Saving Georgia (7 page)

“Good job, Pho, gorgeous work. Georgia you should see them.” Harper hands me a mirror. I look in the mirror and honestly, my brows do look better, however I am not sure if it is worth the pain to get there.

Once Jenn’s manicure was finished we made our way down to get our hair done at Mitchell’s hair salon in the mall. The stylist was on a first name basis with Harper.

“The usual ma’am?” He asked, pointing to a seat for Harper.

“No, we’re here for my friends first please. Can you do something with this?” Harper says, putting her hands deep in my curls.

“Oh yes, most certainly. What were you thinking? Sleeking it out? Blowout? There are tons of options.”

“I’d like to see it sleek, with a good cut for when it does curl as well. You can go ahead and wash it? Whatever is needed, I give you full carte blanche.” Harper tells him, as she pushes me into the salon chair. Don’t I get a say in this?

“Please don’t make me look foolish.” I beg the stylist. “I’m not much for trendy and edgy, please don’t make it one of those ‘should have been an art project’ haircuts.”

“I promise gorgeous, I will make you very happy. Come this way, I’m going to treat you like a princess and we’re going to wash your hair. You’ll love it! The shampoo smells like papaya.” He tells me, grabbing me by my hand and pulling me into the back. I sat down and leaned my head back. His hands did magic on my scalp and massaged me. I think I fell asleep, it was so relaxing!
And he was right, the shampoo smelled so good.

When he was done we went back to the salon chair and he combed my hair out and pinned it up and started cutting. I felt a mild anxiety attack coming on, but I was able to calm myself down. It’s only hair, and if I don’t like it I can hide it under a John Deere cap. The long locks were falling, cascading down my feet,and Ronaldo’s , I think that is his name. I closed my eyes until the ordeal was done with. Jenn was getting something done to her hair, some moisturizer treatment, and gosh I have no idea what Harper was doing. Suddenly, I felt the warm air of the blow dryer, and he was still brushing away, pulling and tugging my hair down, and then he used some other device and put more products in my hair. I have no idea what this guy is doing to me, but I am praying real hard that I don’t look like I stuck my finger in a socket.

“Voila!” He says, with a bunch of flair and flash. I kept my eyes closed.

“It looks spectacular Ronaldo. She looks like a gem!” Harper says, walking over to me. “Open your eyes dear, don’t be rude. You look fabulous.” She says, so authoritarian like, that frankly it seems a bit degrading.

Slowly I open one eye than another and I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. There was this gorgeous girl in the mirror, but I couldn’t find myself anywhere. She moved when I moved, she moved just as how I moved but this couldn’t be me. She has long, sleek golden hair, with a good cut to it. Her eyes look big and blue.

“Is that me?” I ask dumbfounded.

“Don’t be silly, of course it’s you.” Harper chides.

“I look awesome. Thank you!” I say, hoping to my feet and giving Ronaldo a hug.

“My pleasure, bella, you come back to me anytime you need your hair done.” Ronaldo tells me, walking me to the front of the salon.

“Jason’s going to die when he sees you.” Harper tells me, leaning up against me at the counter.

“That’ll be 120 dollars.” Ronaldo says. I flat-lined.

“For a haircut!” I cough.

“This isn’t Supercuts sweetheart.” Ronaldo hisses.

“I got it, my treat.” Harper says, pulling out a credit card.
Must be her daddy’s, because there is no way she has one of her own, right?

Jenn emerges and walks up and stops in her tracks when she sees me.

“Oh my Georgy, you look,” she starts and pauses looking for the word, “wow, just wow.”

“Thank you,” I blush.

Once we left, anytime I saw a mirror I looked in it. I couldn’t believe the reflection staring back at me. We made our way to Sephora and got our makeup done, and I spent quite an amount on some things to make myself look girly. I have to admit that this is kind of fun, and once I saw myself again all made up I just can’t believe that it’s me. Kohl-lined eyes, bronzed and peached cheeks, sleek hair and all; this is just not what I would normally do. If you were lucky I wore perfume and chap stick. I got a cute little training session on how to apply all of this stuff, and I am sure if I get intimidated, confused or all the above that Jenn will come to my rescue.

Ninety-six dollars plus tax later we emerge from Sephora, and according to Harper it’s time to find a cute outfit. We saunter and sashay over to Belks and made our way to the summer dresses and shoes. I am wondering how on earth these girls walk in some of these things. I normally have my cowboy boots and sneakers. I may have a pair of flats or two somewhere, but anything that would supply me with a significant amount of height, I immediately shy away from. This is going to be an experience. Jenn hands me a pair of sandal wedges and I gave her a look of ‘you’ve gotta be kidding me.’

