn't feel the need to acknowledge Tristan after he undressed me with his eyes in my own home.

...

I shut my door and unloaded the bags on my bed. I was determined to try it all on before deciding to hide them in the closet. Pulling the first pair of shorts on, I was glad I shaved my legs this morning. I pulled off my baggy t-shirt to see the shorts and looked at myself in the mirror.

Expecting to look awkward and lanky, I was surprised at how satisfied I was with my own body. I'd been hiding it from myself under loose clothes for so long I hadn't noticed how much I've changed. My breasts finally proportional, my waist an hourglass-shape, my stomach flat, and my thighs noticeable bigger than my calves.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Just a minute" I grabbed my t-shirt and threw it back over my white tank top, tucking the front into my new shorts.

"COME IN"

Josh opened the door and said, "You have a friend downstairs waiting for you."

"Ok, thanks, I'll be right down." Brenda told me she would calm Carly down and have her talk to me, but I didn't think she would show up at my house so quickly. I threw on flip-flops, put my phone in my pocket, and headed downstairs. Halfway down the stairs, I froze.

Cameron was standing in my house, looking up at me with wide eyes. Josh's friend was sitting on the couch looking at me with a similar expression. I wanted to run back up the stairs and cover-up. Josh's voice came from the kitchen

"If you two don't stop drooling over my sister, I'll kick you both out and send her to her room." Cameron looked over at the guy on the couch next to him and saw him looking at me, he turned back to me, and his whole demeanor changed.  "you ready to go? My truck is running, and we have math to teach me" I looked over at Josh for permission. He smiled and said, "be home for dinner. Mom is expecting family time."

Heading to Cameron's truck, I wished I could push down my nervousness. Even walking felt foreign. We had been driving for an eternity, or more precisely three minutes before Cameron spoke.

"Who was that guy at your house?" I know Josh told me his name, but I was drawing a blank. "He's Josh's friend from college. I don't remember his name." Cameron's face seemed to soften, and his lips turned up in a smile.

"So my Astrid skipped school today to go to the mall. If you told me you wanted to skip out on school, I would have picked you up. We could have driven out to the beach for the day."

His Astrid? Am I HIS Astrid? Wait, what else did he say? Something about taking me to the beach today. "My birthday is tomorrow, so my best friend wanted to take me shopping today."