I turned and gasped at the image staring back at me. Mom smiled at me. “See, I told you. Nothing dramatic but Abby, you are stunning.”
I did look pretty. “Thanks Mom.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll tell Dad about your date. You are his little girl. It will be easier coming from me.”
I rose from the bench and hugged her. “I love you,” I told her.
She hugged me back hard. “I love you too. Can we do this more often? I’ve been waiting for this.”
I laughed. “Sure, we can,” I said.
I had made her happy. Maybe I had found something that Mom and I could bond over.
When Mom found her sweater, we went downstairs to head to the game. Tyson had to be there early, so we were all going together. My brother and my father both took in my appearance.
“Wow Abs, you look different,” Tyson told me.
I wasn’t sure if that meant better or not.
I frown
ed at him.
“You look good,” he said.
“Like I didn’t look good before,” I suggested.
He shook his head at me, realizing that tonight, he couldn’t win. Dad was excited about the first game. He shooed us out the door. He didn’t want Tyson to be late to the game.
Tyson went to the locker room while Mom, Dad and I headed to the bleachers to take a seat. I passed by the cheerleaders and saw the look of surprise cross the head cheerleader, Delia Art’s face. Then she whispered to the person standing next to her. They snickered and I realized that whatever the joke was, it was about me.
Gone was the white patch on my chin. The boot on my foot. The bruise was covered by make-up. My glasses were at home and I couldn’t hide behind them or Tyson. I felt lost. I turned my head, holding it as high as I could and followed Mom and Dad.
I sat down beside Mom. She glanced at me. “Don’t you have friends you want to sit with honey?”
The only friends I had were on the football field, Cal, Tyson maybe some of their friends. I wasn’t sure yet whether Cal’s friends liked me.
“I’m fine here,” I replied. Mom wrapped her arm around me and gave me a squeeze, but she didn’t say anything else.
The boys rushed out onto the field and I saw Cal kept looking into the stand for me, I assumed. I waved and I could see that he didn’t recognize me without my glasses. He stood rooted to the thirty-yard line until Tyson hit him in the chest with a football because he wasn’t paying attention.
He grunted. I could hear it from here. He scooped the ball up and tossed it back to Tyson. They were running drills and Cal got to stand on the sideline. He ran to the fence that skirted the edge of the field. He motioned for me to join him there.
I shook my head no. Embarrassed.
He shook his head yes. When I didn’t move, he went to the gate. I didn’t want him coming up here where my parents were sitting. I didn’t want him getting into trouble either.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
I hobbled down the bleachers and met him at the fence. The jerk was grinning from ear to ear. “What do you want?”
“You look amazing tonight,” he said tucking my hair behind my ear. “I told you that you have beautiful eyes.”
“Mom insisted I wear contacts tonight.”
He leaned over the fence and kissed me. Just a quick kiss in front of the people in the stands, God and my parents. Shit, I wanted him to do it again.
“Cal,” I groaned or gasped wanting to be angry but couldn’t.