“They would look awesome on you.” She insists.

“Yeah, until I try to walk.” I protest.

“Georgia, you’ve got to at least try.” Harper backs up Jenn. Of course she would.

“I will try but I guarantee you that I will face plant.”

“We’re only asking that you try. Here, put this dress on with it.” Harper hands me a pale pink summer dress with a floral pattern on it. “Jason likes pink.” She adds.

“OK.” I offer in defeat and make my way over to the dressing room.

I take off my shorts and tank and shimmy the dress on. I stare in wonder at the person in the mirror and I wonder if I am still the same person on the inside. I sit down and put the wedges on, and they are right they do look great together, but I know that I have not been blessed by God the gift of grace, and that I will stumble repeatedly. I foresee many a face plant in my imminent future.

“Are you done Georgy?” Jenn asks, and I know she is dying to see what her little project looks like. However mean that sounds, in all honesty I am having fun and I feel gorgeous.

“Yes ma’am.” I say, opening the door and walking out so she can see. ‘
Please don’t fall, please don’t fall, please don’t fall’ i
s the mantra I’m reciting in my head.

“Oh my!” She shrieks and wraps her arms around my neck. “You look like a model! You look perfect!” She coos.

“Jenn, you’re embarrassing me. Please get a hold of yourself.” I beg her. I have never, ever had to mutter those words to my friend before, but frankly she was making a scene and I don’t want any more attention than what I am giving myself right now.

“I am buying you several sundresses and, oh my gosh, purses and accessories and…. Ooh!” Jenn squeals and heads back to the sales floor, leaving me alone in this silly sundress that does flatter my figure, in this thankfully empty dressing room. I must admit I do like the way I look in pink.

I peeled the dress off and started to put my shorts back on, when Harper dumped a pile of clothes for me to try on. More dresses, oh joy.

I must have modeled seventeen dresses for them, and still the first was my favorite. I did enjoy the black and white striped dress, and a few other floral prints. Also, the polka dot dress was nice as well.

“How dressed up is this party of yours tomorrow that I have to wear a dress.” I ask.

“It’s not formal, if that is what you’re asking. It’s a casual summer party, but what we’re trying to accomplish for you is a more feminine look for summer, so you blend in with the girls and not the boys.” Harper states so matter of fact like. “And, it looks like we’ve accomplished just that. You look wonderful.” I guess she was going from the ‘lift them up after you kick them down approach.’

“Thanks. I think?” I spit out. “am I done trying clothes on?” I plead.

“Yes, this is fine. We’re going to go check out. You can dress yourself.” Harper states, as she grabs the clothes and heads out the sales floor.

What is going on
?
I need to stop dwelling on things, I am reading much too much into things and I should just be able to enjoy what has befallen me.
I put my clothes back on and made my way out to where Jenn and Harper were and they already had packages in their hands.

“Here!” Jenn hands me her bags. “These are all for you.”

“I can’t accept all this. You all have already paid for my hair and my nails, and that very unfortunate eyebrow incident, please let me get the dress.”

“Too late, we’ve already gotten it and some more to go with it.” Harper says, and then turns to Jenn “I’m going to start heading home. I have to get things together for tomorrow. Bring her by early so we can straighten her hair and get her dressed.”

“OK, we’ll be there.” Jenn smiles and links her arm into mine. “We will see you later. Call me!” and Harper walks off.

“We made it back to the food court and grabbed a slice of pizza and Jenn showed me every dress that they had gotten me. They were quite lovely. I’m still mad that I didn’t get to pay for it. Between the two of us we had three to four bags each. We made it back to the car and started heading home.

On the ride back we both were singing every song we knew on the radio and I think this was the best day that I have had with my best friend in a long time. No major worries, no social stigma separating us, and just pure happiness.

Once we got home, it was late and I made my way into my room. I put the pink flowery dress on and touched up my makeup. I was a sight to see. I lay down on my bed and snuggled up with muffin, listening to the radio when I heard something hit my window. I quickly jumped to my feet and scampered to the window to see if there were any cracks on the window and there was none. Sometimes the birds have a way of hitting the windows, since they have a nest in the tall oak by the window. As I made my way back over to my bed, I heard the noise again. This time I tore open the window and looked around. That’s when I saw him.

“Hey beautiful,” Jason calls out to me.

“Jason! What are you doing here?” I ask, baffled that he even knows where I live.

“I’m here to see you. Come down here.”

“OK!” I call back and started to make my way downstairs and that’s when it hit me that I still have this stupid dress on. Too late to change now, and besides Harper told me he likes pink on girls.

“You look wonderful. What did you do to your hair?” He says, pulling at my silky locks.

“Harper and Jenn took me to get it done.” I offer as an answer, because frankly I don’t know what was actually done to my hair, I just sat there with my eyes closed.

“It looks great. You look beautiful, especially in this.” He says as he pulls at the spaghetti strap on my dress.

“Um, thanks.” I muster up, afraid to look at him. I feel so insecure, so vulnerable that I don’t know how I’m even still standing here.

Quickly he puts his hands on my face, and pulls me into him. His lips crushing against mine, and I feel almost suffocated. No, I definitely feel suffocated and though a part of this was without question very enjoyable I also feel the brink of an anxiety attack coming back on. I step back for a minute to grab my bearings.

“What’s wrong baby?” He asks me, as if I slapped him in the face.

“Nothing, just overwhelmed I guess.” I said, turning down to look at my feet.

“Sweetie, it’s ok. Nothing is going to happen; I can control myself you know.” Jason says, trying to make me feel comfortable the best he can.

“Thank you for saying that, because sometimes I feel you might not be able to, or I may give in to your requests or something to that extent. Does that make any sense?” I ask, wondering if my ramblings were formed in any sense of comprehension and cohesion.

“Completely, I understand things like that take time.” Jason nods in response.

“OK. Good. Now you can kiss me.” I said, still not taking my eyes off my feet, and almost instantly he picks me up in his arms and we are all lips, and breathe and heat.

In the morning, I woke slowly. I can feel Jason still all over my body. My hair smells like sweat from being out all night, and my body aches with such a delicious throb of mammoth proportions. A stupid smile is still painted on my face, and I feel absolutely glorious. I rolled over and saw that makeup is smeared all over my pillow cases. I sat up and saw that I am still in the dress, and my cat is sitting at the edge of the bed, staring at me like she is judging me. The smell of bacon and pancakes fills the air, and lazily I spring to my feet and make my way into the bathroom to wash off the sticky sweat, and makeup.

I peeled the dress off in the bathroom, and saw that I have raccoon eyes, and I look like a clown with lipstick smeared across my face. I rummaged through the drawers for Jenn’s makeup remover and cotton balls, surely she has some somewhere. I found them stowed away under everything else she has and put the cool fluid on the soft ball and wiped away the remnants of charcoal and mascara. Somewhere underneath all this muck is my face and that’s what I am looking for.

I am not sure if I can wash my hair or not, so I tie it up and jump into the shower and let the warm water bead down my body, removing the sweat and aroma of stress. I used Jenn’s Ralph Lauren ‘Pure Romance’ body wash, and that should surely give me the girly essence I am going for.

Once I got dressed, I hobbled down the stairs to see Jenn in the kitchen. Breakfast was waiting in front of me; orange juice, pancakes and bacon. She was being very conspicuous and coy. I’m pretty sure breakfast was a form of bribery as she wanted some gossip on Jason and me from last night, but there wasn’t anything to tell. We just kissed, a lot, a whole lot. In fact, my mouth still feels swollen and I think she can tell.

I soaked my pancakes in butter and syrup, and got to it. If I keep my mouth stuffed, I can’t talk and answer questions. This is the best logic I can come up with.

Shoveling the fluffy cakes into my mouth, Jenn smiled and sipped her orange juice from her glass.

“Enjoying your breakfast Georgy?” She asks me. I just nod in response. “I bet it’s not the best thing you’ve had in your mouth in the last 12 hours though.” She snickers.

I turned beet red. I even choked on pancakes, of all things! “Excuse me?” I ask.

“You heard me, Georgia. I know what you two were up to last night. Dish.” She pries me for information.

“There’s nothing to say!” I protest, hoping she would take me at my word and move on with it already.

“Nah no way, what were you too doing until the wee hours of the morning?” She presses.

“Just kissing, nothing else, I swear!” I hate feeling accosted. “Are we through?” I urge her.

“Hmm” she starts, and plays with her fork. “For now.” She sighs,“I believe you, I just wanted more information; envy, jealousy, all the above.”

“What? You’re nuts. You’re gorgeous and this should be you and not me. You do know that, right?” I assure her the best I can. She means much too much for me to lose her.

“Relax. I’m not mad at you.” Jenn pushes her plate away and gets up from the table. For someone who seems not mad at me, I’m really getting the other impression.

“You sure you’re not mad at me?” I push.

“I promise.” Jenn says smiling at me, and soon after that she engulfs me in a huge Jenn hug, and now I can breathe a sigh of relief. “Come on, we have to get ready for the day. I know you ate breakfast, but its eleven o’clock and we need to make a move on it. Harper will be waiting. Oh, and don’t forget to call Shane.”

Shane! Shoot! I need to hit him up. I need to make sure he is there, and goodness time sure does fly in the low country when things get to moving! I threw some shorts and a t-shirt on, packed a bag with a few options in it to see what all they would prefer for me to wear. I tossed my hair up in a high ponytail and found the bag with all the makeup I bought, and threw that into the duffle bag as well. My cat muffin is laying on the bed looking at me as if I have eight heads, and it is pulling on my conscience. My heart feels heavy, but I can’t figure out why. Reluctantly I threw on some music to get me into a better mood. If anything can get me going, it is music. Taking a good look around my room, it looks like a tornado had hit it, everything is a freaking mess. I’m not even sure where to find my cell phone. I dug deep into a pile of clothes and still, no cell phone. I moved my guitar around and it’s still not there. I looked for about a good 15 minutes and gave up. I plopped myself down on my bed and snuggled up to muffin, and what do you know, she was sitting on top of my phone!

Quickly I look to see for any missed calls, and thankfully there were none. I did see some text messages from Shane.

Are we still doing this thing?

S

Quickly I smiled, and I’ve gotten so excited to see him. He will bring some normalcy back to my life, and these anxiety attacks can stop.

Yes, we are still ‘doing this thing’. I’m on my way now, see you there tonight!

G

I quickly threw my phone on the charger while I finish trying to pack for Harper Kelly’s house. I am so excited, but I can’t figure out if it’s because I am going to see Shane for the first time in a few days, and actually be able to spend time with him or that I could see Jason and we could, well you know.

“Georgia, you about ready?” Jenn calls out from down the hall.

“Yes ma’am! Just throwing some things together here.” I call back.

Swiftly I rise to my feet and carry the bags downstairs. Jenn already has her stuff in my car. Jenn was a bunch of giggles once I got into the car, and she not so politely let me know that my shirt was not only backwards but inside out. This is starting off to be one funky day.

Once we got to Harpers, they sat me down in her en suite bathroom, which looked like it could be the size of my bedroom, if not larger. She had this huge garden style soaking tub, a sit-down vanity, a shower where the jets come out the wall and a rain head feature, plus tons of granite and nickel accents. It was a sight to see! I felt so out of place and intimidated by my surroundings and that got me to thinking, this is all just stuff, merely worldly things and they have no reflect on anyone’s self-worth.

Harper and Jenn’s fingers feel calming and relaxing, twisting around in my hair, weaving it to and fro, with my new straight locks ( which I wonder, how long it will stay that way, maybe until I wash it?). They spackled, and plastered my face with tons of colorful goops and glops. The whole time I was trying to focus on relaxing, Harper was focused on giving me an inquisition about Shane. It was from “What’s his favorite color?” to “What is his relationship status?” And, frankly I couldn’t be more disgusted. There is some nerve on this girl. But I reluctantly provided her with any tidbit of information I could muster up.

“His favorite color is grey. His birthday is August 19. And, he doesn’t have a girlfriend if that is what you’re asking.”

“OK. Good. What type of music does he like?” Harper presses on.

“Country, are you seriously asking me that?” I ask her, and I guess that came off maybe harsher than what I intended because Jenn flashed me a stern look.

“Oh. Well, how would I know? Can’t make assumptions you know.” Harper carried on, however now I noticed she isn’t quite as gentle with my hair as she was before.

“Sorry, I just thought it was blatantly obvious.” I tell her, trying to cover my tracks and keep some form of civility with her. Harper Kelly is one of my very best friends, other best friend and though I know there is some social convention hierarchy where my position out right trumps hers, I still have to walk on glass to make sure that Jenn isn’t a casualty of warfare. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much Harper, if Shane likes you – I am sure you will know. As long as you’re a decent person and find common ground, the rest will all fall into place right?” I know for a fact, there is a very slim chance Shane would be interested in her, however girl rules forbid me from coming clean about this, and I must in fact encourage her to try to win his heart. Sometimes teenage politics are much too much, and this is why I hang out with Shane more than anyone else. Boys as friends are less complicated.

“You’re right I guess,” Harper slumps over and shifts her weight to one foot and pouts, “I just really hope he does like me, because I am crushing hard.” She continues. I almost feel bad for her, not quite but almost.

“Being stressed, and depressed isn’t going to get you anywhere with Shane. You need to calm down and get happy.” I tell her, “And besides you’re gorgeous, just be yourself.”

“OK, you’re definitely right. You know it best, and I know from experience that me pouting my little you-know-what off will get me nowhere real quick.” Harper said, changing her tone. She stood back and took a good look at me, and Jenn moved to the front to get a look.

“She looks amazing Harper!” Jenn squeals.

“She does. I did a great job. See Jenn, anyone can look good with a little bit of makeup.” Harper says, turning around to head back to her bedroom.

“Wow Harper, rude much?” Jenn looks at her, and holds a stance that I hadn’t seen before. Hands on the hips, deadpan glare and I think I see a snarl in the corner of her mouth. Do I move out the way, or just sit here like I don’t exist.

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant.” Harper blinks.

“What did you mean then?” Jenn challenges her.

“I mean, it shows that makeup enhances everyone’s beauty.” Harper tries to backpedal.

“Yeah, OK Harper; she’s gorgeous with or without makeup.” Jenn carries on.

I am here, aren’t I
?
This conversation is happening in front of me, right?
I just sit back and blink, waiting to see how this all pans out.

“I mean, Harper she is trying to help you with Shane and you just spit out some nonsense about my best friend, my sister!”

“I’m sorry Jenn, truly I am. Georgia, you are beautiful I didn’t mean it the way it came out, honestly.” Harper pleads with me, knowing that I am her only hope and salvation of being with Shane.

“Yeah, OK.” I spit out, with blatant indifference.

“Please forgive me; let’s go get some cheese and grapes before the party. We have some downstairs in the sunroom.” Harper offers, clasping her hands in front of her, as the ever gracious hostess.

We all made our way down to the sunroom for some snacks, and I was careful not to smudge my makeup. After our tasty treat, we went back up to Harper’s bedroom to finish getting ready. The awkward tension seemed to have dissipated.

“Georgia, can you put something on the radio? I want to give country music a whirl.” Harper asks me.

I made my way to her computer and put on 106.9 The Kat in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is my favorite country station of all time. Miranda Lambert’s “Fastest Girl in Town” was on and I caught Harper out the corner of my eye, nodding her head to the song.

“I like this song! I could get into country music.” She smiles, as if she had accomplished some big feat.

“Yeah, it’s not bad is it?” I follow her lead,;inside my head I’m mocking her.

“No, I kind of dig it.” She seems as if she is elated and pleased with herself, so I will leave well enough alone. Jenn is off to the side, dancing and looking at outfits draped in front of her in the full length mirror.

Once we were done getting dressed and well accessorized we made our way downstairs and finished setting up the place. We laid out the paper ware, standard red solo cups and all. The pizza’s Harper ordered showed up shortly after, and we had beach towels laid out for the rest of the guests. Thankfully, Jenn encouraged me to pack a swimsuit or I’d be out of luck on the swimming aspect, but thinking about swimming after everything I did to get this dressed up seems like a crying shame.

Shortly after the spread was laid out, guests started arriving and that made me think of Shane and where he was. Quickly I ran upstairs and dug out my cell phone that I had charging in Harper’s bathroom. The first thing I see is there is a message from Shane

G-

On my way. See you soon.

Shane

Yay! I won’t be in pretty people hell alone for much longer! That’s a mean thing to think, but frankly Harper is just much too much to handle sometimes. I haven’t the foggiest clue why Jenn likes to be around her so much.

About 30 minutes later, Shane finally arrives and I quickly ran into his arms.

“Hey stranger, how you doing?” He asks, patting me on the back.

“Better now that you are here. I’ve missed you!” I whisper in his ear, so no one hears me.

“I’m here Georgia. No worries.” He says, and then holding me at arm’s length he got a good look at me. Taking a quick breath of air, he just stares at me, and I couldn’t feel more insecure if I tried. My heart started to quicken like it does with Jason, but I know that Shane wouldn’t hurt me. “Look at you.” Shane spits out, not taking his eyes off of me. “Wow.” Shane says, closing his eyes and shaking his head. He takes his baseball cap off and wipes his forehead with his arm, and swings his arm around my waist.

“Come, I want to ‘introduce’ you to Harper, if you don’t mind. Just entertain me, OK?” I tell him, knowing that I’d be met with reserved hesitation.

“Alright Georgia.” Shane sighs, and matches my pace heading towards the kitchen.